Garland Criminal Defense Lawyers
Direct-to-attorney criminal defense for Garland arrests and Dallas 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, 25 miles from Garland.
L and L Law Group represents clients arrested in Garland, Texas and clients facing charges in the Frank Crowley Courts Building 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 Garland matter. Our office is in Frisco, 25 miles from Garland (35 minutes). Free 24/7 consultation: (972) 370-5060.
Common Garland criminal charges we defend
Garland has about 250,000 residents, and 2024 Census place-part estimates put 250,266 of them in Dallas County against 165 in Collin County. So a Garland arrest is, in practical terms, a Dallas County case. That one fact shapes everything that follows: the file leaves Garland within days and lands downtown, inside one of the largest criminal court systems in Texas.
People are caught off guard by that. The arrest happened off Forest Lane or near Broadway, the family was given a Garland phone number, and then the case is not in Garland at all. It is at the Frank Crowley Courts Building, 133 N. Riverfront Blvd. in Dallas, on a docket shared with every other criminal case filed in the county.
Three Garland buildings, and your case ends up in none of them
Garland spreads its criminal justice functions across separate addresses. Knowing which is which saves your family a wasted trip.
- Garland Municipal Court, Brad Neighbor Municipal Court Building, 1791 W Avenue B, 972-205-2330
- Open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with walk-in dockets, fine payment and warrant resolution. Texas law limits a municipal court to fine-only Class C offenses and city ordinance violations arising inside the city limits.
- Garland Police Department, 1891 Forest Lane, 972-205-2018
- Reports, records and the investigating officers. This is not where an arrestee is held.
- Garland Detention Center, 1900 W State Street, 972-485-4890
- A separate city facility roughly a mile from police headquarters, near Forest Lane and State Street. The city calls it a holding facility and states that prisoners are generally confined less than 72 hours before being transferred to another facility or released. Capacity is 137 adults plus a juvenile processing area, and the city says juveniles are normally not held more than six hours.
If the charge is a Class B misdemeanor or worse, that 72-hour line is the sentence that matters. County-level charges route to the Dallas County jail complex downtown: the Lew Sterrett Justice Center at 111 West Commerce Street, where three active towers, the North Tower, the West Tower and the Suzanne Lee Kays facility, all operate from one address next door to Frank Crowley. Sentences on misdemeanor Garland Municipal Court cases are the exception, because those are served at the Garland Detention Center rather than at a county facility.
Texas law requires an arrested person to be brought before a magistrate without unnecessary delay and no later than 48 hours after arrest, given the statutory warnings, and have bail set. For a Garland arrestee facing a county charge, that clock often runs while the person is physically moving from a city holding cell to a downtown tower, which is why families frequently cannot locate someone in an inmate search on day one. The Dallas County Sheriff publishes a jail and inmate information line at (214) 761-9025 and warrant information at (214) 761-9026.
What we defend, and which court hears it
| Charge level | Court | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Class C, fine only | Garland Municipal Court | 1791 W Avenue B, Garland |
| Class A and Class B misdemeanors | One of eleven Dallas County Criminal Courts | Frank Crowley, 133 N. Riverfront Blvd., Dallas |
| Felonies | Seven courts titled Criminal District Court, Nos. 1 through 7, plus the 194th, 195th, 203rd, 204th, 265th, 282nd, 283rd, 291st, 292nd and 363rd District Courts | Frank Crowley, 133 N. Riverfront Blvd., Dallas |
Seventeen felony courts and eleven misdemeanor courts is an unusually deep bench, and Dallas County adds a tier its neighbors do not have: two County Courts of Criminal Appeals, a dedicated county-level appellate court for criminal cases. Collin, Denton and Tarrant counties have no equivalent.
The charges that fill those dockets out of Garland are the ordinary ones. Driving while intoxicated under Texas Penal Code section 49.04, a Class B misdemeanor on a first offense that carries a minimum term of confinement and rises to a Class A at a 0.15 blood alcohol result or on a second offense. Assault under section 22.01, where a family violence finding does damage that long outlives the sentence. Theft under section 31.03, which climbs from a fine-only citation to a first-degree felony purely on the alleged value. Possession of a controlled substance under Health and Safety Code section 481.115. Unlawful carrying of a weapon, evading arrest, and the failure-to-appear filings that stack up when someone misses a Frank Crowley setting because they assumed the case was still in Garland. Our criminal defense practice covers each of these at both misdemeanor and felony level.
DIVERT and the Dallas County diversion track
Dallas County runs DIVERT Court, the Dallas Initiative for Diversion and Expedited Rehabilitation and Treatment, which the county describes as a judicially supervised regimen of treatment and innovative case management for substance abuse offenders. The county states that on successful completion a participant may have the original charge and misdemeanor charges arising from the same transaction dismissed, and may then file to have those offenses expunged. Eligibility is screened by the county's DIVERT Court Intake Coordinator at 214-653-5878. No defense lawyer controls admission. The Dallas County Community Supervision and Corrections Department separately publishes a listing of supervision programs and specialty courts that apply to Garland defendants.
If the offense happened on the Collin County side
The 165-resident sliver of Garland inside Collin County is small, but it is not theoretical. An offense there is prosecuted in McKinney by a different elected district attorney, in different courts, with a different program menu. Pinning down exactly where the conduct occurred is one of the first questions we ask, because the answer changes the courthouse, the prosecutor and the options actually available.
Garland criminal defense FAQs
I was arrested in Garland. Where will my case actually be heard?
Almost certainly in Dallas County, not in Garland. The 2024 Census place-part estimates put 250,266 Garland residents in Dallas County and 165 in Collin County, so the overwhelming majority of Garland offenses are Dallas County cases. Class A and Class B misdemeanors go to one of eleven Dallas County Criminal Courts, and felonies go to the county's felony bench of seven Criminal District Courts plus ten numbered district courts. All of them sit at the Frank Crowley Courts Building, 133 N. Riverfront Blvd. in Dallas.
How long is someone held at the Garland Detention Center?
The City of Garland describes the detention center at 1900 W State Street as a holding facility, and states that prisoners are generally confined less than 72 hours before being transferred to another facility or released. It has capacity for 137 adults plus a juvenile processing area, and the city says juveniles are normally not held for more than six hours. If the charge is at the county level rather than a city case, the transfer destination is the Dallas County jail complex downtown. The detention center line is 972-485-4890.
How do I find someone in the Dallas County jail after a Garland arrest?
County charges out of Garland route to the Lew Sterrett Justice Center at 111 West Commerce Street in Dallas. Three active detention towers share that address, the North Tower, the West Tower and the Suzanne Lee Kays facility, and the complex sits adjacent to the Frank Crowley Courts Building. The Dallas County Sheriff publishes jail and inmate information at (214) 761-9025 and warrant information at (214) 761-9026. Expect a lag, because someone still in transit from a Garland holding cell may not appear in a search yet.
How soon does a person see a judge after being arrested in Garland?
Texas law requires that an arrested person be taken before a magistrate without unnecessary delay and no later than 48 hours after arrest. At that appearance the magistrate gives the statutory warnings, informs the person of the accusation, and sets bail or bail conditions. In a Garland case that window frequently overlaps with the physical move from the city detention center to the Dallas County complex, so it is worth having a lawyer tracking the case before the family has even confirmed where the person is being held.
What does the Garland Municipal Court handle?
The Garland Municipal Court sits in the Brad Neighbor Municipal Court Building at 1791 W Avenue B, phone 972-205-2330, open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Its services include fine payment, warrant resolution and walk-in dockets. Under Texas law a municipal court's criminal jurisdiction is limited to fine-only Class C offenses and city ordinance violations arising inside the city limits. Anything at Class B or above is not a municipal case at all and is filed in the Dallas County courts downtown.
I ignored a Garland ticket. Is there a warrant out for me?
Possibly. Warrant resolution is one of the services the Garland Municipal Court lists, alongside fine payment and walk-in dockets, and unresolved Class C matters commonly generate warrants. A city warrant is also a problem far beyond the original ticket, because it can surface during any later traffic stop or background check and can complicate bond on an unrelated charge. The court is open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 1791 W Avenue B, and it is generally better to address a warrant on your own schedule than on an officer's.
More Garland questions
What is DIVERT Court in Dallas County?
DIVERT stands for the Dallas Initiative for Diversion and Expedited Rehabilitation and Treatment. Dallas County describes it as a judicially supervised regimen of treatment and innovative case management for substance abuse offenders. The county states that on successful completion a participant may have the original charge and misdemeanor charges from the same transaction dismissed, and may then file to have those offenses expunged. Eligibility is screened through the county's DIVERT Court Intake Coordinator at 214-653-5878, so admission is a county decision, not something a defense lawyer can promise you.
I was charged with DWI in Garland. What happens to my driver license?
Two separate cases start at once. The criminal charge under Texas Penal Code section 49.04 goes to a Dallas County Criminal Court at Frank Crowley. Alongside it, the Department of Public Safety opens an administrative license suspension based on a refusal or a failed breath or blood test, and you generally have only 15 days from the notice to request a hearing before that suspension takes effect. Missing that deadline forfeits the hearing. Our DWI defense work addresses both tracks together.
Can I get a Garland arrest off my record?
It depends on how the case ended, not on how it started. Texas expunction is generally available where a charge ended in acquittal, a no-bill, or a qualifying dismissal, and an order of nondisclosure under Government Code Chapter 411 seals rather than destroys records in a narrower set of situations. Dallas County notes that a DIVERT participant who completes the program may file to have the dismissed offenses expunged. We handle expunction and record sealing as part of the same representation.
How many different judges could hear my Dallas County felony?
The felony bench is large and mixes two naming conventions. Dallas County has seven courts titled Criminal District Court, numbered 1 through 7, plus ten numbered district courts: the 194th, 195th, 203rd, 204th, 265th, 282nd, 283rd, 291st, 292nd and 363rd. That is seventeen possible felony courts, all housed in the Frank Crowley Courts Building. Which one a Garland case draws affects setting practice and scheduling, which is a practical reason to have counsel who appears in that building regularly.
Part of Garland is in Collin County. Does that change my case?
Yes, completely, if that is where the offense occurred. Census place-part data puts only 165 Garland residents on the Collin County side, but geography controls prosecution. A Collin County offense is prosecuted in McKinney by a different elected district attorney, in different courts, with a different set of programs and local practices than Dallas County offers. It is one of the first things we pin down, because the county determines the courthouse, the prosecuting office and which diversion options are even on the table.
Arrested in Garland?
Free, confidential consultation — direct to attorney, 24/7. We pick up jail-release calls at all hours.
Call (972) 370-5060Why a Garland case is heard at Frank Crowley in downtown Dallas
Garland sits entirely within Dallas County, which settles a question many people ask first: a felony or a Class A or B misdemeanor charged here is filed by the Dallas County District Attorney and heard at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in downtown Dallas, not at any courthouse in Garland. If an arrest leads to a booking, pretrial detention runs through the Dallas County Jail at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center. So the city you were stopped in and the building where your case actually moves are two different places, and we plan around that gap from the first call — knowing the route a Garland charge takes through the county system is half of being ready for it.
That county routing is separate from Garland's own court. The Garland Municipal Court handles Class C misdemeanors — traffic citations, city-ordinance violations, and other fine-only matters — and it stays local. A speeding ticket or a low-level ordinance citation is resolved through the municipal court in town, while anything that rises to a Class A, Class B, or felony level leaves the city entirely for Frank Crowley. People are often surprised that one incident can touch both systems, and confusing the two is a common early misstep. We make sure a client understands which track a given charge is on before any deadline or setting slips past.
Garland's road grid shapes a lot of what we see. I-635 (the LBJ Freeway) and I-30 cut across the city, the President George Bush Turnpike rings its western and northern edges, and SH-78 carries traffic up toward Lake Ray Hubbard. Those corridors put traffic-stop and DWI matters at the front of the local caseload, and stretches near the Firewheel Town Center and the lakeshore draw their own steady patrol attention. Understanding where a stop happened, and on which roadway, often matters as much as the charge itself when we start mapping out a defense.
For anyone charged in Garland, the practical takeaways are concrete. Expect the serious side of a case to play out downtown at Frank Crowley under the Dallas County DA, keep the municipal court and the county court straight in your mind, and treat the specifics of a stop along I-635, the PGBT, or SH-78 as details worth getting right early. Our team works these Dallas County cases regularly and can walk you through what comes next.
About the Authors
Criminal Charges We Defend in Garland
L&L Law Group represents clients throughout Garland and Dallas 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.