Street Racing Bail in Texas: What Bond Costs and How to Get It Lowered
Southern Bail Bonds writes bonds in Dallas County (#258), Kaufman County (#014), and McLennan County. Call 214-372-2500 any hour and a real person picks up. Even if your person is in a county we don’t cover, we’ll tell you what the bond amount means and what you’d be signing up for. That part’s free.
The short version:
- Most racing arrests are a Class B misdemeanor, first offense
- If the race hurt or killed somebody, it’s a second-degree felony: 2 to 20 years
- Bonds stack. Two charges at $75,000 each is $150,000, not $75,000
- The other driver can get charged too, even if his car never hit anything
- Bond amounts can be lowered, but it takes a lawyer and a few days
How much is bail for street racing in Texas?
There’s no set price. A magistrate sets each bond one at a time, and counties do it differently. Dallas County posts a schedule for a lot of misdemeanors. Collin County doesn’t post one at all. Even where there’s a schedule, it’s a starting point, not a rule.
Here’s what the charge levels look like and what bonds usually run in the DFW area. These are ballpark numbers, not official ones. The real number is whatever shows up on the booking record.
| What happened | Charge level | What you’re facing | Bond usually runs |
|---|---|---|---|
| First racing charge, nobody hurt | Class B misdemeanor | Up to 180 days county jail, fine up to $2,000 | $500 to $2,500 |
| One prior racing conviction, or racing drunk or with an open container | Class A misdemeanor | Up to 1 year county jail, fine up to $4,000 | $1,500 to $5,000 |
| Two prior racing convictions | State jail felony | 180 days to 2 years, fine up to $10,000 | $2,500 to $10,000 |
| Somebody got hurt | Third-degree felony | 2 to 10 years, fine up to $10,000 | $5,000 to $25,000 |
| Somebody got badly hurt or killed | Second-degree felony | 2 to 20 years, fine up to $10,000 | $10,000 to $100,000 |
The punishment ranges come from Texas Penal Code §§ 12.21 through 12.35. The charge levels come from Texas Transportation Code § 545.420.
Death cases land at the top of that range. In a recent fatal street racing case out of McKinney, bond came back at $75,000 for each manslaughter charge.
Watch out for this part: bonds stack. Two charges at $75,000 each means you need $150,000 to get him out, not $75,000. The number you see in a news story is almost always the per-charge amount. A lot of families find this out the hard way on the first phone call.
Can you get the bond lowered?
Sometimes, yes. And it’s worth knowing why.
The judge who set that number did it fast, usually within 48 hours of the arrest, before anybody’s lawyer was in the room. Texas law (Code of Criminal Procedure Article 15.17) says that hearing has to happen that quickly. So the judge is working off the charge and a criminal history printout. That’s about it.
Article 17.15 lists what the judge is supposed to weigh:
- Bail has to be high enough that the person actually shows up to court
- Bail is not supposed to be used to punish somebody
- How serious the charge is, and whether it involved violence
- Whether the person can actually afford it
- Whether anyone’s safety is at risk
- The person’s criminal record
Number four is the one families miss. The law says the judge has to consider whether you can afford it, and that you’re allowed to bring proof. But nobody put that proof in front of him at 3 a.m.
A defense lawyer can file a motion to reduce bond and get a hearing. That’s where the job, the apartment, the kids, the fact that he’s lived in the same county his whole life all get laid out. Sometimes the number comes down. Sometimes it doesn’t.
Here’s the tradeoff, straight up: a bond reduction takes days. Posting the bond tonight gets him home tonight. Those are two different decisions and you can do both. Get him out now, let the lawyer fight the number later.
We wrote more about how judges land on these numbers in How Texas Judges Set Bail Under Article 17.15.
What counts as racing under Texas law?
More than you’d think. Transportation Code § 545.420 says you can’t take part in any way in a race, a speed contest, a drag race, or an acceleration contest on a public road.
The law spells out what a race is: trying to outrun another car, trying to keep another car from passing you, or trying to get somewhere before another car does. A drag race is two cars taking off side by side to see who pulls ahead.
Nobody has to agree to anything out loud. No money has to change hands. Two cars pulling up at a light and both flooring it is enough.
What if you weren’t the one who crashed?
Doesn’t matter. This is the part that catches people.
The law goes after being in the race, not hitting somebody. If a race ends with somebody dead, both drivers can be charged with a second-degree felony, even if one car never touched anything. That’s how it works.
In the McKinney case, both drivers ended up facing second-degree felonies. Only one car was in the wreck.
“The other guy hit them” is not a defense to a racing charge.
They can take your car
If your car was used in the race, an officer has to have it towed to a storage lot, unless they hold it as evidence. You pay the tow and every day of storage, and you don’t get the car until that bill is paid. That’s in § 545.420(i).
What is manslaughter, and why is it different?
If somebody died, the driver who crashed usually gets charged with manslaughter on top of everything else. Texas Penal Code § 19.04 makes it a second-degree felony to recklessly cause somebody’s death.
Reckless doesn’t mean you meant to hurt anybody. Under § 6.03(c), it means you knew there was a serious risk and you did it anyway, and that ignoring that risk was way outside what a normal person would do.
That’s the whole ballgame at 100 mph on a public road. You don’t have to want anyone dead. You just have to know it could happen.
Where it sits compared to the others:
- Murder (§ 19.02) — you meant to do it
- Manslaughter (§ 19.04) — you knew the risk and did it anyway. Second-degree felony, 2 to 20 years
- Criminally negligent homicide (§ 19.05) — you should have known but didn’t. State jail felony
And one more thing: two people died means two charges, not one. Each person is a separate charge with a separate bond.
The four kinds of bonds in Texas
| Type | How it works | Do you get the money back? |
|---|---|---|
| Cash bond | You pay the whole bail amount to the county yourself | Yes, at the end of the case, as long as he made every court date |
| Surety bond | A bondsman puts up the whole amount. You pay a percentage of it | No. That percentage is gone the second the bond is posted |
| PR bond | No money up front, just a promise to show up. The judge has to approve it | Nothing to get back. Hard to get on violent charges |
| Property bond | You put up real estate. The equity has to cover the full bail amount | The lien comes off at the end of the case |
Bondsmen are licensed and regulated under Chapter 1704 of the Texas Occupations Code, with a county bail bond board watching over them in most big counties. Around North Texas the fee usually runs 10% to 15% of the bail amount. Get the fee, any collateral, and the payment schedule in writing before you sign. If any of the words are throwing you, we keep a plain-English glossary here.
What you’re actually on the hook for as a cosigner
Read this part twice.
You are not on the hook for the fee you paid. You are on the hook for the entire bail amount if he skips court.
On a $150,000 bond, that’s $150,000. Not the $15,000 you handed over. The court forfeits the bond, a judgment gets entered, and the bondsman comes to you for the rest.
And skipping court is its own crime. Under Penal Code § 38.10, missing court on a felony is a third-degree felony all by itself. So he’d be facing a brand new charge on top of the original one.
None of that is meant to scare you off. Plenty of people cosign and it goes fine. But go in knowing the real number, not the one you paid at the counter.
What happens after he gets out?
Booking, then magistration within 48 hours where the charge gets read and bond gets set. Once the bond is posted, getting walked out usually takes a few hours depending on how backed up the jail is and what time it is.
Then the case moves. Felonies go to a grand jury to get indicted. Misdemeanors get filed by the DA, and with the bigger DFW police departments that filing can take months after the arrest. It’s normal for nothing to seem to happen for a while.
The charge he was arrested on isn’t always the charge he ends up facing. It can get dropped, reduced, or bumped up. A racing charge that started as a Class B can get enhanced if old convictions turn up, or if somebody who got hurt takes a turn for the worse.
Felonies go to district court. Misdemeanors go to county court at law. You can check the current bond and court dates through the county’s inmate search and case portal. If you want the difference between the charge levels spelled out, we cover it in Misdemeanors vs. Felonies in Texas.
Why racing charges hit harder than people expect
There’s no safe spot in a race. The guy who backed off, changed lanes, and never touched anybody is still looking at 2 to 20 years, because the law goes after being in the race at all.
And the criminal case isn’t the end of it. A felony conviction follows you around for jobs, apartments, and licenses. Your car gets towed and you pay for it. Your license takes a hit. And the family of anybody who got hurt can sue you separately, which no bond covers.
If you want to run the car, run it somewhere legal. Texas Motor Speedway, Motorsport Ranch in Cresson, and Eagles Canyon Raceway in Slidell all do track days and legal drag events. A day at the track costs less than one hour of a defense attorney’s time.
Common questions
Can they charge me if my car never hit anybody?
Yes. Transportation Code § 545.420 goes after taking part in the race, not causing the wreck. If the race ended with somebody badly hurt or killed, both drivers can face a second-degree felony.
How much is bail for a second-degree felony?
Usually somewhere between $10,000 and $100,000 per charge in the DFW area, but it depends on the charge, his record, whether he’s got roots in the county, and whether the judge thinks he’ll show up. And remember bonds stack, so two charges at $75,000 each means $150,000.
Can a judge lower the bond?
Yes. A defense lawyer files a motion to reduce and asks for a hearing. Article 17.15 flat out says bail isn’t supposed to be used to punish people, and that whether you can afford it is something the judge has to weigh.
Do I get the bondsman’s fee back if the case gets dropped?
No. That fee is earned the moment the bond is posted. Even if the charges get dismissed, even if he’s found not guilty, it doesn’t come back. The only money that comes back is cash bail you paid straight to the court.
What’s the difference between manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide?
Whether he knew. Manslaughter (§ 19.04) means he knew the risk and did it anyway, and it’s a second-degree felony. Criminally negligent homicide (§ 19.05) means he should have known but didn’t, and it’s a state jail felony with a lot less time attached.
Need a bond posted right now?
Have the bail amount and the booking number handy if you’ve got them, and an agent can give you the exact dollar figure and a payment schedule before you commit to anything.
We write bonds in Dallas County (License #258), Kaufman County (License #014), and McLennan County, with offices at Riverfront, North Dallas, Oak Cliff, Terrell, and Waco. The Riverfront office is right across the street from Lew Sterrett. We do EZ payment plans with no credit check, and the price we say on the phone is the price in the office.
If he’s sitting in a county we don’t write in, we’ll say so instead of wasting your night. We’ll still walk you through what the bond means and what cosigning puts you on the hook for. Hablamos Español. Somebody answers 24 hours a day at 214-372-2500.
If you enjoyed this article, check out these other articles regarding cost of bail bonds:
3% Bail Bonds in Dallas
Does Posting Dallas Bail Bonds Affect Your Credit?