Sloane & Routledge Law Firm defends people in Fort Worth accused of injuring, threatening, or making offensive contact with someone the state classifies as a public servant. An assault on a public servant in Texas begins as an ordinary assault allegation, then climbs into felony territory because of who the other person was and what that person was doing at the time.
One shove during a traffic stop can put you in front of a felony district judge.
What makes these cases defensible is that the elevation rests on facts the state must prove, not on an officer's word alone. Whether the alleged victim was lawfully performing an official duty, whether you knew that person's role, and whether any injury happened at all are all open questions.
Our criminal defense team pulls those questions apart before a grand jury ever sees the file. Call (817) 810-0088 and find out exactly what prosecutors have to prove against you.
Your future is at stake—do not hesitate to contact the Sloane & Routledge Law Firm
Why Tarrant County Clients Put Their Defense in Our Hands
Our practice is 100 percent criminal defense, which means no divorce files, no injury claims, and no attention pulled away from the courtroom where your case lives. Working with our Fort Worth assault on a public servant lawyer team puts a group in your corner that reads Tarrant County charging decisions for a living.
Clients choose us for reasons that show up long before a trial date:
- A practice limited entirely to criminal defense, with no civil or family files competing for attention
- Years of trial work in Tarrant County criminal courtrooms
- An office in downtown Fort Worth, minutes from the courthouse where every Tarrant County felony is heard
- An approach that weighs your job, your family, and your record alongside the charge itself
Every one of those points matters once a felony indictment is on the horizon. Call (817) 810-0088 and leave the conversation with a plan for your first 30 days instead of a sales pitch.
What Qualifies as Assault on a Public Servant in Texas?
Texas recognizes three separate acts as assault, and the state does not have to prove lasting harm for any of them. Physical pain alone satisfies the statutory definition of bodily injury, which is a far lower bar than most people assume.
Prosecutors can build a charge on any of three acts:
- Bodily injury: Intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing physical pain, illness, or impairment. Allegations under Texas Penal Code §22.01(a)(1) are the ones that carry the felony elevation when a public servant is involved.
- Threat: Intentionally or knowingly threatening someone with imminent bodily injury, with no physical contact required at all.
- Offensive contact: Touching someone in a manner you knew would be regarded as offensive or provocative, including spitting.
Specifically, only the bodily injury version triggers the public servant enhancement. So, the gap between a chaotic scuffle and a documented injury drives the entire case.
Where medical records show nothing, we push the case back toward the underlying simple assault charge under Texas Penal Code §22.01, which is a Class A misdemeanor. Arguing that reclassification early, before the case reaches a grand jury, is one of the first moves we look at.
Who Is a Public Servant?
A public servant is anyone the government elects, appoints, hires, or otherwise designates to carry out a public function. The category reaches well past the uniformed police officers most people picture, which is why so many clients are stunned to learn a felony applies at all.
Texas law counts all of the following as public servants:
- Officers, employees, and agents of city, county, or state government
- Jurors and grand jurors
- Arbitrators, referees, and others authorized to decide a dispute
- Attorneys and notaries public performing a governmental function
- Candidates for nomination or election to public office
- Anyone performing a governmental function under a claim of right
Related provisions widen the circle even more, sweeping in firefighters, emergency medical services (EMS) crews, hospital personnel on hospital property, security officers, process servers, and utility workers performing duties in a declared disaster area or an evacuated area. The law also presumes you knew the person's status if that person wore a distinctive uniform or badge.
That statutory language comes from Texas Penal Code §1.07, and it is written broadly on purpose. Presumptions can be rebutted, though, and challenging what you actually saw in a dark parking lot or a crowded bar is often where an assault on a public servant in a Texas case turns.
Not sure if the person you encountered even qualifies? Call (817) 810-0088, and we will tell you which subsection your paperwork actually cites.
What Are the Penalties for Assault on a Public Servant?
Punishment turns on which subsection the indictment cites, and the gap between them is enormous. An assault on a peace officer in Texas is not the same charge as an assault on a county clerk or a school employee, though most legal websites blur the two together. Getting that wrong at the negotiating table costs defendants years.
Most public servant charges are third-degree felonies carrying two to 10 years in prison and a fine reaching $10,000 under Texas Penal Code §12.34. Texas treats an assault causing bodily injury to a peace officer or a judge one level higher as a second-degree felony carrying two to 20 years, and the same $10,000 maximum fine under Texas Penal Code §12.33.
A conviction also reaches well past the sentence itself:
- Loss of the right to own or carry a firearm
- Ineligibility for many state licenses and government positions
- Immigration consequences for non-citizens, including removal
- A permanent felony record surfaces on every background check
- Steeper punishment ranges if you are ever charged again
Prison exposure is only half of what we defend against, because the felony label follows you into every job application and lease agreement. We work on the punishment question from the first meeting rather than after a plea offer arrives. Call (817) 810-0088 and ask our Fort Worth defense team which outcomes are realistic in a case like yours.
How a Deadly Weapon Allegation Changes the Case
Second-degree punishment is not the ceiling for assault on a public servant in Texas. When the state alleges serious bodily injury or a weapon, the offense becomes aggravated assault.
In practice, if a deadly weapon is alleged, the charge escalates further to a first-degree felony where the alleged victim is a public servant. First-degree punishment starts at five years and stretches to life.
A weapon finding also shuts doors at sentencing. Under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.054, a judge cannot grant community supervision once an affirmative deadly weapon finding appears in the judgment. Only a jury can recommend probation in that situation, and that rule reshapes trial strategy from day one.
Attacking the weapon allegation is frequently the highest-value move available. Objects that are not weapons by design, such as a shoe or a car door, count only if the state proves they could cause death or serious injury in the manner they were used. Our attorneys press that point as hard as we press the assault element itself.
How Does Tarrant County Handle Assault on a Peace Officer Cases?
Tarrant County funnels every felony through the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center at 401 W. Belknap Street in downtown Fort Worth, a short walk from our Weatherford Street office. Felony charges go to a grand jury first, and an indictment has to be returned before the case moves forward.
Once it is, the case lands by random assignment in one of the county's 11 felony courts: Criminal District Courts No. 1 through 4 and the 213th, 297th, 371st, 372nd, 396th, 432nd, and 485th District Courts.
Prosecutors in Tarrant County routinely stack a resisting arrest count alongside an assault on a peace officer Texas allegation arising from the same encounter. The pairing hands the state a fallback if felony proof weakens at trial. We read that pattern as an opening instead of a threat, because contradictions between the two accusations tend to surface plainly in body-worn camera footage.
The official duty element is the one we examine first. The elevation applies only where the officer was lawfully discharging an official duty, so the lawfulness of the stop or detention becomes a live question inside the felony count itself. That is a legal issue for the court, and it is one we raise before trial rather than during it.
Our Fort Worth assault on a public servant lawyer team requests in-car video, body camera footage, dispatch audio, and booking records early, while that material still exists in its original form. Every case has a first move, and yours should not wait on the state's timeline. Send us your charging paperwork or call (817) 810-0088, and we will tell you where the case actually stands.
Building Your Defense Against a Felony Assault Charge
No single strategy fits every assault on a peace officer in Texas, though the openings tend to cluster in predictable places. Our Fort Worth criminal defense practice begins by testing whether the state can carry its burden on each element beyond a reasonable doubt.
Step 1 is identifying which angles the record actually supports:
- Self-defense or defense of another against excessive force
- Genuine lack of knowledge that the person held public servant status
- No bodily injury beyond an unsupported claim of pain
- An unlawful stop or arrest that defeats the official duty element
- Direct conflicts between the written report and the recorded video
- Bystander accounts from people officers who were never interviewed
Every one of those angles depends on records the state controls, which is why early action outperforms waiting. In contrast to misdemeanor files, Penal Code 22.01 felony cases reach the grand jury in Tarrant County sooner than most clients expect, and pre-indictment advocacy with the district attorney's (DA) office is frequently where charges get reduced or rejected outright. Bring us in before that window shuts.
FAQs: Assault on a Public Servant in Texas
Clients frequently raise these questions once they have decided to hire counsel and want to know what happens next.
Can a Charge Be Reduced Before the Grand Jury Meets?
Yes, and pre-indictment work is one of the most productive stages of a Tarrant County felony case. We can present mitigating evidence, medical records, or video directly to the district attorney's office before the grand jury reviews the file. A no-bill or a reduction at that stage keeps a felony indictment off your history entirely.
Will This Charge Cost Me My Job While the Case Is Pending?
Texas employers may act on a pending charge, though many will hold off once they understand the case is contested. We can supply a letter confirming representation and the current posture of the case, which sometimes buys the room you need. Tell us about licensing boards or security clearances at the first meeting, because those bodies run on their own deadlines.
Can a Felony Assault Case Be Sealed or Erased Later?
An acquittal, dismissal, or no-bill can open the door to an expunction, which destroys the records outright. Deferred adjudication, a form of probation that ends without a conviction ever being entered, may instead qualify for an order of nondisclosure, which seals the record from most private employers but not from law enforcement. A straight conviction cannot be sealed.
What Does It Cost to Hire Your Firm?
Cost turns on how far the case travels, because a matter that resolves before indictment takes a different amount of work than one tried to a jury. We will walk you through the fee structure for your specific charge at the first meeting, in writing, before you decide anything. Call (817) 810-0088, and we will give you a straight answer rather than a range that shifts later.
Should I File a Complaint Against the Officer?
Not before speaking with us. Statements you give to internal affairs can be subpoenaed and used by prosecutors in your criminal case, even when your complaint is completely legitimate. Timing and wording matter enormously, and we would rather help you preserve the issue than watch it become proof against you.
Can I Switch to Your Firm if the Court Already Appointed Someone?
Yes. You may retain private counsel at any stage, and the court will substitute our firm in without penalty. Many people call us after weeks of silence about their case, and we can usually step in within a day of that first conversation.
Get a Fort Worth Defense Team Moving on Your Case Today
An assault on a public servant in Texas indictment does not have to be the final word on your future. Sloane & Routledge Law Firm handles nothing but criminal cases, and this charge sits squarely in the work we do every day. Call (817) 810-0088 or come see us at 933 W Weatherford St #203 in downtown Fort Worth, minutes from the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center.