What to do if my 17 year old son has a public intoxication charge and his court date is i 5weeks but I can’t afford an attorney?

Call the District Clerk or the court's secretary and inquire about your county's procedures for obtaining a court appointed attorney.  Every county in Texas has a slightly different system, even though there are general guidelines they must all adhere to.  Some use an appointment system where local attorneys perform the legal work.  Others have a public defender's office that handles all or most of the court appointments.  Once you find out the procedure, then your son will need to complete the application and see if he qualifies.  As a general caution, many judges want defendants to put out an effort to hire their own attorney first. So, you may want to visit with two or three before he actually completes the application so that if he is asked, he can honestly say-- we talked to these three attorneys and we couldn't afford any of them.  If you can't get this worked out before his court appearance, many courts will usually entertain request for court appointed attorneys at their first announcement (which is the first court setting.)  So don't stress too much if you can't get everything done in five weeks.  If the court denies his request for a court appointed attorney, your son will either have to come up with a way to pay for an attorney or represent himself.  Considering your son's age, he may qualify for a diversion program.  Many jurisdictions are now offering programs similar to probation, but instead it is just an informal agreement with the state.  At the end of the time period, the State agrees to dismiss the charges.  This means that your son won't have a final conviction on his record and he can get the arrest expunged later.  Plan B, asked for a short deferred adjudication.  He may be tempted to take a one or two day "time served" offer by the prosecutor, but just understand that once he signs the bottom line and the judge accepts the plea, he will have a misdemenaor conviction on his record which cannot be expunged.