Cleburne Criminal Defense Lawyers
Direct-to-attorney criminal defense for Cleburne arrests and Johnson 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, approximately 85 miles from Cleburne.
L and L Law Group represents clients arrested in Cleburne, Texas and clients facing charges in the Johnson County Courthouse 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 Cleburne matter. Our office is in Frisco, approximately 85 miles from Cleburne (90 minutes). Free 24/7 consultation: (972) 370-5060.
Common Cleburne criminal charges we defend
Cleburne is the county seat of Johnson County, and that packs almost every moving part of a criminal case into a few blocks. The Cleburne Police Department is at 302 W. Henderson St. The Municipal Court of Record is directly across the street at 303 W. Henderson St. The Johnson County District Attorney and all three district courts share one address, the Guinn Justice Center at 204 South Buffalo Avenue. The Johnson County Corrections Facility is at 1800 Ridgemar Dr., inside the city limits. Someone arrested here is prosecuted and held in the same city where the arrest happened, which is not how it works for most DFW suburbs.
What one address does not buy you is one calendar. Two of the three felony benches that can take a Cleburne case are not Johnson County's alone.
Three district courts, two of them answering to a second county
| Court | Counties served |
|---|---|
| 18th District Court | Johnson and Somervell |
| 249th District Court | Johnson and Somervell |
| 413th District Court | Johnson only |
All three sit together at the Guinn Justice Center. But a judge whose court serves both Johnson and Somervell County is dividing bench time between two counties' dockets, and that shows up in setting availability rather than in anything printed on a charging instrument. Only the 413th answers to Johnson County alone. Which of the three a felony draws is worth knowing early, because it shapes how quickly a contested setting can realistically be reached.
Three tiers, and your case only ever sits in one
Johnson County's published court structure sends felonies to the 18th, 249th and 413th District Courts and misdemeanors to two County Courts at Law. A Class A or Class B misdemeanor out of Cleburne never reaches a district bench, and a felony never sits in a county court at law. Fine-only Class C matters stay lower still, in the city's own municipal court. Which tier you are in is decided by how the State grades the offense, and that grade is the most useful thing to pin down first.
What we defend, sorted by the tier it lands in
- Driving while intoxicated
- Graded as a misdemeanor, it goes to a County Court at Law. Graded as a felony, it goes to the 18th, 249th or 413th, two of which are also carrying Somervell County. One grading decision changes the courtroom, the calendar and the realistic pace of everything after it.
- Possession of a controlled substance
- The same fork, decided before filing. Because the District Attorney's office sits at 204 S. Buffalo Ave., the same address as the district courts, the filing decision and the docket come out of one building.
- Assault, including family violence allegations
- Assault allegations split across the misdemeanor and felony tiers too, so the first practical question is which set of courts is going to hold the file.
- Theft and property offenses
- Property cases show the three-tier structure most plainly, because identical conduct can sit in municipal court, a County Court at Law or a district court depending only on the grade attached to it.
- Class C citations that did not come from a police officer
- The municipal court's jurisdiction covers Class C offenses issued inside the city limits by City Police officers, Animal Control officers, Code Enforcement officers and the City Fire Marshal. All four produce a real case in a court of record, not an administrative notice.
The court across the street keeps a record, and that changes the stakes
Cleburne's municipal court is a Municipal Court of Record. That is a statutory distinction from an ordinary municipal court and it is invisible to nearly everyone who walks in. Proceedings there are recorded, and the court's own materials describe that status as changing how an appeal from a Class C conviction is taken. The practical consequence is that a first setting is not a rehearsal: what is said, what is objected to and what is put in front of the court is preserved rather than discarded. Walking in to explain yourself and fix it later is a worse plan here than in a court that keeps no record.
Two of the court's own procedures catch people out, and both are paper-only:
- A plea must be entered by bringing a completed physical Ticket Instructions form to the court. The court expressly refuses forms sent by email.
- A payment plan requires a physical Financial Application, which is also not accepted by email.
The court is at 303 W. Henderson St., mailing address P.O. Box 657, Cleburne, TX 76033, main line 817-645-0925, fax 817-556-3078. Emailing a form and assuming the matter is handled is a common and avoidable problem.
Custody is local, which helps
Johnson County holds arrestees at the Johnson County Corrections Facility, 1800 Ridgemar Dr. in Cleburne, main line 817-556-6000, with inmate visitation reported as available daily from 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Because the facility is inside city limits, Cleburne families are spared the cross-county drive that an arrest in most suburban cities forces on them. That is a genuine advantage, and one of the few parts of this process that is easier here.
Do not import another county's program menu
Diversion programs, drug courts and mental health dockets are county-level creations. They differ between counties and they change over time, so a program list published for Collin or Dallas County tells you nothing reliable about a Johnson County file. If a treatment-based or diversion path is what you are hoping for, that question belongs to the Johnson County District Attorney's office directly, (817) 556-6802, and it is better asked early than late.
Cleburne has grown from a 2020 census estimates base of 31,287 to a 2024 estimate of 38,131, roughly 22 percent in four years, and the same three district benches carry the county's felony work. If you are trying to work out which tier your case is in and what that means for the next month, start with the charges we defend and get advice before the first setting rather than after it.
Cleburne criminal defense FAQs
Does it actually matter that Cleburne is the Johnson County seat?
More than people expect. Because Cleburne is the county seat, the Johnson County District Attorney, all three district courts and the county jail are inside the city. The Guinn Justice Center at 204 South Buffalo Avenue holds the courts and the prosecutor at a single address, and the Johnson County Corrections Facility at 1800 Ridgemar Dr. is minutes away rather than in another town. A person arrested in Cleburne is prosecuted and held in the same city where the arrest happened, which is not the case in most DFW suburbs.
Which Cleburne cases go to a district court and which go to a County Court at Law?
Johnson County's published court structure sends felonies to the 18th, 249th and 413th District Courts and misdemeanors to two County Courts at Law. A Class A or Class B misdemeanor out of Cleburne therefore never reaches a district bench, and a felony never sits in a county court at law. Fine-only Class C matters stay lower still, in the Cleburne Municipal Court of Record. The tier is set by how the State grades the offense, so confirming the grade is the first genuinely useful thing anyone can do.
Why do the 18th and 249th District Courts also handle Somervell County cases?
That is how those two benches are constituted. The 18th District Court and the 249th District Court serve both Johnson and Somervell Counties, while the 413th District Court serves Johnson County alone. Two of the three felony courts that can hear a Cleburne case are therefore splitting their time across a two-county docket. It does not change the law applied to your case, but it does affect setting availability, which is worth understanding before anyone agrees to a reset or counts on reaching a contested hearing quickly.
What does it mean that Cleburne Municipal Court is a court of record?
Cleburne's municipal court is a Municipal Court of Record, a statutory distinction from an ordinary municipal court. Proceedings there are recorded, and the court's own materials describe that status as changing how an appeal from a Class C conviction is taken. The practical consequence is that the first setting is not a rehearsal. What is said, what is objected to and what is put in front of the court is preserved rather than discarded. That is a strong reason to get advice before you walk in rather than afterward.
Can I email my plea form or payment plan application to Cleburne Municipal Court?
No. Entering a plea requires bringing a completed physical Ticket Instructions form to the court, and the court expressly refuses forms sent by email. A payment plan works the same way: it requires a physical Financial Application, which is also not accepted by email. The court is at 303 W. Henderson St., mailing address P.O. Box 657, Cleburne, TX 76033, with a main line of 817-645-0925 and a fax of 817-556-3078. Sending a form by email and assuming the matter is handled is a common and avoidable mistake.
I got a citation from Cleburne code enforcement, not a police officer. Is that a real court case?
Yes. The Cleburne Municipal Court of Record's jurisdiction covers Class C misdemeanor offenses issued inside the city limits by City Police officers, Animal Control officers, Code Enforcement officers and the City Fire Marshal. A citation from any of those four sources is a criminal matter in a court of record, not an administrative notice you can resolve with a phone call. The same paper-only plea procedure applies and the same record gets made. Where the citation came from does not lower what is at stake.
More Cleburne questions
Where is someone taken after a Cleburne arrest, and when can family visit?
County custody for Johnson County is the Johnson County Corrections Facility at 1800 Ridgemar Dr. in Cleburne, main line 817-556-6000. The county reports inmate visitation as available daily from 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Because the facility sits inside Cleburne city limits, families here avoid the cross-county drive that arrests in most suburban cities require, where the arrestee is transported to a jail in a different town. Call the facility and confirm before you leave the house, because booking status and visitation eligibility are two separate things.
Is the Johnson County District Attorney in the same building as the district courts?
Yes. The Johnson County District Attorney's office is at 204 S. Buffalo Ave. in Cleburne, the same Guinn Justice Center address that houses the 18th, 249th and 413th District Courts, with a line of (817) 556-6802. Having the prosecutor and the felony benches under one roof makes some logistics simpler, but it is not an invitation to walk in and talk. Nothing you say to a prosecutor's office is confidential, and a conversation meant to clear things up can become the most damaging document in the file.
Will a Cleburne DWI be heard in a district court?
It depends on how the State grades the charge. Graded as a misdemeanor, it goes to one of Johnson County's two County Courts at Law. Graded as a felony, it goes to the 18th, 249th or 413th District Court at the Guinn Justice Center, and two of those three benches also carry Somervell County's docket. That single grading decision changes the courtroom, the calendar and the realistic pace of the case. Our page on a Texas DWI charge covers what feeds the decision.
Does Johnson County have a diversion program or a specialty court I could apply to?
That question has to go to the Johnson County District Attorney's office directly, at 204 S. Buffalo Ave. in Cleburne, (817) 556-6802, rather than to any web page. Diversion programs, drug courts and mental health dockets are created at county level, they differ between counties, and they change over time. A program list published for Collin or Dallas County tells you nothing dependable about a Johnson County file. Where such a path is available at all, the window for raising it generally sits early in a case, so ask early.
Can a Cleburne case be cleared from my record afterward?
Sometimes, and it turns far more on how the case ended than on what it was called at the start. Some endings open a path to expunction, some open only an order of nondisclosure that seals rather than erases, and convictions generally close both. Texas renumbered its expunction statutes effective January 1, 2026, so older forms circulating online now point at the wrong chapter. Because Cleburne's municipal court is a court of record, even a fine-only matter produces a recorded proceeding. Our Texas expunction and record-clearing page explains which endings open which remedy.
Arrested in Cleburne?
Free, confidential consultation — direct to attorney, 24/7. We pick up jail-release calls at all hours.
Call (972) 370-5060Why a Cleburne case stays at the county-seat courthouse in town
Cleburne is the county seat of Johnson County, which means a felony or Class A or B misdemeanor filed here does not travel to another city to be resolved. The Johnson County district attorney files the charge, and the Johnson County courts hear it right in Cleburne — the courthouse and the jail are both in town rather than a drive away. For a resident charged close to home, that keeps booking, bond, and the early court settings in one place. It also makes Cleburne the destination court for cases that begin elsewhere in the county, so familiarity with how this courthouse runs matters from the first appearance forward.
A second layer sits beneath the county courts. Cleburne Municipal Court handles only Class C misdemeanors — traffic citations and city-ordinance violations that are fine-only and carry no jail exposure. Anything more serious leaves the municipal level entirely and moves to the county courts a short distance away. Knowing which forum a charge belongs in is not a technicality: it sets the procedure, the possible penalty range, and whether a conviction can later affect a record. We sort that question early so a client understands, from the outset, exactly which court will decide the matter and what is genuinely at stake there.
Enforcement around Cleburne concentrates on a handful of routes. US-67 and SH-174 carry steady traffic through and around town, and the Chisholm Trail Parkway opens a fast commuter link toward Fort Worth that draws regular patrol attention. Stops on these corridors are where many DWI, drug-possession, and traffic-related cases begin. The historic courthouse square at the center of town anchors the community and as the Johnson County seat, draws people in from across the county for court business. That mix of through-traffic and county-hub activity shapes the kinds of charges that surface in Cleburne, and we account for it when we look at how a stop or arrest actually unfolded.
For someone charged in Cleburne, the practical takeaway is that the process is local and compact. The county courts are in your own city, the prosecutor handling the file works out of the same seat, and the people who will see your case repeatedly are here rather than scattered across the metroplex. Our team works to understand how the stop happened, what was filed, and which court holds it, then builds the defense from there. We do not promise a result, but we do bring close attention to Johnson County procedure and the local context behind every Cleburne charge.
About the Authors
Criminal Charges We Defend in Cleburne
L&L Law Group represents clients throughout Cleburne and Johnson 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.