Woodward County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

Bond is set by a District Court judge. This county sits in Judicial District 4, and the county's judges are one District Judge and one Associate District Judge. Their clerk works at 1600 Main Street, Suite 4, Woodward, OK 73801, 580-256-3413, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The state Constitution gives nearly every arrested person a right to bail (Okla. Const. art. II § 8). The judge chooses the dollar figure and any rules that ride along with it. A few charges freeze release until a judge weighs in. Take DUI: a second or later DUI booking, starting November 1, 2025, keeps the person inside until a judge sets bail and explains it in writing; deputies and officers cannot let them go first (HB 1222).

The timing of that first look by a judge turns on the arrest day and the court's calendar. Ask jail staff at 580-256-3264 when the person is due in court.

A judge here can pick from several kinds of bond while the case is open:

• Personal recognizance. The person pays nothing today and signs a pledge to return. State law covers these bonds in 22 O.S. § 1108.1.
• Cash. A relative or friend can hand an official who takes bail the full amount, and the jail then frees the person (59 O.S. § 1323).
• Surety. A licensed bondsman stands behind the full bond in front of the court. For that promise, a fee called the premium is owed to the bondsman.
• Property. Land or a home stands behind the bond rather than cash. Filing fees fall on whoever files it (59 O.S. § 1331(A)).
• Conditions. Rules can be attached, like staying away from an alleged victim. The Pretrial Release Act mentions electronic monitoring as a tool (22 O.S. § 1105.2).

Some charges narrow these choices, so have the defense lawyer explain which ones fit.

Each figure comes from a judge, who weighs the charge, criminal history and any earlier failures to appear. Nobody can quote a bond in advance, but Oklahoma law groups many cases this way:

• City ordinance tickets inside Woodward city limits belong to the city court, and that court handles its own bonds.
• Simple drug possession dropped to a misdemeanor when State Question 780 kicked in on July 1, 2017, which tends to keep bond smaller than a felony's.
• Property crimes under $1,000 moved to the misdemeanor side in that same change.
• A second or later DUI means a judge must first sign a bail order that gives reasons (HB 1222).
• A third or later felony DUI joined the list of charges where a judge may refuse bail on November 1, 2025 (SB 981).
• A new violent charge for someone out on bond from a different violent case starts with a legal presumption against release (HB 3782).
• Capital, violent, life-sentence, heavy drug and repeat-felony cases can mean no bond after a hearing (Okla. Const. art. II § 8).
• A hold from elsewhere in Oklahoma may be cleared by posting that other place's bond there (HB 1991).

The jail can read off the bond for a single case at 580-256-3264. Once a charge is on file, the Court Clerk at 580-256-3413 can look it up as well.

The jail shares the Sheriff's Office address, 1600 Main Street, Suite 1, Woodward, OK 73801, and the front office keeps hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Use this checklist to avoid a wasted drive:

1. Phone 580-256-3264 and ask for the jail line.
2. Read off the person's complete name and birthday.
3. Get the bond on every charge. Ask too whether release waits on a judge's signature.
4. Ask which office takes this bond, the jail or the Court Clerk, and the forms of payment it allows.
5. Get the exact payee for a money order or cashier's check, spelled out.
6. Bring photo ID and the full amount, to the penny. Keep each receipt.

Late-night and weekend arrests are common. Phone ahead at those hours so staff can say if a bond can be taken before morning.

Money for a release can pass through more than one office, depending on the case. Phone the one you plan to visit first.

• Court Clerk, for state charges. 1600 Main Street, Suite 4, Woodward, OK 73801, 580-256-3413, weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Every bondsman has to register here before writing a bond (59 O.S. § 1320(A)). Ask if your cash bond can be paid at this window and which payments it takes.
• City Court Clerk, for city warrants. 722 Main Street, Woodward, OK 73801, 580-254-8585, Monday through Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m. to noon. A city warrant can be settled here.
• City police, for city warrants. Turning in at the Woodward Police Department, 1219 8th Street, Woodward, OK 73801, 580-254-8518, also works. The city judge is contacted and decides the matter at the jail.

At any window, ask how long after payment the jail usually releases the person.

For a city warrant, the City Court Clerk takes four kinds of payment: credit cards, cash, money orders and cashier's checks. A county bond follows the rules of whichever office collects it, so call the jail at 580-256-3264 before heading out.

Official county and city pages link two online pay sites. Both were set up for fines, court costs and tickets, so confirm with the office before trying either one for a bond:

• Court Clerk online payments, linked from the clerk's page. Ask the clerk at 580-256-3413 whether a bond on your case can go through it.
• City court online ticket payments, linked from the city court's page.

Putting money on the person's jail account is a different process. For that, the jail accepts only money orders or cashier's checks, handed over in person from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Our deposits page covers the details. Cash should never go in the mail.

A bail bondsman in this state answers to one regulator, the Oklahoma Insurance Department. Posting bonds for pay without its license breaks state law (59 O.S. § 1303(A)). Before you sign anything, search the name in the state licensee lookup.

• The premium goes on the bond before it is filed. Insist on a receipt, which must carry a number (59 O.S. § 1316).
• Release from jail is the moment the premium is earned. When no release follows, the law tells the bondsman to give back premium and collateral promptly (59 O.S. § 1327(B)(2)).
• A bondsman may give the person back to custody before any breach of the bond, and in some listed cases keeps the premium (59 O.S. § 1327(A)).
• Jailers and officers are barred from writing bonds (59 O.S. § 1315(A)). Soliciting clients where prisoners are held is grounds for discipline (59 O.S. § 1310(A)(16)).

Complaints go to the Insurance Department, 400 NE 50th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73105, 405-521-6610, or through its complaint form.

Paying covers a single case. Other snags can still stand in the way:

• Another Oklahoma county's or city's warrant. Starting November 1, 2025, you may pay that jurisdiction's bond to free the person from its hold (HB 1991).
• Separate cases. City and state charges each carry a bond of their own.
• A repeat DUI. Nobody leaves until the judge's written bail order is in.
• An ICE detainer. Immigration officers can request a short extra hold.
• A federal hold. That call belongs to the U.S. Marshals.

Under state jail rules, staff also verify who the person is and that someone with authority approved the release (OAC 310:670-5-1). Have the jail at 580-256-3264 read you every hold before you pay.

Yes, for a short list of cases named in Okla. Const. art. II § 8:

• capital crimes, if the proof is evident or the presumption is great;
• violent offenses;
• crimes that can carry a life term, with or without parole;
• repeat-felony cases, meaning a new felony charge after at least two felony convictions from unrelated incidents;
• drug cases carrying a top term of ten years or longer.

For each item but the first, a judge needs two things to deny bail: strong proof of guilt, and a conclusion that every possible release term would still leave the community or someone in it at risk. Excessive bail is banned outright (art. II § 9), and a crime victim may speak at a release hearing (art. II § 34).

The office arguing for the state is the District 26 District Attorney, 1600 Main Street, Suite 5, Woodward, OK 73801, 580-256-8616, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Yes, but the judge has the only say, and the defense lawyer makes the ask. Help the lawyer by doing this:

1. Request a bond review motion in District Court.
2. Collect papers showing roots here: a pay stub, a rental agreement, letters from family, a record of showing up to court.
3. List what the family can really afford. The Constitution forbids excessive bail (Okla. Const. art. II § 9).
4. Propose conditions aimed at the judge's worries, like a monitor or a no-contact order.

Hearing dates are on the court docket, and the Court Clerk at 580-256-3413 can find yours.

The Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, known as OIDS, supplies lawyers for people too poor to hire one. Its regional trial office serving this county, along with Dewey, Major and Woods, is at 1111 Hillcrest Dr, Woodward, OK 73801, 580-331-6305.

• The judge makes the call on eligibility, reviewing a sworn sheet of assets, debts and income (22 O.S. § 1355A).
• The judge may consider whether bail was posted, though that fact alone cannot decide it.
• From jail, ask a jailer for the application for court-appointed counsel. Anyone not locked up gets it from the Court Clerk and files it there.
• Filing the application costs $40, which the Court Fund keeps. Deferring that fee until the case closes is allowed on request.

In Spybuck v. State (2025), the Court of Criminal Appeals said the right to counsel reaches felonies and any misdemeanor that could mean jail. OIDS staff cannot name a lawyer by phone; that is the judge's job.

• District Court, through the Court Clerk (felonies, state misdemeanors, youth cases): 1600 Main Street, Suite 4, Woodward, OK 73801, 580-256-3413, weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Office of the District Judge: 1600 Main Street, Suite 4, Woodward, OK 73801, 580-256-6716, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• City court (violations of city ordinances, including traffic): 722 Main Street, Woodward, OK 73801, 580-254-8585.
• Federal court: the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, with its clerk at 200 NW 4th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73102, 405-609-5000.

The Town of Mooreland's code creates a municipal court. For a ticket or warrant from that town, the Sheriff's Office at 580-256-3264 can tell you where that court sits and when.

Cash bail is repaid after the case ends with no missed dates, or after the person is surrendered (59 O.S. § 1328(A)). Save the receipt, and phone the Court Clerk at 580-256-3413 to learn how refunds reach you.

Skipping court sets a clock running under 59 O.S. § 1332:

1. Within 10 days of the forfeiture, the court puts out an arrest warrant.
2. Inside 15 days, a forfeiture order and judgment must be on file. Notice from the clerk follows within 30 days.
3. The bondsman gets 90 days from receiving that order to return the person. If they are back by then, the clerk vacates the forfeiture and the bond is exonerated.
4. Past that point, the bondsman or insurer pays the bond's face amount in cash or securities to the clerk.

City court moves faster. The city judge orders the bond forfeited on the very day of the no-show, and court costs are taken from it (11 O.S. § 27-118).

When someone leaves custody or is transferred, the balance on their jail account is refunded as a check the jail calls a voucher. A voucher not handed over on release day can later be claimed by that person alone. It cannot be made payable to the Court Clerk or any agency, so fines and costs need a separate payment.

Every wallet, belt and phone logged at intake gets ticked off that log at release, with a signature from the person (OAC 310:670-5-1). To arrange pickup of keys or clothes for someone still held, call the jail at 580-256-3264, and bring photo ID. Our commissary page explains the account side.

When a federal agency files charges, the case is heard in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. The clerk's office is at 200 NW 4th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73102, 405-609-5000, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

• Under 18 U.S.C. 3142, release turns on a federal detention hearing. Oklahoma's bail rules play no role there.
• Pending trial, the U.S. Marshals have custody. The district office is at 200 Northwest 4th Street, Room 2022, Oklahoma City, OK 73102, 405-231-4206. Marshals prisoners may stay at the Federal Transfer Center, 7410 S. MacArthur Blvd, Oklahoma City, OK 73169, or a jail under contract.
• Federal defenders for western Oklahoma work from 215 Dean A. McGee Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73102, 405-609-5930.
• After sentencing in federal court, try the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

It can. Paying bond ends nothing on the immigration side. The steps usually go like this:

1. ICE sends the jail its request, called a detainer, on federal Form I-247A.
2. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), the jail may hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, giving ICE time to arrive.
3. ICE takes the person. Its Oklahoma office, which reports to the Dallas Field Office, is at 1220 Sovereign Row, Oklahoma City, OK 73108, 405-219-3199.
4. Many people end up at the Cimarron Correctional Facility, 3200 S. Kings Hwy., Cushing, OK 74023, 918-225-3336, or pass through the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City.
5. The ICE Online Detainee Locator finds people in ICE custody. Type in the A-number. No A-number? Use the name and birth country.

Lawmakers also passed HB 4156 (21 O.S. § 1795), a state offense aimed at people living in Oklahoma without legal permission. A federal judge stopped enforcement, and that order stands while the state's appeal plays out.

A prison term hands the person over to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, though rarely right away. By DOC's own estimate, the trip to state custody comes 6 to 9 months past sentencing, with the county jail holding the person in the meantime.

The first DOC stop is an assessment and reception center. Staff there fill out a custody score using the crime, the sentence and other points, then place the person in a prison matching that score. Credit for jail time before sentencing is nearly always given.

• DOC's Offender Lookup shows people in state custody.
• DOC main office: 4345 N. Lincoln Blvd, Oklahoma City, OK 73105, 405-425-2500.
• Every DOC site appears on our Oklahoma state prisons page.

Teens are not kept with adults. The state's Office of Juvenile Affairs counts the Woodward County Juvenile Detention Center among its detention centers. To learn where a child was taken, call OJA, 2501 N. Lincoln Blvd, Suite 500, Oklahoma City, OK 73105, 405-530-2800, or the Court Clerk at 580-256-3413 and ask for the juvenile division.

• A county jail may keep a minor briefly, out of sight and sound of adults, and at most six hours for ID, paperwork or a transfer (OAC 310:670-5-5).
• Juvenile cases skip adult bail. At a detention hearing, a judge rules on whether the youth stays held.
• For serious crimes at ages 15, 16 or 17, the Youthful Offender Act can apply. Certification is a separate path that moves a case into adult court.