Anger Management in Texas: Community Supervision, CSCD and Your Class

Texas judges set the terms of community supervision under Chapter 42A of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The law lets a judge add any reasonable condition that protects the community or the victim or helps rehabilitate the defendant, after a risk-and-needs assessment. "Anger management" isn't written into the statute; it is one of the most common conditions judges choose. You'll see it in:

• Regular community supervision after a plea, often for assault, criminal mischief, terroristic threat or disorderly conduct that didn't involve a family member or partner.
• Deferred adjudication. You plead, the judge holds off on a finding of guilt, and you complete conditions. For a misdemeanor, deferred can last up to two years. A class is often on the conditions sheet.
• Pretrial diversion run by some district and county attorney offices. The agreement, not the judge, lists the class.
• Work and school. Employers and campuses sometimes ask for a class after an incident. They make their own call.

Your conditions sheet is what counts. It usually lists the class and the hours, and the deadline, often counted from the day you were placed on supervision.

No statewide list exists for anger management. The state agency that oversees probation funding, TDCJ's Community Justice Assistance Division (CJAD), sets standards for battering intervention programs, not for anger management.

What you will run into is local practice:

• Some CSCDs run their own anger classes. McLennan County CSCD runs a 12-hour, six-evening class for people placed on supervision. Travis County runs its own Counseling & Education Services.
• Some courts hand out referral sheets. Dallas County criminal courts have published an anger management referral list, and some city municipal courts accept online classes only with the judge's prior OK.
• Larger CSCDs, such as Harris County's, list classes they run or contract for.

If your CSCD runs its own class or your court gives you a list, ask whether an outside online class can count. Good Standing Courses is not on any CSCD, court or state list.

If the court made a finding of family violence, Texas law points to a Battering Intervention and Prevention Program (BIPP). TDCJ-CJAD sets the standards for these programs and must sign off on each one before a court can send people to it. CJAD guidelines call for at least 36 hours of group work over at least 18 weeks, and some counties ask for more. A protective order under the Family Code can also require a BIPP.

When a BIPP is ordered, an online anger management class does not satisfy it. Good Standing Courses is not a Batterer Intervention Program, and Texas calls these programs BIPP for a reason: they are a separate, regulated thing.

The number that shows up most in Texas is 12 hours. CSCD-run classes and community-college intervention programs that serve people on supervision are often built as 12 hours, for example six two-hour sessions. Some older court lists describe 12-week classes instead.

• 12 hours: the most common Texas anger management condition.
• 4 to 8 hours: shorter conditions, sometimes for Class C cases in municipal or justice courts.
• 16 hours or more: less common; usually a judge who wants a longer class.

If your sheet says "anger management" with no hours, call your supervision officer before you buy.

Paperwork says "impulse control" or "decision making"? That's our Impulse Control & Decision Making class.

1. "Can I use an online, self-paced anger management class, or does the CSCD require its own class?"
2. "How many hours, and what is my deadline?"
3. "Was there a family violence finding? Do I need a BIPP instead?"
4. "Do you need the certificate emailed to you, uploaded, or brought to my next report day?"
5. If you're on deferred: "Will finishing this class count toward my conditions so the case can be dismissed?" (Ask your lawyer this one too.)

Your officer can read our page for probation officers and check your certificate at /verify.

If your court, judge or probation officer doesn't accept your certificate, we refund 100% of the course fee. Send the written rejection within 60 days of finishing; the class you bought must match the type and hours in your order. Read the refund terms.

We never ask for your case number, court or date of birth. If you need them on the certificate, you type them into your own copy of the PDF.

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