Pasadena class B or higher cases go to the Harris County Criminal Justice Center at 1201 Franklin Street, downtown. Pasadena PD is one of the larger municipal forces in the county, and the cases it files land in one of the highest-volume criminal court systems in the United States. That volume is the thing to understand about defending a case here. Everything in the building is built to keep matters moving, and a defendant who does not know that will mistake speed for progress.
David Smith is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and a former prosecutor. Most of the Pasadena cases we take start on Highway 225, Spencer Highway, or Fairmont Parkway, and most of them come with an offer attached earlier than the client expects. Getting a case over with is not the same as getting it right, and the difference is what you are agreeing to live with afterwards. Call us for a free consultation before you agree to anything.
Pasadena PD and Harris County deputies book into the Harris County Joint Processing Center downtown. A magistrate usually sets bond within 24 hours. From there the case moves into the county criminal courts at the Justice Center, and it moves quickly. The first setting can come with an offer already on it, which is why the useful window is before that setting rather than at it.
Pasadena residents face the full range of criminal charges prosecuted in Harris County, and they face them in a courthouse system that handles more criminal cases annually than almost any other in the country. Having a Board Certified criminal defense attorney who understands Harris County’s volume, culture, and procedures makes a practical difference in how effectively a case is defended. We do not learn on our clients’ time. We bring established knowledge of this system to every case from day one.
DWI out of Highway 225, Spencer Highway, and Fairmont Parkway is the most common call we take from Pasadena. Drug possession and assault cases follow closely. We also handle the serious felonies that come out of this part of the county, including robbery and homicide, in the same courthouse and with the same preparation.
Arrests in Pasadena are made by the Pasadena PD or Harris County Sheriff’s Office and processed at the Harris County Jail. The Harris County court system handles everything from your bond hearing through any trial.
A plea is not just the end of a case. It is a record that follows you into every background check, every rental application, and every job you apply for afterwards. Prosecutors are not required to explain all of that to you, and in a courthouse this busy, county employees won’t generally provide this type of information. Before you agree to anything, you should know exactly what it leaves behind and what, if anything, can be done about it later.
The Harris County Criminal Justice Center at 1201 Franklin Street in downtown Houston. Misdemeanors go to a county criminal court at law, felonies to a district court, both in that building. Class C offenses stay in Pasadena Municipal Court.
Not before someone has reviewed the evidence. An early offer reflects how the case looks on paper, not how it looks after the video, the lab work, and the witness accounts have been examined. Ending a case quickly is not the same as ending it well.
Volume. Harris County runs one of the busiest criminal court systems in the country, and most settings are brief resets. What matters is what gets done between them, not simply at them.
Only if it is a Class C offense. Anything Class B or above leaves Pasadena Municipal Court and is prosecuted by the Harris County District Attorney downtown.
Often not. Many resets can be covered by your attorney. Ask which ones early, because for shift work the difference adds up quickly.
The ALR hearing request, within 15 days of the arrest. It contests your license suspension and runs on its own clock, separate from the criminal case.
No. Clearing the record is a separate filing someone has to make. Until it is done, the arrest can still show up in a background check.
