Reckless Driving, Evading & Warrant Defense in McKinney

Reckless driving, racing, evading arrest, and driving while your license is invalid are criminal charges that carry jail time. And an old case you never answered can harden into a warrant that gets you arrested at a routine stop or at your own front door. Those are the cases Kent Starr handles.

Kent Starr has practiced criminal law since 1997 and works these cases from his McKinney office in the county seat. People call him for two problems: a charge serious enough to carry jail time, or an old case that turned into a warrant.

Charges Kent Handles

Kent Starr represents people facing charges serious enough to carry jail time or a license suspension, along with the warrants that grow out of older cases, throughout Collin County and the DFW Metroplex:

• Reckless driving (Texas Transportation Code §545.401)
• Racing on a highway
• Evading arrest or detention in a vehicle (Texas Penal Code §38.04)
• Driving while license invalid, the Class B version (DWLI)
• Failure to appear, and the alias and capias warrants that follow

These are the cases where a conviction means more than a fine, where your record, your license, and sometimes your freedom are on the line.

Understanding the Consequences of a Conviction in Texas

Many drivers underestimate how these convictions can affect their lives beyond just paying a fine:

Driver's License Suspensions

Texas no longer uses a point or surcharge system. The Driver Responsibility Program was repealed effective September 1, 2019. License suspensions now come from specific statutes instead: the Transportation Code's habitual violator rules let DPS suspend a license after repeated convictions, and DWI convictions carry their own suspensions and a one-time state fine under Chapter 709.

Commercial Driver's License (CDL) Implications

For commercial drivers, these convictions can jeopardize your livelihood. Certain offenses may lead to disqualification from operating commercial vehicles, affecting your ability to work in transportation industries.

Occupational Driver's License (ODL) Eligibility

If your license has been suspended due to certain offenses (including DWI or drug offenses), you may be eligible for an Occupational Driver's License that allows you to drive to work, school, medical appointments, or essential household duties during the suspension period.

How These Cases Move Through Collin County

Where your case is heard depends on the charge. Reckless driving under Texas Transportation Code §545.401 carries up to 30 days in jail, and racing on a highway is at least a Class B misdemeanor. Driving while license invalid starts as a Class C but becomes a Class B with a prior conviction or a suspension tied to a DWI. Those Class B and Class A cases are prosecuted by the Collin County District Attorney’s Office and heard in the County Courts at Law at the Russell A. Steindam Courts Building, 2100 Bloomdale Road in McKinney. If you were arrested rather than released to appear later, you were booked into the Collin County Detention Facility at 4300 Community Ave. in McKinney and taken before a magistrate who set your bond. The early settings are announcement dates, where Kent reads the State’s file and talks with the court’s prosecutor before the case resolves or gets set for contested hearings.

Warrants and Failure to Appear in Collin County

The charge may have felt minor at the time; the warrant that grew out of it is the real problem. If you never answered the charge, the court issues what is commonly called an alias warrant, an order for your arrest. If you took a plea or were found guilty and then stopped paying, the court issues a capias pro fine, a warrant aimed at collecting the judgment. Either one makes you arrestable. A stop for a burned-out tail light can end in handcuffs and a trip to the Collin County Detention Facility.

Failure to appear is also its own offense. Skipping a court date you promised to keep when you signed a written promise to appear can be charged separately under the Transportation Code, and failing to appear after release on bond can be charged under Texas Penal Code §38.10. Texas Transportation Code Chapter 706 adds another layer: the court can flag your record so DPS refuses to renew your driver’s license until the case is cleared. Warrant fees and court costs stack onto the original fine the whole time. Ignoring a warrant never makes it cheaper.

Here is what a warrant lawyer in McKinney actually does about it. Kent confirms which warrants exist and in which courts. He can post a bond on your behalf and file to lift the warrant. In most courts that recalls the warrant and puts the case back on the docket with a new court date. Once the warrant is lifted, the case is live again, one that can still be contested or negotiated rather than paid as a conviction.

Building a Defense Against These Charges

The first place Kent looks is the officer. A lot of these stops rest on one person's read of a moving car: how fast it looked, where it was in the lane, what the radar or laser unit showed. Radar and laser have to be calibrated and the officer has to be trained to run them, and the officer's vantage point and the visibility that night are fair questions too. Kent also checks whether the rules were followed during the stop, the arrest, and the way any evidence was gathered, because a gap there can mean a charge gets reduced or dropped.

If this is your first offense or your record is otherwise clean, a lot of the work happens before any trial. Kent reads the State's file and talks with the prosecutor about reducing or dismissing the charge so it never lands on your record as a conviction.

Some of these cases turn on the stop itself. Every one of them begins with an officer pulling you over, and that takes reasonable suspicion. If the officer had no lawful reason to stop you, or dragged the stop out past its purpose to go fishing for more, what came after it can be kept out under Article 38.23 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. That argument carries the most weight in driving-while-license-invalid and evading cases, where everything the State has flows from the stop. If your stop turned into a DWI arrest, that is a separate fight with its own deadlines.

Driving while license invalid has a piece the State often takes for granted. It has to prove your license was actually invalid the day you drove, and DPS records are not always right. Suspension notices get mailed to addresses people left years ago. Kent pulls the certified driving record and measures the State's paperwork against the statute before anyone starts talking about a plea.

How We Help Clients Regain Driving Privileges

When a license suspension threatens your ability to work or attend to essential needs, Kent Starr can help you explore options for relief:

Administrative License Revocation (ALR) Hearings

For DWI-related suspensions, requesting an ALR hearing within 15 days of arrest is crucial to contest the automatic license suspension.

Occupational Driver's License Applications

Kent guides clients through the ODL application process, helping them demonstrate their essential need to drive and comply with all requirements.

License Reinstatement Guidance

Understanding the specific steps required to reinstate your license after suspension, including paying fees, completing required courses, and providing proof of insurance.

Courts We Serve Throughout North Texas

Kent Starr regularly handles these cases in:

• Collin County Courts at Law and District Courts in McKinney, where misdemeanor and felony charges are prosecuted
• Collin County Justice of the Peace courts
• County-level courts in Dallas, Denton, Tarrant, Rockwall, Kaufman, Ellis, Johnson, and Parker Counties

Some warrants start in a municipal court after a missed court date. When one of those attaches to a case Kent is defending, he can move to lift it as part of that case. He also appears before magistrates for initial appearances and bond hearings when needed.

Frequently Asked Questions

I have a warrant in Collin County. Will I be arrested?

You can be, at any police stop or at your own front door. An attorney can post a bond and file to lift the warrant, which in most courts recalls it and resets the case for a new court date.

Is reckless driving a crime in Texas?

Yes. Under Texas Transportation Code §545.401 it is a misdemeanor that carries up to 30 days in jail, not a fine-only offense. It goes on your record as a criminal conviction, which is why it is worth fighting rather than paying.

What is the difference between an alias warrant and a capias pro fine?

An alias warrant issues when you never appeared on the charge, before any judgment exists, so the case underneath it is still open and can be defended. A capias pro fine issues after a judgment, when a fine goes unpaid, and the work there is resolving the judgment, sometimes through a payment plan or community service credit.

How We Serve Collin County

McKinney Charge & Warrant Defense

Kent represents clients from McKinney, and their county-level cases are heard in the Collin County courts in McKinney.

Plano Charge & Warrant Defense

Kent represents clients from Plano; most county-level cases are heard in the Collin County courts in McKinney.

Frisco Charge & Warrant Defense

Kent represents clients from Frisco; most county-level cases are heard in the Collin County courts in McKinney, and cases arising in the Denton County portion of Frisco can be filed in Denton County.

Allen Charge & Warrant Defense

Kent represents clients from Allen, and their county-level cases are heard in the Collin County courts in McKinney.

Talk to Kent About a Charge or Warrant

If you are facing reckless driving, evading, driving while license invalid, or a warrant from an old case in McKinney, Plano, or anywhere in North Texas, call (214) 982-1408 to speak with Kent Starr directly about how to fight the charge and protect your record. Free initial consultation. Payment plans and credit cards are accepted. Se habla español. Nós falamos português.

These charges and the warrants that follow missed court dates run through the Collin County courts in McKinney. The firm's Collin County criminal defense hub explains how those courts work.