Most Texas felonies are eligible for probation, which the statute calls community supervision. The felonies not eligible fall into a specific list of violent and sexual offenses, and eligibility narrows further when a deadly weapon is involved or the defendant has a prior felony conviction. Whether you are asking what felonies are eligible for probation in Texas because you are facing a charge or helping someone who is, the answer depends on three things: the specific offense, who is deciding (judge or jury), and your criminal history.
The Two Forms of Felony Probation
Texas offers two paths, and eligibility rules differ between them.
Straight probation follows a conviction. The judge or jury finds you guilty, the court suspends the prison sentence, and you serve the term in the community. The conviction stays on your record.
Deferred adjudication skips the finding of guilt. You plead guilty or no contest, the judge defers the adjudication, and if you complete every condition the case is dismissed. No conviction results. The trade-off: if you violate the terms, the judge can find you guilty and impose any sentence within the full range for the original charge, up to the maximum.1State of Texas. Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 42A – Community Supervision
Felonies Barred From Probation Entirely
Texas law prohibits judges from granting community supervision for a defined list of serious offenses, commonly called 3g offenses after their original location in the Code of Criminal Procedure. A conviction for any of these means prison:
- Capital murder
- Murder
- Indecency with a child
- Aggravated kidnapping
- Aggravated sexual assault
- Aggravated robbery
- Sexual assault
- Trafficking of persons
- Continuous sexual abuse of a young child
The statute includes additional offenses beyond those shown here, so check the full list if your charge is not above.2State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 42A.054 A judge acting alone cannot grant probation for these offenses. A jury can still recommend probation for some of them under narrow conditions covered below.
Felonies Barred From Deferred Adjudication
Even when straight probation is on the table, deferred adjudication has its own exclusion list. A judge cannot grant deferred adjudication for:
- Murder, with one narrow exception: the judge may grant it only if the evidence shows the defendant did not cause the death, did not intend to kill, and did not anticipate that someone would die
- Trafficking of persons
- Continuous sexual abuse of a young child
- Certain intoxication offenses, including intoxication assault, intoxication manslaughter, and DWI with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher or while holding a commercial driver’s license
- Repeat drug-free zone offenses where the defendant has a prior conviction with an enhanced punishment
- Repeat sexual offenses, including a second charge of sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, or related offenses if the defendant was previously placed on community supervision for a similar offense
The murder exception is narrower than it sounds. It applies when the defendant played a peripheral role and did not intend or expect anyone to die.3State of Texas. Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 42A – Community Supervision
How a Deadly Weapon Finding Changes Eligibility
A deadly weapon finding is a separate restriction from the 3g list. When a judge or jury finds that you used or displayed a deadly weapon during the offense or while fleeing from it, the judge loses the power to grant straight probation.2State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 42A.054
The jury becomes your only route. A jury can still recommend community supervision if the sentence it assesses is ten years or less and you have no prior felony convictions. Even then, the court often imposes jail time as a mandatory condition of the probation.
How a Prior Felony Conviction Affects Eligibility
A prior felony conviction closes one of the two paths. Texas law prohibits a jury from recommending community supervision for any defendant previously convicted of a felony, whether in Texas, another state, or federal court.4Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas. Eric Kenyatta Jordan v. The State of Texas To qualify for jury-recommended probation, you must file a sworn statement before trial certifying that you have never been convicted of a felony, and the jury confirms that statement in its verdict.
A judge keeps some discretion to grant probation to a defendant with a prior felony record, provided the current charge is not a 3g offense and the sentence is within range. In practice, prior convictions make probation significantly harder to secure because the judge treats the history as evidence of reoffending risk.
The Sentence Length Ceiling
A jury cannot recommend probation if the assessed sentence exceeds ten years.1State of Texas. Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 42A – Community Supervision The same ten-year ceiling generally applies to judge-granted probation. If the sentence lands above that number, probation is off the table regardless of what offense was charged.
If probation is granted, the maximum community supervision term depends on the felony degree:
- First-degree felony: up to 10 years
- Second-degree felony: up to 10 years
- Third-degree felony: up to 10 years for most offenses, capped at 5 years for property crimes under Title 7 of the Penal Code and drug offenses under Chapter 481 of the Health and Safety Code
- State jail felony: 2 to 5 years, with a judge’s power to extend to 10 years
The minimum probation period matches the minimum prison term for the offense.5State of Texas. Code of Criminal Procedure Article 42A.053
State Jail Felonies: The Best Odds for Probation
State jail felonies are the lowest-level felonies and cover offenses such as theft of property worth $2,500 to $30,000, certain drug possession charges, and check fraud. Sentences run from 180 days to two years in a state jail facility rather than prison.
State jail felonies are generally eligible for community supervision, and judges have broad discretion to grant it. Probation runs between two and five years, with a judge’s option to extend to ten years in limited circumstances.6State of Texas. Code of Criminal Procedure Article 42A.551 Deferred adjudication is also available for most state jail felonies. This is the felony category where defendants have the strongest shot at avoiding both prison and a permanent conviction.
Shock Probation After Prison Has Begun
If a defendant has already started serving a prison sentence, one narrow option remains. Within 180 days of the date the defendant actually begins serving, the original sentencing judge can suspend the remainder of the sentence and place the defendant on community supervision.1State of Texas. Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 42A – Community Supervision
The requirements are strict. The judge must conclude the defendant would not benefit from continued imprisonment, the defendant must be otherwise eligible for community supervision under the rules above, and the defendant must have never previously served a prison sentence for a felony. Shock probation is not available for state jail felonies or 3g offenses. The 180-day clock starts the moment the sentence begins.
Eligibility Is Not the Same as a Grant
Clearing every statutory requirement does not guarantee probation. A judge or jury still weighs the seriousness of the offense, the harm caused, the defendant’s role, employment, family stability, community ties, and whether the defendant has shown remorse. A clean record helps. A criminal history that falls short of a legal bar will still be examined closely as a predictor of future behavior.
Two defendants charged with the same offense can see entirely different outcomes based on the facts of the case and the sentencing presentation. A probation plan prepared before sentencing, covering housing, employment, and any treatment the defendant will pursue, gives the court concrete reasons to believe community supervision will work.