The married Texas science teacher who grinned from ear to ear in her mugshot after she was arrested on suspicion of having sex with a 17-year-old student has submitted a guilty plea to a judge.

Sarah Fowlkes, 28, was arrested in March 2017 for allegedly having an illicit relationship with the unnamed student. She was charged with engaging in 'sexual contact with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of' the alleged victim.

Following her arrest, Fowlkes was suspended from her job at Lockhart High School in Texas. If found guilty of the alleged illicit relationship during a trial, she faces up to 20 years behind bars.

Fowlkes was in a Caldwell County court Wednesday to submit her guilty plea, which the judge has not yet accepted, KVUE reported.

No shame: Sarah Fowlkes (seen here in her mugshots) grinned into the camera after being arrested on suspicion of having sex with a student in March 2017

Fowlkes shown leaving the courthouse on October 10, after submitting a guilty plea. The judge has not yet accepted her plea, which includes serving probation and paying a fine

If the plea is accepted Fowlkes would serve 4 years deferred adjudication, surrender her teaching license and pay a fine. The amount of the proposed fine has not been released yet.

In Texas, deferred adjudication is a type of probation. If the term is completed successfully, the person will not have a conviction on their record.

The judge said Wednesday that he could take as many as eight weeks to consider Fowlkes guilty plea. Should he decline to accept the terms, her lawyer, Jason Nassour, said that she would withdraw the plea.

Fowlkes made headlines after her mugshot, in which she sported an ear-to-ear smile, went public.

At the time, Nassour said that she was 'smiling because she knows she is innocent.'

'This isn't a guilty person sitting there like they just got caught,' Nassour told KXAS. 'When everything's fleshed out, it won't be as it appears.'

Fowlkes, who is married, celebrated her 27th birthday the day before she was arrested

Fowlkes is seen here with her husband of three years (left) and and posing for a selfie in her car

Fowlkes, who has worked as a biology teacher at Lockhart High School since October 2014, was booked into Caldwell County Jail just hours after celebrating her birthday with her husband.

Lockhart police had obtained an arrest warrant for Fowlkes who turned herself in.

Nassour added that Fowlkes 'was arrested on the statement of a 17-year-old kid with no corroborating evidence.'

The biology teacher faces up to 20-years behind bars if convicted

The Houston Chronicle reported that a school administrator contacted the police about an inappropriate relationship between a student and a teacher on March 10.

Police say they found evidence of messages exchanged between her and the student.

'Their contact was of a sexual nature,' said police.

Police Chief Ernest Pedraza charged Fowlkes, with engaging in 'sexual contact with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of' the alleged victim, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

Having an improper relationship between an educator and a student is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Detectives in Lockhart, which is about 30 miles from Austin, interviewed a 17-year-old student who admitted to having sexual contact with Fowlkes.

Lockhart Independent School District duly suspended Fowlkes - who has been married since 2013 - pending an appearance before the State Board for Educator Certification.

School superintendent Susan Bohn said: 'Lockhart parents entrust their children to us every day, and it is something we do not take lightly.

'Student safety is the district's most important priority. As soon as we learned of the report, we acted swiftly to involve law enforcement and CPS to conduct a thorough investigation. The district does not and will not tolerate any improper communication or contact between a teacher and child.'

Video courtesy of CBS Austin

Local news reported that on her profile page on the school's website - which has since been deleted - Fowlkes wrote: 'I have very high expectations of myself as a teacher as well as of my students and I hope that this will be a formula for achievement.

'I want this to be an enjoyable year for all of my students but also a productive, challenging and encouraging year with success for everyone.'

Police in Lockhart said that this is the first time they have investigated a teacher for having an inappropriate relatinship with a student.

'Seventeen years old is obviously older but at the same time it doesn't make anything right,' said Detective Jesse Bell to KXAN.

'If the kid is in school, parents trust the school to take care of their kids so it's definitely not right — that a teacher in a position of power over a student be able to take advantage of a student.'