What are different levels of crimes?

Punishment ranges for crimes can vary by quite a bit depending on whether the crime is a misdemeanor or felony, and what level of misdemeanor or felony it is. In this article, I will talk about the different punishments for different levels of crime.

The first level of crimes are misdemeanors. Misdemeanors are classified as a Class A, Class B or Class C level of misdemeanor. Class C misdemeanors do not have any jail time and are only punished by a fine of up to $500. A Class B misdemeanor is punishable by 0-180 days in the county jail and a fine of up to $2,000. A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by 0-365 days in the county jail and a fine of up to $4,000. What level of misdemeanor a crime is depends on the crime itself. For example, a first time DWI is a Class B misdemeanor, while a second DWI is a Class A misdemeanor.

The next level of crimes are felonies. Felonies can be either state jail felonies, third-degree felonies, second- degree felonies, first-degree felonies, or capital felonies. All felonies, regardless of level, carry a fine of up to $10,000. A state jail felony is punishable by six months to two years in state jail. The interesting thing about state jail is that there is no parole with it, so a defendant has to serve the full amount of time they are given. There is also a special provision in the law that allows state jail felonies to be punished as if they were Class A misdemeanors instead. A third-degree felony is punishable by two to 10 years in prison. A second-degree felony is punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison. A first-degree felony is punishable by 5 to 99 years or life in prison. Again, what level of felony a crime is depends on the crime itself.

That leaves us with capital felonies, which are always murder cases. A capital murder case involves a murder plus what the legislature deems an “aggravating factor.” This means that a simple murder is not enough to make a murder a capital crime, there must be something else with it. A list of what makes something a capital murder can be found in section 19.03 of the Texas Penal Code. For a capital felony, there are only two punishment options, either life in prison or the death penalty.

As always, I am available for questions or comments at daoffice@milamcounty.net.