Texas splits criminal cases by seriousness, and this county has a bench for each level:

• Justice of the Peace court: Class C misdemeanors, the fine-only offenses such as most traffic tickets.
• County Court, led by the County Judge: Class A and B misdemeanors, which carry possible jail.
• 72nd District Court: every felony. The same district judge also serves Lubbock County, so local felony dockets follow a shared calendar.

Fine-only cases may also land in a town's municipal court when town officers write the ticket. Final appeals in criminal cases go to the Court of Criminal Appeals.

All of them share the courthouse at 201 W Aspen St, Crosbyton, TX 79322. The general switchboard is 806-675-0208. Offices work business hours on weekdays.

• District Clerk, Suite 207, 806-675-2071. Keeper of 72nd District Court felony records.
• County Clerk, Suite 102, 806-675-2334. Keeper of the County Court's misdemeanor records.
• County Judge, 806-675-2011. Presides over County Court and appoints lawyers for people who can't pay.
• Justice of the Peace, 806-675-2523. Handles Class C cases and can act as a magistrate.
• District Attorney, 806-675-2062. Prosecutes cases filed here.

The jail sits inside this same courthouse.

Under Texas law, an incorporated city has a municipal court, and it hears Class C tickets alongside the justice court. Class C offenses are punished by a fine alone. So a ticket written inside Ralls, Lorenzo or the county seat could be set there instead of on Aspen Street.

Check the ticket itself. The court, the date and the amount owed are printed on it. If the paper is lost or unclear, call the Sheriff's Office at 806-675-7301, which can say which agency made the stop. For a ticket written outside town, the Justice of the Peace at 806-675-2523 can tell you if the case is there. That office is in the courthouse at 201 W Aspen St, Crosbyton, TX 79322.

Short on money for a fine? Ask the judge about installments, a waiver, or community service, which knocks $150 off the fine for each 8 hours worked. A judge can't jail someone over an unpaid ticket without first holding a hearing and ruling that the person skipped paying in bad faith (Texas CCP 45A.252 to 45A.261). Bring proof of income to that hearing.

Within 48 hours, the person is brought to a magistrate (Texas CCP 15.17), a limit the county's appointed-lawyer plan repeats. During those few minutes the magistrate:

1. names the offense being charged;
2. lists the rights to silence, to hire counsel, to end questioning at any point, and to have an examining trial;
3. walks through asking for a county-paid lawyer and helps complete that request;
4. sets bail and conditions.

The magistrate also warns that statements can be used later. Since September 2025, a magistrate who rejects probable cause has 24 hours to explain why on paper (Texas CCP 15.17(h)). In felony cases the defense can ask for an examining trial, a chance to test the State's evidence early (Texas CCP 16.01).

On Aspen Street, a misdemeanor begins when the District Attorney files an information, a sworn written accusation, with County Court. Those papers are kept by the County Clerk in Suite 102, 806-675-2334. When jail is possible, an arraignment follows so a plea can be entered (Texas CCP 26.01), then pretrial settings.

Penal Code chapter 12 sets the punishment for each misdemeanor class:

• Class C: fine-only, with $500 as the ceiling.
• Class B: a $2,000 fine at most, jail of 180 days at most, or the two together.
• Class A: county jail for up to a year and a fine reaching $4,000, either one or both.

Things like the dollar value taken or an earlier record decide the class. Plea deals settle many cases; if the judge turns the bargain down, the defendant gets to take back the plea (Texas CCP 26.13). On a misdemeanor, deferred adjudication lasts two years at most, and completing it ends in dismissal (Texas CCP 42A.103, 42A.111).

Felony files live with the District Clerk, Suite 207, 806-675-2071. A case usually runs this way:

1. Magistrate hearing in the first 48 hours.
2. Examining trial, on request, so a magistrate can weigh probable cause before any indictment.
3. Grand jury. Behind closed doors, a Crosby grand jury votes; nine yes votes produce an indictment (Texas CCP 20A.301).
4. Arraignment, the hearing where the 72nd District Court takes a plea to the indictment.
5. Pretrial settings for discovery and legal motions.
6. Plea bargain or jury trial, then a sentence.

For a felony sentence from the 72nd District Court, the ranges are set in Penal Code chapter 12:

• The lowest rung is the state jail felony. Its range runs from 180 days to two years, and people serve it at a state jail unit rather than a prison.
• Any third-degree conviction means prison for two years minimum, ten maximum.
• A second-degree conviction means prison for two years minimum, twenty maximum.
• A first-degree conviction runs from five years to ninety-nine, or life.

Every felony level allows a fine up to $10,000. Earlier felonies can bump the range a level higher (Penal Code 12.42). Felony probation, called community supervision, can stretch to 10 years (Texas CCP 42A.053).

Yes. These cases stay in the 72nd District Court, but several rules get stricter:

• Bail can be refused. Murder, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated robbery and other listed crimes fall under sec. 11d, which voters added to the Texas Constitution in November 2025. Only the prosecutor may ask. If the State then proves flight risk or a threat to others at a hearing, the 72nd District Court must refuse bail.
• Personal bonds barred for many violent offenses (Texas CCP 17.03).
• Capital murder by an adult brings life without parole, or death if the State seeks it (Penal Code 12.31). The county's lawyer plan sends capital defense to a regional West Texas public defender program.
• Family violence charges often come with a protective order issued by the magistrate on day one. It usually lasts 61 to 91 days, longer with a weapon or serious injury (Texas CCP 17.292).

Some offenses cannot get deferred adjudication, including most murder charges and certain intoxication and trafficking crimes (Texas CCP 42A.102).

Prosecution. The District Attorney works out of the courthouse at 201 W Aspen St, Crosbyton, TX 79322, 806-675-2062. The county website lists the same office and phone as its County Attorney. Families can ask that office whether a diversion program might fit a case.

Defense. The county runs on appointed private lawyers, with the County Judge as the appointing authority at 806-675-2011. The judge of the 72nd District Court approves the list of felony lawyers. A person in jail asks the magistrate. Someone out of jail turns in the request form to the County Judge's office. Every step appears in the county's plan on file with the state commission.

The court weighs income, debts and family size, and the person answers money questions under oath (Texas CCP 26.04). For statewide questions, the Texas Indigent Defense Commission is at 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994.

Calling the clerk who holds the file gets the fastest answer:

• Felony: District Clerk, 806-675-2071
• Class A or B misdemeanor: County Clerk, 806-675-2334
• Class C ticket: Justice of the Peace, 806-675-2523

Clerks search by name, so have the spelling and birthday ready. Online, the state's re:SearchTX lets free registered users look up Texas criminal cases, with the charge papers and judgments. It shows filings rather than hearing times, so the clerk is still the best source for dates.

For a past conviction record, DPS runs a paid conviction name search. Texas keeps a registry of specialty courts, such as drug and veterans courts, if treatment might be an option.

Deputies from the Aspen Street Sheriff's Office serve warrants countywide; the main Sheriff's line is 806-675-7301. The Constable also works from the courthouse; call 806-675-2523 and ask for the Constable. Either office can tell you by phone if a warrant is out, or ask at the clerk's counter. DPS also keeps a statewide Ten Most Wanted page. To clear one, line up a defense lawyer and surrender together at the court that signed it. Calling that court to ask for a new hearing date is another route. Ask about felony warrants at the District Clerk's window, Suite 207, 201 W Aspen St, Crosbyton, TX 79322, 806-675-2071.

For a federal crime, the case goes to the Lubbock Division courthouse at 1205 Texas Avenue, Room 209, Lubbock, TX 79401, inside the Mahon federal building. The clerk answers at 806-472-1900.

• Detention hearing. Waiting at home or in custody gets decided early, at a federal detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Custody. The Marshals Service keeps federal detainees awaiting trial; its Lubbock office is at 1205 Texas Avenue, Room C-126, Lubbock, TX 79401, 806-472-7655.
• Defense. The Federal Public Defender, 1205 Texas Avenue, Room 507, Lubbock, TX 79401, 806-472-7236.
• After sentencing. Track the person through the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

The state case keeps going with an ICE detainer in place. The detainer matters most at the moment bail is posted or the case wraps up:

1. ICE lodges Form I-247A at the Aspen Street jail.
2. The hold can last up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. The Sheriff's jailers are bound by state law to honor it; a person who proves lawful status walks out instead (Texas CCP 2A.060). Local agencies may not limit immigration enforcement under the 2017 law, Senate Bill 4 (Government Code 752.053).
4. A 2025 law, Senate Bill 8, requires each sheriff with a jail to approach ICE about a 287(g) agreement. The cutoff for that request: December 1, 2026. For where this county is on that, call the Sheriff's Office, 806-675-7301.
5. Once ICE takes custody, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

Pleas carry immigration risk. Before accepting such a plea, a Texas judge must tell a non-citizen, both out loud and in writing, about the risk of deportation (Texas CCP 26.13). Getting an immigration lawyer's view before pleading is wise.

Time for a state jail felony from the 72nd District Court is served at a state jail. Third-degree through capital sentences go to TDCJ, the state prison system. It starts with intake, and then the person is placed in a unit that fits the sentence.

• Find a TDCJ prisoner on the state inmate search.
• For unit details, visit our Texas state prisons page.

Many sentences are served on community supervision instead. Adult probation for this county is run out of Lubbock at 701 Main, Lubbock, TX 79401, 806-775-1200.

Under Family Code 51.02, a child is someone 10 to 16 years old; once 17, a person is charged in adult court. Police owe the family prompt notice that their child was picked up, and why (Family Code 52.02).

• Kids kept in a youth center go before the juvenile judge inside two working days, after a lawyer is named for them (Family Code 54.01).
• A judge can order a teen tried as an adult (Family Code 54.02). Age 14 is the floor for capital, first-degree and some drug felonies; for other felonies the floor is 15.
• Defense for youths follows the county's juvenile board plan.

The state's detention registry lists no youth center within the county. The Lubbock County Juvenile Justice Center is one registered center in the region, at 2025 N Akron Ave, Lubbock, TX 79415, 806-775-1800. The Sheriff's Office can say which center holds a local youth: 806-675-7301.

Victims in Texas have rights spelled out in Texas CCP 56A.051. Some examples:

• the magistrate thinks about the victim's safety before setting bail;
• notice of hearings, once the victim asks for it;
• a written impact statement, weighed before the sentence;
• before testifying, the victim can wait somewhere away from the accused.

For updates on the case, a victim can phone the prosecutor at 806-675-2062. Victims may qualify for as much as $50,000 toward medical care, counseling and missed work once they apply online for Crime Victims' Compensation, which the Texas Attorney General manages. Its phone is 800-983-9933. Release and transfer alerts are free through Texas IVSS-Counties, reachable any hour at 866-268-8959.