On Almond Street, how serious the charge is picks the room:

• Felonies go before the 79th District Court. Its files sit with the District Clerk at 200 N. Almond Street, Suite 207, Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-5717.
• Class A or B misdemeanors, which can bring jail, sit on the County Court-at-Law docket, 200 N. Almond Street, Suite B-111, Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-5898. The County Clerk keeps them. The County Judge, Suite 101, 361-668-5706, presides over the constitutional county court.
• Class C tickets are fine-only and land with a precinct justice of the peace, unless Alice officers wrote them. Those go to the city's municipal court.

Appeals of Almond Street rulings go up the line, with the Court of Criminal Appeals as the last stop. The clerks listed here can say which judge holds a given file.

Almost every office a family needs is in one building, 200 N. Almond Street, Alice, TX 78332. Its switchboard number is 361-668-5700.

• District Clerk: Suite 207, 361-668-5717, open weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. District Clerk mailings use P.O. Drawer 2219, Alice, TX 78333, not the street address.
• County Clerk: Suite 103, 361-668-5702, open weekdays 8:00 a.m. to noon, then 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Letters go to P.O. Box 1459, Alice, TX 78333.
• County Court-at-Law: Suite B-111, 361-668-5898.
• County Judge: Suite 101, 361-668-5706.
• 79th Judicial District Attorney: Suite 201, 361-668-5716, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• County Attorney: Suite 202, through the switchboard's County Attorney option.
• Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1: 361-668-5719.

The 79th district covers Brooks County as well. Its District Attorney has a second office at 100 E. Miller, Falfurrias, TX 78355 (second floor), 361-325-5604.

Each justice of the peace hears fine-only cases, issues warrants and takes turns as a magistrate at the jail. Five precincts are open:

• Precinct 1 sits in the Almond Street courthouse, 200 N. Almond Street, Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-5719.
• Precinct 3 covers Sandia. Mail: P.O. Box 150 in Sandia, TX 78383. Phone 361-415-7763.
• Precinct 4 covers Premont. Mail: P.O. Drawer H in Premont, TX 78375. Phone 361-348-2773.
• Precinct 5 covers Orange Grove. Mail: P.O. Box 331 in Orange Grove, TX 78372. Phone 361-384-2486, or 361-384-4357 for tickets.
• Precinct 6 answers at 361-664-9987. Its mailbox is P.O. Box 746, Alice, TX 78333.

The city's municipal court takes citations written by Alice police. Reach it through City Hall, 500 E. Main St., Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-7210. Orange Grove and Premont have police departments as well. For where their tickets go, ask the County Clerk at 361-668-5702 or the Sheriff's Office at 361-668-0341.

Within hours of booking, a precinct judge (a justice of the peace) meets the arrested person face to face inside the jail (Texas Indigent Defense Commission review, 2024). The law allows 48 hours at most (art. 15.17). The justice court page even streams these jail hearings live while in session.

1. First, the judge names each charge.
2. Rights come next. They may keep quiet. They may hire counsel or seek a free appointed one, and have counsel there when police ask questions. They may end an interview whenever they choose, and request an examining trial. The judge also warns that whatever they say can come back in court.
3. Probable cause gets checked: did the officer have enough facts to make the arrest?
4. Bail is set. On Class B charges or anything worse, the judge first reviews a state public safety report.
5. Any request for appointed counsel is noted on the warning form. Afterward, jail staff hand out the sworn money form.

That money form has to travel across the street to the court. A 2024 state review found such forms here could stall or go missing, so ask the clerk whether it came in.

A first DWI, a shoplifting charge under the felony line, or a fight with minor injuries usually gets charged as a Class A or B misdemeanor. Next, the County Attorney reads the arrest report and, if it holds up, files a charging document called an information. From there the case is set in the County Court-at-Law.

• Class A: up to 12 months on Cameron Street plus up to $4,000 in fines, or one of the two (Penal Code 12.21).
• Class B: half that stay or less, 180 days, plus up to $2,000, or only one of them (12.22).
• Class C: no jail sentence, only a fine of $500 or less (12.23). When money is short, a person may request time payments, service hours in place of the fine, or a waiver. No one goes to jail over an unpaid Class C fine without a hearing, and then only if the judge finds no honest effort to pay.

Settings go arraignment, then plea talks, then trial only when talks fail. Many people finish with deferred adjudication: probation-like terms, no conviction entered, and a dismissal at the end (art. 42A.103). Supervision on a misdemeanor lasts two years at most. Check-ins happen at Adult Probation, 610 E. Second St., Alice, TX 78332, 361-664-9199.

In felony cases, the prosecutor is the 79th Judicial District Attorney, and the 79th District Court presides. The steps usually look like this:

1. Examining trial. Asked for before any indictment, this hearing lets a judge test the State's evidence (art. 16.01).
2. Grand jury. Jurors meet behind closed doors to weigh the evidence. Nine yes votes, at minimum, return an indictment (art. 20A.301).
3. Arraignment. The charges are read out in the Almond Street courtroom, and the defendant enters a plea (art. 26.01).
4. Bargain or trial. Plea deals settle most felony files. When the judge says no to the bargain, withdrawing the guilty plea is allowed (art. 26.13).

Penal Code ch. 12 sets each grade's span. First degree: life or 5–99 years. Second degree carries 2–20; third degree, 2–10; a state jail felony, at least 180 days but no more than 2 years. Each grade can add a fine reaching $10,000. Felony deferred adjudication can stretch ten years under art. 42A.103, longer than for misdemeanors.

The case still goes to the 79th District Court, yet bail fights start sooner. Article 17.03 blocks personal bonds on many violent offenses. Proposition 3, a 2025 amendment to the Texas Constitution, opened a new door. On certain listed crimes, capital murder and aggravated kidnapping among them, the State may seek a no-bail hearing (art. I, §11d). Bail on those charges that prosecutors call too low can be appealed, too (art. 44.01).

A capital murder conviction means one of two sentences: death, or life behind bars with parole off the table. Someone under 18 on the offense date gets life (12.31). Old felony convictions can raise the range a notch (12.42). Expect more court dates on these cases. Victims and families can ask the District Attorney's office at 361-668-5716 about the next one.

Charges here come from two offices:

• 79th Judicial District Attorney, felonies: 200 N. Almond Street, Suite 201, Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-5716. Its mailing address is P.O. Box 3157, Alice, TX 78333.
• County Attorney, misdemeanors: 200 N. Almond Street, Suite 202, Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-5700, County Attorney option.

Those unable to pay a lawyer may request one at the magistrate hearing, or later through the court. A judge reviews the sworn money form and appoints counsel. From the day the request arrives, the judge gets three working days to pick a lawyer (art. 1.051). To check on a felony request, phone the District Clerk at 361-668-5717. To check on a misdemeanor request, phone the County Clerk at 361-668-5702.

The appointment rules for this county are filed with the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994. See them through the plan search page.

The clerk holding the file is your best source. Ask for three things: cause number, which court, next setting date.

• Felony files: District Clerk, 200 N. Almond Street, Suite 207, Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-5717.
• Misdemeanor files: County Clerk, 200 N. Almond Street, Suite 103, Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-5702. The County Clerk's web page links an iDocket search of criminal records.
• Across Texas: after free registration, re:SearchTX displays charging papers and judgments, though not hearing times.

Ticket cases are tracked by the justice court that issued the citation. Closed convictions can also be found, for a fee, through the DPS conviction search.

The Sheriff's Office, 361-668-0341, serves warrants everywhere in the county, along with constables and Alice police, 361-664-0186. Public lists worth a look: Most Wanted (Sheriff) and Texas 10 Most Wanted fugitives (DPS). To be sure about a warrant, ring the Sheriff's Office or the court behind it. Cleanup steps: hire or request a lawyer. Then either show up at the jail, 300 N Cameron Street, Alice, TX 78332, to be booked, or have counsel ask the signing judge for a fresh court date. On felony warrants, the District Clerk, 200 N. Almond Street, Suite 207, Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-5717, can say which court it came from.

Those cases are heard downtown in Corpus Christi, at 1133 N. Shoreline Blvd., Corpus Christi, TX 78401, 361-888-3142, part of the Southern District of Texas.

• Prosecutors: U.S. Attorney's Office, One Shoreline Plaza South Tower, 800 N. Shoreline Blvd., Suite 500, Corpus Christi, TX 78401, 361-888-3111.
• Federal Public Defender, free for those who can't pay a lawyer: 500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Room 301, Corpus Christi, TX 78401, 361-888-3532.
• A detention hearing near the first appearance settles jail-or-release while the case runs (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Until trial, a federal defendant from Alice is held by the U.S. Marshals, whose Corpus Christi office is at 1133 North Shoreline Boulevard, Suite 109, Corpus Christi, TX 78401, 361-888-3154.
• After sentencing, look them up on the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

A detainer and the criminal case travel on separate tracks. Both can be active at once:

1. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sends the Cameron Street jail a detainer, Form I-247A.
2. When the local charge no longer keeps them in, the jail may hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Under art. 2A.060, a Texas jail must keep honoring the hold unless proof of lawful status turns up. Since 2017, Government Code 752.053 has stopped local officials from putting brakes on immigration enforcement. A 2025 statute pushed sheriffs of jail-operating counties into 287(g) agreements, to be signed by December 1, 2026.
4. Cases from this county fall under the Harlingen Field Office, 1717 Zoy Street, Harlingen, TX 78552, 956-389-7800. A nearby ICE facility is the Coastal Bend Detention Center, 4909 FM 2826, Robstown, TX 78380, 361-767-3400.
5. The ICE Online Detainee Locator searches by A-number, or else by name joined with birth country.

Before any plea, the defense lawyer should hear about the hold. A conviction may hurt a person's immigration case.

A person sentenced to prison or state jail stays at the Cameron Street jail until TDCJ comes for them. TDCJ classifies new arrivals at intake, then moves them to a longer-term unit.

• The quickest lookup is the TDCJ number on the TDCJ inmate search. As a backup, type the last name and one initial. Records refresh on business days and lag a day or more.
• Victim Services at TDCJ answers at 800-848-4284.
• Each unit's address and rules: see our Texas state prisons listing.

The birthday math is simple. Ten through sixteen on the offense date means juvenile court, not the adult courtrooms on Almond Street (Family Code 51.02). Seventeen means adult court. The county juvenile board chooses the judge for youth cases (51.04).

• Detention hearings for held youths happen fast, inside two business days, and a lawyer is named first (54.01).
• If the felony is grave and the youth is at least 14, a judge may waive juvenile jurisdiction after a hearing and transfer the case (54.02).
• Jim Wells' Juvenile Probation Department works out of 900 E. First Street, Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-5708, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Staff there can tell you the child's location and next court date.

The District Attorney's office has a crime victim services program; call 361-668-5716 and ask for it. Article 56A.051 gives victims a say. Safety counts when bail is set, court-date notice comes on request, and a written impact statement can go to the judge.

• Texas IVSS-Counties sends free custody alerts. Register online or call 866-268-8959. Phone help runs all day and night in English and Spanish.
• Help with medical bills, counseling or lost pay: the state's Crime Victims' Compensation program, up to $50,000, 800-983-9933.