Felony Probation Rules in Texas: Length, Costs, and Violations

Felony probation rules in Texas (called community supervision in the statutes) require you to report to a supervision officer on schedule, hold a job or attend school, stay inside a set geographic area, avoid any new criminal offense, submit to drug and alcohol testing, pay monthly fees plus any fines and restitution, and give up firearms entirely. Judges add case-specific conditions on top of those basics, and violating any of them can put you back in front of the court facing prison time.

Texas runs two tracks of felony community supervision, and which one you’re on changes what a violation costs you. Straight probation follows a conviction that stays on your record whether or not you complete supervision cleanly. Deferred adjudication delays the guilty finding, so if you finish the term without incident the judge dismisses the case. The trade-off is exposure at revocation: on straight probation the judge is limited to the sentence range set at conviction, while on deferred adjudication the judge can impose anything up to the statutory maximum for the offense.

How Long Supervision Lasts

For straight probation, most felonies carry a maximum of ten years. Certain third-degree felonies (property crimes under Title 7 of the Penal Code and drug offenses under Chapter 481 of the Health and Safety Code) are capped at five years.¹ The minimum matches the minimum prison term for the offense.

For deferred adjudication, the ceiling is ten years across all felony levels, with no five-year cap on third-degree cases.² Deferred adjudication for sexual offenses against a child carries a minimum term of five years.

The Standard Conditions

Texas law sets out a long menu of conditions a judge can attach, and in felony cases most of the following are imposed as a matter of course.

You cannot commit a new offense under Texas, another state’s, or federal law. A new arrest for anything, even a misdemeanor, is enough to trigger a motion to revoke. The statute also forbids “injurious or vicious habits,” which is the legal hook for barring drug use and heavy drinking.³

You report to your community supervision officer on whatever schedule is set, typically monthly. The officer can also drop by your home or workplace unannounced to confirm you live where you say you do.³

Employment is a baseline requirement. You must hold suitable work to the extent possible, or in many cases be a full-time student. You must stay inside the geographic area the judge specifies, usually your county. Any change of address or job has to be reported to your officer immediately. Failing to report an address change is one of the most common reasons a violation ends up filed.³

What You’ll Pay

Money is a constant pressure point. You owe any fines the court assessed plus all court costs whether or not a fine was imposed.³ On top of that comes a monthly supervision fee between $25 and $60, set by the judge at sentencing.⁴ Add restitution to any victim, reimbursement for a court-appointed attorney, payments to the crime victims’ compensation fund, and fees for programs like substance abuse treatment or electronic monitoring.

If you genuinely can’t afford the monthly fee, the judge can waive it, reduce it, or suspend individual payments after finding significant financial hardship.⁴ The U.S. Supreme Court has also held that a court cannot automatically revoke probation for nonpayment without first examining whether you made a real effort and simply lack the resources.⁵ If a judge concludes you had the money and chose not to pay, or didn’t bother looking for work, revocation is on the table.

Special Conditions the Judge Can Add

Beyond the standard menu, judges have wide discretion to tailor extra requirements to the offense and to you. These special conditions are written into the judgment and community supervision order, so read that document carefully because it controls your obligations. Common ones include:

Community service hours at a nonprofit or government agency, sometimes running into the hundreds.
Substance abuse treatment, anger management, cognitive behavioral therapy, or counseling tied to the offense.
Restitution to any identifiable victim for financial losses.
No-contact orders covering victims, witnesses, or co-defendants.
GPS or ankle monitor supervision, common in domestic violence, stalking, and sex offense cases.
A curfew requiring you to be home by a set hour.

For DWI-related felonies, a judge can order an ignition interlock device on any vehicle you drive. It’s mandatory when your blood-alcohol concentration was 0.15 or higher, you have a prior intoxication conviction within the past ten years, or you were under 21 at the time of the offense.⁶ The judge keeps discretionary authority to order one in any DWI case placed on supervision.

No Firearms, No Ammunition

You cannot possess a firearm or ammunition while on felony community supervision. Texas law makes it a third-degree felony for a convicted felon to possess a firearm at any point before the fifth anniversary of release from confinement or from community supervision, whichever comes later.⁷ Even after that five-year window closes, Texas law only allows possession at the place where you live. Federal law adds a permanent bar: anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.⁸

A firearm violation during supervision compounds fast. It is a fresh Texas felony, a separate federal offense, and grounds for immediate revocation. It is one of the shortest paths from supervision back to prison.

Your order may also prohibit associating with people who have criminal records or going to places where illegal activity happens, like bars or known drug locations. These are harder to enforce than the firearm ban, but a supervision officer who finds out will file it.

Drug and Alcohol Testing

Random testing is standard. The statute authorizes screening for alcohol or controlled substances, and supervision officers use that authority routinely.³ Testing is usually urinalysis but can extend to hair follicle or breath tests.

A failed test doesn’t automatically send you to prison, but it gives the state grounds to file a motion to revoke or modify. The judge might add treatment, increase your reporting, order electronic monitoring, or in serious or repeated cases revoke supervision entirely. If substance abuse was central to your offense, expect frequent testing and expect a positive result to be taken seriously.

Travel and Moving Out of State

Your order will confine you to a set geographic area, usually your county. Any trip outside that area, whether a weekend visit or a work assignment, needs advance written permission from your supervision officer. Leaving without authorization is a direct violation.

Travel outside Texas is harder to clear and often needs the judge’s permission on top of the officer’s. Courts generally approve it only for documented family emergencies, essential work, or medical needs. Give your officer the destination, dates, contact information, and purpose before you go.

A permanent move to another state doesn’t happen with a simple travel pass. The transfer has to go through the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision, a formal agreement among all 50 states. Transferring supervision is a privilege, not a right, and the process takes weeks to months. You cannot move until the receiving state formally accepts the case.⁹

What Happens If You Violate

When your officer believes you’ve broken a condition, the report goes to the prosecutor, who can file a motion to revoke (on straight probation) or a motion to adjudicate (on deferred adjudication). You are entitled to a hearing before a judge, but the standard of proof is lower than at trial: the state only has to show the violation by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not.

If the judge finds a violation, the response can range widely:

Modify conditions by adding stricter requirements, such as more frequent reporting, electronic monitoring, a curfew, or additional treatment.
Continue supervision on the existing terms, sometimes with a warning.
Revoke supervision and impose prison time. On straight probation, the judge can impose the sentence originally assessed or reduce it to any term not less than the statutory minimum. On deferred adjudication, the judge can sentence you to anything up to the maximum punishment for the offense.¹⁰

One detail that catches people off guard: time spent on community supervision generally does not count toward a prison sentence if supervision is revoked.¹⁰ Four years on probation before a revocation? Those four years vanish. The narrow exception is time in a residential treatment facility like a Substance Abuse Felony Punishment facility, which does count if you completed the program.

Getting Off Supervision Early

Texas law lets a judge terminate community supervision early if you’ve behaved and completed a substantial portion of your term. The general threshold is one-third of the original period or two years, whichever is longer. After that point, you or your attorney can file a motion asking the judge to release you.

Early termination is discretionary. The judge will look at whether you’ve paid all fines, fees, and restitution, finished every required program, tested clean, and stayed arrest-free. Steady employment and community ties help. For certain offenses, particularly those involving family violence or sexual offenses requiring registration, early termination may be restricted or unavailable.

If you were on deferred adjudication and the judge grants early termination, the case is dismissed without a conviction. That outcome is one of the strongest reasons to comply and push for an early end.

Offenses That Can’t Get Judge-Ordered Supervision

Not every felony is eligible for community supervision from the judge. Texas law excludes murder, capital murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated robbery, trafficking of persons, indecency with a child, sexual assault, and several other serious offenses. There’s also a blanket exclusion for any felony where a deadly weapon was used or displayed during the crime or the immediate flight afterward, if you personally used the weapon or knew a co-defendant would.¹¹ A jury can still recommend probation in some of these cases, but the judge cannot grant it independently.

Deferred adjudication carries its own exclusions: trafficking of persons, most repeat sexual offenses, continuous sexual abuse of a child, and certain intoxication offenses including DWI with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher.¹² Murder is generally excluded too, with a narrow exception when the judge finds the defendant did not cause or intend the death.

A Note on State Jail Felonies

Texas has a felony category below third-degree called a state jail felony. If you’re placed on community supervision for one, the judge can impose any condition that applies to higher-level felonies.¹³ The rules, reporting, and testing look the same. The practical difference shows up at revocation: the sentencing range is 180 days to two years in a state jail facility rather than a longer prison term.

1
State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.053 – Judge-Ordered Community Supervision
2
State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.103 – Period of Deferred Adjudication Community Supervision
3
State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.301 – Conditions of Community Supervision
4
State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.652 – Monthly Reimbursement Fee
5
Justia. Bearden v. Georgia, 461 U.S. 660 (1983)
6
Texas Justice Court Training Center. Texas Ignition Interlock Laws
7
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 46.04 – Unlawful Possession of Firearm
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
9
Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision. Starting the Transfer Process
10
State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.755 – Revocation and Proceedings After Revocation
11
State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.054 – Limitation on Judge-Ordered Community Supervision
12
State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.102 – Eligibility for Deferred Adjudication Community Supervision
13
State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.554 – Conditions of Community Supervision