Calhoun County Adult Detention Center Inmate Bail & Bonds

A magistrate makes the call. The officer or jailer holding an arrested person has to get them before one fast, and two full days (48 hours) is the outside limit (CCP 14.06, 15.17). The person may appear in the same room or on two-way video. Any judge from the city, county or district bench may fill the role, as may a justice of the peace (CCP 2A.151). The jail at 361-553-4475 can tell you when your person is set to go.

The hearing is quick. Expect the magistrate to:

• tell the person what crime they are accused of;
• cover the rights to silence and to counsel during any questioning;
• offer a free lawyer and walk them through the paper to ask for one;
• pick bail terms for this person alone, choosing the least strict set that does the job (CCP 17.028).

From Class B upward, there is a public safety report to read before any choice is made. Due within two days of the arrest, it sums up the criminal record. By law it leaves out any risk rating or bail suggestion (CCP 17.021, 17.022). Felony and jailable misdemeanor bail is reserved for magistrates who took the state's bail course (CCP 17.023, 17.024).

Texas law (CCP 17.01) sorts every release into one of two groups: a bail bond, or a personal bond. Here is what each one means for your wallet:

• Cash bond. You hand the full amount, in U.S. money, to the office that holds court funds. If the person keeps every rule, that cash is returned after the case (CCP 17.02).
• Surety bond. Someone else, most often a bondsman the county accepts, vouches for the whole sum in writing. You pay the bondsman a fee for taking that risk.
• Personal bond. The person walks out owing nothing today. Their signature is the promise to attend each hearing (CCP 17.03).

CCP 17.03 also names charges where a personal bond is simply not allowed. The statute's list of violent crimes is one group. Others include a felon caught holding a gun, a serious (Class A or higher) terroristic threat, and breaking some kinds of protective orders. A new arrest while out on bond, parole or probation for violence also rules one out. In burglary, organized crime and some serious drug cases, that call belongs only to the trial judge.

Bonds often carry rules. Drinking cases are a good example. A breath-test device called an ignition interlock must go on the car after a repeat DWI, after DWI with a child on board, and in intoxication assault or manslaughter cases (CCP 17.441). Our statewide bail rules page lays out these limits for all of Texas.

No dollar chart covers the whole state. Each amount is chosen for the person standing before the magistrate. The goal is to get them back to court, and bail may not be used as a weapon against them (CCP 17.15). These things go into the choice:

• what the person is accused of, and whether anyone was hurt;
• whether they can actually afford the figure;
• risks to the victim, to deputies and to neighbors;
• their record, any skipped court dates and any other open cases;
• whether they are a U.S. citizen.

Texas law does put two numbers in writing. Both come from CCP 17.033. They matter when officers arrested someone with no warrant in hand and nobody has yet ruled on probable cause. Misdemeanor: out by hour 24, bond of $5,000 at most. Felony: out by hour 48, bond of $10,000 at most. If the family can't cover that, release comes on a personal bond. A prosecutor's request can push this back, though 72 hours is the ceiling.

Someone facing a Class B or more serious charge can swear out a statement that the bail is beyond their means, which gets a prompt review (CCP 17.028). To learn the real amount, open the jail inmate list, tap the name, and look under Bond beside each charge. Staff at the Adult Detention Center, 361-553-4475, can read it to you too.

The Adult Detention Center is at 302 W. Live Oak, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4475. The Sheriff's Office that runs it works out of the courthouse, 211 S. Ann Street, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4646. Work through this list:

1. Phone the jail before you drive anywhere. Spell out the name and give a date of birth.
2. Jot down every charge's bond along with its docket number.
3. Find out where bail is taken at this hour, whether at the jail, a clerk's window or the court.
4. Learn which payments the desk takes and who the payee is.
5. See if a hold, a family violence wait or an outside warrant will delay the walk-out.
6. Take a photo ID and exact payment; save the receipt with your name printed on it.

Before any officer accepts bail, the person's record has to be run. When the charge is violent, jail staff can't choose the amount, because only a magistrate may (CCP 17.20, 17.22).

Check with the jail first, because the right window can turn on the charge and the hour. The offices that keep criminal files share the courthouse at 211 S. Ann Street, Port Lavaca, TX 77979:

• District Clerk (felony files): 361-553-4630. Hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. Faxed or emailed filings are refused.
• County Clerk (misdemeanor records), Suite 102: 361-553-4411.
• County Court at Law No. 1, the courtroom for Class A and Class B cases: 361-553-4640. Staffed Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Before you call a clerk, copy the name and docket number off the inmate list. Ask whether that office takes a cash bond, what you will sign and which payments it accepts. Once you pay, ring the jail at 361-553-4475 to confirm the bond papers made it to booking.

Rules about money can shift, so phone the Adult Detention Center at 361-553-4475 before heading out. Good questions for that call:

• Do you take cash, and does it need to be exact?
• Is a money order fine, or a cashier's check? Who is the payee?
• Is a debit or credit card OK, and is there a surcharge?
• Is there an hour after which no bail is accepted?

A cash bond goes to the official who guards court money, in U.S. currency. Later, the refund is paid to whoever is named on that receipt, so double-check the name (CCP 17.02). Mailing cash is never safe. Questions about Sheriff's fees go to the Sheriff's Office at 361-553-4646.

The Census Bureau's mid-2025 estimate for this county is 19,599 residents. That is a long way from 110,000, the population that triggers a required bail bond board in Texas (Occ. Code 1704.051). Such a board licenses local bondsmen. Smaller places can choose to form one (Occ. Code 1704.052). Where none exists, CCP 17.141 lets a sheriff post the sureties whose money backing was reviewed and approved. Call the Sheriff's Office at 361-553-4646 to ask which sureties are accepted.

• No Texas law caps a bondsman's fee. Get the price and terms on paper.
• Any cash or property you give must be receipted in counties that keep a bond board (Occ. Code 1704.305).
• Board counties put soliciting customers in a jail or a police station off limits for bondsmen (Occ. Code 1704.304).
• Pledged a boat or truck title? After the last case closes, put your request in writing. Where a board exists, Occ. Code 1704.301 gives the surety 30 days from that letter.
• Hiring a lawyer? Counsel of record can post the bond with no bondsman license (Occ. Code 1704.163).
• A surety that plans to surrender the person has to contact the defense lawyer first and then swear to its reasons in writing (CCP 17.19).

Each bond releases a person on one case only. Have the jail at 361-553-4475 check for these before you pay:

• Family violence wait. For arrests since September 2025, when more violence looks likely, the person stays put 4 more hours once bond is paid. With a signed order, a magistrate may stretch that hold by up to 48 more hours (CCP 17.291).
• Out-of-county warrant. If another Texas county wants the person, bail on that warrant can be set right here, then forwarded (CCP 15.18).
• Parole warrant. Texas parolees held on such a warrant usually wait in jail for their violation hearing (Gov't Code 508.254).
• New felony while out on felony bond. Only the court with the earlier case, or one it picks in writing, may let the person out (CCP 17.027).
• Immigration detainer. Jails must honor it (CCP 2A.060), though papers such as a Texas driver's license that prove citizenship or lawful status end the duty.
• Mental health review. Under CCP 16.22, jail staff report possible mental illness within 12 hours, which can lead the magistrate to order an expert interview.

Most Texans have a right to bail. Capital charges where the proof is evident are the big exception in the state constitution (art. I, sec. 11). In a handful of other felony cases, a district judge can hold a hearing and keep the person without bail (sec. 11a). One is a defendant whose record already holds two felony convictions. Another is a person arrested for a fresh felony during release on an earlier felony bond. Violating a bond safety condition or a family violence protective order can cost the right as well (secs. 11b, 11c).

Proposition 3 joined the state constitution as sec. 11d after the November 4, 2025 vote. Murder and capital murder are on its list. So are trafficking and indecency with a child. So are the aggravated forms of robbery, sexual assault and kidnapping. Aggravated assault is added when the victim was badly hurt, or when the attacker had a firearm, club, knife or explosive. Here only the prosecutor can request no bail. At that hearing, the state wins on flight if running is more likely than not. It wins on danger with clear and convincing proof. Either win means bail is denied, and a judge who says yes anyway owes written reasons.

Felony prosecution here is handled by the District Attorney, 211 S. Ann Street, Suite 302, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4422. A 2025 law (CCP 44.01) also lets prosecutors challenge a low bail before an appeals court in serious violent cases. The defendant remains locked up while that appeal is pending.

A defense lawyer may file a motion, which is a written request, for a lower bail or looser rules. For a felony, it goes to the District Clerk, 211 S. Ann Street, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4630. Proposed orders in County Court at Law No. 1 are e-filed through the County Clerk, 211 S. Ann Street, Suite 102, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4411, no less than 48 hours ahead of the hearing.

1. Pull together pay stubs, rent or bills, and a true number for what relatives can put together. Bail has to fit the person's real budget (CCP 17.15).
2. Show roots in the area: steady work, a home, kids in school or nearby relatives.
3. Suggest rules that answer the judge's concern, for instance an evening curfew or zero contact with a witness.

Delay by the state matters too (CCP 17.151). Prosecutors who miss these trial-ready deadlines must accept a personal bond or a lower bail for a jailed defendant. Felony cases allow 90 days. For a misdemeanor whose maximum tops 180 days behind bars, the count is 30. Lesser jail misdemeanors get 15; fine-only tickets get 5. A few defendants fall outside this rule.

Too poor to hire counsel? The law still guarantees one once the case starts (CCP 1.051). Local judges appoint private attorneys from a list. The court shares its court-appointed attorney list and the local indigent defense plan, which spells out how lawyers are assigned. The request moves like this:

1. Answer yes when the magistrate brings up a lawyer, then fill in the request.
2. If that magistrate can't appoint counsel, the form goes to the judge who can within one day of the request (CCP 15.17).
3. For a county our size, the judge has a three-working-day window, once the form reaches the court, to appoint counsel (CCP 1.051).
4. Once appointed, the lawyer gets one working day to reach out to the jailed client (CCP 26.04).

Judges review income, debts and household size. Posting bail alone is not grounds to say no (CCP 26.04). Ask felony questions at the District Clerk, 361-553-4630, and misdemeanor ones at County Court at Law No. 1, 361-553-4640. Appointed-lawyer systems across Texas answer to the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994.

Nearly all criminal hearings happen in the county seat. The courthouse holds both the felony and the misdemeanor courts:

• District Court (felonies), with the District Clerk: 211 S. Ann Street, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4630. Weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• County Court at Law No. 1, which hears Class A and B misdemeanors: 211 S. Ann Street, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4640.
• County Clerk (misdemeanor files): 211 S. Ann Street, Suite 102, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4411.

Tickets that carry only a fine, called Class C cases, go to one of five justice of the peace precincts:

• Precinct 1: 201 W. Austin, Room 12, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4621
• Precinct 2: 201 W. Austin, Room 11, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4622
• Precinct 3: 112 Jones St, Point Comfort, TX 77978, 361-987-2930
• Precinct 4: 103 W. Dallas St., Seadrift, TX 77983, 361-785-7082
• Precinct 5: 508 W. Main St., Port O'Connor, TX 77982, 361-983-2351

Federal charges are heard up the road in Victoria, 312 S. Main, Room 406, Victoria, TX 77901, 361-788-5000.

Kept every bond rule? Then once the case is finished, the clerk refunds whoever is listed on the cash receipt (CCP 17.02). A clerk fee of 5% (capped at $50) can come out, but just for cases closed by a conviction or a deferred adjudication (Loc. Gov't Code 117.055). Leftover cash can be taken for that defendant's fines and costs too (CCP 17.53). The clerk must give out the release-of-funds request form at no charge after the case closes.

Missing court flips this around. A no-show lets the judge start forfeiting the bail with a judgment nisi, which is a conditional first ruling (CCP 22.01, 22.02). Under CCP 22.13, a surety walks away owing nothing if the person is back in custody quickly enough. On misdemeanors the window is 180 days; felonies stretch it to 270. Skipping also creates a new charge, bail jumping, graded by the first case (Pen. Code 38.10). It is Class C after a fine-only ticket, Class A after other misdemeanors, and a third-degree felony after a felony.

Felony refunds run through the District Clerk at 361-553-4630. For a misdemeanor refund, talk to the County Clerk at 361-553-4411.

Plan the pickup of cash and personal items early on release day. Phone the Adult Detention Center at 361-553-4475 and find out:

• how any balance left in the inmate account is handed over at release;
• when a relative may stop by for their wallet, keys or cell phone;
• whether the person must sign a note before you can carry their things home.

Show a photo ID at 302 W. Live Oak, Port Lavaca, TX 77979. Our guide to jail account deposits explains how money on an inmate account usually works.

Federal prosecutions from this coastline are filed with the federal trial court in Victoria, a division of the state's Southern District. The clerk is at 312 S. Main, Room 406, Victoria, TX 77901, 361-788-5000.

• Under 18 U.S.C. 3142, a federal judge weighs release or detention, typically at the defendant's first court appearance. If a side asks, that hearing can slip a few days, but not much longer.
• Before any trial, custody of federal defendants sits with the U.S. Marshals Service. Call its Victoria staff, 312 South Main Street, Room 326, Victoria, TX 77902, 361-578-4932, to learn the holding jail.
• Once sentenced to federal prison, they can be found with the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Yes. Paying a Texas bond leaves the immigration hold alone. Expect these steps:

1. Paperwork arrives from ICE: Form I-247A, the detainer.
2. That detainer lets staff hold someone up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, so agents can arrive (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Under Texas law (CCP 2A.060), compliance is required, except where the person shows documents of U.S. citizenship or lawful status. Separately, a 2025 law requires each sheriff in charge of a lockup to pursue a 287(g) pact. Their deadline for asking ICE: December 1, 2026. Our local Sheriff's Office, 361-553-4646, can say where this county's request stands.
4. Once agents take custody, search the ICE Online Detainee Locator; it needs a full name plus the birth country.
5. Locator came up empty? Then ICE advises calling a field office. Houston's is at 126 Northpoint Drive, Houston, TX 77060, 281-774-4816. San Antonio's is at 3523 Crosspoint Drive, San Antonio, TX 78217, 210-564-3300.

People sentenced to prison on a felony go to a TDCJ unit (Texas Department of Criminal Justice). Sentences for state jail felonies are spent instead in one of the state jail facilities. Right after sentencing comes intake, where staff look at health, needs and risk before assigning a unit.

• To look someone up, use the TDCJ inmate search, typing a surname with at least one initial. A state ID (SID) or TDCJ number also works. Records refresh on business days and are always at least 24 hours behind.
• For each Texas unit, visit our Texas state prisons pages.

The transfer can take a while, and the person may sit at the Adult Detention Center in the meantime. Call 361-553-4475 for updates.

For youths aged 10 to 16 when the trouble happened, Texas sends the case to juvenile court and skips adult bail. The cutoff is the 17th birthday; older teens face adult charges (Fam. Code 51.02). Parents must get a quick heads-up from the officer, with the reason for the pickup (Fam. Code 52.02).

• Detention gets a judge's look fast (Fam. Code 54.01). Most kids see the judge by working day two. A child held from a Friday or Saturday pickup goes on working day one. Before either, the court appoints a lawyer.
• A child goes home unless a ground listed in the law justifies keeping them.
• Some felony cases can move to adult court. For the most serious, the minimum age is 14; for others, it is 15. Either way the judge first holds a full hearing (Fam. Code 54.02).

Juvenile Probation knows where each child is held. Reach it at 201 W. Austin St., Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4670. The Victoria Regional Juvenile Justice Center, 97 Foster Field Dr., Victoria, TX 77904, 361-575-0399, houses youth for counties around it that sign contracts.