Fort Worth Probation Revocation Lawyer
Probation violations carry severe consequences in Texas, but they don’t always result in a one-way ticket to prison. When a probationer fails to comply with the conditions of deferred adjudication or straight probation, their probation officer can issue a warning, ask for sanctions, or push the prosecutor to file a motion to revoke or adjudicate.
The outcome depends on the arguments your attorney makes, your history while on probation, the basis for the motion, and the evidence presented to the court. Missing a meeting with your probation officer because your car broke down may result in a sanction and a weekend in jail. Picking up a new offense will likely put your freedom in jeopardy.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach, but one thing is certain: serious or repeated probation violations will not go unnoticed. Board Certified Criminal Defense Attorney Benson Varghese is an experienced Fort Worth probation revocation lawyer. Take a moment to watch this video.
What Is Expected of a Probationer in Texas?
When the court places you on community supervision, it issues a written order listing your conditions. Standard conditions are similar across counties, but every judge can — and frequently does — add additional terms. Common Texas probation conditions include:
- Commit no new offenses. Any new arrest, even for minor charges in some counties, can trigger a motion.
- Report to your probation officer as directed, in person and on time.
- Pay all fees, court costs, fines, and restitution on the schedule set by the court.
- Submit to drug and alcohol testing on demand, often at random.
- Avoid drugs, alcohol, and places where alcohol is the primary item sold, depending on the offense.
- Remain in the county unless given written permission to travel.
- Maintain employment or schooling, and report any change in job, address, or phone number.
- Complete required programs — anger management, BIPP, drug treatment, DWI education, theft classes, sex offender treatment, or whatever else the court ordered.
- Complete community service hours on the schedule in the order.
- Avoid contact with victims, co-defendants, or specific people or places when ordered.
- Comply with any special conditions — ignition interlock, GPS monitoring, curfew, no-contact orders, firearm prohibitions, and others.
If you do not know exactly what your conditions are, ask your probation officer for a current copy. You can be revoked for violating any condition — including the ones you forgot existed.
What Are Common Probation Violations in Texas?
Probation violations occur when an individual fails to follow the terms and conditions set out by the court. Common violations include:
- Committing a new offense;
- Skipping a meeting with a probation officer;
- Failing a drug test;
- Failing to pay fees and court costs (although revocation will generally not be based merely on failure to pay);
- Failing to complete community service;
- Leaving the county without permission;
- Failing to complete court-ordered classes or treatment;
- Possessing a firearm while on community supervision.
What Is a Motion to Revoke?
If a person is on straight probation and the probation officer believes the probationer has violated conditions of probation, the motion the probation officer files with the court through the prosecutor is called a Motion to Revoke. This brings the allegations to the attention of the court. Once a motion is presented to the judge, a warrant will be issued for the probationer’s arrest. They are then taken into custody for resolution of the matter.
What Is a Motion to Adjudicate?
If a person is on deferred adjudication and the probation officer believes the probationer has violated a condition, the probation officer will file a Motion to Adjudicate through the prosecutor. This motion is necessary because a person placed on deferred adjudication was never adjudicated guilty for the offense. At the time of the plea, the judge set aside any finding of guilt. The Motion to Adjudicate asks the court to now find the person guilty based on the alleged violations and then determine the appropriate punishment.
For this reason, motions to adjudicate are typically bifurcated, or two-part, hearings: the violations are first established and ruled upon, then the court hears testimony on punishment.
Is a Bond Automatically Set on a Motion to Revoke or Adjudicate?
This is one of the most misunderstood parts of Texas probation law, and the answer depends on whether you are on regular probation or deferred adjudication and whether the underlying case is a felony or misdemeanor.
Felony regular probation: no automatic right to bond
If you are on regular (post-conviction) felony probation, you are not entitled to a bond on the motion to revoke. The judge can issue a “no bond” warrant and hold you in custody until the hearing. Your attorney will need to file a motion and request that a bond be set, and the judge has discretion whether to grant one.
Felony deferred adjudication: you are entitled to a bond
If you are on deferred adjudication for a felony, the court is required to set a bond on request because you have not been finally convicted. Many courts still issue the initial warrant as “no bond” and require your attorney to formally ask for the bond to be set before you turn yourself in. Do not assume nothing can be done — a quick motion can often get a bond set before you go into custody.
Misdemeanor probation (regular or deferred): you are entitled to a bond
On misdemeanor probation of either type, you are entitled to have a bond set.
Furthermore, if your attorney requests a hearing on the motion (meaning negotiations have come to a standstill), the court has 20 days to bring you to court for a hearing under Code of Criminal Procedure Article 42A.751. The practical takeaway: if there is an outstanding warrant, the worst thing you can do is wait to be arrested in front of your kids, at your job, or during a traffic stop. The best move is to retain counsel, address the bond in advance where possible, and walk in on your terms.
What Must the State Prove?
The State must prove, by competent evidence, that you violated at least one specific condition of community supervision as alleged in the motion. That sounds simple, but several things are worth understanding:
- One violation is enough. If the motion alleges ten violations and the State proves only one, the court can revoke. To prevail, you generally have to defeat every allegation.
- The State must prove the manner and means alleged. If the motion says you tested positive for cocaine on March 15, the State cannot revoke you on a methamphetamine test from April 2 unless the motion is amended.
- For fines, fees, and restitution violations, the State must also prove ability to pay. Failure-to-pay allegations require the State to prove that you had the ability to pay and intentionally did not. Indigence is a defense.
- For new offenses, the State does not need a conviction. The State can prove the new offense at your revocation hearing even if the new case has not yet been tried — and at a lower standard than would apply in the new case itself.
- The motion and warrant must be filed and issued before your probation expires. If the State sits on the violation past the end of your term without filing the motion and getting the capias issued, jurisdiction is generally lost. The hearing itself can occur after the term ends, but the filing cannot.
What Is the Burden of Proof in a Motion to Revoke or Motion to Adjudicate?
At a hearing to revoke community supervision, the State must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant violated a condition of supervision. That means the judge must be convinced it is more likely than not — greater than 50% — that the violation occurred.
This is dramatically lower than the beyond a reasonable doubt standard that applied at your original trial or that would apply to a new criminal charge. What this means in practice:
- The State’s job is easier. A 51% showing is enough.
- The rules of evidence are relaxed. Hearsay that would never come in at a jury trial is routinely considered at revocation hearings.
- There is no jury. Revocation hearings are held before the judge alone. There is no right to a jury trial on the violation.
- An admission or a single positive drug test can be enough. Probation officer documentation, lab results, or even your own statements to the probation department can carry the day for the State.
This is precisely why a probation revocation hearing is, in many ways, harder to win than a jury trial. The standard is lower, the rules are looser, and the only audience is a judge who has already accepted your plea once.
What Happens During a Probation Revocation Hearing?
Probation revocation hearings occur before a judge only — probationers do not have a right to a jury trial. As with any criminal proceeding, both sides have an opportunity to present testimony and evidence. The prosecutor will likely call the probation officer, who will testify about the probationer’s compliance and the alleged violations.
You have a due process right to a hearing on a Motion to Revoke or Motion to Adjudicate. At that hearing, you have the right to:
- Written notice of the alleged violations;
- Representation by an attorney (and appointment of one if you cannot afford counsel);
- A hearing before a neutral judge;
- Confront and cross-examine the witnesses against you;
- Present your own evidence, call your own witnesses, and testify if you choose;
- Plead “True” or “Not True” to each allegation.
A plea of “True” by itself is enough to support a finding of violation. A plea of “Not True” forces the State to prove its case at a contested hearing.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge has three options:
- Continue or reinstate the probation with no changes;
- Modify the probation — extending it, adding conditions, tacking on fines, or requiring a short stint in county jail;
- Revoke the probation and impose a jail or prison sentence.
What Happens If the State Proves a Technical Violation?
“Technical” violations are violations of the rules of supervision rather than new criminal offenses — missed reports, positive drug tests, unpaid fees, failure to complete community service hours, failure to attend required classes, or leaving the county without permission. If the State proves a technical violation, the judge has the full range of options:
- Continue probation as-is — find the violation true but reinstate without changes.
- Continue probation with modified conditions — add classes, increase drug testing, impose curfew, require treatment, or add a short jail term as a condition of continued supervision.
- Extend the term within statutory limits.
- Impose a “shock” jail sanction as a condition of continued supervision.
- Revoke probation entirely and impose the original sentence (on regular probation) or any sentence in the statutory range (on deferred adjudication).
Judges are often willing to work with probationers who take a proactive approach — entering treatment voluntarily, catching up on fees, restarting community service, and walking into court with a documented record of trying to fix the problem rather than running from it. The single best mitigation in a technical-violation case is to do the work before the hearing, not promise to do it after.
What Happens If the Violation Is a New Offense?
A new arrest changes the picture significantly. The State is now arguing not only that you broke a rule but that you committed a new crime against the community while under supervision. Judges treat new-offense allegations far more seriously, and prosecutors are far less willing to negotiate continued probation.
Important things to understand about new-offense allegations:
- The State can prove the new offense at your revocation hearing without obtaining a conviction first. Because the burden is preponderance of the evidence, the State can sometimes prove the new offense at your revocation when it could not prove it at a jury trial.
- Prosecutors are cautious, however. A finding that an allegation is “not true” could collaterally estop the prosecutor from charging you separately for the same new offense — so the State sometimes chooses between proceeding on the motion or pursuing the new case independently.
- Strategic decisions matter. In some cases the State pursues the revocation aggressively and dismisses the new case if revocation is granted. In other cases — especially serious new offenses where the new-case exposure is greater than the underlying probation exposure — the State will try both.
- Do not discuss the new offense with your probation officer. Anything you say can and will be used against you, both at the revocation and in the new case. Probation officers are not your therapist or your priest. Get a lawyer involved before you talk.
- The two cases interact. Plea negotiations should always be handled with both cases on the table at the same time. Resolving one without the other is almost always a mistake.
What Is the Punishment Range for a Probation Revocation?
When an individual is on deferred adjudication, the court can consider the entire range of punishment for the underlying offense — that is, the charge for which they were originally placed on probation. For example, the range of punishment for a second-degree felony is 2 to 20 years in prison. If a defendant received two years deferred adjudication probation as part of a plea deal for a second-degree felony, the judge can revoke that probation and choose a number up to 20 years in prison.
For individuals on straight probation, the judge is limited to the sentence imposed at the time of the plea or finding of guilt. If the defendant received a five-year sentence probated for ten years, the judge is limited to a five-year prison sentence on the revocation.
Regular Probation vs. Deferred Adjudication at Revocation
This is the single most important concept to understand if you are facing a revocation.
| Regular Probation (MTR) | Deferred Adjudication (MTAG) | |
|---|---|---|
| Original finding | Found guilty; sentence suspended | Plea accepted; no finding of guilt |
| Punishment exposure on revocation | Capped at the originally imposed sentence | Full statutory range for the underlying offense |
| Bond on felony | Not automatic — judge’s discretion | Entitled to a bond on request |
| Bond on misdemeanor | Entitled to a bond | Entitled to a bond |
| Right to appeal the revocation/adjudication | Yes — revocation order is appealable | No direct appeal of the adjudication decision; punishment may be appealed |
| Burden of proof at hearing | Preponderance of the evidence | Preponderance of the evidence |
People often agree to deferred adjudication because the case can ultimately be dismissed if they complete supervision successfully. That is a real benefit. But the trade-off is significant: if the State files an MTAG, the punishment exposure is no longer the negotiated number — it is the entire statutory range. A 10-year deferred for aggravated robbery is not a 10-year cap; it is a 5-to-99 exposure if the State proves a violation.
Contact a Fort Worth Probation Revocation Lawyer Today
With so much at stake in a probation revocation or motion to adjudicate, hiring an experienced Fort Worth probation revocation lawyer is critical. These are not easy situations — it can be difficult to get reinstated on probation or deferred adjudication, especially if you absconded or stopped reporting for a period of time. The best attorneys will warn you of the risks, prepare you for the possible outcomes, and then go to court and fight for reinstatement or the lowest possible sentence.
In some cases, your attorney and the prosecutor can work out a plea bargain before the revocation hearing. The earlier we are involved, the more options we have. If you are facing a probation violation, contact a Fort Worth probation revocation lawyer at Varghese Summersett. Our team will review the circumstances, explain the potential ramifications, and build a defense designed to keep you out of custody.
Call (817) 203-2220 today.