Irion County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

A magistrate sets it. The arrest starts a 48-hour clock in Texas, and the person must reach a magistrate before it runs out, sooner if possible (Crim. Proc. Code 15.17). Some of these hearings happen by video link, others in person. The magistrate explains the accusation, warns that anything said can be used, and covers the rights to stay quiet and to counsel. Short on money for a defense? Speak up right then, since the magistrate has to help fill in the appointed-lawyer request.

Irion shares a seven-county lawyer plan with Tom Green and five other neighbors. In the plan's six smaller counties, the Justice of the Peace takes on this magistrate job, starting by 1:00 p.m. daily. Mertzon's justice court sits in the courthouse, 209 N. Park View, Mertzon, TX 76941, 325-835-4141.

The bail call itself is due inside that same 48-hour window, and it is made for this one person, using the least strict terms that keep things safe (Crim. Proc. Code 17.028). On top of that, Class B and heavier charges add one more step, a public safety report the magistrate must read. That summary covers past cases but carries no risk score and recommends no amount.

Texas law knows two broad kinds. A bail bond rests on cash or a surety's promise. A personal bond rests on nothing but your person's signature (Crim. Proc. Code 17.01). Put simply:

• Cash. A friend or relative pays the whole figure in money. It is paid back, minus any fee, when the case wraps up and the rules were kept.
• Surety. A bondsman signs for the full figure, and you pay that bondsman a fee you never see again.
• Personal bond. Nobody pays cash up front. Your person signs and promises to show up.
• Ticket release. Fine-only offenses can end with the magistrate handing over a dated slip for court, bondless.

Some charges block the sign-and-go option completely:

• crimes the statute labels violent
• a firearm found with someone who has a felony conviction
• terroristic threat, if Class A or higher
• breaking some kinds of protective orders
• new arrests of people already under supervision for a violent case

Burglary, organized crime and the heavier drug felonies need the trial court itself to sign off on one (Crim. Proc. Code 17.03). Any bond can carry conditions, like staying away from a victim. Repeat drunk driving brings a required ignition interlock.

There is no single Texas bail chart, and any local list still has to follow state rules. So each figure is set case by case. The magistrate looks at (Crim. Proc. Code 17.15):

• What it takes to get your person back to every hearing
• Keeping bail from turning into a punishment
• What happened, and any violence involved
• How much money your person truly has
• Safety for the victim, officers and neighbors
• Old convictions, open cases and past no-shows
• Citizenship status

One rule does name dollar limits. Arrested without a warrant, with no probable cause ruling on time? A misdemeanor then means freedom by the 24th hour on a bond capped at $5,000. A felony means the 48th hour and a $10,000 cap. Someone who is broke gets a personal bond instead, and prosecutors may seek up to 72 hours before that kicks in (Crim. Proc. Code 17.033).

For the actual figure, phone the Sheriff's Office at 325-835-2551.

Bond gets paid at whatever jail holds your person. Walk through it this way:

1. Dial the Sheriff's Office, 325-835-2551. Get the jail's name and the bail figure.
2. If they say Tom Green, that jail sits at 4382 N US Highway 277, San Angelo, TX 76905. Its number is 325-659-6597.
3. Look for the bonding window in the Tom Green lobby. Its kiosk accepts cash plus credit and debit cards.
4. Carry exact cash. A cash bond above $5,000 there calls for a cashier's check.
5. Bring photo ID. Keep every receipt somewhere safe.

Held somewhere else? Ring that jail with the same questions first, because each one keeps its own hours.

Phone ahead to find out. The courthouse stands at 209 N Park View St, Mertzon, TX 76941, and two offices inside may be able to help:

• County and District Clerk. Mail: P.O. Box 270, Mertzon, TX 76941. Phone: 325-835-2421. Hours run 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Friday, with no lunch closing.
• Justice of the Peace. Phone: 325-835-4141. Letters go to P.O. Box 678, Mertzon, TX 76941. Hours run 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, shut from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m., and 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Friday.

Ask the clerk three things. Will it accept cash bail for this particular case? Which kinds of money work? How soon will a jail in another county hear about it?

Rules differ by jail and office. Over in San Angelo, Tom Green's lobby has a kiosk that accepts cash and accepts cards, debit or credit. Cash has to be the exact amount, and a cash bond above $5,000 needs a cashier's check.

Some habits that save trouble anywhere:

• Keep cash out of the mail.
• Before filling in a money order or check, get the exact payee name from staff.
• Find out whether paying by card tacks on a fee.
• Make sure the receipt shows who paid, because a cash bail refund goes to that name (Crim. Proc. Code 17.02).

The clerk's office can explain its own rules at 325-835-2421.

Texas statutes call a bondsman a surety. For a fee, that company or person backs the entire bail, betting your person keeps every court date. The fee has no legal maximum here and is never refunded.

• Get a written receipt for anything you hand a bondsman (Occ. Code 1704.305).
• Bondsmen may not hunt for business inside jails.
• Collateral (maybe a pickup's title) has a 30-day return clock that starts with your written request after the cases close.
• Your person's own defense lawyer is allowed to act as the surety.
• Only big counties, 110,000 people and up, are forced to run a bail bond board (Occ. Code 1704.002).
• Smaller counties without a board let the sheriff keep a list of sureties whose finances were checked (Crim. Proc. Code 17.141).

A bondsman who wants to drop your person has to notify the defense lawyer, and the prosecutor on a felony, then file a sworn statement. Ask the holding jail which sureties it takes.

A receipt for bond doesn't always open the door. Go down this list with the jail:

• Family violence. If officers think the violence could go on, the person stays 4 hours after posting bond. A magistrate's written order can push that out by up to two more days (Crim. Proc. Code 17.291).
• Warrant from elsewhere. That county's charge gets its own bail, which a magistrate nearby may set and send along.
• Parole. A violation warrant can hold someone until the parole hearing.
• ICE. An immigration detainer is separate, and the ICE answer on this page walks through it.
• Federal case. Release then depends on a federal judge.
• Mental health. When staff notice possible mental illness, a 12-hour deadline kicks in to tell the magistrate, and an expert's evaluation may follow.

Before paying, have the jail read off every hold attached to the booking.

The Texas Constitution starts from yes, with only a few carve-outs (Tex. Const. art. I, secs. 11, 11a, 11b, 11c):

• Capital murder cases with strong proof
• A third felony, or a felony while out on felony bail, after a hearing before a district judge
• Breaking a safety condition of bond on a felony or family violence charge
• Violating certain protective orders

Voters added Section 11d in November 2025. The list: capital murder and plain murder; aggravated forms of three crimes, kidnapping, robbery and sexual assault; child indecency; and the two trafficking-of-persons crimes. Aggravated assault also counts when it badly injures someone or a gun, club, knife or explosive is used. The request for that hearing can come only from the prosecutor. Proof that your person would flee, or would put others at risk, means no bail. A judge who sides with release must write out the reasons (Tex. Const. art. I, sec. 11d).

The 51st District Attorney handles felonies from Irion, at 124 W. Beauregard, San Angelo, TX 76903, 325-659-6584. The County Attorney, 209 N Park View St, Mertzon, TX 76941, 325-835-7101, takes misdemeanors.

Yes. For good cause, a judge may move bail down or up (Crim. Proc. Code 17.09). The usual route is a motion from defense counsel to the trial judge.

1. Collect pay stubs, a rental lease or land deed, and a list of nearby relatives.
2. Write a realistic number the family could scrape together.
3. Propose a curfew or similar terms that ease the court's concerns.

Prosecutors who drag their feet lose the right to keep bail high. Ninety days behind bars on a felony, and the state still isn't ready? At that point a personal bond, or a trimmed bail, is owed to them. For misdemeanors the clocks are 30 days when over 180 days of jail is possible, 15 days for the lighter jailable ones, and 5 days for fine-only charges. A few people are carved out (Crim. Proc. Code 17.151).

The clerk at 325-835-2421 can tell you where the motion is filed.

Yes, when your person can't pay for one. Your person should raise it with the magistrate right away. The magistrate then has a day to pass it to the judges who appoint. The judges' deadline to name counsel here: the end of working day three (Crim. Proc. Code 1.051).

First call on appointments under the shared plan belongs to the Concho Valley Public Defender's Office, at 113 W. Beauregard Street, San Angelo, TX 76903, 325-229-4671, open weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The seven-county appointment plan is online.

A misdemeanor request belongs with the County Court, and a felony request with the District Court. The clerk for both answers at 325-835-2421.

Mertzon's courthouse, 209 N Park View St, Mertzon, TX 76941, hosts almost every local hearing.

• 51st District Court hears felonies and serves Coke, Schleicher, Sterling and Tom Green as well. Clerk: 325-835-2421.
• County Court: the Class A and B misdemeanors, where jail is possible. The County Judge's mail goes to P.O. Box 770, Mertzon, TX 76941. Phone: 325-835-4361.
• Justice court handles fine-only Class C cases and the first hearing after arrest: 325-835-4141.
• U.S. District Court (federal charges), housed in the O.C. Fisher Federal Building, 33 E. Twohig Avenue, Room 202, San Angelo, TX 76903, 325-655-4506.

Got a ticket inside Mertzon city limits? Ask City Hall at 325-835-5791 which court has it.

Once the case ends and every bond rule was met, cash bail returns to whoever the receipt names. A 5% fee, $50 tops, applies only when the case ends badly, with a conviction or deferred adjudication. The money can also be put toward fines and court costs.

Missing court flips this. A judgment nisi comes first, a provisional forfeiture that the judge makes final unless a good reason is shown (Crim. Proc. Code 22.02). A bondsman's debt can be wiped out too, if your person returns to custody quickly enough. The cutoff is 180 days for a misdemeanor, or 270 if the bond was for a felony. Some costs still apply. A no-show can also bring a bail jumping charge. See Penal Code 38.10: its grade rises with the original charge, topping out as a third-degree felony when a felony case was skipped.

Talk to the clerk at 325-835-2421 about refunds, and request the cash bail release motion form.

Belongings stay at the jail that did the booking, so settle this before your person leaves. The Sheriff's Office at 325-835-2551 can say which jail that was.

At the Tom Green jail, 4382 N US Highway 277, San Angelo, TX 76905, 325-659-6597, your person signs a release that names a pickup person. Their account balance can go to someone outside the jail no more than once a month. Call the jail bookkeeper ahead and carry a state photo ID.

Deposits and leftover balances are covered on our inmate account money page.

On the federal map, Irion falls under the Northern District of Texas and its San Angelo Division. Court is held in the O.C. Fisher Federal Building, 33 E. Twohig Avenue, Room 202, San Angelo, TX 76903, 325-655-4506.

• A federal magistrate judge holds a release or detention hearing, normally at the first appearance (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Federal defendants awaiting trial are the Marshals' charge and are often lodged in county jails. Its San Angelo office opens only when court is in session: 33 East Twohig Street, Suite 106-D, San Angelo, TX 76903, 325-658-4056. The Dallas district office answers at 214-767-0836.
• Bondsmen play no part in federal court.
• After sentencing, the Bureau of Prisons locator can find a federal prisoner by name or register number.

No. An immigration detainer stands apart from state bail. Here is the path:

1. First, a Form I-247A shows up from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), asking the jail to hang on to your person.
2. With it, a person may be kept up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Under the 2017 Texas law, jails must honor ICE detainers. Someone who proves citizenship or lawful status goes free (Crim. Proc. Code 2A.060; Gov't Code 752.053).
4. Each jail-keeping county, thanks to a 2025 Texas law, must pursue a 287(g) deal with federal immigration officials before December 1, 2026. Irion operates none, so the question belongs to the sheriff whose jail holds your person.
5. ICE agents then pick the person up and take them wherever the agency decides.
6. Look them up on the ICE Online Detainee Locator using full name and birth country. With no match, ICE points families to its field office.

Convictions for a state jail felony mean months in a state jail, which is not the same as a county jail. Third degree or worse? That sentence becomes prison time inside the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), per Penal Code 12.32 through 12.34. Every newcomer starts at a TDCJ intake stop, and a housing unit is assigned later.

• TDCJ's online inmate lookup needs a last name plus first initial. Families holding a TDCJ or SID number can enter that instead. Data refresh on working days.
• Our Texas prisons directory covers each unit.
• Adult probation in this corner of Texas is handled by the Concho Valley CSCD, 3036 N Bryant Blvd, San Angelo, TX 76903, 325-659-6544.

Ten-to-sixteen-year-olds go to juvenile court, and what counts is how old they were on the date of the alleged act. From 17 on, cases are adult cases (Family Code 51.02). Children never post bail. What they get instead is a detention hearing, due by the second working day. If intake fell on a Friday or Saturday, the deadline is the first working day. Counsel must be appointed before it begins (Family Code 54.01).

Irion belongs to a juvenile board shared with Tom Green and five more counties. Detention for the board happens at the Tom Green County Juvenile Justice Center, 1253 West 19th Street, San Angelo, TX 76903, 325-655-2323. Phone the center or the Sheriff's Office at 325-835-2551 to find the teen and the hearing time.