# Criminal Defense Lawyer in El Paso > Know what you are charged with, what it carries, and what happens next, before you walk into a courtroom guessing. Wyatt, Underwood & Grasheim handles charges, probation violations and expunctions in El Paso, Texas, licensed in Texas and New Mexico. One of the three partners takes the file and carries it start to finish. Call [(915) 485-9100](tel:+19154859100) for a free case review. Hablamos español. ## Am I going to jail for this? Not necessarily. It turns on the level of the charge, your record, and what the evidence actually shows. Many Texas cases end in dismissal, deferred adjudication or probation rather than jail. No lawyer can promise an outcome at the first call. What moves the range is getting the facts reviewed early. An arrest starts a process full of deadlines nobody reads you. What happens in the first two weeks, the magistrate setting, the bond conditions, whether the case goes to a grand jury, shapes everything that comes after it. ## What we handle Charges, probation violations and expunctions. Every one of these is tried in El Paso courts. ### DWI and DUI Two cases start at once: the criminal charge, and a separate administrative fight over your license. The license case has its own deadline measured from the date of arrest, and missing it forfeits the hearing entirely. First move: Ask about the license hearing deadline first. It runs faster than the criminal case. ### Drug possession and distribution Quantity and location drive the charge more than the substance does. Whether it was found on you, in a car, or in a shared home changes what the State has to prove about control. First move: Do not try to explain it away afterward. That conversation becomes evidence. ### Assault and family violence A family violence finding outlives the sentence. It can affect firearm rights and it resurfaces in custody cases years later, long after the criminal case has closed. First move: An affidavit of non-prosecution does not end it. The State decides whether to proceed. ### Theft and property offenses The alleged dollar value sets the level of the offense, and the figure the State uses is not always the figure you would recognize as the real one. First move: Keep receipts, messages, anything showing the item was yours or was owed to you. ### Probation and parole violations A motion to revoke is decided on a lower standard of proof than the original case, and it usually goes back to the judge who placed you on probation. First move: Come current on whatever you can pay before the hearing. It changes the conversation. ### Expunctions and non-disclosure A dismissal does not clear itself. The arrest stays visible until somebody files to remove it, and eligibility depends on the offense and a waiting period. First move: Pull your own criminal history first, so you know what is actually on it. ## What the firm actually does with the file Hire this firm and one of three partners takes the file. Not an intake coordinator, not an associate you meet for the first time on the courthouse steps. Dereck Wyatt, Justin Underwood and Elena Grasheim all try cases, and the partner who reads your matter is the partner who argues it. Justin Underwood spent the first part of his career prosecuting cases at the El Paso District Attorney's office, so the file gets read from both directions before anyone gives you advice. The firm is licensed in Texas and New Mexico, which means a case that crosses the state line at Anthony or Sunland Park does not have to be handed to somebody else. ### Before anything is filed If an agency has contacted you but no charge exists yet, that is the cheapest and most useful moment to have a lawyer. We contact the investigator directly, you stop giving statements, and we put whatever helps you in front of the prosecutor while the case is still a decision rather than a docket number. ### The magistrate setting and bond We appear and argue the bond conditions, not just the amount. Conditions are what people actually violate. A no-contact order that nobody negotiated, a driving restriction that costs you your job, an ankle monitor on a case that did not need one, these are how a manageable matter turns into a second one. ### The State's file We request discovery and go through it line by line. The offense report, the dash and body camera video, the lab work, and the calibration and maintenance records behind any instrument reading. Most of what decides a case is in that material or conspicuously missing from it, and neither shows up unless somebody asks. ### Motions before trial Where a stop, a search or a statement was not lawful, we file to suppress it. Evidence that comes out before a jury is ever seated changes what the State is prepared to offer, which is why the pretrial posture matters more than most people expect. ### Resolution or trial Every file is prepared as though a jury will hear it, because that is what sets the value of anything the State offers. You decide whether to take an offer or try the case. We tell you which one we would take, why, and what the realistic range looks like on each path. ### After the case closes A dismissal does not clear itself. Where the record is eligible we file for expunction or nondisclosure so the arrest stops appearing on background checks, and we tell you plainly if it is not eligible rather than taking a fee to find out. ## The long read ### How a criminal case moves in El Paso Almost nobody is told what the next twelve months look like on the day they are arrested, and that gap is where most of the avoidable damage happens. A Texas criminal case runs on a schedule that starts whether or not anyone explains it to you, and the decisions that matter most are usually made in the first two weeks, before a trial date is ever set. Texas law generally requires an arrested person to be taken before a magistrate without unnecessary delay and no later than forty-eight hours after arrest. At that appearance the magistrate reads the accusation, sets bond conditions, and advises you of the right to counsel. Those bond conditions are not administrative background noise. They can restrict where you live, who you contact, whether you may drive, and whether you must submit to testing, and violating one can put you back in custody on a case you were otherwise handling well. Separate release rules turn on how ready the State is rather than on how strong the case is. Broadly, those periods run ninety days for a felony, thirty days for a Class A misdemeanor, fifteen days for a Class B and five days for a Class C, each subject to statutory conditions and exceptions. A person sitting in custody while the State is not ready has options that expire quietly if nobody raises them. Felony cases go to a grand jury, which decides whether there is probable cause to indict. That proceeding is not a trial, the defense has no right to be present, and it often happens months after the arrest while the accused hears nothing. It is also one of the few moments where a lawyer can submit information before charges harden. Misdemeanors skip the grand jury and are filed by information, which is why a misdemeanor can reach a courtroom faster than a felony arrested on the same night. ### Which court your case lands in El Paso does not have one criminal court. Where a case is filed depends on the level of the offense and the agency that made the arrest, and the answer changes what happens next, who the prosecutor is, and how quickly the case moves. Citations issued under City of El Paso ordinances and many fine-only Class C offenses go to the El Paso Municipal Court. A citation written by a sheriff, a constable or a state trooper outside municipal jurisdiction may instead be assigned to the relevant El Paso County Justice of the Peace court. The citation controls where you answer, not where you live, which is the single most common mistake people make when they try to handle a ticket themselves. Misdemeanors above Class C are handled in the county courts at law, and felonies go to the district courts. El Paso's district court system includes the 34th, 120th, 168th, 171st, 210th, 243rd, 346th and 384th District Courts among others, plus Criminal District Court No. 1. County Court at Law No. 7 handles both civil and criminal matters. Court assignments change, so the current directory and assignment order govern rather than any general description of how Texas counties are usually organized. Hudspeth County is a separate county with its own courts and filing offices. A case there is not filed at the El Paso County Courthouse and does not run on the El Paso docket, even for someone who lives and works in El Paso. ### If the arrest happened in New Mexico The state line runs through daily life here. An arrest in Anthony, Sunland Park, Santa Teresa or Las Cruces is a New Mexico case in New Mexico's Third Judicial District, not a Texas case, and New Mexico criminal law, deadlines and procedure apply to it. A Texas law licence alone does not authorise regular practice in New Mexico. The partners at this firm are licensed in Texas and New Mexico, which is why the first question on intake is where the incident actually happened, which agency made the arrest, and what court the paperwork names. A Texas answer given to a New Mexico case is worse than no answer, because it sounds authoritative while being wrong about the deadline that matters. ### What a conviction costs after the sentence ends The sentence is the part people focus on and often the part that matters least in the long run. A conviction is a permanent public record that is read by employers, landlords, licensing boards and immigration officers years after the fine is paid and the probation is discharged. Some consequences are specific and severe. A family violence finding can affect firearm rights and resurfaces in custody litigation long after the criminal case has closed. A drug conviction can affect eligibility for professional licences and some federal benefits. For a non-citizen, the immigration consequence of a plea can be far heavier than the criminal sentence attached to it, and it can attach to a plea that looked like a bargain in the courtroom. This is why a plea that disposes of a case quickly is not automatically a good plea. The right question is not only what happens this month but what this record does to you in five years, and that question has to be asked before the plea, not after. ### Clearing a record in Texas A dismissal does not clear itself. The arrest stays visible on background checks until somebody files to remove it, and a great many people walk around for years assuming a case that was dropped simply disappeared. Expunction and nondisclosure are two different remedies and they are not interchangeable. Expunction is available only in defined situations, including some acquittals, pardons, qualifying dismissals, and arrests never charged after the applicable waiting period. Nondisclosure seals eligible records from much public access but does not remove them from every government user. Eligibility turns on the exact charge, the disposition and your criminal history, which is why the honest answer to whether your record can be cleared always begins with pulling the record. ### Choosing a defense lawyer here Criminal defense is local work. The written law is the same across Texas, but the prosecutors, the judges, the standing orders and the practical expectations are not, and a lawyer who appears in these courts every week knows things about them that do not appear in any statute. Ask who will actually handle the case. At many firms the lawyer at the consultation is not the lawyer in the courtroom. Ask what a case like yours usually costs, and expect a straight answer rather than a range so wide it means nothing. Ask what the realistic outcomes are, and be careful with anyone who promises one, because no lawyer can promise an outcome at a first meeting and the ones who do are selling something other than representation. At this firm all three partners try cases, and the case is handled by a partner rather than passed to an intake clerk. The first review costs nothing, it is confidential, and it is available in Spanish. ## Questions people ask before they hire anyone ### What should I do if I have an arrest warrant in El Paso? Do not ignore it, and do not rely on somebody else's description of it. Confirm the issuing court and the cause number first, because a Municipal Court warrant, a county misdemeanor warrant and a felony warrant all move differently. A lawyer can review the options for surrender, bond and requesting a hearing. ### How long can police hold me before I see a magistrate in Texas? Texas requires an arrested person to be taken before a magistrate without unnecessary delay and no later than 48 hours after arrest. Separate release rules turn on the State's readiness: broadly 90 days for a felony, 30 for a Class A misdemeanor, 15 for a Class B and five for a Class C, each with statutory conditions and exceptions. ### Can my Texas criminal record be expunged or sealed? Those are two different things. Expunction is available only in defined situations: some acquittals, pardons, qualifying dismissals, and arrests never charged after the applicable waiting period. Nondisclosure seals eligible records from much public access but does not remove them from every government user. Eligibility turns on the exact charge, the disposition and your history. ## More on criminal law - [How long police can hold you before you see a magistrate in Texas](/insights/how-long-before-magistrate-texas): Texas requires a magistrate without unnecessary delay and no later than 48 hours after arrest. What that hearing decides and what a late one means. (statutes checked 2026-09-14) - [Expunction or nondisclosure in Texas, and which one applies to you](/insights/expunction-or-nondisclosure-texas): An expunction destroys a Texas arrest record. A nondisclosure seals it from most public view. How your case ended decides which one you can ask for. (statutes checked 2026-09-14) - [Your license after a driving while intoxicated arrest in Texas](/insights/dwi-license-deadline-texas): A driving while intoxicated arrest starts a separate case against your license. The hearing request is generally due by the fifteenth day after notice. (statutes checked 2026-09-14) - [What to do if you have an arrest warrant in El Paso](/insights/what-to-do-arrest-warrant-el-paso): Confirm the court and the cause number before you do anything else. A municipal, county and felony warrant each move differently in El Paso. (statutes checked 2026-09-14) All of them: [Insights](/insights) ## Talk to a partner The case review is free, the call comes from a partner, and you get a straight answer either way. Even if the answer is that you do not need us. Call [(915) 485-9100](tel:+19154859100) or use the chat at the bottom right of any page. Hablamos español. Wyatt, Underwood & Grasheim 705 Texas Ave #100 El Paso, TX 79901 [Directions](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&destination=705+Texas+Ave+%23100%2C+El+Paso%2C+TX+79901) General information about Texas procedure, not legal advice about your matter. Reading this page does not make the firm your lawyer. See the [Terms of Use](/terms).