Every Texas offense carries a grade tied to its harshest possible punishment. The grade picks the bench, as shown here:

• Felonies, from the state jail grade up to capital: these belong to District Court, whose filings the District Clerk keeps.
• Class A and Class B misdemeanors, the grades that allow jail time: County Court at Law No. 1. The County Clerk stores those records.
• Class C offenses, which can cost money but never jail: heard by a justice of the peace. A ticket a city officer wrote inside city limits may go to that city's court instead.

Holding a docket number that makes no sense? Read it to the District Clerk at 361-553-4630 and ask whose case it is.

Plan any visit around the Ann Street courthouse, since the felony court, the misdemeanor court and both clerks work there. The District Clerk warns that non-lawyers can't carry cell phones, laptops, handbags or backpacks into the district courtroom, so lock them in your car first.

• District Clerk and District Court: 211 S. Ann Street, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4630. Hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. Filings by fax or email are refused.
• County Court at Law No. 1: 211 S. Ann Street, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4640.
• County Clerk: 211 S. Ann Street, Suite 102, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4411.

Five justice courts take the fine-only cases:

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

Port Lavaca, Seadrift and Point Comfort are incorporated cities, and Texas law gives every such city a municipal court. Those courts split fine-only work with the justice courts. A city officer's ticket for speeding or a local ordinance will usually name the city court, its phone and the day to show up. Hang on to that paper.

Deputies and troopers who write tickets in Port O'Connor, Olivia or other spots outside town limits send them to that area's justice precinct. Precinct 5 covers Port O'Connor at 361-983-2351.

Misplaced the ticket? Ask the agency that wrote it. Seadrift police answer at 361-785-2069. The city police on Colorado Street are at 201 N. Colorado St., Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-552-3788. Stopped near Point Comfort and not sure by whom? The Sheriff's Office at 361-553-4646 can check.

Within two days of an arrest, a judge called a magistrate meets the prisoner, usually over a video link. That short session covers:

• the charge and the bail amount;
• the freedom to say nothing at all, plus counsel, even unpaid counsel for someone short on money (CCP art. 15.17);
• a chance to fill out the request for appointed counsel, with help if needed.

Felony suspects can also demand an examining trial. It is a short probable-cause hearing held before any grand jury acts, and an indictment wipes out that option (CCP art. 16.01).

Weeks later comes arraignment. The accusation is read out in court, and the defendant enters a plea, often not guilty (CCP art. 26.01). Lawyers often waive it on paper. Misdemeanor dates: County Court at Law No. 1, 361-553-4640. Felony dates: the District Clerk, 361-553-4630.

Common local examples include a first DWI, shoplifting, a bar fight or a small amount of marijuana. A misdemeanor charge is usually written up by the prosecutor as an "information," and the County Clerk logs it. County Court at Law No. 1 then takes over, at 211 S. Ann Street, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4640. Attorneys there must e-file proposed orders 48 hours before the hearing.

Caps for each class come from Penal Code sections 12.21 (A), 12.22 (B) and 12.23 (C):

• Class A: a jail term that can reach 12 months, a fine up to $4,000, or both.
• Class B: half a year or less behind bars, a fine capped at $2,000, or both.
• Class C: a fine no bigger than $500, never jail.

Plea bargains settle most files. Before taking a plea, the judge must say if the deal will be honored, and a defendant can pull out if the judge turns it down (CCP art. 26.13). First offenses often get deferred adjudication, which postpones any guilty finding. The defendant follows probation rules for a set time, capped at two years on a misdemeanor (CCP art. 42A.103). Finish clean and no conviction is entered. Too broke for a Class C fine? Under CCP chapter 45A, the judge can allow installments, swap in community service, or waive it.

Felony files belong to the District Clerk, 211 S. Ann Street, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4630. Settings appear on the posted district court docket and the 2026 court calendar. Anyone summoned as a juror should phone the clerk the Friday before.

A felony usually travels this route:

1. Arrest, the magistrate warning and a bail decision.
2. An optional examining trial on probable cause.
3. A secret grand jury session. Nine or more of its jurors have to agree before anyone is indicted (art. 20A.301 of the CCP).
4. Arraignment, then pretrial dates for motions and plea talks.
5. Plea bargain or trial, and then a sentence if there's a conviction.

Chapter 12 of the Penal Code lists the ranges, from lightest to harshest:

• State jail felony: 6 months (180 days) as the floor, 2 years as the top, inside one of the state jails.
• Third degree: a prison stretch lasting two to ten years.
• Second degree: no less than two years, no more than twenty.
• First degree: anywhere from five years to 99, or life.

Fines of up to $10,000 can come with any grade, and older felony convictions can raise the range (Pen. Code sec. 12.42). A judge can skip prison and order probation (Texas calls it community supervision); on most felonies it can last a decade (CCP art. 42A.053). Deferred adjudication goes further: complete it and the charge gets dismissed (CCP art. 42A.111).

Yes, starting with bail. For offenses on the state's violent list, no personal bond is allowed, and the jail can't use a preset bail schedule (CCP arts. 17.03, 17.20). Voters approved Proposition 3 in 2025. Under it, prosecutors may ask that some people charged with the gravest crimes, such as murder, be held without any bail at all (Texas Constitution, art. I, sec. 11d).

A second 2025 law, S.B. 9, allows the DA to take a magistrate's felony bail upstairs to a district judge. For the listed violent offenses, the DA may challenge an undersized bail on appeal (CCP arts. 17.029 and 44.01). Someone who pleads guilty to one of several grave felonies goes into custody to await the sentence (CCP art. 27.20).

Sentences run higher too. Most violent felonies are graded first or second degree. Capital murder means either a death sentence or a life term with parole ruled out, and a teen offender (under 18) can get only the life term (Pen. Code sec. 12.31).

Felony prosecutors work in the District Attorney's Office, 211 S. Ann Street, Suite 302, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4422. On a misdemeanor, phone that office and confirm which prosecutor holds the file. A defense lawyer should also ask there about pretrial diversion.

Since there's no public defender office here, judges appoint private lawyers from a court-appointed attorney list, following the county's written indigent defense plan. Getting one works like this:

1. At the magistrate warning, say you want counsel, then complete the sworn financial form.
2. Local judges have three working days, after that form arrives, to choose an attorney (CCP art. 1.051).
3. Counsel must reach the client no later than one working day after being named (CCP art. 26.04).

After a finding of indigence, that status sticks for the whole case unless finances change in a big way. Felony appointment questions: District Clerk, 361-553-4630. Misdemeanor ones: County Court at Law No. 1, 361-553-4640.

Three free routes work:

• The Tyler records portal for county courts: put the family name first, then the first name. An asterisk (*) stands in for letters you aren't sure of.
• The jail's online booking list: choose a name, then read the court type, court date and docket number beside each charge.
• The District Clerk's felony docket page and its 2026 calendar, which marks the court weeks.

Statewide, re:SearchTX lets anyone with a free login view charging papers and judgments, though public users can't see hearing schedules.

Prefer to talk? Have the defendant's complete name and birthday handy when you call. Felony: District Clerk, 361-553-4630. Misdemeanor: County Clerk, 361-553-4411.

Several agencies serve warrants here: sheriff's deputies, constables in all five precincts, and city officers. Ask whether one is open by calling the Sheriff's Office, 211 S. Ann Street, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4646, or the clerk for whichever court issued it. The Tyler court records portal may show a pending case, and DPS keeps a Ten Most Wanted fugitives page for the state's worst cases. Settling one starts with a defense lawyer. Next, either surrender at the Adult Detention Center with that lawyer or request a new hearing date from the judge. On a felony warrant, the District Clerk at 361-553-4630 can say which court signed it.

Cases brought under U.S. law from this stretch of coast go to the federal trial court's Victoria Division. Its clerk works in the Martin Luther King Jr. building at 312 S. Main, Room 406, Victoria, TX 77901, 361-788-5000.

• A federal magistrate judge picks release or detention, often at the first hearing, under 18 U.S.C. 3142. Either side may ask to delay that detention hearing briefly.
• Until trial, deputy marshals control custody. Their Victoria office is at 312 South Main Street, Room 326, Victoria, TX 77902, 361-578-4932.
• Federal prosecutors file the case. Their nearest branch is at 800 N. Shoreline Blvd., Suite 500, Corpus Christi, TX 78401, 361-888-3111.
• A defendant who can't pay may get a federal defender. That office's district headquarters is at 440 Louisiana Street, Room 1350, Houston, TX 77002, 713-718-4600.
• Someone sent to federal prison shows up in the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

It doesn't pause the Texas charge, but it changes release day. In order:

1. First, the jail gets ICE's detainer paperwork, numbered Form I-247A.
2. State law requires the jail to comply and to tell the inmate. The exception: the inmate shows documents that prove U.S. citizenship, or legal presence in the country (CCP 2A.060).
3. When bail is posted or the local case wraps up, the detainer allows a hold of up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
4. Once ICE has the person, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator, entering a name and country of birth.

Some magistrates have no power to release a detainee under an ICE hold (CCP 17.027). A non-citizen must hear a warning about deportation risk before any plea is accepted (CCP 26.13), so raise immigration status with the defense lawyer right away. One more 2025 change: Texas now expects each jail-running sheriff to have filed a 287(g) request with ICE, and the cutoff falls on December 1, 2026. Ask the Sheriff's Office, 361-553-4646, how the local request is going.

Texas sends felony prison terms to units run by TDCJ. Shorter state jail felony sentences go to a separate set of state jails. Until the transfer, the person stays at the Adult Detention Center. Then comes an intake period of testing and classification before a lasting unit is chosen.

• Typing a last name and one initial into the TDCJ inmate search works, and so does a TDCJ number or SID. People still held locally, awaiting transfer, are missing from it.
• Our Texas state prisons directory describes every unit.

Ages matter here. Anyone who was ten or older, but still short of seventeen, on the day of the act counts as a juvenile in Texas. Their cases are about delinquent conduct, not crimes. Adult court starts at 17 (Fam. Code 51.02).

• Officers take the child to an approved processing office or to detention. Quick notice to a parent is required (Fam. Code 52.02).
• A judge looks at whether to keep holding the child within two working days. A lawyer gets assigned before that review (Fam. Code 54.01).
• A teen of 14 or more accused of certain felonies can be moved to adult court, though a complete hearing must come first (Fam. Code 54.02).

The juvenile probation office at 201 W. Austin St., Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4670, knows where each youth is held. Lawyers for youths are assigned under the juvenile appointment plan. Counties with a contract send youths to the Victoria Regional Juvenile Justice Center, 97 Foster Field Dr., Victoria, TX 77904, 361-575-0399.

State law hands victims a set of rights (CCP 56A.051). Among them, a judge must think about the victim's safety when setting bail, the victim may request notice of court dates, and the victim may give an impact statement before sentencing. To be told about hearings, contact the District Attorney's Office, 211 S. Ann Street, Suite 302, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4422.

• Jail release alerts: Texas IVSS-Counties took over from the earlier notice service. It is free and calls, texts or emails when an inmate is booked, freed or transferred. Live help in English or Spanish comes at any hour: 866-268-8959.
• Bills from the crime: Crime Victims' Compensation is an Attorney General fund. It helps with medical care, counseling and lost pay, with a $50,000 cap. Phone 800-983-9933.
• If the offender goes to prison: the TDCJ Victim Services Division answers at 800-848-4284.