Bastrop County Jail

A magistrate sets it. Here, that job belongs to the county's four justices of the peace, plus the judges of the city courts. They see each new arrest over a video link. The judge sits in a court office, and the person stays at the jail on Mills Street.

By law, this hearing has to come within two days, 48 hours at most, after the arrest (CCP art. 15.17(a)). During the video call, the judge:

• decides whether police had probable cause, which means a fair legal reason to arrest
• reads the charge and reminds them they may stay silent
• offers a free lawyer and walks the person through the financial form
• picks a bail amount and any conditions

Bail has to be settled inside those same 48 hours, case by case, using the lightest conditions that keep everyone safe (CCP art. 17.028). On any charge from Class B upward, bail can't be set until the judge has looked over a public safety report. That sheet pulls together the person's record, yet it gives no risk score and no suggested bail (CCP arts. 17.021, 17.022). Within 12 hours, jail staff must flag possible mental illness to the magistrate (CCP art. 16.22).

Under CCP art. 17.01, Texas has two families of bail, bail bonds and personal bonds. Day to day, that works out to three choices.

• Cash. The whole amount gets deposited, and it sits with the court while the case is open (CCP art. 17.02).
• Surety. A state-licensed company signs on, guaranteeing the court the entire amount. Its price is a fee the family won't see again.
• Personal bond. Nobody pays the bail up front. The defendant signs, promising to show up (CCP art. 17.03). A fee of "$20 or three percent of the amount of the bail fixed for the accused, whichever is greater" applies, and a judge can waive it (CCP art. 17.42).

Personal bonds are off the table for a list of violent crimes, for a felon holding a firearm and for certain protective order breaks. On some burglary, drug and organized crime felonies, only the judge with the case can grant one (CCP art. 17.03).

Judges can attach conditions too. Repeat drunk-driving charges, or DWI with a kid in the vehicle, mean the car needs an ignition interlock, a device the driver must blow into before the car will start (CCP art. 17.441(a)).

No statewide chart fixes bail prices in Texas, so each figure is set by a magistrate for that one case. The law lists what goes into the choice (CCP art. 17.15(a)):

• whether the amount will bring them back for each hearing
• never so high that it works as a weapon against them
• the facts and type of crime
• money the defendant really has
• risk to victims, officers and neighbors
• past record, plus the safety report
• immigration and citizenship status

The statute does name two dollar limits. They apply when someone was arrested without a warrant and probable cause was never decided on time. A misdemeanor then means release within 24 hours on bail of $5,000 or less. A felony means release within 48 hours on $10,000 or less. Someone too poor to pay gets a personal bond instead (CCP art. 17.033).

Booking can read you the real figure for each count. Dial 512-549-5073.

The jail sits at 1601 Mills Street, Bastrop, TX 78602. Sheriff's administration works from 200 Jackson Street, Bastrop, TX 78602, 512-549-5100. Go in this order:

1. Phone booking, 512-549-5073, before driving over.
2. Have the ID-card spelling of the name ready, with a birth date. Jot down the bail for every count.
3. Find out which building and door handle bonds, and the hours.
4. Ask which payments staff accept. For a money order, ask what to write on the payee line.
5. Ask whether any other agency has a hold, so the bond really frees them.
6. Have photo ID with you. Every receipt is proof of payment, so file them away.

Under CCP arts. 17.20 and 17.22, a jailer taking bail must pull the person's criminal history. In a violent case, a jailer has no power to set the amount.

Texas treats a cash bond as money deposited with the court (CCP art. 17.02), and the clerks keep the court's money. The two clerk offices:

• District Clerk for felony cases: 804 Pecan Street, Bastrop, TX 78602, on the first floor of the courthouse annex, 512-332-7244. Hours run Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 4:30 p.m., and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• County Clerk, which keeps misdemeanor files (Class A and B): 803 Pine Street, Bastrop, TX 78602, 512-332-7234. Hours run Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Check with booking at 512-549-5073 first. Ask which office must receive the bond on this case so the jail can let the person go.

For bond money, booking at 512-549-5073 has the final word. Ask about each type you might use, and whether a card adds a fee.

For case payments, the District Clerk takes debit or credit cards at the counter, over the phone and on the web. Money orders and cashier's checks work there, and cash must be the exact amount. Personal checks are refused. Its web payment links cover fines, court costs and fees on felony and civil files. For a bond, follow what booking says.

Keep cash out of the mail at all times.

The Sheriff's Office posts an authorized bail bond company list on its bail bonding page. Choose a company from it, or call 512-549-5100 with questions about the list.

Texas rules that protect you:

• No state cap limits the company's fee (OC ch. 1704). Shop around.
• Whatever you hand the company, money or property, earns you a receipt (OC 1704.305).
• Bonding agents can't recruit clients inside the jail (OC 1704.304).
• When all the cases are done, a written request gets your collateral (say, a car title) back within 30 days (OC 1704.301).
• Any attorney who already represents the person on that case may post bond (OC 1704.163).

Can a company return the person to jail? Yes, but first it must warn the defense lawyer. It also files a sworn paper in court (CCP art. 17.19).

A bond on one case won't clear another. Check for these:

• Family violence. When officers believe violence may continue, a 4-hour hold after bond is mandatory. A magistrate can stretch the hold by as much as 48 hours, but only in writing (CCP art. 17.291(b)).
• Parole blue warrant. The person stays locked up until the parole violation hearing.
• Warrant from another county. Sometimes a judge here accepts bail on it and sends that bond along (CCP art. 15.18). If not, they stay put until that county sends a transport.
• ICE detainer. The immigration answer lower on this page covers it.
• Separate cases. Every open case calls for its own bond.

Before paying, have booking at 512-549-5073 list each hold on the file.

Bail is a right for nearly everyone under the Texas Constitution. For a long time the main exception was a capital case with strong proof (Tex. Const. art. I, §11). District judges have a little more room. After a hearing, they may refuse bail in narrow cases. Examples are a felony charged while out on felony bail, or a new felony by someone already twice convicted of felonies (Tex. Const. art. I, §§11a-11c).

Proposition 3 (Tex. Const. art. I, §11d), adopted by Texas voters on November 4, 2025, goes further. It covers:

• a killing charged as murder or capital murder
• sexual assault, robbery or kidnapping in its aggravated form
• an aggravated assault involving serious injury, a gun, a knife, a club or an explosive
• human trafficking, or indecency with a child

For these, only the prosecutor can request a no-bail hearing. Bail "shall be denied" when the state proves the person is likely to flee or puts others at risk. Should a judge grant bail anyway, the order must spell out written findings. A 2025 statute also lets prosecutors appeal low bail in some violent cases, with the person held while the higher court rules within 20 days (CCP art. 44.01).

Local prosecutors: District Attorney's office, 804 Pecan Street, Bastrop, TX 78602, 512-581-7125.

Most bail cuts begin when the defense lawyer files a motion. Gather proof of local roots for the judge. Think work stubs, a rental agreement, notes from relatives and an honest monthly money plan. Texas law bars using bail as a way to oppress someone (CCP art. 17.15(a)).

Delay by the state helps too. When prosecutors still aren't ready for trial, CCP art. 17.151 requires a personal bond or reduced bail once the person has been held:

• 90 days for any felony
• 30 days when the misdemeanor carries more than 180 days of jail
• 15 days when the misdemeanor carries 180 days or less
• 5 days for a charge punished by fine alone

Certain charges are excluded. Felony questions go to the district courts' criminal coordinator, 512-581-7137. For a misdemeanor case, ring the County Court at Law, 804 Pecan Street, Bastrop, TX 78602, 512-581-4277.

Say yes at the video hearing. The magistrate fills in the money questions with the person and sends the request to the trial courts. Each court here has a coordinator who hands out appointments.

• The magistrate has 24 hours to forward the form (CCP art. 15.17(a)).
• In counties under 250,000 people, the judge has three working days to pick a lawyer (CCP art. 1.051(c)).
• By the following workday, counsel should try to make contact (CCP art. 26.04(j)(1)).
• Posting bail is not, by itself, proof that someone can pay a lawyer (CCP art. 26.04(m)).

For a felony, phone the District Court criminal coordinator at 512-581-7137. For a misdemeanor, phone the County Court at Law, 512-581-4277. The Texas Indigent Defense Commission oversees the system from 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994.

The main courthouse is 804 Pecan Street, Bastrop, TX 78602, main line 512-581-7100. Felonies and misdemeanors are heard there.

• District Courts, 21st, 335th and 423rd, for felonies: 804 Pecan Street, Bastrop, TX 78602, court office 512-581-4037.
• County Court at Law, where Class A and B misdemeanors are tried: 804 Pecan Street, Bastrop, TX 78602, 512-581-4277.
• Justice Court, Precinct 1: 804 Pecan Street, Bastrop, TX 78602, 512-581-4258.
• Justice Court, Precinct 2: 1624 NE Loop 230, Smithville, TX 78957, 512-581-7112.
• Justice Court, Precinct 3: 5785 FM 535, Cedar Creek, TX 78612, 512-332-7288.
• Justice Court, Precinct 4: 1125 Dildy Drive, Elgin, TX 78621, 512-581-7162.
• Municipal Court for the city of Bastrop: 104 Grady Tuck Lane, Bastrop, TX 78602, 512-332-8650.
• Elgin Municipal Court: 310 N Main Street, Elgin, TX 78621, 512-281-0318.
• Smithville Municipal Court: 317 Main Street, Smithville, TX 78957, 512-237-3282.

Class C cases, which carry only a fine, are heard by the justice and city courts. The 465th District Court handles mostly family and civil matters.

Provided every condition was obeyed, the deposit is refunded once the case ends. Only the person listed on the bond receipt can collect it (CCP art. 17.02), so keep that paper safe.

• A 5% clerk fee, topping out at $50, comes off only if the case results in a conviction or in deferred adjudication (LGC 117.055).
• Money on deposit may be applied to what the defendant owes in fines and costs (CCP art. 17.53).
• The clerk keeps a no-cost Motion to Release Funds form for use after the case ends.

Skip a court date and the bond is forfeited. The court starts that process with a judgment nisi, a conditional ruling (CCP arts. 22.01, 22.02). Bonding companies can still walk away clean if the missing person is jailed again: the window is 180 days for misdemeanors and 270 for felonies (CCP art. 22.13). Bail jumping, knowingly skipping court, can bring its own charge (PC 38.10).

Call the District Clerk at 512-332-7244 about a felony refund, or the County Clerk at 512-332-7234 for a misdemeanor.

On the day they walk out, ask about two things: money left in their jail account and the items bagged at booking. Jail Records answers at 512-549-5083, and booking at 512-549-5073. Find out how leftover funds are returned and what time you can pick up their belongings at 1601 Mills Street, Bastrop, TX 78602.

Any money order that arrives after the person leaves goes back to its sender. Collecting for someone else? Bring your ID and check whether a signed release is needed. Our inmate money guide goes over deposits and what happens to money at release.

The Austin Division of the U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, hears federal cases from here: 501 West Fifth Street, Suite 1100, Austin, TX 78701, clerk 512-916-5896.

• Whether they go home is decided at a federal detention hearing, usually at the first court appearance (18 U.S.C. 3142). Texas bail law plays no part.
• Until trial, the person is in U.S. Marshals Service custody. Its Austin office is 501 West 5th Street, Suite 3300, Austin, TX 78701, 512-916-5393. Ask them where the person is housed. A 2022 state count showed federal prisoners held at the county jail.
• If they can't pay a lawyer, the Federal Public Defender's Austin office can help: 504 Lavaca Street, Suite 960, Austin, TX 78701, 512-916-5025.
• Once sentenced to prison, search the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Immigration holds run separately from Texas bail. Expect this sequence:

1. Federal immigration officers send the Mills Street jail their detainer paperwork, called Form I-247A.
2. This request lets jail staff hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Under Texas law, jails must comply with detainers. The only way out is showing papers that prove the person is a citizen or is in the U.S. lawfully (CCP art. 2A.060). Since 2017, GC 752.053 has barred local rules that weaken immigration enforcement. Under Senate Bill 8 (2025), a sheriff whose county keeps a jail must pursue a 287(g) agreement with ICE. Its deadline falls on December 1, 2026. For this county's status, try the Sheriff's Office, 512-549-5100.
4. Federal officers collect the person for transfer to an ICE facility.
5. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Searching by A-number is most exact. Name plus birth country is the fallback.

One more rule: a GC chapter 54 appointed magistrate may not release a person held on an ICE detainer (CCP art. 17.027(a-2)).

State jail felonies lead to a stay in a state jail facility. For third-degree felonies and anything above, the person goes to a TDCJ prison unit (PC 12.31-12.35). After sentencing, a person usually stays in county custody for a while, then goes to a state intake unit. There they are classified and then sent on to a fitting unit.

• Type the family name into the TDCJ inmate search along with a first initial. If you have it, the TDCJ or SID number is quicker. New data posts each business day.
• For details on each unit, visit our Texas state prisons page.

Texas sets the juvenile age band at 10 through 16, judged by the child's age when the conduct happened. Seventeen counts as adult for criminal charges (FC 51.02(2)).

• Police must contact a parent or guardian quickly and explain the reason for custody (FC 52.02(b)).
• Detention review: by the second working day, a judge rules on whether the child remains in detention. Kids picked up Friday or Saturday are seen sooner, on the first working day. Before any of this, a lawyer is appointed to stand up for the child (FC 54.01).
• Juvenile matters here go before the County Court at Law, 804 Pecan Street, Bastrop, TX 78602, 512-581-4277.

To find out where the child is, phone the Sheriff's Office at 512-549-5100 or the Texas Juvenile Justice Department at 512-490-7130.