Arrested in Austin? What you do in the next 24 hours can shape everything that follows. Barton & Associates’ Criminal Defense Division has represented Travis County residents for more than two decades, from Central Austin through Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown and Pflugerville, appearing regularly in the 147th, 167th, 299th and 403rd Criminal District Courts. Our attorneys combine board certification in criminal law, former-prosecutor experience, and a working knowledge of how Travis County actually prosecutes cases—from Sixth Street DWI arrests to felony indictments.
Gary J Barton & AssociatesAttorneys at Law
Austin’s rapid growth has brought a correspondingly aggressive law enforcement and prosecutorial environment, particularly around DWI enforcement and the technology-sector white-collar cases that come with a growing corporate presence. Barton & Associates’ Criminal Defense Division has represented clients across Travis County, including Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Pflugerville, Buda and Kyle, appearing regularly before the 147th, 167th, 299th and 403rd Criminal District Courts as well as Travis County’s misdemeanor and municipal courts.
That regularity is what actually matters. An attorney who appears in a Travis County courtroom occasionally learns the statute; an attorney who appears there every week learns the judge, the specific prosecutor’s actual charging patterns, and which arguments genuinely move a case in that room. Board-certified criminal law expertise, aggressive pretrial motion practice, and a real commitment to challenging the state’s case at every stage — from the first appearance through a jury verdict, if that’s what a case requires — is what this firm brings to every Austin criminal defense client.
When your freedom is on the line, the specific credentials of the attorney actually handling your case matter more than a firm’s advertising. Barton & Associates’ Criminal Defense team includes a board-certified criminal law specialist, a former prosecutor, and trial attorneys who have collectively tried well over 100 jury cases across Texas.
Founding attorney Gary J. Barton holds board certification in criminal law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization — a credential fewer than three percent of licensed Texas attorneys ever earn — and spent years prosecuting major violent felonies, including capital murder, before moving to defense work. That background gives this firm genuine, first-hand insight into how a district attorney’s office evaluates evidence and builds a case — insight a defense attorney without prosecutorial experience simply doesn’t have. Senior Trial Attorney Jim Erickson has been trying criminal cases since 1985 — more than 250 to a jury verdict, across upwards of sixty Texas counties — including the third Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity verdict ever returned in this state’s history. Every attorney on this team is actively licensed by the State Bar of Texas and appears regularly before Travis County’s criminal district courts.
Every person facing a criminal charge in Austin deserves an attorney who will genuinely challenge the evidence and pursue every defense the facts actually support — not an attorney who treats the case as routine. That standard doesn’t change based on whether the charge is a first-offense DWI after a night on Sixth Street or a serious felony indictment.
Austin’s criminal justice landscape has grown more complex alongside the city itself — DWI enforcement concentrated around the entertainment districts and the IH-35 and MoPac corridors, and a rising number of white-collar and computer crime cases tied to the region’s technology industry. Families across Travis County feel the consequences of a criminal charge directly, whatever form it takes — lost income, a damaged professional license, or a threat to a client’s ability to remain in this country or keep a security clearance. From misdemeanor charges through the most serious felony allegations, this firm approaches every Austin case with the same level of preparation and the same willingness to take a case to trial when a trial genuinely serves the client.
Experienced in Austin & Travis County Criminal Courts
Anyone searching for a criminal defense lawyer Austin TX after an arrest deserves more than reassurance — they deserve a documented record. Barton & Associates’ Criminal Defense Division has represented defendants throughout Travis County, including Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown and Pflugerville, building that record case by case rather than claiming it in the abstract.
The documented case results this firm has secured span serious and complex matters: a capital murder charge dismissed entirely, with the client having faced death row exposure; a sexual assault case rejected before indictment, with the state also blocked from filing an associated human trafficking charge; multiple assault family violence charges dismissed before filing or before indictment; a not-guilty jury verdict in an assault bodily injury case; and DWI charges resolved through dismissal or pretrial diversion. Case outcomes depend entirely on the specific facts involved, and no past result guarantees a future one — but this range reflects a defense process applied to every case this firm accepts, not a small number of favorable exceptions.
Austin’s entertainment districts and heavily patrolled IH-35, MoPac and Highway 183 corridors generate a high volume of DWI arrests, and Austin Police Department periodically runs no-refusal enforcement during major event weekends — including South by Southwest, Austin City Limits, and University of Texas football games — during which officers can obtain blood draw warrants within roughly an hour of arrest. That means many Austin DWI cases involve a blood draw rather than a breath test, which raises its own set of evidentiary questions: warrant validity, chain of custody, and the reliability of the lab analysis behind the result. Our attorneys build every DWI defense around whichever evidentiary path the state actually used.
Felony cases in Travis County move through the 147th, 167th, 299th and 403rd Criminal District Courts, and this firm’s attorneys appear in all four regularly enough to understand each court’s specific procedural tendencies — not just the law on the books. Founding attorney Gary Barton’s years prosecuting capital murders and aggravated assaults give this firm direct insight into which evidence a prosecutor treats as strong, which they privately know is vulnerable, and where an aggressive suppression motion creates real pressure before a jury is ever seated.
A record built on genuinely hard-fought cases — where the facts were messy and the state’s evidence looked solid going in — tells a prospective client more than a record padded with easy wins ever could. That’s the standard worth applying to any Austin DWI lawyer or emergency criminal lawyer Austin a defendant is evaluating. Anyone weighing that standard against a specific case is welcome to bring it directly to this firm for a candid read on what the record above could mean for it.
Facing a criminal charge in Travis County means facing the full resources of the District Attorney’s Office. A solo practitioner, or a small firm juggling too many files, can only bring so much to that fight — and the limits usually surface at the worst possible moment in a case, not the first. This firm’s Criminal Defense Division was deliberately built to avoid exactly that gap.
No asset on this team matters more than direct prosecutorial experience. Founding attorney Gary J. Barton spent years prosecuting major violent felonies, including capital murder, before moving to defense — giving this firm a genuine, insider understanding of how a district attorney’s office evaluates evidence, negotiates pleas, and approaches jury trials across the 147th, 167th, 299th and 403rd Criminal District Courts. For anyone facing a DWI charge, a felony allegation, or a white-collar investigation, that insider knowledge shapes pretrial strategy from the very first phone call, not just at trial.
Gary J. Barton’s board certification in criminal law comes from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization — earned by fewer than three percent of licensed Texas attorneys, and confirmed through documented trial experience, a written exam, and peer evaluation rather than anything a firm can simply assert about itself. For anyone facing serious felony charges, including the white-collar and computer crime allegations that arise more often in a technology-heavy market like Austin, that certification is an independently confirmed standard most defense attorneys in this market haven’t met.
Senior Trial Attorney Jim Erickson began practicing criminal defense in 1985 and has since tried upward of 250 cases to a jury, spanning more than sixty Texas counties — a career that includes securing only the third Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity verdict in Texas history, an outcome fewer than one in a hundred criminal trials produces. Add Gary Barton’s board certification and prosecutorial background, plus Managing Attorney Duane Graeff’s twenty-six-plus years litigating family law and criminal cases, and few defense firms operating in the Austin market can point to a comparable bench.
Criminal cases move on their own timeline, not a convenient one. If one attorney is mid-trial on a serious felony, someone else on the team is free to handle a bond hearing or take a client’s call that same afternoon. Paralegals and legal support staff track filing deadlines and case documentation with the same discipline the attorneys bring into court — which is what keeps a case from losing ground because one person was stretched too thin.
A criminal defense firm’s reputation should be something a prospective client can verify, not just something the firm says about itself. Anyone facing a criminal charge in Austin deserves to know that a firm’s past clients would genuinely hire it again — and that evidence should be checkable, not just claimed.
An arrest in Austin doesn’t happen on a schedule — it happens at 2 a.m. after a night on Sixth Street, at a checkpoint during South by Southwest, or during a routine traffic stop on IH-35 that turns into something more. This firm’s Criminal Defense Division answers around the clock — an actual attorney, not a voicemail promising a callback once the work week starts. Every client gets direct attorney access and immediate guidance in the hours that matter most.
Barton & Associates has accumulated more than 500 verified five-star Google reviews from clients — written directly on Google by the clients themselves, with no ability for the firm to select or suppress which ones appear. Recurring themes in those reviews include attorneys who answered a call the same day a client was arrested, and outcomes clients describe as better than they expected given how serious things looked when they first called.
The credentials beyond client reviews come from other lawyers and judges evaluating this firm’s work, not from anything the firm claims about itself. Gary J. Barton carries both a Super Lawyer designation and recognition from Best Lawyers in America — honors that come from other practicing attorneys and judges casting votes, not from an application fee or a self-nomination — on top of being named Lawyer of the Year for the San Antonio region. Martindale-Hubbell has given the firm its AV Preeminent designation — the top tier in that peer-review system, which has rated attorneys on ethics and skill since long before online reviews existed.
Austin defendants and their families consistently want to know one thing early: what representation will actually cost, and what that cost covers. This firm treats that as a baseline commitment rather than an afterthought — a clear discussion of fee structure and realistic cost expectations during the free consultation, before any decision gets made, so a client is never navigating a criminal case and an unexpected bill at the same time.
Primary Practice Areas
Arrested for DWI in Austin? What happens in the first 15 days matters as much as anything that happens later. Under Texas Transportation Code Section 724.032, an Administrative License Revocation hearing must be requested within 15 calendar days of arrest, or the suspension takes effect automatically — a separate track that runs regardless of how the underlying criminal case turns out. We request this hearing for every DWI client at no added cost, and it creates an early opportunity to cross-examine the arresting officer under oath.
Our Austin DWI lawyer team challenges every stage of a DWI prosecution: the legal basis for the stop along Sixth Street, Rainey Street, IH-35, MoPac or Highway 183; how field sobriety tests were administered; and, because Austin Police Department periodically runs no-refusal blood draw programs during major event weekends like South by Southwest, Austin City Limits and UT football games, the validity of the blood draw warrant, chain of custody, and lab analysis protocol behind the result. A genuine procedural violation at any of these stages can be enough to have the state’s core evidence excluded — and without that evidence, many DWI prosecutions don’t survive.
A Texas misdemeanor conviction doesn’t fade with time — there is no automatic expungement — and it can follow someone through every future background check for employment, housing, or a professional license for decades. Every misdemeanor gets the same early scrutiny: whether the stop or detention was actually lawful, whether the complaining witness holds up under questioning, and whether the physical evidence genuinely supports the charge as filed. We pursue dismissals, deferred adjudication, and record-protecting resolutions for clients facing assault, theft, criminal trespass, drug possession and disorderly conduct charges across Travis County’s municipal and county courts. Texas law offers several diversion paths built specifically for first-time offenders, and figuring out which ones a case actually qualifies for is one of the earliest steps this firm takes once retained.
Few legal situations carry higher stakes than a felony charge — state jail felonies up through first-degree felonies can mean years in state prison, a lifetime firearm prohibition, and consequences that outlast the sentence itself. Travis County prosecutes felonies in the 147th, 167th, 299th and 403rd Criminal District Courts, and this firm’s attorneys appear in front of all four often enough to know each courtroom’s individual prosecutors and each judge’s tendencies — knowledge that shapes strategy from the moment of arrest, not just once a trial date is set.
Our attorneys have defended clients against aggravated assault, drug distribution, sex crimes, weapons offenses, and white-collar and computer crime allegations — a category that arises more often in a technology-heavy market like Austin than in most Texas cities — using constitutional suppression motions, forensic evidence challenges, and jury trial advocacy when a case genuinely calls for trial rather than negotiation. Founding attorney Gary Barton’s background prosecuting major violent felonies gives felony clients a real, first-hand read on how the state’s case against them is actually built.
Contact Barton & Associates Austin today for a free, confidential consultation about your legal matter. Complete this form to schedule a Free Consultation, or call us at 512-843-3476 to check immediate attorney availability.
We are selective about the cases we accept because we treat our clients like family—with respect, dignity and unwavering commitment. In return, we expect the same courtesy. We do not tolerate rudeness toward our staff, and we will withdraw representation from any client who exhibits inappropriate behavior, dishonesty or attempts to mislead our team.
FAQ Criminal Defense Austin
Austin Police Department runs some of the most active DWI enforcement in Texas, particularly along the Sixth Street and Rainey Street entertainment corridors, East Cesar Chavez, and the heavily patrolled IH-35, MoPac and Highway 183 corridors, where saturation patrols run on weekend nights. APD also runs no-refusal programs during major event weekends — including South by Southwest, Austin City Limits, and UT football — during which officers can obtain blood draw warrants within roughly an hour of arrest. That means many Austin DWI arrests involve a blood draw rather than a breath test, which raises its own evidentiary questions: chain of custody, blood draw procedure, and the reliability of the testing methodology used by the DPS crime lab. Understanding which enforcement context produced an arrest — a saturation patrol, a checkpoint, a crash investigation, or a routine stop — directly shapes which constitutional and evidentiary arguments are available.
White-collar charges cover a range of offenses involving financial deception, unauthorized computer access, securities fraud, and identity theft. Austin’s technology sector means these charges arise more often here than in most Texas cities, and they’re prosecuted by the Travis County District Attorney’s Office or, when interstate commerce or federal jurisdiction applies, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas. Texas Penal Code Chapter 33 covers unauthorized computer access and online impersonation, with penalties ranging from a Class B misdemeanor to a first-degree felony depending on the conduct and the value involved. Federal computer crime charges under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act carry their own sentencing structure, often harsher than state equivalents. These cases typically involve extensive digital evidence — server logs, financial records, forensic device images — that requires careful analysis before any defense strategy takes shape, and early representation during the investigation phase, before charges are filed, is particularly valuable since that phase often determines what evidence exists and what theory the prosecution builds.
Austin’s technology sector includes many non-citizen residents on H-1B, L-1, O-1 and other employment visas, plus international students at UT Austin. A criminal arrest, even without conviction, can trigger immigration consequences on a separate, sometimes faster timeline than the criminal case itself. A conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude, an aggravated felony under federal immigration law, or a controlled substance offense can trigger mandatory deportation or bar naturalization — and the federal definition of aggravated felony is broader than Texas’s definition of felony, capturing some offenses Texas classifies as misdemeanors. An attorney without working knowledge of immigration consequences can’t fully advise a non-citizen client on a plea that looks favorable in the criminal case but carries deportation risk. We treat immigration consequences as a standard part of the defense analysis whenever a client’s status may be affected, coordinating with immigration counsel when needed.
Arrests on or near UT Austin can involve UT Police, Austin Police, and sometimes the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, and which agency made the arrest affects which court handles the case. Charges from campus incidents — drug possession, assault, public intoxication, weapons violations, sexual assault — are prosecuted in Travis County court like any other Austin arrest. But UT Austin also runs a separate administrative conduct process through its Office of Student Conduct that can proceed at the same time and impose its own sanctions, including suspension or expulsion, under a civil standard of proof independent of the criminal case’s outcome. Decisions in the criminal case — accepting deferred adjudication, contesting the charge, seeking dismissal — can directly affect the conduct proceeding, and vice versa. Title IX investigations for sexual misconduct allegations run on a third, separate track under federal education law. Managing all three requires an attorney who understands how they interact.
Despite Austin’s reputation for progressive enforcement priorities, marijuana remains illegal under Texas law at every quantity, and possession is a real criminal offense. Possession of two ounces or less is a Class B misdemeanor under Texas Health and Safety Code Section 481.121, carrying up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine; more than two ounces becomes a Class A misdemeanor, and amounts above four ounces move into felony territory. APD has at times deprioritized low-level marijuana arrests when lab analysis isn’t immediately available, but that policy can change with leadership, and Travis County prosecutors retain full authority to prosecute regardless of APD’s internal priorities. A marijuana arrest in Austin carries real consequences for employment, licensing, housing, and — for non-citizens — immigration status, and deserves the same defense analysis as any other drug charge.
A Texas License to Carry, issued under Texas Government Code Chapter 411, authorizes carrying a handgun in most public places, subject to specific prohibited locations. A weapons charge doesn’t automatically revoke an LTC, but a conviction for certain offenses — any felony, a Class A misdemeanor, a family violence misdemeanor, or specific weapons offenses — can result in years-long or permanent disqualification, and if the conviction is a federal prohibitor, permanent loss of firearm rights under federal law. Prohibited locations include establishments earning 51% or more of income from alcohol sales, courts, and polling places — and unlawfully carrying in a prohibited location is itself a criminal offense. Weapons charges from traffic stops, bar incidents, or campus proximity in Travis County require immediate analysis of whether the LTC was valid, whether the location was genuinely prohibited, and whether the stop itself was constitutionally sound.
A second DWI elevates the charge from a Class B to a Class A misdemeanor, carrying a minimum 30-day jail sentence, up to a year in jail, a $4,000 fine, and mandatory ignition interlock. A third DWI is a third-degree felony under Texas Penal Code Section 49.09, carrying 2 to 10 years in state prison and up to $10,000 in fines, and it’s prosecuted in a Travis County felony district court rather than county court. Beyond the higher penalty range, prior convictions must be alleged and proven by the state through certified copies of prior judgments — a specific evidentiary step that can sometimes be challenged on validity or completeness grounds. A repeat-offense defense also requires a thorough review of the defendant’s overall history and any pattern in the current arrest’s evidentiary weaknesses compared to the prior cases.
Yes, and for qualifying defendants they’re among the most valuable tools available. Travis County’s Deferred Prosecution Program applies to certain misdemeanor and some felony offenses, allowing a defendant to complete conditions — community service, counseling, restitution — in exchange for dismissal without a conviction. A Mental Health Diversion Program addresses cases where an underlying mental health condition contributed to the alleged offense, and drug court programs provide supervised treatment as an alternative to prosecution for substance-related charges. Availability depends on the specific charge, criminal history, and the Travis County DA’s screening criteria — acceptance isn’t automatic simply because someone is a first-time offender. A criminal defense attorney who regularly practices in Travis County knows which programs currently exist and how to present a client as a strong candidate.
Austin has a significant population of government contractors and federal employees whose jobs depend on active clearances. A criminal arrest, even without conviction, typically triggers a reporting obligation under most clearance agreements, and failing to self-report can itself be a more serious violation than the underlying arrest. Federal adjudicative guidelines evaluate criminal conduct under Guideline J, weighing the nature of the offense, how recent it was, and evidence of rehabilitation. A single DWI arrest doesn’t automatically revoke a clearance, but a conviction — particularly involving controlled substances or dishonesty — carries meaningfully higher risk. The timing of self-reporting and the outcome achieved in the criminal case both directly affect the clearance adjudication, which is why we handle the criminal case with clearance consequences in mind from day one, coordinating with clearance counsel when needed.
A Motion to Revoke Probation (straight probation) or Motion to Adjudicate (deferred adjudication) is heard by the original judge without a jury, under a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard — far lower than reasonable doubt. The state presents evidence of the alleged violation — a new arrest, a positive drug test, a missed payment or report — and the defendant can present evidence in response. An arrest alone isn’t proof of a violation; positive drug tests can be challenged on chain-of-custody and testing-protocol grounds; and missed payments or reports can sometimes be addressed with mitigation evidence. If revocation is granted, the judge can impose any sentence within the original range up to the statutory maximum — which is why this hearing, despite its lower burden of proof, deserves the same preparation as any other serious proceeding.
A best criminal lawyer in Austin handling a white-collar or computer crime allegation has to work from digital evidence first — server logs, financial records, forensic device images — rather than the physical evidence and eyewitness testimony that dominate most criminal cases. That evidence often takes weeks to fully analyze, which is exactly why early representation during the investigation phase, before any charge is formally filed, matters more here than in most other case types: the investigation phase is frequently where the government’s entire theory of the case gets built. A charge tied to a startup or employer can also carry consequences beyond the courtroom — a securities matter can trigger parallel civil or regulatory proceedings, and any felony conviction can affect professional licensing, board memberships, and future fundraising or employment in the technology sector specifically.
An arrest doesn’t wait for a paycheck, and a jail release lawyer Austin families call in an emergency should be reachable the same day. This firm’s free, confidential consultation exists precisely for that situation — a real conversation about the facts of an arrest and what a defense will realistically cost, before anyone commits to anything. For anyone genuinely unable to afford private counsel, Travis County’s court-appointed counsel system exists specifically for that situation, and a magistrate screens for indigency at the initial appearance. This firm takes calls seven days a week, including from people who aren’t yet sure how they’ll cover representation.
A domestic violence lawyer Austin clients need understands these cases carry consequences beyond the standard assault statute. A conviction — or in some circumstances even a deferred adjudication — triggers a federal firearms prohibition under the Lautenberg Amendment, separate from and often more permanent than a standard assault conviction’s consequences. These cases also frequently involve an emergency protective order issued before the underlying criminal case is heard, which can restrict contact with family, access to a shared home, and in some situations custody — all decided on an emergency basis with limited due process at first. Because a single 911 call can trigger an arrest before any hearing on the actual facts, an early, aggressive challenge to witness credibility and physical evidence matters more here than in most misdemeanor or felony cases.
Board certification in criminal law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization is held by fewer than three percent of licensed Texas attorneys, and it can’t be self-reported or purchased — it requires a verified trial record, a written examination, and peer evaluation. Practically, it means the credential has been independently confirmed rather than simply claimed. Founding attorney Gary J. Barton holds that certification alongside a Lawyer of the Year honor for the San Antonio region from Best Lawyers in America. For anyone comparing a criminal defense lawyer austin tx option against a less credentialed alternative, this is one of the few criminal-law credentials that’s independently verified rather than self-asserted — worth asking about directly with any firm under consideration.
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