The District Court takes both. Oklahoma has a District Court in every county, and this one sits in District 5 with Cotton, Jefferson and Stephens counties. Its Court Clerk keeps felony, misdemeanor, traffic and wildlife files in the criminal office, Suite 504, 315 SW 5th Street, Lawton, OK 73501, 580-355-4017.

• Felonies are the crimes that can lead to state prison.
• Misdemeanors are lesser crimes, with county jail time or fines.
• City ordinance cases belong to a municipal court. Lawton's city court alone hears city misdemeanors and traffic cases inside its limits.
• Federal crimes go before the federal bench for western Oklahoma.

Tribal land rules play a smaller part here than in much of eastern Oklahoma. In 2021, in Martinez v. State, the Court of Criminal Appeals found the old Kiowa-Comanche-Apache reservation had been ended, so that state case could go ahead.

The courthouse at 315 SW 5th Street, Lawton, OK 73501, houses the District Court on its 4th and 5th floors, where seven judges sit. The Court Clerk opens Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Know your room before you arrive:

• Criminal office, Suite 504: felony, misdemeanor, traffic and wildlife cases. Dial 580-355-4017, then press 1.
• Civil office, Room 207.
• Small claims office, Room 205. It also handles protective orders, adoptions and juvenile filings.
• District Attorney, Room 502, 580-585-4444.

Federal matters are heard down the street at 410 SW 5th Street, Lawton, OK 73501, 580-355-6340. That clerk's office keeps weekday hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with a small staff, so phone first.

Three cities hold court for their own tickets and ordinance cases:

• Lawton Municipal Court, 100 S Railroad Street, Lawton, OK 73501, 580-581-3265. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and traffic arraignments begin at 9:00 a.m. Monday through Friday. Amounts appear on the city's fine and bond schedule.
• Cache Municipal Court, 404 West C Street, Cache, OK 73527, 580-429-3354. Open Monday to Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Fines can be mailed as a money order or cashier's check, paid by phone or online, or paid in person, as its court page explains.
• Elgin Municipal Court meets monthly at City Council Chambers, 8183 State Highway 17, Elgin, OK 73538. City Hall at 580-492-5777 has the date.

Got a ticket from Fletcher, Geronimo, Medicine Park, Chattanooga, Indiahoma or another town? Call that town or the Court Clerk at 580-355-4017. Medicine Park Town Hall is at 154 East Lake Drive, Medicine Park, OK 73557, 580-529-2825. In Geronimo, call 580-353-5511.

Soon after booking, the person goes before a judge. The exact time depends on the day and the docket, so ask the Court Clerk at 580-355-4017. At this first step, plan on:

• hearing the charges, or getting them in writing
• a bond being set, kept or changed
• a chance to ask for a court-appointed lawyer, since the 2025 Spybuck v. State decision guarantees counsel whenever jail is possible
• a date for the next hearing

Okla. Const. art. II § 20 guarantees a speedy public trial, an impartial local jury and the right to speak through counsel. In some counties judges pass out the lawyer application around this hearing. If your person never got one, jail staff can provide it.

Many misdemeanors here begin with a bond from the county's posted list, such as $1,000 for DUI or marijuana possession and $500 for petit larceny. The District Attorney files the charge in District Court. The person enters a plea. With a not guilty answer, a trial gets scheduled.

• Drug possession. State Question 780 moved simple possession down to a misdemeanor on July 1, 2017.
• Theft. That same measure lifted the felony line for property crimes from $500 to $1,000, so smaller thefts stay misdemeanors.
• Repeat DUI. After a second or later DUI arrest, the jail must keep the person until a judge sets bail and writes out findings (HB 1222).
• Where time is served. Misdemeanor jail time is done in the county jail, not a state prison.

City cases run a bit differently. In Lawton, a not guilty plea means facing the Municipal Judge, posting bond and receiving a trial date. A skipped city court date brings a warrant, a fresh failure to appear charge, a $750 fine plus costs, and up to 60 days in the Lawton Municipal Jail, which the city police run at 100 S Railroad Street, Lawton, OK 73501.

The District Attorney files felony charges in District Court. Most cases pass through these stages, though hearing names and order can vary, so ask the defense lawyer to explain each date:

1. Booking and a decision on bond.
2. The formal charge, filed with the Court Clerk.
3. Hearings that test the evidence and take the plea.
4. A plea deal or a jury trial.
5. Sentencing.

Starting with crimes committed January 1, 2026, or later, Oklahoma groups more than 2,000 felonies into 14 lettered classes by how serious they are. Lawmakers built this system in HB 1792 and adjusted it through two 2025 bills, HB 2104 and HB 2105. Violent felonies land in classes Y, A and B. Each judgment has to spell out the class plus the minimum time the person must serve. Crimes from before 2026 keep the old rules. For the range on a given charge, ask the lawyer or the DA's office at 580-585-4444.

Serious charges bring tighter rules from the first night on:

• No bond at the jail desk. Charges with weapons, violence, threats, injury, domestic abuse, stalking or a broken protective order can't be bonded out from the posted list. A judge acts first.
• Bail may be refused. For violent crimes, life-sentence crimes, some repeat felonies and large drug cases, a judge can hold the person with no bail if the proof is strong and the judge decides that release terms, however strict, would leave the public at risk (Okla. Const. art. II § 8).
• Higher classes. Under SB 1238 (2026), domestic abuse that a child witnesses is now a Class B5 felony.
• No bond on appeal. Bail on appeal has been off the table since November 1, 2025, once someone is convicted of abusing a child or an intimate partner (HB 1066).
• Quick service of protective orders. An order against someone held in county jail gets priority, with a first try at service within 24 hours (SB 623).

State crimes from Comanche and Cotton counties are prosecuted by the District 5 District Attorney. The office is inside the courthouse at 315 SW 5th Street, Room 502, Lawton, OK 73501, 580-585-4444.

Free defense comes from the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System. Its regional office takes non-capital trial cases for Comanche, Cotton, Jefferson and Stephens counties at 1318 SW Lee Blvd, Lawton, OK 73501, 580-595-7990.

• Turn in the application at the Court Clerk, 315 SW 5th Street, Suite 504, Lawton, OK 73501, 580-355-4017. Someone in jail asks staff for the form.
• The judge rules on who qualifies, then names OIDS to the case.
• There is a $40 Court Fund fee, and a judge may let it be paid when the case is over.

On federal charges, the Federal Public Defender for the Western District works from 215 Dean A. McGee Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73102, 405-609-5930.

Dockets for this county live on OSCN, the Oklahoma State Courts Network, and the clerk's own website links there. Open the OSCN docket search, pick this county and search by last name or case number. A docket shows what was filed, the hearings held and the next date.

Rather talk to someone? Call the criminal office at 580-355-4017 with the full name and birth date. A copy of someone's criminal record takes a written request listing the person's full name, birth date and Social Security number. The search fee is $10, plus $1.50 for the first page and 50 cents for each page after. Pay by cashier's check or money order made out to "Comanche County Court Clerk," in person or by mail with a stamped return envelope, to 315 SW 5th Street, Suite 504, Lawton, OK 73501. Cash, personal checks and email requests are refused.

For a city ticket, call the Municipal Court at 580-581-3265.

Sheriff's deputies serve county warrants. Reach them at 580-353-4280 or Room 102, 315 SW 5th Street, Lawton, OK 73501. Wanted lists to check include the federal 15 Most Wanted from the Marshals Service, the state's 10 Most Wanted list from the Attorney General, the Orange Alert escapee notices from DOC and the Sheriff's Most Wanted page. Filed cases show on the OSCN docket search. Step one in clearing it: talk to a lawyer. Next, the person surrenders to the court named on the warrant, or the family rings that court about bond or a fresh date. Felony and misdemeanor files sit with the Court Clerk at 315 SW 5th Street, Suite 504, Lawton, OK 73501, 580-355-4017. City warrants go to the Municipal Court, 100 S Railroad Street, Lawton, OK 73501, 580-581-3265.

A federal charge is handled by the Western District of Oklahoma's court, which keeps a clerk's office at 410 SW 5th Street, Lawton, OK 73501, 580-355-6340. The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecutes from 210 Park Avenue, Suite 400, Oklahoma City, OK 73102, 405-553-8700.

• Detention hearing. Near the start, a federal judge decides if the accused waits for trial in a cell or at home (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Custody. The Marshals Service holds federal defendants for the court from 200 Northwest 4th Street, Room 2022, Oklahoma City, OK 73102, 405-231-4206. They may stay in a county jail that houses federal prisoners or at the Federal Transfer Center, 7410 S. MacArthur Boulevard, Oklahoma City, OK 73169, 405-682-4075.
• Defense. The Federal Public Defender, 215 Dean A. McGee Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73102, 405-609-5930, takes cases for people who can't pay.
• After sentencing. Track the person on the Bureau of Prisons locator.

Immigration paperwork leaves the state charges where they are. Its bite comes at the moment the person's release paperwork clears.

1. To start, ICE sends Form I-247A to the Detention Center.
2. This asks the jail to keep custody, with a ceiling: up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Then ICE takes the person. Oklahoma sits under its Dallas Field Office, 8101 N. Stemmons Frwy, Dallas, TX 75247, 972-367-2200.
4. Detainees can end up at Cimarron Correctional Facility, 3200 S. Kings Hwy., Cushing, OK 74023, 918-225-3336.
5. Find them through ICE's detainee locator.

A conviction can also carry immigration effects, so the defense lawyer should know about any detainer before a plea. A 2024 state law, HB 4156 (21 O.S. § 1795), turned being in Oklahoma unlawfully into a state offense. A federal injunction keeps it from being enforced while the state's appeal goes forward.

A sentenced person usually remains in the county jail for some months. DOC says 6 to 9 months normally pass before transport. Next comes a DOC reception center for testing and a custody level, and then a prison that suits it.

• Look up the person in DOC's Offender Lookup.
• Read about each facility on our Oklahoma prisons list.
• DOC wants questions sent to the person's case manager. No name yet? Ring the prison's records officer, or DOC's main office at 4345 North Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73105, 405-425-2500.

This county runs its own Juvenile Bureau, one of only four in the state. It handles youth intake and probation from 315 SW 5th Street, Room 200, Lawton, OK 73501, 580-357-4881. Juvenile papers are filed in the Court Clerk's small claims office, Room 205 of that building.

• Youth kept in custody stay at the Regional Juvenile Detention Center, 701 SW 17th Street, Lawton, OK 73501, 580-357-2250, and only on a court order. Classes there are taught through Lawton Public Schools.
• A youth found to have broken the law may receive probation. Others are handed to the Office of Juvenile Affairs, 2501 N. Lincoln Blvd., Suite 500, Oklahoma City, OK 73105, 405-530-2800.
• Teens 15, 16 and 17 who commit serious crimes can be held to account under the Youthful Offender Act. Those who fail to meet its conditions can be moved into the adult system.
• Certification sends a youth case to adult court for trial.

Oklahoma voters wrote victims' rights into the state constitution, and that section now goes by Marsy's Law (Okla. Const. art. II § 34). Among other things, victims have the right to:

• respectful treatment that guards their privacy, dignity and safety
• a chance to speak at bond hearings, at sentencing, before a plea is accepted and at parole review
• restitution that is complete and paid on time
• a case that ends promptly, without needless delay

For case notices, write to the District Attorney at 315 SW 5th Street, Room 502, Lawton, OK 73501, 580-585-4444. List the defendant, the case number, the county, and where and how to reach you. The state's Crime Victims Compensation Program, 800-745-6098, may pay toward doctor bills, therapy, lost pay or a funeral. Custody alerts are on VINELink.