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

Felony probation rules in Texas require you to report regularly to a supervision officer, hold a job, stay in your assigned county, submit to drug and alcohol testing, pay monthly fees and any restitution, avoid any new criminal offense, and give up firearms entirely. Judges almost always add more conditions on top of those, tailored to the offense. Breaking any condition — even a technical one like missing a check-in or moving without permission — can lead to modified conditions or revocation to prison, and in most cases the time you already spent on supervision does not count toward the sentence.

Texas law calls felony probation “community supervision,” and the specific obligations depend on your offense, your judge, and whether you received straight probation or deferred adjudication.

Straight Probation and Deferred Adjudication Are Not the Same

Straight probation is imposed after a conviction. The conviction stays on your record even if you complete supervision flawlessly. Deferred adjudication delays the finding of guilt; if you finish the term successfully, the case is dismissed without a final conviction.

The trade-off matters when something goes wrong. Under straight probation, the sentence was set at conviction, and a revoking judge works within that range. Under deferred adjudication, the judge can impose any sentence up to the statutory maximum for the offense if supervision is revoked.

Not every felony is eligible for deferred adjudication. Texas law excludes trafficking of persons, most repeat sexual offenses, continuous sexual abuse of a child, and certain intoxication offenses including DWI with a BAC of 0.15 or higher.¹ Murder is generally excluded as well, with a narrow exception when the judge finds the defendant did not cause or intend the death.

A separate list of offenses is barred from judge-ordered community supervision of any kind, including capital murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated robbery, and indecency with a child. A felony involving the use or display of a deadly weapon is also excluded when the defendant personally used it or knew a co-defendant would.² A jury can still recommend probation in some of these situations.

How Long Supervision Lasts

For straight probation, most felonies carry a maximum supervision term of ten years. Third-degree 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.³ The minimum term matches the minimum prison term for the offense.

Deferred adjudication is capped at ten years across all felony levels, with no five-year reduction for third-degree offenses.⁴ Sexual offenses against a child carry a mandatory minimum of five years of deferred adjudication regardless of the plea agreement.

Standard Conditions You Must Follow

The foundational condition is simple: commit no new criminal offense, under Texas, federal, or any other state’s law. A new arrest for anything, even a misdemeanor, can trigger revocation. You must also avoid “injurious or vicious habits,” the statutory language that supports bans on drug use and heavy drinking.⁵

You will report to your supervision officer on the schedule set by the judge or officer, typically once a month. The officer can also show up at your home or workplace without warning to verify where you’re living and whether you’re following the rules.⁵

Employment is a baseline requirement. You must work at suitable employment to the extent possible, or in many cases enroll full-time in school. You must stay within the geographic area the judge specifies, usually your county. Any change of address or job has to be reported to your officer immediately — a move across town counts. Failing to report an address change is one of the most common reasons a violation gets filed.⁵

What You’ll Pay

Money is a steady pressure point. You owe any fines imposed by the court plus all court costs, whether or not a fine was assessed.⁵ On top of that, the judge sets a monthly supervision fee somewhere between $25 and $60.⁶ Additional costs can include restitution to the 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 cannot pay the monthly supervision fee, the judge can waive it, reduce it, or suspend individual payments after finding significant financial hardship.⁶ The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a court cannot automatically revoke probation for failure to pay without first examining whether the person made a bona fide effort to pay and simply lacks the resources. If you truly cannot pay through no fault of your own, the court must consider alternatives before imprisonment.⁷ If a judge finds you had the money and chose not to pay, or didn’t look for work, revocation is on the table.

Special Conditions a Judge Can Add

Beyond the standard conditions, judges have wide discretion to attach extra requirements. These are listed in your written judgment and community supervision order, so read that document carefully — it controls what you must do.

Common additions include:

Community service hours at a nonprofit or government agency, sometimes running into the hundreds for serious offenses.
Counseling and treatment, including substance abuse programs, anger management, cognitive behavioral therapy, or offense-specific counseling.
Restitution to victims for financial losses caused by the offense.
No-contact orders prohibiting communication with victims, witnesses, or co-defendants.
Electronic monitoring, including GPS ankle monitors in domestic violence, stalking, and sex offense cases.
Curfews requiring you to be home by a set hour.

For DWI-related felonies, the judge can order an ignition interlock device on any vehicle you operate. The device is mandatory when your BAC 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.⁸ Even without those triggers, the judge can impose one for any DWI placed on community supervision.

Firearms Are Prohibited, Entirely

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 supervision, whichever is later.⁹ Even after that five-year window, state law restricts possession to the place where you live. Federal law goes further: anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment is permanently barred from possessing firearms or ammunition.¹⁰

A firearm violation during community supervision is a standalone Texas felony, a separate federal offense, and immediate grounds for revocation. It is one of the fastest ways to end up in prison.

Your order may also prohibit you from associating with people who have criminal records or frequenting places tied to illegal activity, such as bars or locations known for drug sales. These are harder to enforce, but a supervision officer who learns of a violation will file it.

Drug and Alcohol Testing

Random testing is a standard tool of community supervision. The statute authorizes requiring you to submit to testing for alcohol or controlled substances, and officers use that authority aggressively.⁵ Tests are usually urinalysis but may include hair follicle or breath tests.

A failed test does not automatically send you to prison, but it gives the state grounds to file a motion to revoke or modify supervision. The judge may respond by adding treatment, increasing reporting frequency, ordering electronic monitoring, or revoking supervision outright in serious or repeat cases. If substance abuse played a central role in your offense, expect frequent testing and little patience for positive results.

Travel and Moving

Your order will confine you to a specific geographic area, usually your county. Traveling outside that area for any reason — a weekend trip, a work assignment, a funeral — requires advance written permission from your supervision officer. Leaving without authorization is a direct violation.

Travel out of state is harder to secure and may require the judge’s approval on top of the officer’s. Courts generally grant out-of-state travel only for documented family emergencies, essential work obligations, or medical needs. Expect to provide the destination, dates, contact information, and purpose before the trip.

Transferring Supervision to Another State

If you need to relocate permanently, you cannot simply ask for permission to move. The transfer must go through the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision, a formal agreement between all 50 states, and transferring is a privilege rather than a right.¹¹ You may qualify for a mandatory transfer if Texas approves the request, you have more than 90 days left on supervision, you are in substantial compliance, and you have a qualifying reason to move such as family ties or employment in the receiving state. Otherwise, both states can agree to a discretionary transfer, but that outcome is less certain. The process takes weeks to months, and you cannot move until the receiving state formally accepts the case.

What a Violation Means

When your officer believes you’ve violated a condition, they report it to the prosecutor, who can file a motion to revoke or, in deferred adjudication cases, a motion to adjudicate. You are entitled to a hearing before the judge, but the standard of proof is lower than at trial: the state only has to prove the violation by a preponderance of the evidence.

If the judge finds a violation, the responses run from lenient to severe:

Modify conditions by adding stricter requirements like more frequent reporting, electronic monitoring, curfews, or treatment programs.
Continue supervision on existing conditions, sometimes with a warning.
Revoke supervision and impose a prison sentence. On straight probation, the judge can impose the originally assessed sentence or any term down to the statutory minimum. On deferred adjudication, the judge can impose anything up to the maximum punishment for the offense.¹²

One detail catches many people off guard: time spent on community supervision generally does not count as credit toward the prison sentence if supervision is revoked.¹² Four years on probation becomes four years lost. The narrow exception is time served in a residential treatment facility such as a Substance Abuse Felony Punishment facility, which receives credit if you completed the program.

Getting Off Supervision Early

Texas law allows a judge to end community supervision early if you’ve been on good behavior 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, maintained clean drug tests, and stayed arrest-free. Stable employment and community ties help. For certain offenses, especially family violence and sex offenses requiring registration, early termination may be restricted or unavailable.

If you received deferred adjudication and the judge grants early termination, the case is dismissed without a conviction. That outcome is the strongest reason to comply fully from day one and push for an early end to supervision.

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