Caldwell County Criminal Defense Lawyer

Most of the firm’s Caldwell County clients do not live in Caldwell County. They live in Austin, San Antonio, San Marcos, Houston, and points along the highways that run through Lockhart and Luling — and they were unfortunate enough to get pulled over on what should have been a routine traffic stop.

The Law Office of David D. White, PLLC has practiced criminal defense exclusively since 2004, across Travis, Williamson, Hays, Caldwell, Lee, Coryell, Bell, Burnet, Milam, and Bastrop County courts. Kenneth Hines has handled cases in Caldwell County courts for 18 years. Three attorneys work each case as a team through weekly case reviews and shared legal software. By the time you walk into your first consultation, the firm has made efforts to obtain your Probable Cause Affidavit, read it, and identify the points where the State’s evidence is weakest.

Traffic stops in Lockhart and Luling: what’s actually happening

Two highways carry most of the traffic that ends up generating Caldwell County cases. U.S. Highway 183 bisects the county north–south through Lockhart, the county seat — that is the corridor between Austin and points south. Interstate 10 crosses the southern part of the county through Luling, connecting San Antonio and Houston. State Highway 130 runs along the eastern edge. State Highway 142 connects Lockhart to San Marcos and the I-35 corridor.

If you were arrested in Caldwell County, the odds are very good that the contact began as a minor traffic violation — speed, lane discipline, a brake light — somewhere on 183, I-10, or one of the connectors.

The pattern the firm sees over and over: local law enforcement is more interested in searching your vehicle than in issuing a citation. The traffic stop is the entry point. The actual goal is to develop reasonable suspicion to extend the detention, get a K-9 unit on scene, get consent or a probable-cause search, and find something. When officers cut corners — when the stop runs longer than the traffic violation justifies, when the search lacks probable cause, when consent was coerced — the Fourth Amendment is the answer.

We are trained to look at these stops in detail. The dash-cam, the body-cam, the radio traffic, the field reports, the K-9 alert documentation. We file motions to suppress when the stop, the detention, or the search exceeded what the Constitution allowed. When the evidence is suppressed, the State’s case usually collapses — and the case is dismissed.

The firm has obtained dismissals on Caldwell County 183-corridor and I-10-corridor cases through motions to suppress. Every case is fact-specific. But the foundation is the same in each one: the State has to prove that everything law enforcement did was legal. If they did not, the evidence is out.

Where Caldwell County cases are heard

Felony cases in Caldwell County are heard at the Caldwell County Justice Center at 1703 South Colorado Street in Lockhart. The 22nd, 207th, and 421st Judicial District Courts share felony jurisdiction across the county. Misdemeanors — Class A and Class B — are heard at the Caldwell County Court at Law, located at 110 South Main Street in downtown Lockhart. Class C misdemeanors and traffic citations are handled by the four Justice of the Peace precincts spread across the county, and city ordinance violations are heard in the Lockhart Municipal Court.

Fred Weber is the Caldwell County Criminal District Attorney and has served in that role for over a decade. The DA’s office prosecutes both felonies and the misdemeanor docket. Both are based at the Justice Center on South Colorado Street.

Lockhart is roughly 30 minutes south of downtown Austin via Highway 183. Luling, in the southern part of the county, sits directly on I-10 between San Antonio and Houston. Most clients facing Caldwell County charges live in Lockhart, Luling, Martindale, Mustang Ridge, Maxwell, or one of the cities the highway runs to.

Charges we defend in Caldwell County

The firm handles the full range of state criminal charges in Caldwell County, including:

• DWI — first offense, second offense, felony DWI, ALR license suspension hearings
• Drug charges — possession across all penalty groups, possession with intent to deliver, manufacturing
• Assault — simple assault, aggravated assault, family violence assault
• Theft, burglary, robbery — misdemeanor through first-degree felony
• Domestic violence and family violence — including no-drop policy navigation
• Sex crimes — indecency, sexual assault, online solicitation
• White collar offenses — fraud, forgery, identity theft
• Probation revocations and motions to adjudicate
• Expunctions and orders of nondisclosure

For federal charges arising in Caldwell County, cases are filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division. David White is admitted to practice in the Western, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of Texas.

If you are an out-of-county client

Most of the firm’s Caldwell County clients have never been in a Lockhart courtroom before. They live in different cities, drive different routes, and the only thing they have in common is a Caldwell County case file and a courthouse 30+ miles from home.

The firm handles every part of the process from Austin. You will not be expected to drive back and forth for routine matters. Court appearances that require your presence — pleas, hearings, trial — will be scheduled with as much notice as the court allows. Routine pretrial appearances are typically handled by the firm without you having to take the day off and drive in.

You will work directly with David White, Kenneth Hines, and Taylor Kacir. All three review your case weekly. There is no junior associate or contract attorney handling your file in the background.

ALR — 15 days

If you were arrested for DWI in Caldwell County, you have 15 days from the date of arrest to request an Administrative License Revocation hearing. Missing that deadline forfeits the hearing and the license suspension goes through automatically. Call (512) 369-3737 promptly so the ALR request can be filed on time.

Expunction and nondisclosure in Caldwell County

If your Caldwell County case was dismissed, no-billed, or you were acquitted at trial, you may be eligible to have the arrest and charge expunged from your record. Until a judge signs the expunction order, the arrest stays in your record at the Texas Department of Public Safety, on the court docket, and across the commercial background-check databases that employers and landlords use.

Kenneth Hines leads the firm’s expunction practice. He has handled cases in Caldwell County courts for 18 years and knows the Lockhart bench. He handles eligibility analysis, drafts the petition, files in the appropriate Caldwell County district court, and appears at the hearing. The firm’s flat fee for expunctions outside Travis County, including Caldwell, starts at $2,500. There are no hourly charges and no surprise fees.

If you completed a deferred adjudication probation in Caldwell County, you may instead be eligible for an order of nondisclosure under Government Code Chapter 411, Subchapter E-1. Nondisclosure does not destroy the record — it seals it from public view, with specific exceptions written into the statute. The eligibility analysis is fact-specific. Bring the disposition documents to the consultation.

How the firm works your Caldwell County case

By the time you sit down for your first consultation, the firm has likely already obtained the Probable Cause Affidavit from the arresting agency, read it, and started identifying problems with the State’s case. We do not quote a fee and propose a plea posture before reading the file. Strategy that precedes the file is guesswork.

All three attorneys at the firm work every case as a team. David White, Kenneth Hines, and Taylor Kacir review active cases together each week and share notes through Clio. When the attorney appears at your setting, they have been on your case from intake.

When you call (512) 369-3737 after hours, an attorney answers. Not voicemail. Not an answering service. Kenneth Hines and Taylor Kacir take after-hours calls directly through the firm’s call routing.

Fees

The firm uses flat fees. The free consultation includes the Probable Cause Affidavit review and a frank conversation about what the case is actually worth defending and how.

• DWI 1st — $5,000
• DWI 2nd — starting at $6,000
• Felony DWI — starting at $7,500
• ALR (standalone) — $1,500; included when the DWI fee is paid in full at engagement
• Class A or B misdemeanor — $5,000
• Class C misdemeanor — $1,000
• Felony drug charge — starting at $7,500
• Felony violent offense — starting at $10,000
• Federal charges — starting at $40,000
• Expunction (Caldwell County) — $2,500 flat
• Nondisclosure — quoted by case after eligibility analysis

Half is paid as good-faith retainer at engagement. Some cases are quoted full upfront depending on complexity. Payment plans are discussed case by case.

The attorneys handling your Caldwell County case

David White — Managing attorney. Licensed in 2004. Twenty-two years of criminal defense practice. Never employed as a prosecutor. Bar Number 24047094.

Kenneth Hines — Associate attorney; leads the firm’s expunction and nondisclosure practice. Eighteen years of practice with criminal defense as a consistent component throughout. Has handled cases in Hays and Caldwell County courts since 2007. Former General Counsel to the Texas Senate Jurisprudence Committee, 2010–2012.

Taylor Kacir — Associate attorney. Former Senior Misdemeanor County Attorney at the Bell County Attorney’s Office. JD, St. Mary’s University School of Law (with honors), 2022. Practices daily from the firm’s Georgetown office.

What clients say

“Absolute best law practice I’ve ever needed and used. Easy communication. From informative paralegals (Christi) to the attorneys David & Kenneth who helped me in getting my case dismissed.”

— Breah Richardson

“David & Kenneth are heaven sent, the best team in Austin Texas, they had two felonies and one misdemeanor dismissed for me, I was looking at 2-20years and they were ready to take it to trial if need be, the charges didn’t even get indicted.”

— Ashley Norris

The firm has more than 250 five-star client reviews across Google, Avvo, and other legal review platforms.

A recent Caldwell County DWI case ended in dismissal after Kenneth Hines coordinated mental health and substance use treatment in lieu of prosecution rather than pursuing a contested trial. Full details are on our case results page.

If you have been arrested in Caldwell County

Call (512) 369-3737. An attorney answers, not voicemail. The consultation is free and includes a review of your Probable Cause Affidavit. Bring any paperwork you have from the arrest — bond conditions, citations, charging documents, anything law enforcement handed you.

Or fill out the contact form below and you will hear back within 24 hours.