Guadalupe County Criminal Courts

If you have been arrested in Seguin, Schertz, Cibolo, or anywhere in Guadalupe County, the courthouse can feel unfamiliar: misdemeanor courts and felony courts sharing one building, a single prosecutor's office that handles everything from a first DWI to a serious felony, and a driver's-license clock running quietly in the background from the day of the arrest. This guide explains how the Guadalupe 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 treatment-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 on the level of the charge.

Misdemeanor DWI and other Class A/B misdemeanors: County Courts at Law. Class A and Class B misdemeanors, including DWI, are heard in Guadalupe County's two statutory County Courts at Law, both inside the Justice Center at 211 West Court Street:

• County Court at Law No. 1, Judge William G. Squires III, Suite 330, (830) 303-8869
• County Court at Law No. 2, Judge Kirsten Legore, Suite 338, (830) 303-8871

Both courts hear Class A and Class B misdemeanors countywide, no matter where in the county the arrest occurred. In DWI terms, that means a DWI first offense (Class B), a DWI second (Class A), and a DWI with a blood- or breath-alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher (Class A) are County-Court-at-Law matters. DWI is not assigned to one court by number; cases are distributed across both courts.

Felony charges: District Courts. Felony criminal matters, including felony DWI (a third or subsequent DWI, DWI with a child passenger, or intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter), are heard in the district courts sitting at the Justice Center. Four district courts serve Guadalupe County:

• 25th Judicial District, Judge William D. Old III (a multi-county court also serving Gonzales, Colorado, and Lavaca Counties)
• 2nd 25th Judicial District, Judge Jessica Crawford
• 274th Judicial District, Judge Gary L. Steel (a three-county court serving Comal, Guadalupe, and Hays)
• 456th Judicial District, Judge Heather H. Wright

All sit at 211 West Court Street, Seguin. The district courts share a coordinator line, (830) 303-8852, with extensions routed by court (ext. 1 for the 25th, 2 for the 2nd 25th, 3 for the 274th, 4 for the 456th); felony records are kept by the District Clerk at (830) 303-8877. Judicial assignments change with elections and appointments, so confirm the current bench before relying on any judge's name.

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. Offenses outside city limits go to one of Guadalupe County's Justice of the Peace precinct courts; Class C offenses inside a city's limits go to that city's municipal court (for example, Seguin, Schertz, or Cibolo). Confirm which court applies to your specific citation.

Who prosecutes your case

Here is the single most important structural fact about Guadalupe County, and the thing an out-of-town firm most often gets wrong: Guadalupe County has no District Attorney. The elected Guadalupe County Attorney prosecutes both misdemeanors and felonies through a Misdemeanor Division and a dedicated Felony Division in the same office.

The office. County Attorney David Willborn, 211 West Court Street, Seguin, TX 78155.

• Misdemeanor Division: (830) 303-6130. This division prosecutes misdemeanor DWI.
• Felony Division: (830) 303-1922. This division prosecutes felony DWI and other felonies.

There is no separate district attorney's office prosecuting Guadalupe County felonies. Practically, that means the same office negotiates a first DWI and a felony DWI, and there is no handoff between two agencies as a case moves from misdemeanor to felony exposure.

How a first-offense DWI is generally handled. A first, non-aggravated misdemeanor DWI is prosecuted by the County Attorney's Misdemeanor Division. There is no publicly published first-offense DWI declination, reduction, or pretrial-diversion policy, so charging and negotiation are handled case by case. Whether any individual case is reduced, resolved, or set for trial depends on the specific facts, the defendant's record, and the evidence, and no outcome is promised. 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 Guadalupe County criminal case generally moves through these stages:

1. Arrest and booking. After a DWI or other arrest, you are booked into the Guadalupe County Jail through the Sheriff's Office, which maintains the arrest and booking records (searchable through the Sheriff's records search).
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. Bonds and conditions are typically set by the magistrate rather than from a fixed public schedule. Conditions in DWI cases can include a no-alcohol term, an ignition interlock device, or portable/continuous alcohol monitoring.
4. The driver's-license clock (separate track). A DWI arrest on a breath/blood failure (0.08 or higher) or a refusal starts a second, civil case against your license. You have only 15 days from the date of the notice of suspension to request an Administrative License Revocation (ALR) hearing, or the suspension takes effect around day 40. This proceeding is handled by the State Office of Administrative Hearings, not the criminal court; see the note below.
5. Filing and first setting. For a misdemeanor, the County Attorney files the charge and the case is set in County Court at Law No. 1 or No. 2. 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), the prosecution provides its evidence. In DWI cases this typically includes the offense/incident report, the probable-cause affidavit, 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.

Local programs

Guadalupe County runs judicially supervised treatment courts. One distinction matters more than any other for a DWI client: the county's programs are post-conviction / probation-based tracks, not pretrial off-ramps that automatically dismiss the charge. Do not assume that completing a Guadalupe specialty court erases a DWI. Confirm current terms with the administering office, because criteria change.

• Achieve Drug/Alcohol Court, Guadalupe County CSCD (Adult Probation). Judicially supervised treatment for drug- and alcohol-related offenders: frequent court appearances, random testing, group and individual counseling, and a phased structure. The official participant handbook frames graduation as completion of probation; that is, the program is a condition or track of community supervision. Successful graduation therefore means finishing probation, not dismissal of the charge.
• Veterans Treatment Court, presiding judge Kyle Kutscher; coordinator Doreen Luehlfing, (830) 303-8867, DoreenL@GuadalupeTX.gov. Eligibility generally requires veteran or active-military status, an offense that can be linked to military service, and typically no prior criminal history; the program is grant-funded. The county's published materials do not state whether graduation results in dismissal, a reduction, or a deferred disposition, so confirm the completion outcome with the coordinator before relying on it.
• Pretrial diversion, DWI/sobriety court, and mental-health court. No dedicated, published Guadalupe County program was identified for any of these. Any first-offense DWI diversion, if offered, appears to be discretionary at the County Attorney level and is not published.

Driver's-license (ALR) hearings. ALR hearings are civil driver's-license proceedings held by the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH), not the Guadalupe County criminal courts. Because Guadalupe County's population is under 300,000, the hearing is set by statute within 75 miles of the county seat (Seguin) and is generally scheduled by default as a Zoom videoconference; a party may request an in-person setting at the nearest SOAH regional office (the San Antonio field office serves this area). The hearing must be requested from DPS within 15 days of the notice of suspension.

What makes Guadalupe 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 office prosecutes everything. Unlike the larger metros, Guadalupe County has no District Attorney. The elected County Attorney handles both the first-offense misdemeanor DWI and the felony DWI, through a Misdemeanor Division and a Felony Division under the same roof. There is no transfer of the file from one agency to another as exposure escalates; the same office holds the case from intake through any felony indictment, which shapes how the whole matter is approached.

Two cases start at once, and the license case moves faster. A Guadalupe County DWI is really two proceedings running in parallel: the criminal case in the County Court at Law and a separate administrative fight over your driver's license at SOAH. The license side is easy to overlook because the ALR hearing is not even held in Seguin (it is a SOAH matter, usually by video), yet its 15-day clock is the first hard deadline you face. Where a suspension is in play, a defendant may also petition for an Occupational Driver's License to keep driving to work, school, and treatment (typically with SR-22 insurance and an interlock) while the criminal case is pending.

The specialty courts here are treatment tracks, not a dismissal shortcut. Guadalupe County's problem-solving courts, the Achieve Drug/Alcohol Court and the Veterans Treatment Court, are supervised-treatment programs that generally sit on top of community supervision. Completing the drug/alcohol court means completing probation, not automatically dismissing the charge, and the veterans court's published materials do not promise dismissal either. A defendant who assumes that finishing the program erases a DWI can be badly surprised; the value of these programs is real, but it has to be understood accurately from the start.

The felony courts are multi-county courts, so the docket is shared. The district courts that hear Guadalupe felonies are not Guadalupe-only benches. The 25th District Court also serves Gonzales, Colorado, and Lavaca Counties, and the 274th serves Comal, Guadalupe, and Hays. That means a felony judge's calendar in Seguin competes with dockets in other county seats, which can affect how quickly settings are reached and how continuances are handled. It is a scheduling reality that a purely local expectation of the process can miss.

Attorneys who appear here

Attorney profiles for this courthouse are provided as a separate page component (photo, name, bar admission and any board-certification notes, and Guadalupe County experience).

Charges we defend in Guadalupe County

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

• DWI: first offense
• Felony DWI
• Multiple-offense DWI (DWI 2nd and subsequent)
• Underage DWI
• Drug possession and drug charges
• Assault
• Domestic violence / family violence
• Weapons and unlawful-carry charges

External resources

• Guadalupe County Odyssey Public Access: court records portal
• Guadalupe County ROAM: official County Clerk public records
• Guadalupe County Sheriff: jail/booking records search
• Guadalupe County District Court dockets
• Guadalupe County Courts at Law (misdemeanor DWI)
• Guadalupe County District Courts (felony)
• Guadalupe County Attorney (misdemeanor & felony prosecutor)
• Guadalupe County Veterans Treatment Court
• SOAH driver's-license (ALR) hearings
• Texas DPS Administrative License Revocation (ALR) program

Frequently asked questions

Nearest office

Our San Antonio office is the closest Lance Kennedy Law location to the Guadalupe County courthouse in Seguin. If you have been arrested in Guadalupe County, call for a free case review, or contact us online.

Other courthouse guides

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