Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas

All criminal defendants have the right to a trial by jury. Even traffic tickets are criminal charges where the right to a jury trial exists. Hence you have a constitutional right to a jury trial.

Class C misdemeanors are not punishable by jail time. They are "petty" offenses. Petty offenses are not considered to be criminal offenses to which the sixth amenment to the U.S. Constituion's right to counsel apples. Cases and attorney general opinion regarding the Texas Constitution's right to counsel state that indigent defendents are only entitled to appointed counsel when the court may impose imprisonment (not the case with a class "C" misdemeanor). However, a judge can appoint counsel to represent you when it serves the interests of justice. So you can ask the judge to appoint counsel to represent you in the interst of justice. You should give the judge some specific reasons. Some reasons might be that a conviction might permit a finding of family violence which would affect you second amendment right to possess a firearm.

If the judge will not give you appointed counsel, you have the right to retain and request counsel. The judge should give you time to hire an attorney. If you can't afford an attorney, you can again renew your request for court appointed counsel. However if the court does not have money to pay a court appointed attorney, it may not be able to provide counsel for you.