Marijuana & THC Bail Bonds
In Texas, a vape cartridge and the same amount of flower are not the same charge. One is a misdemeanor. The other can be a felony.
No charge to ask
Read this part twice. Texas does not treat a THC vape, wax, or edible as marijuana. Concentrates fall under a different section of the law with far harsher grading, and the whole product weight can count, not just the THC in it. A single cartridge has landed people with a felony.
Flower and concentrate are graded separately
Most people assume "it's all weed" and that Texas has quietly relaxed. Neither is true. Plant material is handled under the marijuana statute and graded by ounces. Concentrates. Vape carts, wax, dabs, gummies, tinctures. Are treated as tetrahydrocannabinol under Penalty Group 2, where the thresholds are measured in grams and the felony line arrives almost immediately.
The confusion is understandable. Hemp-derived products are sold legally across Texas, and the line between a legal product and a Penalty Group 2 felony is a THC percentage nobody can see by looking. Buying something over a counter is not a defense on its own, though it can matter a great deal to how the case is eventually resolved.
For bail purposes what matters is only the grade that was filed at booking. That's what the magistrate sets a number against, and it's what our 10% is calculated from. Regardless of how the charge is later reduced or dismissed.
Illustrative only, the court sets the bail, and priors move it. Call with a name and we'll quote the real figure.
Marijuana (flower)
THC concentrate
Weight is the detail that catches people. With concentrates, the liquid or the gummy base can be weighed as part of the substance, not just the active THC. That's how a single cartridge or a bag of edibles reaches a felony threshold that sounds impossibly low. Don't estimate, call 940-381-0338 and we'll find out what was actually filed.
"Didn't Denton vote to decriminalize this?"
Denton voters did pass a decriminalization ordinance, by a wide margin. It was never put into practice, the city took the position that it conflicted with state law, the state pushed back hard against ordinances like it across Texas, and Denton police never stopped enforcing the state statute. If you are reading this page because someone was booked into the county jail tonight, you already know how that turned out.
Texas law does separately allow an officer to write a citation instead of making an arrest for certain misdemeanors, including possession of four ounces or less. It is entirely discretionary. Some agencies use it, some don't, and the same officer may handle two stops differently depending on what else was found, whether anyone had ID, and whether there was a warrant.
Two things worth being clear about. A citation is not a dismissal. It is a criminal charge with a court date, and ignoring it produces a warrant. And none of this discretion touches concentrates: a vape cartridge is a Penalty Group 2 allegation, and those are arrests.
Got a citation and let the date slip? That's a warrant now. See warrant search.
Expect drug testing as a condition of release. On a Penalty Group 2 bond, courts routinely attach testing and supervision, and cannabis lingers in the body for weeks, so a first test can come back positive from use that predates the arrest. Raise that with the defense attorney before the test, not after. Full detail on bond conditions.
What often gets filed alongside it
One traffic stop frequently produces more than one charge, and each carries its own bail amount. That's why the total can be higher than the main charge suggests.
Paraphernalia
A Class C in most cases. Minor on its own, but it rarely arrives on its own.
Intent to deliver
Scales, baggies, or messages on a phone can turn possession into a much more serious allegation.
Drug-free zone
Near a school or playground, penalties are enhanced. Relevant across Denton's campus areas.
DWI
Texas DWI isn't alcohol-only. Impairment by cannabis counts. See DWI bail bonds.
The bond process doesn't change with the charge
However the offense is graded, the mechanics are identical: a judge sets bail, you pay ten percent, someone cosigns, and we post the bond. What the grading changes is the size of the number and whether collateral enters the conversation.
We've written these bonds through every shift in Texas cannabis law since 1994. We won't guess at the charge over the phone. We'll check what was filed and give you a real figure.
A stop, a search, a cartridge
Almost every THC charge we bond began as a traffic stop. What turns it from a citation into a felony is usually the form the product was in, not the amount anyone thought they had.
That's the part that catches people off guard. A vape cartridge bought openly in a shop weighs almost nothing and feels trivial, but concentrate is graded by total weight including the liquid it's suspended in. Two or three cartridges in a console can put someone above a felony threshold they didn't know existed.
Lab testing is what settles the charge, and it takes weeks. Until then the filed charge is a starting position, not a conclusion. Which is one reason getting a defense attorney involved early tends to matter more here than on most charges we bond.
We bond all of it the same way, at the same 10%. The grade only changes the bail figure.
Common questions
It was one vape pen. How is that a felony?
Because Texas grades concentrates under a different penalty group than plant material, and the thresholds are in grams rather than ounces. The weight calculation can include more than the active THC. It genuinely surprises people, and it's the reason this page exists.
Isn't marijuana basically legal now?
No. Some Texas cities have adjusted enforcement priorities, but the state law hasn't changed and an arrest is still an arrest. What's lawful in another state has no bearing on a Denton County charge.
It was legally bought in Colorado.
That doesn't transfer. Possession is judged where it happens, and a dispensary receipt isn't a defense in Texas. Whether it matters to the case at all is a question for a defense attorney, not a bondsman.
What about hemp or delta-8?
Hemp and marijuana are distinguished by THC concentration, and lab testing is what settles it, which can take time. If a product's legal status is disputed, that's exactly the argument a defense attorney makes. Our job is getting your person out while that plays out.
How much is the bond?
Ten percent of the bail. A Class B possession bond is usually small; a Penalty Group 2 felony is considerably more and may involve collateral. See bail bond cost, then call for your real number.
He isn't a US citizen. Does that change things?
Considerably, and it's the first thing to tell us. Controlled substance allegations are treated severely under immigration law, and a plea that looks generous in criminal terms can still be damaging to status, so an immigration attorney needs to be talking to the defense attorney before anything is agreed. We also check for a detainer before you pay, since one can keep someone in custody even after a state bond posts. See what an arrest costs beyond jail.
My college student got caught with a cartridge.
This is one of the most common calls we take from UNT and TWU parents, and it's the scenario where the felony surprise hits hardest. Our student arrest page covers what to do when you're out of town.
For the wider penalty-group picture, see drug possession bail bonds.