Local courts are split into three tiers by the most punishment a charge can carry.

• Felonies are filed in a district court, and the District Clerk holds the records. Punishment runs from a state jail term up to life in prison or death.
• Class A and B misdemeanors are county court cases, with files at the County Clerk. A Class B may bring as much as 180 days behind bars and a $2,000 fine. For Class A, the top end is a year and $4,000 (PC 12.21, 12.22).
• Class C misdemeanors carry only a fine of up to $500, never jail (PC 12.23). Tickets like these are handled by justice courts and city municipal courts.

Austin is home to the Court of Criminal Appeals, where criminal appeals finally end. To find out which local court has a case, call the county operator at 979-849-5711.

The District Clerk's Criminal Department is at the Brazoria County Courthouse, 237 E. Locust Street, Suite 206, Angleton, TX 77515, 979-864-1189. The office runs 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and its lobby shuts at 4:45 p.m. These are the district courts it serves, each with its own office line:

• 149th District Court, 979-864-1261
• 239th District Court, 979-864-1256
• 300th District Court, 979-864-1227
• 412th District Court, 979-864-1915
• 461st District Court, 979-864-1205

Before a hearing, phone the court's office to learn the courtroom. Class A and B files are kept by the County Clerk's office. Justice courts sit in eight places spread across four precincts. The county switchboard, 979-849-5711, can transfer you to the County Clerk or the right justice of the peace.

Yes. Texas cities have municipal courts that share Class C cases with the justice courts. A ticket written by a city officer inside city limits usually goes to that city's court. The citation itself lists the court's address and the date to appear.

Misplaced the citation? The police department whose officer wrote it can point you to the right court:

• Pearland Police Department, 2555 Cullen Parkway, Pearland, TX 77581, 281-997-4100
• Alvin Police Department, 1500 S. Gordon, Alvin, TX 77511, 281-388-4370
• Lake Jackson Police Department, 5 Oak Drive, Lake Jackson, TX 77566, 979-415-2700
• Freeport Police Department, 430 N. Brazosport Blvd., Freeport, TX 77541, 979-239-1211
• Clute Police Department, 104 E. Main St., Clute, TX 77531, 979-265-6194
• Sweeny Police Department, 123 N. Oak Street, Sweeny, TX 77480, 979-548-3112
• Iowa Colony Police Department, 3144 Meridiana Parkway, Rosharon, TX 77583, 281-369-3444

For a ticket from Angleton, Manvel, West Columbia or another town, ask the Sheriff's Office non-emergency line at 979-864-2200 where to turn. Ignoring a Class C ticket can lead to a warrant and a hold on renewing a driver's license.

The first stop in court is a short meeting with a magistrate, often a justice of the peace here. Texas requires it within 48 hours of the arrest, either face to face or by video (CCP 14.06, 15.17). When the state's indigent defense agency watched these hearings in 2021, magistrates read the warnings to groups of people at once, and almost every hearing happened by the second day.

The magistrate goes over several things:

• What the person is accused of, along with any sworn complaint.
• Their rights, such as staying silent, getting a lawyer, having that lawyer there during any questioning, and stopping an interview at any time.
• How to request appointed counsel if money is short. The magistrate must help with the forms.
• Bail, which has to be settled no later than hour 48 (CCP 17.028).

In a felony, the accused can request an examining trial before indictment. A judge listens to the evidence and decides whether there is probable cause to continue (CCP 16.01). When the magistrate sees no probable cause, written findings must follow within a day (CCP 15.17(h)).

Misdemeanors that could mean jail, like many DWI, theft and assault cases, are filed in a county-level court with a charging paper called an information. No grand jury is needed.

1. Arraignment. The court confirms the defendant's identity and hears the plea (CCP 26.01).
2. Pretrial settings. Lawyers swap evidence and may work out a deal.
3. Plea or trial. When a plea deal is on the table, the judge must announce whether it will be honored. A rejected deal means the defendant may pull back the plea (CCP 26.13).

Outcomes vary. With deferred adjudication, the person serves up to two years of supervision with no conviction on record, and the charge is then dropped (CCP 42A.103, 42A.111). Regular probation on a misdemeanor also tops out at two years (CCP 42A.053). If convicted, Class B carries a maximum of 180 days and Class A a maximum of one year.

The County Clerk's office keeps the misdemeanor file. Reach it through the county operator at 979-849-5711.

Felonies run through the district courts and take longer than misdemeanors.

1. Magistrate hearing within 48 hours, with bail set.
2. Examining trial, if asked for, to test the evidence before indictment (CCP 16.01).
3. Grand jury. An indictment needs a yes vote from nine or more of the grand jurors (CCP 20A.301).
4. Arraignment in the district court assigned to the case.
5. Pretrial hearings on evidence and motions.
6. Plea or trial, then sentencing.

How much time each felony level can bring (Penal Code chapter 12):

• State jail felony: six months to two years, spent in a state jail.
• A third-degree conviction can send someone to prison for two years, ten at the most.
• Second degree raises the top end to twenty years.
• At first degree, the floor is five years and the ceiling is 99 years or life.
• Any felony level can also include a fine up to $10,000, and a prior record can raise the level (PC 12.42).

On a felony, a deferred adjudication term may stretch as long as a decade (CCP 42A.103). Treatment courts for drug use, veterans and mental illness operate in many Texas counties, so look for local ones on the state's specialty court registry.

A violent charge makes release harder from the start. Many violent offenses can't get a personal bond (CCP 17.03). A 2025 amendment to the Texas Constitution goes further. Under that change, people charged with murder, aggravated robbery or aggravated sexual assault, among others, must be denied bail if the prosecutor wins a hearing on danger or flight (Tex. Const. art. I, §11d).

• Capital murder: an adult convicted faces death or life in prison without parole (PC 12.31).
• Family violence: if violence may continue, jailers must hold the person for 4 hours after bond (CCP 17.291). At the first appearance, a magistrate can also sign an emergency protective order. It lasts 61 to 91 days in most cases. In cases where an assault was done with a deadly weapon, it is 91 to 121 days instead (CCP 17.292).
• Prosecutor appeals. In certain violent cases, the state can now challenge a bail it considers too low (CCP 44.01).

The district courts here also list a Domestic Violence Court Program. A defense lawyer can say if a case fits.

The county District Attorney's Office files criminal charges and handles pretrial diversion agreements, which can end some cases without a conviction. The county operator at 979-849-5711 can connect you to that office.

The county uses appointed private lawyers rather than a public defender office. Its Office of Indigent Defense decides who qualifies, and lawyers take cases in turn from separate felony, misdemeanor and juvenile lists. Call the Indigent Defense Department at 979-864-1683.

• From jail, the request form goes to Indigent Defense by email after the magistrate hearing.
• After release, the person sets up an interview with the office.
• The appointment has to happen within a short window of working days once the request arrives (CCP 1.051(c)).
• A 2022 state review listed a partial-pay fee of $250 for felonies and $100 for misdemeanors when a person can pay some costs.

You can read the county's appointment plan online through the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994.

Felony records can be searched free by name on the District Clerk's public case portal. A search by case number over the phone costs $5 at 979-864-1128.

• Court dates and resets: the court administrator, 979-864-1263.
• Clerk's counter: 237 E. Locust Street, Suite 206, Angleton, TX 77515, 979-864-1189. Staff there don't share case details by phone, so plan to use the portal or visit.
• Misdemeanor or Class C cases: ask the county operator, 979-849-5711, for the County Clerk or the justice court.
• Statewide: re:SearchTX, run by the Texas courts, shows filed papers and rulings once you set up a free account. Hearing dates come from the clerk.

Warrants here are served by Sheriff's deputies, the county constables and each city's police. To ask whether one is on file, call the Sheriff's Office non-emergency line, 979-864-2200. For a felony, typing a defendant's name into the District Clerk's case portal shows filed cases. DPS posts its most-sought fugitives on the Texas 10 Most Wanted site.

Clearing a warrant is safer with a lawyer at your side. The lawyer can set up a walk-in surrender at the jail, 3602 County Road 45, Angleton, TX 77515, or contact the court that signed the warrant about a new hearing date. On felony warrants, contact the District Clerk, 237 E. Locust Street, Suite 206, Angleton, TX 77515, 979-864-1189.

Federal charges from here are heard in Galveston, in the Southern District of Texas. Its clerk can be reached at 601 Rosenberg, Room 411, Galveston, TX 77550, 409-766-3530, inside the old post office and courthouse.

• Detention hearing: a federal magistrate judge decides early on if release with conditions is safe (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Custody: federal defendants who aren't released stay in U.S. Marshals Service custody. Galveston office: 601 Rosenberg Street, Suite 502, Galveston, TX 77550, 409-766-3771.
• Prosecution: U.S. Attorney's Office, 1000 Louisiana, Suite 2300, Houston, TX 77002, 713-567-9000.
• Defense: Federal Public Defender, 440 Louisiana Street, Room 1350, Houston, TX 77002, 713-718-4600.
• After sentencing: look up the person by name or register number with the BOP inmate locator.

ICE's hold and the state charge run side by side, and the hold can keep the person jailed after bond. Step by step:

1. The agency files its hold request with the jail, called Form I-247A.
2. From then on, the jail may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Since 2017, Texas law has required jails to honor these requests and has barred local policies that limit immigration enforcement (CCP 2A.060; GC 752.053). Under a 2025 statute, county sheriffs who run jails must apply to join ICE's 287(g) program, with the deadline set at December 1, 2026. The Sheriff's Office at 979-864-2200 can answer where this county stands.
4. ICE's Houston Field Office, 126 Northpoint Drive, Houston, TX 77060, 281-774-4816, picks people up in southeast Texas. Some are taken to places like the Montgomery Processing Center, 806 Hilbig Road, Conroe, TX 77301, 936-521-4900.
5. Track them on the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

Before any guilty or no-contest plea, a judge must warn a non-citizen that it could affect their immigration status, including deportation (CCP 26.13). Get the defense lawyer's advice first.

When a judge orders prison time, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice collects the person from the county jail. They pass through an intake unit, where staff decide which prison fits them best. A state jail felony conviction leads to a state jail facility rather than a regular prison unit.

• Find them with the TDCJ inmate search. Only people currently held by TDCJ show up, and records refresh on working days.
• Every unit, with its address, appears in our Texas state prisons listing.

Children who were 10 to 16 at the time go to juvenile court. At 17 they are tried as adults (FC 51.02).

• Officers must contact a parent without delay after taking a child into custody (FC 52.02).
• A judge checks on the lockup inside two working days. If the child came in on a Friday or Saturday, it is one working day. The child's appointed lawyer is there for it (FC 54.01).
• Some serious felony cases against youths aged 14 or 15 can be sent to adult court after a special hearing (FC 54.02).

When a youth isn't sent home, the county's juvenile lockup is the Brazoria County Juvenile Detention Center. The Juvenile Justice Department is at 20875 County Road 171, Angleton, TX 77515, 979-864-1210.

A victim in Texas can ask that their safety count in the bail decision. They can also ask to be told about hearings, and they may give an impact statement in court (CCP 56A.051).

• Release notices: register with Texas IVSS-Counties online, or call 866-268-8959 any time, in English or Spanish.
• Help with bills: the Attorney General's victim compensation fund covers up to $50,000 in costs such as medical care and counseling. Call 800-983-9933.
• Local help: the Sheriff's Office has a crime victims section. Ask about services at 979-864-2200.