Bexar County Criminal Courts

If you have been arrested in San Antonio or anywhere in Bexar County, the courthouse can feel like a maze: more than a dozen misdemeanor courts, a separate set of felony courts, a single district attorney who handles everything, and a driver's-license clock running quietly in the background. This guide explains how the Bexar 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 diversion or specialty-court programs may be available. 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: County Courts at Law. A first-offense DWI (Class B), and a second DWI or a DWI with a breath or blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher (Class A), are filed and heard in the Bexar County misdemeanor County Courts at Law, all housed inside the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center complex. Bexar County has thirteen misdemeanor County Courts at Law, numbered 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15. There is no single dedicated "DWI county court"; misdemeanor DWI cases are distributed across these thirteen courts by docket assignment. (County Courts at Law Nos. 3 and 10 exist but are the county's civil County Courts at Law (handling matters such as civil and eviction dockets) and are not part of the misdemeanor criminal rotation.) The specific court assigned to an individual DWI is shown in the county's online docket search.

Felony charges: Criminal District Courts. Felony criminal matters, including felony DWI, are heard in Bexar County's ten Criminal District Courts: the 144th, 175th, 186th, 187th, 226th, 227th, 290th, 379th, 399th, and 437th District Courts, also located at the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center, 300 Dolorosa Street. Felony DWI includes a third or subsequent DWI (a third-degree felony), DWI with a child passenger (a state-jail felony), intoxication assault (a third-degree felony), and intoxication manslaughter (a second-degree felony).

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 Courts at Law. Class C offenses that occur inside San Antonio city limits go to the San Antonio Municipal Court; offenses in the unincorporated parts of the county, or in smaller cities that run their own courts, go to the appropriate Justice of the Peace precinct court or that city's municipal court.

Who prosecutes your case

Unlike some Texas counties that split prosecution between a County Attorney and a District Attorney, Bexar County uses a single unified prosecutor, the Bexar County Criminal District Attorney's Office. This one office prosecutes all criminal matters, from a Class B misdemeanor DWI through first-degree felonies. (As of 2026 the elected District Attorney is Joe Gonzales, who has announced he is not seeking reelection; a newly elected District Attorney takes office in January 2027, so the office's policies described here may change with the new administration.)

Misdemeanors, including DWI. Misdemeanor DWI is prosecuted by the District Attorney's Misdemeanor Trial Division, not by a separate County Attorney. The office is in the Paul Elizondo Tower, 101 West Nueva Street, 4th Floor, San Antonio, TX 78205, and can be reached at (210) 335-2311.

Felonies, including felony DWI. The same office prosecutes all felonies through its trial and intake divisions, with cases presented to a grand jury for indictment before they proceed in the Criminal District Courts.

How a first-offense DWI is generally handled. Bexar County does not offer a first-offense-DWI diversion or "one free" program. In 2023 the District Attorney's office announced new restrictions on DWI plea bargaining, tightening a more lenient earlier policy that had allowed some defendants to plead to a lesser misdemeanor to avoid a DWI conviction. DWI is also expressly excluded from the county's misdemeanor pretrial diversion program (described below). As a practical matter, that means a standard first-offense DWI here is generally defended on its facts and evidence rather than steered into a dismissal-on-completion track. Whether any individual case is reduced, dismissed on the merits, or set for trial depends on the specific facts, the defendant's record, and the evidence, and no outcome is promised. Because a prosecutor's written policies can change (and a new District Attorney takes office in 2027), confirm the office's current approach before relying on it.

The local process, step by step

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

1. Arrest and booking. After a DWI or other arrest, you are booked into the Bexar County Jail through the Sheriff's Office, which maintains the arrest and booking records.
2. Magistration. At the county's Central Magistrate facility, 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. Bond is set at magistration rather than from a fixed public schedule. Conditions in a DWI case can include no-alcohol terms, an ignition interlock device, or portable/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 notice of suspension (usually served at arrest) to request an Administrative License Revocation (ALR) hearing, or the suspension takes effect automatically. This proceeding is handled by the State Office of Administrative Hearings, not the criminal court; see the process below.
5. Filing and first setting. The District Attorney files the charge and the case is set in the assigned County Court at Law (misdemeanor) or, after grand-jury indictment, in a Criminal District Court (felony). Your first setting is largely administrative: appearances, scheduling, and confirming counsel.
6. Discovery. Under the Michael Morton Act (Texas's criminal discovery statute), 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, it is set for trial, with announcement practice governing how firmly a given trial date holds.
10. Disposition. The case concludes by dismissal, plea, or trial verdict, depending on its facts and posture. Note that for a standard DWI, a diversion-to-dismissal track is generally not available in Bexar County.

Local programs

Bexar County runs several specialty dockets and diversion programs. The descriptions below come from the county's published program materials. Eligibility rules and outcomes change from time to time (and can shift with a change in District Attorney), so confirm current terms with the administering office before relying on them.

• Misdemeanor pretrial diversion: DWI is excluded. Bexar County operates a misdemeanor pretrial diversion program, but admission is by committee, there is no right to it, and, under the county's published diversion materials, DWI is expressly excluded (along with family-violence offenses). For eligible non-DWI offenses, successful completion results in dismissal, but a standard DWI cannot use this program. Because this exclusion anchors so much of DWI strategy here, confirm it against the current District Attorney's written guidelines.
• DWI Court (therapeutic). This is a post-conviction probation-management court, not a dismissal path. Published eligibility generally reaches adults already on probation for a subsequent DWI with a moderate-to-severe alcohol-use diagnosis, county residency, and a high-risk/high-need profile, with disqualifiers such as pending violent or felony charges, out-of-county residence, or enrollment in another problem-solving court. Because participants are already convicted, completion does not dismiss the charge. Confirm current eligibility with the program office.
• Veterans Treatment Court. For eligible veterans, the published pre-trial track can result in dismissal with no conviction on successful completion, in a program that runs roughly one year. A separate felony veterans track can avoid a conviction through pretrial diversion or deferred adjudication. Confirm current tracks and terms with the program office.
• Mental Health Court / Felony Mental Health Pretrial Diversion. For defendants with a qualifying diagnosis, successful completion of the written agreement may result in dismissal and, in some cases, expunction. Confirm current eligibility and outcomes with the program office.
• Drug Court. Bexar County operates a Drug Court within its Therapeutic Justice / Specialty Courts Coalition (which also includes a Re-Entry court). Confirm current eligibility and whether completion yields dismissal with the program office.

The bottom line for DWI: there is no diversion-to-dismissal path for a standard first- or second-offense DWI in Bexar County. Specialty-court dismissal is available only through the Veterans or Mental Health tracks, and only when the underlying eligibility (qualifying military service or a qualifying diagnosis) is met.

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. The hearing must be requested within 15 days of the notice of suspension; hearings are typically set about 60–120 days out, where a SOAH administrative law judge presides and Texas DPS attorneys present the officer's evidence. Bexar/San Antonio ALR matters route to SOAH's San Antonio regional field office, though most hearings are now conducted by video (Zoom). Failing a breath or blood test generally results in about a 90-day suspension for a first-time offender; a refusal generally results in about a 180-day suspension.

What makes Bexar 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, one posture on DWI. Because Bexar County runs every criminal case (from a first DWI to a first-degree felony) through a single District Attorney's office, there is no separate County Attorney with its own, more lenient misdemeanor posture. Since 2023 the office has tightened DWI plea bargaining, and, under the county's published diversion materials, DWI is carved out of the misdemeanor pretrial diversion program. The "get it dismissed by completing diversion" pathway that exists for a first DWI in some Central Texas counties is generally not on the table here for a standard Bexar DWI. That shapes strategy from day one: the case is built to be defended on the evidence, not positioned for an automatic dismissal track.

The parallel license case has its own hard deadline. A DWI arrest triggers a separate, civil action against the driver's license on the State Office of Administrative Hearings' track, not the criminal court's. Its 15-day clock to request an ALR hearing is the first true deadline after arrest, and it runs whether or not the criminal charge is ever filed. Because the criminal side offers no diversion-to-dismissal for a standard DWI, the license proceeding (and any Occupational Driver's License request that keeps a person driving to work, school, or treatment) is a meaningful part of the work here. It is also easy for an out-of-town firm to overlook, because it has nothing to do with the criminal courthouse.

Felony intoxication cases move to a different set of courts. A third-or-subsequent DWI, a DWI with a child passenger, and intoxication assault or manslaughter are felonies: they require a grand-jury indictment and are heard in the ten Criminal District Courts rather than the misdemeanor County Courts at Law. These are handled as trial-ready matters, and the earlier the defense engages with the evidence, the better positioned the case tends to be.

Specialty-court relief is narrow, but real for those who qualify. The only Bexar programs that end in dismissal for an intoxication-related case are the Veterans Treatment Court (pre-trial track) and the Mental Health Court, and only when a client meets the underlying eligibility, such as qualifying military service or a qualifying diagnosis. The DWI Court, by contrast, is a post-conviction supervision program, not a way to erase the charge. Knowing which door actually leads to a dismissal, and which does not, is one of the things a local defender gets right and an out-of-town firm can get wrong.

A leadership transition is underway. The elected District Attorney is not seeking reelection, and a newly elected District Attorney takes office in January 2027. Charging priorities, plea practices, and diversion criteria can shift with a new administration, so anyone relying on today's policies should confirm they still hold.

Attorneys who appear here

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Charges we defend in Bexar County

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

• DWI, first offense
• Felony DWI
• Multiple-offense DWI (DWI 2nd and subsequent)
• Underage DWI
• DWI with a child passenger
• Intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter
• Drug possession and drug charges
• Weapons and unlawful-carry charges

External resources

• Bexar County Justice Information Portal (criminal case lookup & daily dockets)
• Online District Clerk Criminal Records (daily-updated index)
• Bexar County Misdemeanor Trial Division (misdemeanor County Courts list)
• Bexar County Criminal District Courts (felony courts list)
• Bexar County Criminal District Attorney
• Central Magistrate recent-arrest search
• Bexar County Sheriff: jail activity / inmate search
• SOAH driver's-license (ALR) hearings

Frequently Asked Questions

Nearest Office

Our San Antonio office is minutes from the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center. If you have been arrested in Bexar County, call for a free case review, or contact us online.

Other courthouse guides

• Comal County (New Braunfels) Courthouse Guide: The criminal courts of Comal County.
• Guadalupe County (Seguin) Courthouse Guide: The criminal courts of Guadalupe County.
• Travis County (Austin) Courthouse Guide: The criminal courts of Travis County.
• Hays County (San Marcos) Courthouse Guide: The criminal courts of Hays County.