Williamson County Criminal Courts

If you have been arrested in Georgetown, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, or anywhere in Williamson County, the courthouse can feel like a maze: different courts for different charges, two separate prosecutors' offices, and a driver's-license clock running quietly in the background. This guide explains how the Williamson 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 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. Williamson County has five statutory County Courts at Law, but not all of them hear criminal cases. Adult misdemeanors, including a Class B first-offense DWI, a Class A DWI (a second DWI, or a first DWI with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher), theft, and assault, are prosecuted in the county's criminal County Courts at Law: County Court at Law No. 2, County Court at Law No. 3, and County Court at Law No. 5 (No. 5 was created effective October 1, 2022). County Court at Law No. 2 also carries the county's specialty misdemeanor dockets: the DWI/Drug Court, a Mental Health Court, and the Veterans Treatment Court. County Courts at Law Nos. 1 and 4 handle non-criminal work (No. 1 an uncontested civil docket, and No. 4 family, probate, guardianship, and eminent-domain matters), not the criminal DWI docket. The specific court assigned to your case is shown on your court-notice paperwork.

Felony charges: District Courts. Felony criminal matters, including felony DWI (a third or subsequent DWI, DWI with a child passenger, or an intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter charge), are heard in the Williamson County district courts that carry criminal dockets: the 26th, 277th, 368th, and 512th District Courts. Several of these courts also run specialty dockets: the 26th District Court presides over a felony Mental Health Docket, the 277th runs the Transformative Justice Program, and the 368th runs the felony DWI Court Program. The 395th, 425th, and 480th District Courts are civil, family, and child-welfare courts and do not hear felony criminal cases. Judicial assignments rotate with elections and appointments, so confirm the current bench for any court before relying on it.

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 and do not include DWI. Offenses in the county outside city limits go to one of Williamson County's Justice of the Peace precinct courts, while Class C offenses inside a city's limits go to that city's municipal court (Georgetown, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, and others each run their own).

Who prosecutes your case

Williamson County splits prosecution between two separate offices, and which one handles your case depends on the charge level.

Misdemeanors, including DWI: the Williamson County Attorney. The County Attorney's Criminal Division prosecutes adult misdemeanors filed in Williamson County, including every misdemeanor DWI, across the criminal County Courts at Law. The office is located in the Williamson County Justice Center at 405 M.L.K. Jr. Street, Suite 229, Georgetown, TX 78626; phone (512) 943-1111. The County Attorney also administers the county's Pre-Trial Intervention Program, the diversion pathway that most often shapes a first-offense misdemeanor DWI (described below).

Felonies: the Williamson County District Attorney (26th Judicial District). The District Attorney prosecutes all felonies, including felony DWI, through the 26th Judicial District. The office is at 405 M.L.K. Jr. Street, Suite 265, Georgetown, TX 78626; phone (512) 943-1234. Felony intake and indictment run through the grand jury.

How a first-offense DWI is generally handled. A first, non-aggravated misdemeanor DWI is prosecuted by the County Attorney, and for eligible first-time defendants the office's Pre-Trial Intervention Program (PTIP), a voluntary, supervised diversion whose successful completion results in dismissal, is a common pathway (see Local programs below for its terms and strict, discretionary eligibility). Whether any individual case is offered diversion, reduced, or set for trial depends on the specific facts, the defendant's record, and the evidence, and no outcome is promised.

The local process, step by step

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

1. Arrest and booking. After a DWI or other arrest, you are booked into the Williamson County Jail through the Sheriff's Office, which maintains the arrest and booking records.
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. Bond is set at magistration rather than from a fixed public schedule. Conditions can include no-alcohol terms, 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 arrest to request an Administrative License Revocation (ALR) hearing from the Texas Department of Public Safety, or your license is automatically suspended (roughly 40 days after arrest). This proceeding is handled by the State Office of Administrative Hearings, not the criminal court; see the process below.
5. Filing and first setting. For a misdemeanor, the County Attorney files the charge and the case is set in the assigned County Court at Law (No. 2, 3, or 5). 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, 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, diversion, plea, or trial verdict, depending on its facts and posture.

Local programs

Williamson County runs an unusually developed set of specialty dockets and diversion programs for a county its size. Eligibility and outcomes below come from the county's published program materials; confirm current terms with the administering office, because criteria change.

• Pre-Trial Intervention Program (PTIP): Williamson County Attorney. A voluntary, supervised diversion (commonly six to twelve months) for first-time misdemeanor offenders, including many first-offense DWIs. Requirements can include education classes, community service, drug testing, and alcohol monitoring. Successful completion results in dismissal of the charge. Eligibility is strict and discretionary (generally no misdemeanor conviction or deferred adjudication in the prior ten years, with any prior arrest or charge for the same or a similar offense a potential disqualifier), and admission is at the County Attorney's discretion. Because its terms are set by that office rather than fixed by statute, confirm the current written criteria directly with the County Attorney.
• DWI/Drug Court: County Court at Law No. 2. A program of at least twelve months for misdemeanor alcohol and drug offenses, with two tracks: a deferred-adjudication track (high risk / low need) and a post-adjudication track (high risk / high need). An unsuccessful discharge returns the case through a motion to revoke supervision or a motion to set aside the deferred adjudication. The deferred-adjudication track ends in discharge of the deferred case on successful completion, though a DWI deferred adjudication is not eligible for expunction, only for a later order of nondisclosure.
• Mental Health Court: County Court at Law No. 2. A judicially supervised misdemeanor docket for defendants with a diagnosed mental illness. (A separate felony Mental Health Docket runs in the 26th District Court.)
• Veterans Treatment Court: County Court at Law No. 2. Open to eligible misdemeanor and felony offenses for participants 18 and older with an honorable or general-under-honorable discharge (others considered case by case). It runs two tracks: a pre-trial diversion track and a probation track. At completion, participants "may be eligible to have their charges dismissed, nolle, or reduced," so dismissal is available, primarily through the pre-trial diversion track.
• Transformative Justice Program: 277th District Court. A felony-level problem-solving docket run out of the 277th District Court.
• Felony DWI Court Program: 368th District Court. A felony-level DWI treatment court for defendants facing a third-or-subsequent DWI and similar felony intoxication charges.
• Felony Mental Health Docket: 26th District Court. A judicially supervised felony docket for defendants with a diagnosed mental illness.

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. For Williamson County and Central Texas arrests, they are administered out of SOAH's Austin headquarters at the William P. Clements Building, 300 West 15th Street, Austin, TX 78701; (512) 475-4993, with ALR hearings held on the building's fourth floor. Many hearings are now held by phone or video, and SOAH sets the specific location and format per case. The hearing must be requested from DPS within 15 days of the arrest, and a timely request stays the suspension until the administrative law judge rules.

What makes Williamson County different

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

Two prosecutors, and which one you face is set by the grade of the charge. The first thing that surprises an out-of-town lawyer is that DWI in Williamson County is prosecuted by two entirely separate offices. A first, non-aggravated DWI is a misdemeanor prosecuted by the County Attorney, whose Pre-Trial Intervention Program is the first-offense pathway to understand. Felony DWI (a third or subsequent offense, a DWI with a child passenger, or an intoxication assault or manslaughter charge) is a different world, prosecuted by the District Attorney in the district courts. Knowing which office and which court a case lives in from day one changes how it is worked.

Two cases start at once, and the license case moves faster. A Williamson 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 it has nothing to do with the criminal courthouse, yet its 15-day clock is the first hard deadline you face. Requesting the ALR hearing and, where a suspension is in play, petitioning for an Occupational Driver's License (typically with SR-22 insurance and an interlock) can let a person keep driving to work, school, and treatment while the criminal case is still pending. Handling the criminal case well but ignoring the license track is one of the most common and costly mistakes a defendant makes.

Diversion and specialty courts are a live option, and worth pursuing early. For a county its size, Williamson runs a deep bench of diversion and treatment courts: the County Attorney's PTIP, and (through County Court at Law No. 2) a misdemeanor DWI/Drug Court, a Mental Health Court, and a Veterans Treatment Court, alongside a felony DWI Court in the 368th and a felony Mental Health Docket in the 26th. On a first-offense misdemeanor DWI the PTIP application is a normal part of the file, and because completion leads to dismissal, positioning a case for that track from the outset can matter more than any single hearing. The tradeoff is a period of structured supervision, and eligibility is strict and discretionary, so the decision is individual, but a defendant who does not know the program exists cannot ask for it.

Veteran status and companion charges are worth raising early. Two structural features of local practice are easy to miss. First, a defendant's military service can open the door to the Veterans Treatment Court and its dismissal-eligible diversion track, so veteran status is worth raising at the outset. Second, a DWI is often filed alongside a companion charge (such as unlawful carry, drug possession, or evading arrest) and that companion charge can change how the whole file is negotiated. Neither point describes any particular case; both reflect how these matters are charged and resolved under the county's court structure and programs.

Attorneys who appear here

Profiles of the Lance Kennedy Law attorneys who handle Williamson County matters appear here: photo, name, bar admission, any board certification, and Williamson County experience.

Charges we defend in Williamson County

We defend the full range of criminal and DWI matters in the Williamson 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

• Williamson County criminal case records (Odyssey Public Access)
• Williamson County court case lookup
• Williamson County Attorney (misdemeanor / DWI prosecutor)
• Williamson County District Attorney, 26th Judicial District (felony prosecutor)
• Williamson County District Courts
• Williamson County Courts at Law
• Williamson County DWI/Drug Court
• Williamson County Veterans Treatment Court
• SOAH driver's-license (ALR) hearings

Frequently Asked Questions

Nearest Office

Our Austin office is a short drive from the Williamson County Justice Center in Georgetown. If you have been arrested in Williamson 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.
• Bexar County (San Antonio) Courthouse Guide: The criminal courts of Bexar County.
• Hays County Courthouse Guide: The criminal courts of Hays County (San Marcos).
• Dallas-Area Courthouse Guide: The criminal courts serving our Dallas-area clients.