Denton Criminal Defense Lawyers
Direct-to-attorney criminal defense for Denton arrests and Denton County criminal-court matters. Co-founders Reggie and Njeri London handle every retained case personally — from arraignment through trial or appeal — from our Frisco office, 23 miles from Denton.
L and L Law Group represents clients arrested in Denton, Texas and clients facing charges in the Denton County Courts Complex on the full Texas Penal Code and Health & Safety Code spectrum. Founding partners Reggie London (Texas Bar No. 24043514, former Dallas County Assistant District Attorney) and Njeri London (Texas Bar No. 24043266, admitted TXND, TXED, 5th Circuit) personally handle every Denton matter. Our office is in Frisco, 23 miles from Denton (32 minutes). Free 24/7 consultation: (972) 370-5060.
Common Denton criminal charges we defend
Denton is one of the few cities in this region where the county question never comes up. The whole city sits inside Denton County, so an offense committed here is a Denton County case, start to finish. What Denton has instead is an agency question. Three separate police departments work overlapping ground inside the city limits: the Denton Police Department, the University of North Texas Police Department, and the Texas Woman's University Police Department. Which one wrote your report shapes the paperwork, the video you can get, and sometimes the building you were booked into.
Where a Denton case is actually heard
Class C offenses punishable by fine only go to the Denton Municipal Court at 601 E. Hickory St. The court is unusually direct about its own intake: if your citation came from a Denton, UNT, or TWU officer, it was probably filed there. A citation written by a sheriff's deputy, a DPS trooper, or an officer from a neighboring city goes elsewhere. The court sits Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closes Friday at noon, which catches people who assume there is a full Friday docket.
Anything jailable leaves the municipal court entirely.
| Charge level | Court | Building |
|---|---|---|
| Class C, fine only | Denton Municipal Court | 601 E. Hickory St., Denton |
| Class A and Class B misdemeanor | One of five Denton County Criminal Courts | 1450 E McKinney Street, Denton |
| Felony | One of twelve Denton County district courts | 1450 E McKinney Street, Denton |
The county's district bench is the 16th, 158th, 211th, 362nd, 367th, 393rd, 431st, 442nd, 462nd, 467th, 477th, and 481st. Jailable misdemeanors are handled by the District Attorney's Misdemeanor Trial Division, whose attorneys and investigators are assigned to the five County Criminal Courts. All of it sits in the Denton County Courts Building at 1450 E McKinney Street, which also houses the Criminal District Attorney's Office in Suite 3100. Your prosecutor and your judge are in the same building. That matters more than it sounds, because it makes early face-to-face negotiation practical in a way it is not where the two are miles apart.
Campus arrests at UNT and TWU
UNT police operate from the Sullivant Public Safety Center on Wilshire Street. TWU police are on Oakland Street. Both are staffed by commissioned Texas peace officers. TWU's own annual security report states that its officers are certified peace officers under Article 2.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, that their jurisdiction under Education Code Section 51.203 covers every county where the university controls property, currently Denton, Harris, and Dallas, and that they hold the same authority to detain and arrest as municipal police officers.
The practical wrinkle is custody. The City of Denton jail, a 24-hour temporary detention facility inside police headquarters at 601 E. Hickory St. with its lobby entrance on Railroad Avenue, houses Class C arrestees for both universities under partnership agreements with those departments. A campus arrest can therefore put a student in a city facility rather than anything run by the university or the county. The city states that people are held there up to 72 hours before release or transfer. Cases needing longer custody move to the Denton County Jail, operated by the Sheriff's Detention Bureau as a 1,788-bed system that includes a linear-style jail, a direct-supervision facility, and a separate pre-trial facility.
The charges we see most often here
Alcohol offenses dominate, and they split by age. Someone under 21 faces minor in possession under Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 106.05, or driving under the influence by a minor under Section 106.041, which requires only a detectable amount of alcohol rather than proof of intoxication. Adults face DWI under Penal Code Section 49.04, with the grade rising to Class A at a 0.15 alcohol concentration and to a third degree felony on a second prior conviction under Section 49.09. Public intoxication under Section 49.02 is fine only, but it is still an arrest and it still leaves a record.
Denton is also where the two branches of I-35 rejoin, so the city polices two interstate designations inside its own limits. TxDOT is rebuilding the I-35E and I-35W interchange along a 4.8-mile stretch from North Texas Boulevard to US 77, a $583 million project that began construction in spring 2025 with estimated completion in summer 2029. Long-term lane shifts, temporary striping, and moving speed zones are ordinary conditions on a Denton traffic stop right now, and they are worth checking against the in-car video before anyone concedes the stop was lawful.
Drug cases here carry a location problem. Possession of a Penalty Group 1 substance under Health and Safety Code Section 481.115 is a state jail felony even below one gram, and marijuana under two ounces is a Class B under Section 481.121. But Section 481.134 raises the punishment level when the offense occurs within a defined distance of a school or a playground, and a city built around two universities has a great deal of qualifying ground. Where the stop happened is a defense issue, not a footnote.
We also handle assault under Penal Code Section 22.01, theft under Section 31.03, criminal trespass under Section 30.05, evading arrest under Section 38.04, and weapons allegations under Section 46.02 and Section 46.03, the second of which separately prohibits carrying on the premises of a school or educational institution. Our criminal defense practice areas page breaks each of these down charge by charge.
Denton County's treatment court track
Denton County runs five specialized treatment court programs, and in the right case they are a genuine alternative to a conviction: the First Offender Drug Program, described by the county as being for low risk first-time drug offenders; a Drug Court for high-risk felony offenders who abuse drugs but show a desire to break the cycle of addiction; a Mental Health Treatment Court for offenders suffering from a legitimate mental illness; a DWI Treatment Court for select recidivist DWI offenders who are at high risk to re-offend without intervention; and a three-phase Veterans Treatment Court Program for veterans who honorably served and suffer combat related mental conditions that contributed to the charged offense. Admission is discretionary and the screening is real. The time to raise a program is before a plea, not after one.
Denton criminal defense FAQs
I got a ticket from a UNT police officer. Which court do I go to?
Almost certainly the Denton Municipal Court at 601 E. Hickory St. The court's own guidance says a Class C citation written by a Denton, UNT, or TWU officer was probably filed there. That is unusual: three separate police agencies feed one municipal docket. Check the hours before you drive over, because the court closes Friday at noon and otherwise sits Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. If your citation came from a sheriff's deputy, a DPS trooper, or an officer from another city, it was filed somewhere else and you need to find out where.
Where is someone taken after a Denton arrest?
It depends on the charge. The City of Denton jail is a 24-hour temporary detention facility inside police headquarters at 601 E. Hickory St., with the lobby entrance on Railroad Avenue. The city says people are held there up to 72 hours before being released or transferred. Anything requiring longer custody moves to the Denton County Jail, run by the Sheriff's Detention Bureau as a 1,788-bed system with a linear-style jail, a direct-supervision facility, and a separate pre-trial facility. Call before you drive, because the location can change inside a single day.
Can Texas Woman's University police arrest someone off campus?
TWU's annual security report states that its officers are certified Texas peace officers under Article 2.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and that their jurisdiction under Education Code Section 51.203 reaches every county where the university owns, leases, rents, or otherwise controls property, currently Denton, Harris, and Dallas. The report adds that the department's armed officers have the same authority to detain and arrest as municipal police officers. So campus police authority is not limited to the block a dorm sits on.
Are the Denton County criminal courts and the DA in the same place?
Yes. Every Denton County criminal court other than juvenile sits in the Denton County Courts Building at 1450 E McKinney Street, and the Criminal District Attorney's Office is in Suite 3100 of that same building. The county lists twelve district courts, the 16th, 158th, 211th, 362nd, 367th, 393rd, 431st, 442nd, 462nd, 467th, 477th, and 481st, plus five County Criminal Courts for jailable misdemeanors. One address means an attorney can move between a prosecutor's office and a courtroom in the same morning.
How long can the Denton city jail hold someone?
The city states that people are held up to 72 hours before being released or transferred to another facility. Treat that as a ceiling, not a schedule. Separately, Article 15.17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires that an arrested person be taken before a magistrate without unnecessary delay and given the statutory warnings, and bail is then set using the factors in Article 17.15. The real release timeline turns on magistration and the bond, not on the 72-hour figure.
What happens on a first-time drug charge in Denton County?
Denton County runs a First Offender Drug Program that the county describes as a specialized treatment court for low risk first-time drug offenders, alongside a Drug Court aimed at high-risk felony offenders struggling with addiction. Neither is automatic and both are screened. The charge grade also matters: possession of a Penalty Group 1 substance under one gram is a state jail felony under Health and Safety Code Section 481.115, while marijuana under two ounces is a Class B under Section 481.121. Ask about eligibility before entering any plea.
More Denton questions
I was arrested for DWI on I-35 in Denton. Does the construction matter?
It can. Denton is where the two branches of I-35 rejoin, and TxDOT is rebuilding the I-35E and I-35W interchange along 4.8 miles from North Texas Boulevard to US 77, a $583 million project that started construction in spring 2025 with estimated completion in summer 2029. Shifting lanes, temporary striping, and changing speed zones raise real questions about whether a weaving or lane-violation stop was justified. The charge itself is still Penal Code Section 49.04. Our Texas DWI defense page explains the license side.
Does Denton County have a veterans court?
Yes. The Veterans Treatment Court Program is a three-phase program for veterans who honorably served and who suffer combat related mental conditions that contributed to a charged criminal offense. It is one of five specialized treatment court programs in the county, alongside the First Offender Drug Program, the Drug Court, the Mental Health Treatment Court, and a DWI Treatment Court for select recidivist DWI offenders. Each carries its own screening. If you served, say so at the first meeting with your attorney, because eligibility is far easier to raise early than to retrofit later.
Can a Denton arrest be cleared from my record?
Sometimes, and the route depends on how the case ended. An acquittal, a dismissal, or a no-bill can open the door to an expunction, which destroys the records. A completed deferred adjudication usually leads instead to an order of nondisclosure under Government Code Section 411.0725, which seals the record from most public access but leaves it visible to law enforcement and some licensing agencies. Waiting periods differ by offense. Our Texas expunction and record sealing page walks through which remedy fits which outcome.
What is the difference between Denton Municipal Court and the County Criminal Courts?
Jurisdiction and exposure. The municipal court handles Class C misdemeanors and traffic offenses punishable by fine only, filed by Denton, UNT, or TWU officers, and no jail time attaches to the offense itself. The five Denton County Criminal Courts handle jailable Class A and Class B misdemeanors, prosecuted by the District Attorney's Misdemeanor Trial Division, whose attorneys and investigators are assigned to those courts. Different building, different prosecutor, different stakes. A Class C conviction still creates a record, so it is not the harmless option people assume.
I am a student. Does the university handle this separately from the court case?
Assume the two run in parallel on different timelines. The criminal case moves through the municipal court or the Denton County courts depending on the charge grade, at whatever pace the docket allows. A university may separately run its own conduct process, using its own standards and its own evidence, on a much faster clock. Statements made in one setting can surface in the other, which is why it is worth talking to a lawyer before writing an explanation to anybody. Our practice areas overview lists the charges we handle most for students.
Arrested in Denton?
Free, confidential consultation — direct to attorney, 24/7. We pick up jail-release calls at all hours.
Call (972) 370-5060Why a Denton charge stays in Denton, near campus and the square
Denton is the seat of Denton County, which puts the destination court in town rather than a drive across the metroplex. Felonies and Class A and B misdemeanors here are filed by the Denton County Criminal District Attorney and heard at the Denton County courts in Denton, with pretrial detention handled at the Denton County Jail. For a resident, that proximity is practical: the courthouse, the prosecutors, and the jail that decides bond all sit in the same city where the arrest happened. We build cases around that local footing, knowing how the in-town court tends to set hearings and how the county handles intake.
Not every Denton citation lands in that county courthouse. Denton Municipal Court is a separate venue for Class C, fine-only matters — traffic tickets, city-ordinance violations, and similar low-level offenses — and it stays municipal even when a more serious charge from the same night would route to the county side. Sorting which court a charge actually belongs to is the first thing we pin down, because a fine-only ticket and a county-level misdemeanor or felony move on entirely different tracks, with different consequences for a record, a license, or a student's standing.
What gives Denton its own caseload is the campus. As home to the University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University, the city carries a large student population, and student-related and nightlife matters are a recurring local pattern — minor-in-possession allegations, public intoxication around the historic downtown square, fake-ID stops, and first-time offenses tied to the bar district. Enforcement concentrates on the corridors that move people through town: I-35, where I-35E and I-35W rejoin, plus US-380 and Loop 288. Stops along those routes feed a steady share of the DWI and traffic-related filings we see come out of Denton.
For someone charged in Denton, the local angle is concrete. A student facing a first offense has more than a court date at stake — financial aid, housing, and a still-clean record can all hang on the outcome. We work the county-seat court on its own terms and treat the campus context as part of the strategy, not an afterthought. Call (972) 370-5060 to talk through where a Denton charge stands.
About the Authors
Criminal Charges We Defend in Denton
L&L Law Group represents clients throughout Denton and Denton County against the full range of Texas criminal charges. These are the charges our defense team handles most often — or call (972) 370-5060 for a free, confidential consultation.