Most people I meet in San Antonio call me on the worst day of their life. Someone they love has been arrested, they don't know where they're being held, they don't know how to get them out, and they don't know what happens next. If that's where you are right now, take a breath. You're in the right place, and you don't have to figure this out alone.
Barrera Defense is a criminal defense firm with an office right here in San Antonio, off West Avenue in Castle Hills. We defend people accused of crimes across Bexar County, from a first-time DWI to serious felony charges. We know these courthouses, we know how the Bexar County system actually works, and we know how frightening it is to be on the wrong side of it for the first time.
There's a real difference between a lawyer who occasionally drives down to San Antonio and one who practices here. Bexar County does things its own way, and that knowledge matters from the very first hours of a case.
If you've been arrested here, you'll likely be booked into the Bexar County Magistrate's Office downtown. Bexar County runs an unusual two-step magistration: you're first seen by a city magistrate who advises you of your rights and recommends a bond, then you're transferred and seen again by a county magistrate who sets the actual bond amount. That redundancy adds time, and even after bond is posted, it can take up to 24 hours (sometimes longer on a busy weekend) to be released. Knowing that going in saves families a lot of panic, and knowing the players saves cases.
Your case will move through the Bexar County Courthouse and the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center, in front of the county courts-at-law for misdemeanors or the district courts for felonies. We appear in these courts, and we build our defense around how they actually operate, not how a textbook says they should.
The first 24 hours matter more than almost any other stretch of your case, and it's the time people hurt themselves the most, usually by trying to explain their way out of it. The short version: say nothing about your case to anyone, including on the recorded jail phone, invoke your right to a lawyer, and let us do the explaining once we know the full picture.
Barrera Defense — San Antonio 11103 West Ave, Suite 2101 San Antonio, TX 78213
Phone: (210) 756-0400
Hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM.
Phone answered 24/7.
If you or someone you love is facing charges in San Antonio or anywhere in Bexar County, call us at (210) 756-0400 for a free, confidential consultation. We answer the phone around the clock, because arrests don't wait for business hours, and neither do we.