Grapevine Criminal Defense Lawyers
Direct-to-attorney criminal defense for Grapevine arrests and Tarrant 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 32 miles from Grapevine.
L and L Law Group represents clients arrested in Grapevine, Texas and clients facing charges in the Tarrant 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 Grapevine matter. Our office is in Frisco, approximately 32 miles from Grapevine (40 minutes). Free 24/7 consultation: (972) 370-5060.
Common Grapevine criminal charges we defend
Grapevine Municipal Court handles a category of defendant that almost no other court in North Texas sees in volume: the person who was never going to stay. The city's own online citation portal says so on the search screen - if you received your citation at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, use the search-by-name or search-by-DL feature to find it. Citations written at DFW are processed through this court. A resident population of roughly 50,700 therefore supports a Class C docket that reaches well past the city limits, filled out by people who had no reason to learn anything about Grapevine before the day they were stopped.
That one routing fact creates problems the rest of the Metroplex does not have. A court date lands in a city you were only connecting through. The agency that wrote the paper is often not the agency you would think to call. And none of it is obvious from the citation itself.
Three agencies, and they are not interchangeable
| Agency | What it covers | Where to reach it |
|---|---|---|
| DFW Airport Department of Public Safety | A full department - police, fire rescue, security and emergency medical services, not contracted security. The police department covers a 27-square-mile area and patrols the central terminal area plus surrounding businesses. It runs its own Holding Facility and its own Police Records under Support Services, plus Criminal Investigations handling criminal cases and federal task forces, a Bomb Squad, SWAT and a Traffic Section. Chief of Police Brian Redburn. | 3600 S 20th Avenue, DFW Airport, TX 75261. Non-emergency 972-973-3210. |
| Grapevine Police Department | Law enforcement inside the city itself. | 1007 Ira E Woods Avenue, Grapevine, TX 76051. Main 817-410-3900, non-emergency 817-410-8127. |
| Grapevine Municipal Court | Class C misdemeanors. The city describes it as a court of record and the judicial branch of city government providing a legal forum for persons allegedly in violation of Class C misdemeanors. | 1027 Ira E. Woods Avenue, Grapevine, TX 76051. 817.410.3284. |
The police department and the court sit twenty door numbers apart on the same street, which is part of why the split gets missed. If DFW Airport Police made the stop, that agency's records stay with DFW DPS rather than with the city, even where the citation itself is processed in Grapevine. A request aimed at the wrong one goes to an office that does not have the file. The geography interlocks in both directions: the DFW Airport Fire Training Center carries a Grapevine street address at 1530 W 27th Street.
Two practical notes before anyone walks in. Grapevine Municipal Court is a court of record, which changes how an appeal is taken compared with the non-record municipal courts common in smaller Texas cities. And the court accepts only cash, Mastercard and Visa - a real obstacle for a traveler carrying neither.
Above a Class C, the county line takes over
Grapevine straddles one. The city appears on Tarrant County's official list of incorporated areas and, independently, on Dallas County's official list of cities. Where inside the city the alleged offense happened decides which county files the case, and that decides the prosecutor, the courthouse and the jail. A case filed in Tarrant County goes to the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center at 401 West Belknap in Fort Worth, where the county's criminal courts and the Criminal District Attorney sit in one building. Tarrant County publishes the split plainly: eleven district courts handle felony level criminal matters, including Criminal District Courts Nos. 1 through 4, and ten county criminal courts handle misdemeanor level matters. The Criminal District Attorney is Phil Sorrells, at the same Belknap address, 817-884-1400. A Grapevine case that files into Dallas County goes instead to the Frank Crowley Courts Building and the Dallas County District Attorney, with County Criminal Courts Nos. 1 through 11 taking misdemeanors.
Felony and Class A or B misdemeanor arrests made inside the Tarrant County portion of the city are booked into the Tarrant County jail system, where every inmate is centrally received, booked, photographed and iris-enrolled at the Tarrant County Corrections Center, 100 N. Lamar, Fort Worth 76196, 817-884-3000. The scale explains a good deal about the pace of a first week: roughly 5,000 inmates across five facilities, about 1,000 certified detention officers or deputies, approximately 35,000 bookings a year, and about 600 inmates moved to various courts each week.
The clock that catches people out
The District Attorney's guidelines, updated February 2025, give the Deferred Prosecution Program application deadline as 90 days from the file date, with no exceptions. A 60-day figure also circulates, because the county's criminal courts page still carries it, but that text traces to a diversion notice dated July 2015 whose links point to a retired county domain. Ninety days from filing is still tighter than Dallas County's 120-days-after-indictment felony diversion window, so a Grapevine case that lands on the Tarrant side can lose an option before anyone has finished gathering records. The Felony Alcohol Intervention Program works differently and publishes no applicant deadline at all. Tarrant County also runs a RISE prostitution program and a Veteran's Diversion program. The clock runs from filing, not from your first court date.
When the defendant is a teenager
Metroport Teen Court is a voluntary route that lets juvenile Class C offenders pay off a citation through community service and participation in the judicial process. Volunteer teen attorneys present the case to a jury of peers drawn from local secondary schools and from returning youth who were previously defendants themselves, and that jury assesses community service hours under a discipline grid. The qualifying conditions are specific: a Class C misdemeanor citation, ages 12 to 19, current enrollment in middle or high school, no successfully completed Teen Court program anywhere in Texas in the last year, and a plea of guilty or nolo contendere. The defendant has to appear in person before the judge on the court date, and there is a $20 charge for each violation. The coordinator's line is 817.748.8346.
Citation at a terminal or felony filed in Fort Worth, the first job is identical: establish which agency wrote it, which court holds it, and which county's rules govern it. You can review the full range of charges we defend, and if a case has already been filed, the deadlines above are already running.
Grapevine criminal defense FAQs
I got a citation at DFW Airport and I do not live in Texas. Which court has it?
Grapevine Municipal Court. The city's own online citation portal instructs anyone who received a citation at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to use the search-by-name or search-by-DL feature to find it, so a citation written at the airport is looked up and processed through Grapevine rather than through an airport or county court. That routing is why the court's Class C docket is full of people who have never lived in the city. The number the city publishes for the court is 817.410.3284, at 1027 Ira E. Woods Avenue, Grapevine, TX 76051.
The officer who stopped me at the airport was not Grapevine police. Does that matter?
It matters for records and for who you contact. DFW International Airport runs a full Department of Public Safety - police, fire rescue, security and emergency medical services, not contracted security - and its police department covers a 27-square-mile area. That department maintains its own Holding Facility and its own Police Records function under Support Services, plus Criminal Investigations handling criminal cases and federal task forces. So the arresting agency's file sits with DFW DPS, not with the City of Grapevine. Headquarters is 3600 S 20th Avenue, DFW Airport, TX 75261, non-emergency 972-973-3210.
Is Grapevine Municipal Court a court of record, and why would that matter to me?
Yes. The City of Grapevine describes its municipal court as a court of record and as the judicial branch of city government providing a legal forum for persons allegedly in violation of Class C misdemeanors. Court-of-record status is the operative detail for anyone deciding how to handle a first setting, because it changes how an appeal is taken compared with the non-record municipal courts common in smaller Texas cities. In practice it rewards deciding what you intend to do before the date rather than working it out at the counter.
Can I deal with a Grapevine citation without flying back for it?
Start with what the court itself publishes rather than with assumptions carried over from another city. Grapevine Municipal Court maintains a dedicated Deferred Disposition page and directs defendants to check eligibility for deferred disposition or a driving safety course through the city's Municipal Online Services portal before appearing. What that leaves you able to do from out of state depends on the citation and on your history, so confirm it instead of guessing. One trap for travelers: the court accepts only cash, Mastercard and Visa, so an American Express or Discover card resolves nothing at the window.
What should I do about an old Grapevine ticket that now has a warrant on it?
Grapevine Municipal Court runs a dedicated Warrant Round Up page alongside its Deferred Disposition page, and it points defendants to the city's Municipal Online Services portal to check eligibility before appearing. Two things are worth pinning down before you call anyone. First, which agency wrote the original citation, because a DFW Airport citation and a Grapevine Police citation leave records with different agencies. Second, whether the matter is still a Class C, which is the limit of this court's jurisdiction. Use 817.410.3284, the number the city itself lists; others circulate in search results.
Grapevine is in two counties. How do I find out which one has my case?
Grapevine appears both on Tarrant County's official list of incorporated areas and on Dallas County's official list of cities, so the city genuinely straddles a county line. For anything above a Class C, where inside the city the alleged offense occurred decides which county files it, and that in turn decides the prosecutor, the courthouse and the jail. The quickest tells are the county named on the bond paperwork, the facility someone was released from, and the return address on any letter from a district attorney. Confirm it before you drive anywhere or agree to a setting.
More Grapevine questions
Where does someone go after a felony arrest on the Tarrant County side of Grapevine?
Into the Tarrant County jail system. Felony and Class A or B misdemeanor arrests made inside the Tarrant County portion of the city are booked in there, and every inmate is centrally received, booked, photographed and iris-enrolled at the Tarrant County Corrections Center, 100 N. Lamar, Fort Worth, TX 76196, phone 817-884-3000. The scale is worth knowing before you start making calls: roughly 5,000 inmates across five facilities, about 1,000 certified detention officers or deputies, approximately 35,000 bookings a year, and about 600 inmates transferred to various courts weekly.
Which courthouse hears a Grapevine felony?
On the Tarrant County side, the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center at 401 West Belknap in Fort Worth, where the county's criminal courts and the Criminal District Attorney share one building. Tarrant County states that eleven district courts handle felony level criminal matters, including Criminal District Courts Nos. 1 through 4, and that ten county criminal courts handle misdemeanor level matters. The Criminal District Attorney is Phil Sorrells, 817-884-1400. A Grapevine case that files into Dallas County goes to the Frank Crowley Courts Building and the Dallas County District Attorney instead, with County Criminal Courts Nos. 1 through 11 taking misdemeanors.
How much time do I have to ask about diversion in Tarrant County?
Ninety days from case filing. The District Attorney's guidelines, updated February 2025, set the Deferred Prosecution Program application deadline at 90 days from the file date, with no exceptions, and the current application form says the same. A 60-day figure still appears on the county's criminal courts page, but that text dates to 2015. Ninety days is still tighter than Dallas County's 120-days-after-indictment window, a live difference for a city split between the two. Because the clock starts at filing rather than at your first court date, waiting for a setting can quietly close the door.
Is there an alcohol-related diversion track on a Grapevine case?
Tarrant County runs the Felony Alcohol Intervention Program as its felony alcohol track, and it does not publish an applicant deadline. Entry is screened rather than applied for: the program coordinator reviews felony DWI cases as they are filed, then the case moves through legal screening, a letter to defense counsel, and a program vote. The coordinator's published target is to begin that review within 30 days of arrest, which is why an early call matters even though there is no form to miss. Eligibility is decided by the county, not the city where the stop happened. Our page on a Texas DWI charge explains how these cases are built and where that program fits.
My teenager got a citation in Grapevine. Is there an alternative to just paying it?
Metroport Teen Court is a voluntary program that lets juvenile Class C offenders pay off a citation through community service and participation in the judicial process. Volunteer teen attorneys present the case to a jury of peers drawn from local secondary schools and from returning youth who were previously defendants, and the jury assesses community service hours under a discipline grid. To qualify, a teen needs a Class C citation, must be 12 to 19 and currently enrolled in middle or high school, must not have completed a Teen Court program anywhere in Texas in the last year, and must plead guilty or nolo contendere. The coordinator's line is 817.748.8346.
Can a Grapevine case be cleared off my record later?
Sometimes, and in a city built like this one the practical question is where the records actually live. A Class C resolved in Grapevine Municipal Court, a case filed by the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney in Fort Worth, and a case filed on the Dallas County side are three different files held by three different offices - and an airport arrest adds a fourth, because DFW DPS keeps its own police records. Which remedy is open depends on how the case ended, not on what it was called at the start. Our Texas expunction and record-clearing page walks through which dispositions open which route.
Arrested in Grapevine?
Free, confidential consultation — direct to attorney, 24/7. We pick up jail-release calls at all hours.
Call (972) 370-5060Why a Grapevine airport-gateway case is heard in Fort Worth
As the north gateway to DFW International Airport, Grapevine sees a steady stream of travelers, hotel guests, and visitors who never planned to spend a night in Tarrant County — yet that is where a serious charge lands. The city sits entirely within Tarrant County, so a felony or a Class A or B misdemeanor here is filed by the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney and heard at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth, with pretrial detention at the Tarrant County Jail. For someone arrested while passing through, the practical sting is geography: the court is roughly half an hour west of the airport, and a return flight does not pause the case.
Not every Grapevine citation travels that far, though. The Grapevine Municipal Court handles Class C, fine-only matters — traffic tickets, city-ordinance offenses, and similar low-level charges — and stays separate from the county courts in Fort Worth. That distinction decides where you answer and what is genuinely at risk. A speeding ticket written near Grapevine Mills is municipal-court business; a DWI or theft allegation on the same road is a county matter routed to the Tim Curry center. Knowing which track a charge belongs on is often the first question we sort out, because the two paths carry very different stakes.
Enforcement here clusters where airport traffic, retail crowds, and through-commuters meet. SH-114 and SH-121 funnel visitors toward the terminals, William D. Tate Avenue runs the commercial spine past Grapevine Mills, and I-635 carries the final approach to DFW. Those corridors, combined with the bars and restaurants around historic Main Street and the heavy weekend draw of the outlet mall, drive a high share of DWI, theft, and public-order stops — many involving people who live in another county or another state. An out-of-town defendant faces the same Tarrant County process as a resident, just with the added friction of distance.
For anyone charged in Grapevine, that means a few things at once: confirm whether your case is in municipal court or bound for Fort Worth, plan around court dates you may have to travel back for, and address bond before leaving the area complicates it. Our team handles Tarrant County cases routed through the Tim Curry center and works to keep a Grapevine charge from derailing a visitor's plans or a local's record.
About the Authors
Criminal Charges We Defend in Grapevine
L&L Law Group represents clients throughout Grapevine and Tarrant 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.