Traffic Violations Lawyer In Conroe, TX
The charges in this category start on the road but end in a criminal courtroom. Each carries possible jail or prison, each leaves a criminal record on conviction, and several are felonies the first time someone is charged. This page compares the offenses, their penalties and how a case moves through Montgomery County.
Which Traffic Offenses Are Crimes In Texas?
Some driving offenses are crimes with jail or prison, not fine-only tickets. Reckless driving and racing are in Transportation Code Chapter 545, evading arrest is Penal Code § 38.04, and leaving a crash is covered by Transportation Code Chapter 550. Evading in a vehicle and some racing and crash cases are felonies even on a first charge.
Source: Texas Transportation Code Chapter 545, Operation and Movement of Vehicles
Understanding Texas Law
Why Are Criminal Traffic Charges Not Tickets?
A speeding ticket is a fine-only offense. The charges in this category are different in kind, because each carries a jail or prison range. That means each can bring an arrest, booking at the Montgomery County Jail, a bond, and a case on a criminal docket prosecuted by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.
A conviction on any of them is a criminal record. It can show up on background checks for work, housing and professional licensing, not only on the driving record that insurers read.
The charges group into three kinds of conduct:
- How the vehicle was driven: reckless driving, street racing, and racing that injured someone
- Running from an officer: evading arrest, on foot or behind the wheel
- Leaving a crash: failure to stop and give information when only vehicles were damaged, and failure to stop and render aid when a person was hurt or killed
One drive can cross more than one of these lines. A driver who speeds away from a stop and then clips a parked car can face charges in all three groups.
Penalties And Consequences
What Are The Penalties For Criminal Traffic Offenses In Texas?
The level of a traffic charge depends on its own statute, the driver's record and whether anyone was hurt. These are statutory limits, not predictions of what will happen in any one case.
Fine of up to $200.
No prior conviction is needed.
- Reckless driving, Transp. Code § 545.401
- Misdemeanor. Up to 30 days in county jail and a fine of up to $200.
- Racing on a highway, § 545.420
- Class B misdemeanor to start. Class A with one prior or while intoxicated. State jail felony with two priors.
- Racing with an injury
- Third degree felony for bodily injury. Second degree felony for serious bodily injury or death.
- Evading arrest, Penal Code § 38.04
- Class A misdemeanor on foot. Third degree felony in a vehicle. Second degree felony if a death results.
- Failure to stop and give information
- Class C under $200 in damage. Class B misdemeanor at $200 or more.
- Failure to stop and render aid
- Up to five years for an injury. Third degree felony for serious bodily injury. Second degree felony for a death.
A racing charge becomes a felony once someone is hurt. The street racing with bodily injury page covers that step up the ladder.
Real Questions
What Do People Ask About Criminal Traffic Charges In Texas?
Is reckless driving just a bad ticket?
Can one incident lead to several charges?
Can a car be treated as a weapon?
What happens to the vehicle in a racing case?
Will a conviction appear on a background check?
Possible Defenses
How Can Criminal Traffic Charges Be Defended?
Each charge has its own elements, so each raises its own defense questions. An attorney reviews the stop, the video, who was driving and what the state can prove about intent and knowledge. No result can be promised.
The defense can request the state's evidence under Code of Criminal Procedure art. 39.14, including reports and recordings.
Video often decides a traffic case.
Patrol and body camera footage, dash video, traffic cameras and phone recordings can show what the driving actually looked like. Vehicle data, crash reports and witness accounts can be compared against the written report.
The first constitutional question is whether the stop was lawful.
The Stop
Did the officer have a lawful reason to stop the vehicle?
Identity
Can the state prove who was behind the wheel?
Knowledge And Intent
Did the driver know about the officer or the collision, or mean to flee or race?
The Level Charged
Does the evidence support the injury level, the damage figure or the felony alleged?
Causation
If someone was hurt, did the driving cause the injury?
The Vehicle
Was it properly impounded or searched, and can it be released?
Local Process
How Does A Criminal Traffic Case Move Through Montgomery County?
Misdemeanors and felonies take different paths and sit in different buildings in Conroe, so the notice for each setting should be checked.
Citation Or Arrest
The officer writes a citation or makes an arrest. Booking and bond follow an arrest.
Charging
A misdemeanor proceeds on a complaint and information. A felony goes to a grand jury.
Discovery
The defense requests the state's evidence under art. 39.14.
Resolution
The case ends in a dismissal, a plea or a trial.
- Fine-only tickets
- Class C offenses can be handled in a justice of the peace court or a city's municipal court.
- Misdemeanor cases
- Jailable misdemeanors are filed in one of the Montgomery County Courts at Law and prosecuted by Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.
- Felony cases
- Presented to a grand jury and heard in the district courts at the Montgomery County Criminal Justice Center on 207 W Phillips St, prosecuted by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.
- Crash cases
- The DA's Office runs a dedicated Vehicular Crimes Unit of prosecutors and investigators that responds directly to crash scenes and handles intoxication manslaughter, intoxication assault and fatal hit and run cases.
- Who makes the arrest
- Conroe Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS Highway Patrol, Montgomery County Constables, Precincts 1 through 5, Willis Police Department, Shenandoah Police Department, Oak Ridge North Police Department, Magnolia Police Department, Splendora Police Department, or Roman Forest Police Department.
- Booking
- The Montgomery County Jail at 1 Criminal Justice Drive, run by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.
- If the case is appealed
- Appeals go to the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont.
Alcohol changes many of these cases. A racing charge rises to a Class A misdemeanor when the driver was intoxicated, and a crash that injures or kills someone can be charged under the intoxication statutes. Leaving that crash adds a failure to stop and render aid count. An alcohol-related arrest also opens a separate DWI track, including a license case before the State Office of Administrative Hearings, where a hearing has to be requested within 15 days after receiving the notice of suspension.
Next Steps
What Should You Do After A Criminal Traffic Charge?
These steps are general information, not advice for any one person.
Read The Citation
Find the offense, the court and the date before doing anything else.
Ask Before You Pay
Paying a jailable citation can be treated as a plea, so learn the options first.
Write It Down
Record the road, the other vehicles and what you saw while it is fresh.
Keep The Video And Data
Preserve dash video, phone records and the vehicle in their current state.
Check License Deadlines
A DWI arrest or a racing conviction brings license consequences with their own timing.
Skip Social Media
Do not post about the stop, the crash or the case.
Mitchell Law Firm offers a confidential conversation about a criminal traffic charge in Montgomery County, and reaching out before the first court date keeps more options open.
Official Texas Sources
Read The Law Behind This Page
- Texas Transportation Code Chapter 545: Reckless driving and racing on a highway
- Texas Transportation Code Chapter 550: Duties after a collision, hit and run
- Texas Transportation Code Chapter 521: License suspension, including § 521.350
- Texas Transportation Code Chapter 524: Administrative license suspension after a DWI arrest
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 38: Evading arrest or detention
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 12: Misdemeanor and felony punishment
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 39: Discovery of the state's evidence
- Texas Department of Public Safety: Driver license suspension and reinstatement
Who Handles Your Case
The Texas Lawyer Who Speaks Science
Attorney Brennon Mitchell isn't just a seasoned Conroe trial lawyer. He's one of the few in Texas, and the entire country, to earn the prestigious title of an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist. That means he's gone beyond the courtroom and into the laboratory, receiving in-depth, hands-on training in forensic chromatography, the same kind of testing used by crime labs to try and convict Texans every day.
What does that mean for you?
It means when the state uses blood alcohol or drug testing to try to prove its case, Mr. Mitchell knows how to challenge it. He's trained to:
- Analyze lab results and spot faulty science
- Cross-examine forensic experts with precision
- Break down complex chemical evidence in plain language for juries
This is not the kind of background you find in most criminal defense attorneys, and it could make the difference between a conviction and a clean slate.
Brennon graduated from Texas A&M University School of Law and practices from offices in Orange and Conroe.
Client Reviews
What Clients Say About Brennon Mitchell
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different and is decided on its own facts.
Traffic Charges
Traffic Charges We Handle In Conroe
Evading Arrest
Texas grades evading by how the person left. On foot it is a misdemeanor. In a vehicle it is a felony, with no prior record needed.
Failure To Stop And Give Information
Driving away from a collision that damaged a vehicle without leaving the required information. A jailable misdemeanor at $200 in damage.
Failure To Stop And Render Aid
Leaving a crash where someone was hurt or killed. Charged under § 550.021, from a five year offense up to second degree.
Reckless Driving
Driving with wilful or wanton disregard for safety under § 545.401. A jailable misdemeanor, filed as a criminal case.
Street Racing
Charged as racing on a highway under § 545.420. A misdemeanor at first, with an impound at arrest and a one year suspension on conviction.
Street Racing With Bodily Injury
An injury turns a racing misdemeanor into a felony under § 545.420: third degree for bodily injury, second degree for serious injury or death.
Common Questions
Criminal Traffic Questions People In Conroe Ask
What traffic offenses can lead to jail in Conroe, TX?
Texas attaches jail or prison ranges to several driving offenses. Reckless driving carries up to 30 days. Racing on a highway starts as a Class B misdemeanor with up to 180 days. Evading arrest in a vehicle is a third degree felony. Leaving a crash that damaged a vehicle can be a Class B misdemeanor, and leaving one where someone was hurt is a felony.
Which traffic charges are felonies on a first offense in Montgomery County?
Evading arrest in a vehicle is a third degree felony with no prior conviction required. Racing that causes bodily injury is a third degree felony, rising to second degree for serious bodily injury or death. Failure to stop and render aid after a crash that injured someone is a felony at every injury level, and a second degree felony when a person died.
What court hears a criminal traffic case in Conroe, TX?
Jailable misdemeanors, such as reckless driving, a first racing charge or a Class B hit and run, are filed in one of the Montgomery County Courts at Law. Felonies go to a grand jury and, if indicted, to the district courts at the Montgomery County Criminal Justice Center on 207 W Phillips St. The misdemeanor courts and felony courts are in separate buildings.
Who handles serious crash cases for the Montgomery County District Attorney?
The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office runs a Vehicular Crimes Unit of prosecutors and investigators that responds directly to crash scenes. It handles fatal hit and run, intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault cases. The office is located in the Montgomery County Criminal Justice Center, the same building that houses the felony courts.
How can a criminal traffic case in Montgomery County affect a driver's license?
It depends on the statute. A racing conviction brings an automatic one year suspension under Transportation Code § 521.350. A reckless driving conviction is reported to the Department of Public Safety for the driving record. When a DWI arrest follows a refused or failed breath or blood test, a separate administrative license case opens, with 15 days after the notice to request a hearing.
Should I pay a criminal traffic citation in Conroe, TX without asking a lawyer?
Paying a citation for a jailable offense is generally treated as a plea of guilty or no contest, which can create a conviction on a criminal record. Before paying, it is worth learning whether the offense is a fine-only Class C ticket or a jailable misdemeanor, what a conviction would mean for a license and insurance, and what other options exist. An attorney can review the citation.
Mitchell Law Firm, PLLC
Your Freedom Is Our Fight
A criminal traffic charge is a criminal case from the day it is filed. Call or request a consultation to go over the charge and what a conviction would leave behind.
Conroe Office
