Bastrop County Criminal Courts

If you have been arrested for DWI or another crime in Bastrop, Elgin, Smithville, or anywhere in Bastrop County, the courthouse can feel confusing: one county court for misdemeanors, four district courts for felonies, a single prosecutor's office that handles both, and a driver's license clock running quietly in the background. This guide explains how the Bastrop County criminal courts actually work: where your case will be heard, who will be prosecuting it, what the local process looks like from arrest to disposition, and what license-relief and diversion options may exist. It reflects how these courts run in practice, not just what a statute says. Nothing here is legal advice or a promise about your case (every case is different), but it should help you walk in knowing what to expect.

Where your case will be heard

Which court hears your case depends entirely on the level of the charge.

Misdemeanor DWI and other Class A/B misdemeanors: the Bastrop County Court at Law. Class A and Class B misdemeanors, including DWI, are heard in the Bastrop County Court at Law at 804 Pecan Street. This is a single, unnumbered court, and there is no "County Court at Law No. 1" or "No. 2" in Bastrop County, so do not expect a numbered assignment. It is the county's misdemeanor criminal trial court, and it hears misdemeanor DWI: DWI first offense (Class B), and DWI second or DWI with a breath/blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher (Class A). The presiding judge is Benton Eskew. Note that Bastrop County also has a separate Constitutional County Court presided over by the County Judge, but in practice that court handles probate and administrative matters, not the DWI docket.

Felony charges: the District Courts. Felony criminal matters, including felony DWI (a third or subsequent DWI, which is a third-degree felony; DWI with a child passenger, a state-jail felony; and intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter), are heard in the district courts that sit in Bastrop County. Four district courts carry felony jurisdiction here: the 21st, 335th, 423rd, and 465th Judicial District Courts. Felony proceedings are held in the district courtroom at the Bastrop County Courthouse annex, 804 Pecan Street. The 21st and 335th District Courts are shared regional courts that also serve Burleson, Lee, and Washington Counties. The district courts' criminal court coordinator can be reached at (512) 581-7137, and the Bastrop County District Clerk at (512) 332-7244.

Class C, fine-only offenses: Justice of the Peace and municipal courts. Fine-only Class C matters (most traffic tickets, public intoxication, minor-in-possession, and city-ordinance violations) are not heard in the County Court at Law. Offenses in the county outside city limits go to one of Bastrop County's Justice of the Peace precinct courts; Class C offenses inside an incorporated city go to that city's municipal court (for example, the City of Bastrop Municipal Court).

Who prosecutes your case

Here is one of the most important things to understand about Bastrop County, and one that surprises defendants and out-of-town lawyers alike.

Both misdemeanor and felony DWI: the Bastrop County Criminal District Attorney. Many Texas counties split prosecution between two separate offices: a County Attorney handles misdemeanors, and a District Attorney handles felonies. Bastrop County does not work that way. It has a single, unified Criminal District Attorney who prosecutes both felonies and misdemeanors. There is no separate County Attorney handling criminal misdemeanors here. So whether your DWI is a Class B misdemeanor in the County Court at Law or a felony in a district court, the same office is on the other side of the case. The office is led by Criminal District Attorney Bryan Goertz, at 804 Pecan Street, Bastrop, TX 78602; phone (512) 581-7125.

Intake. No published first-offense-DWI intake screening or written pretrial-diversion policy was located from public sources for the Bastrop Criminal District Attorney.

How a first-offense DWI is generally handled. A first, non-aggravated misdemeanor DWI is prosecuted by the Criminal District Attorney in the County Court at Law. Whether any individual case is offered a pretrial-diversion agreement, reduced, or set for trial depends on the specific facts, the defendant's record, and the evidence, and no outcome is promised. Defense-bar sources indicate that first-time offenders may be considered for diversion on a case-by-case basis at the district attorney's discretion, rather than through a published standing program. This guide describes the options that exist here; it does not predict what will happen in any particular case.

The local process, step by step

Every case is different, but a Bastrop County criminal case generally moves through these stages:

1. Arrest and booking. After a DWI or other arrest, you are booked into the Bastrop County Jail through the Sheriff's Office, which maintains the arrest and booking records. The Sheriff has reportedly removed the online inmate roster; booking status may need to be confirmed by phone at (512) 549-5073.
2. Magistration. A magistrate informs you of the charges and your rights, sets bond, and imposes any bond conditions, generally shortly after booking.
3. Bond and conditions. No published Bastrop County bond schedule was located, so bond is set by the magistrate rather than from a fixed public schedule. Conditions in a DWI case can include a no-alcohol requirement, an ignition-interlock device, or portable or continuous alcohol monitoring.
4. The driver's-license clock (separate track). A DWI arrest starts a second, civil case against your license. You have only 15 days from the date you receive notice of the suspension (the notice is usually served at the time of arrest) to request an Administrative License Revocation (ALR) hearing from the Texas Department of Public Safety, or your license is automatically suspended (Transportation Code §§ 524.031, 724.041). This proceeding is handled by the State Office of Administrative Hearings, not the criminal court; see "What makes Bastrop County different," below.
5. Filing and first setting. For a misdemeanor, the Criminal District Attorney files the charge and the case is set in the County Court at Law. For a felony, the case is presented to a grand jury for indictment before it proceeds in a district court. Your first setting is largely administrative: appearances, scheduling, and confirming counsel.
6. Discovery. Under the Michael Morton Act (Texas's criminal discovery statute, Code of Criminal Procedure article 39.14), the prosecution provides its evidence. In DWI cases this typically includes the offense/incident report, the probable-cause affidavit, CAD dispatch records, breath or blood lab results, certified driving records, any EMS or hospital records, and dash-cam and body-cam video. Filing and exchange are handled electronically.
7. Announcement / plea dockets. Cases move through a rhythm of reset settings at which the parties announce status, exchange positions, and either continue negotiating or move toward trial.
8. Pretrial motions. Where the facts support it, and routinely in felony matters, the defense files motions such as a motion to suppress evidence, along with related trial-preparation filings.
9. Trial setting. If the case does not resolve, a misdemeanor is set for trial in the County Court at Law and a felony in the assigned district court, with announcement practice governing how firmly a given trial date holds.
10. Disposition. The case concludes by dismissal, diversion, plea, or trial verdict, depending on its facts and posture.

Local programs

Bastrop County is a smaller, largely rural county, and it does not appear to run the array of specialty dockets found in a large metro. Based on available public sources:

• No dedicated specialty DWI/sobriety court, veterans treatment court, mental health court, or drug court was identified for Bastrop County. A defendant here should not assume a specialty-docket path to dismissal exists the way it might in Travis or Bexar County.
• Pretrial diversion. No official published Bastrop Criminal District Attorney diversion program, eligibility list, or dismissal terms were located. Defense-bar sources note that first-time offenders may be considered for diversion case by case at the district attorney's discretion. As a general matter of Texas law, a successful pretrial-diversion (pretrial-intervention) agreement, the kind authorized under Section 76.011 of the Texas Government Code, ends with the prosecutor moving to dismiss the charge, after which the arrest may be eligible for expunction. That is different from deferred adjudication, a form of community supervision under Code of Criminal Procedure article 42A.104: deferred adjudication is not a conviction, but successful completion generally makes a person eligible only for an order of nondisclosure (sealing), not expunction. Whether either path is available for a Bastrop DWI, and on what terms, should be confirmed with the prosecutor.
• Probation / community supervision. Probation is administered by the Bastrop County Community Supervision and Corrections Department (CSCD), which serves the 21st, 335th, 423rd, and 465th judicial districts. If you are placed on community supervision, this is the office that supervises it.
• Driver's-license (ALR) hearings. ALR hearings are civil driver's-license proceedings held by the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH), not the criminal courts. Because Bastrop County's population is under 300,000, SOAH sets the hearing within 75 miles of the county seat, in practice, the SOAH Austin regional docket. The hearing must be requested from DPS within 15 days of receiving notice of the suspension, and it may be held in person or by phone or video.

What makes Bastrop County different

A few realities of practicing here are things a local defendant would recognize immediately and an out-of-town firm can miss.

One prosecutor's office handles the whole case, from misdemeanor to felony. In many Texas counties, a misdemeanor DWI and a felony DWI are handled by two entirely different prosecuting offices at two different addresses. In Bastrop, a single unified Criminal District Attorney prosecutes both. Practically, that means the office you are negotiating with on a first-offense Class B misdemeanor in the County Court at Law is the same office that would carry a felony DWI to a grand jury and into a district court. Understanding that continuity matters when you are thinking about how a case may be positioned.

Misdemeanor and felony DWI run on two different tracks through two different sets of courts. Because Bastrop has just one County Court at Law handling Class A and Class B misdemeanors, a misdemeanor DWI (a first offense, a second offense, or a Class A elevation for a higher alcohol concentration) moves through that single courtroom. Felony DWI is different terrain: a third or subsequent offense (a third-degree felony), a DWI with a child passenger (a state-jail felony), or an intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter is handled in one of the four district courts, and a felony must first be presented to a grand jury for indictment. Knowing which track your charge sits on tells you which court, which judge, and which timeline you are dealing with.

The criminal case and the license case are two separate fights, and the license fight leaves the county. A Bastrop DWI is really two proceedings running in parallel: the criminal case at the courthouse on Pecan Street, and a separate administrative fight over your driver's license at SOAH. The license side is easy to overlook because it has nothing to do with the criminal courthouse, and because Bastrop is under 300,000 in population, the SOAH hearing is set within 75 miles of the county seat, so it is typically handled on the Austin regional docket rather than in Bastrop itself. Yet its clock is the first hard deadline you face: the request must reach DPS within 15 days of receiving notice of the suspension. For many people the license consequences are as disruptive as the criminal case: losing the ability to drive to work, school, or treatment. Two tools matter here: requesting the ALR hearing in time to contest the suspension, and, where a suspension does take effect, petitioning for an Occupational Driver's License (ODL) so you can keep driving for essential purposes. Handling the criminal case well but ignoring the license track is one of the most common and costly mistakes a defendant makes.

There are fewer built-in "off-ramps" than in a big metro. Because no dedicated DWI/sobriety, veterans, mental-health, or drug court was identified in Bastrop County, and because there is no published standing diversion program, the path a first-time defendant takes tends to be shaped case by case in direct dealings with the Criminal District Attorney rather than by enrollment in a named docket. Knowing that going in changes how early and how deliberately you approach the prosecutor. (This describes how these courts and programs are generally structured in Bastrop County; it is general information, not a statement about any specific case and not a prediction of any outcome, dismissal rate, or timeline.)

Attorneys who appear here

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Charges we defend in Bastrop County

We defend the full range of criminal and DWI matters in the Bastrop County courts, including:

• DWI: first offense
• Felony DWI
• Multiple-offense DWI (DWI 2nd and subsequent)
• Underage DWI
• Drug possession and drug charges
• Assault

External resources

• Case lookup: Bastrop County Odyssey Public Access
• Statewide docket portal, re:SearchTX
• Bastrop County District Courts (21st / 335th / 423rd / 465th)
• Bastrop County Court at Law
• Bastrop County District Clerk
• Bastrop County Criminal District Attorney
• SOAH driver's-license (ALR) hearings
• Texas DPS Administrative License Revocation (ALR) program

Frequently asked questions

Nearest office

Our Austin office is a short drive from the Bastrop County courthouse and is our closest office for Central Texas clients. If you have been arrested in Bastrop County, call for a free case review or contact us online.

Other courthouse guides

• Travis County (Austin) Courthouse Guide: The criminal courts of Travis County.
• Caldwell County Courthouse Guide: The criminal courts of Caldwell County (Lockhart).
• Hays County Courthouse Guide: The criminal courts of Hays County (San Marcos).
• Williamson County Courthouse Guide: The criminal courts of Williamson County (Georgetown).