How serious the alleged crime is decides which bench it goes to:

• Class C tickets. These belong to the four JP precincts, or to a town's own municipal court when the act took place inside that town. The fine can't top $500, and no jail time is possible (PC 12.23).
• Class A and B. Here the elected county judge decides them, sitting as the constitutional County Court. The county has no county court at law, so this one judge takes them all. Files stay with the County Clerk.
• Felonies. Tried in the 25th District Court or the 2nd 25th District Court. The 2nd 25th also rides circuit to Gonzales and Colorado counties. Files go to the District Clerk.

Someone who loses in County Court or district court can appeal to one of the state's middle-level courts of appeals. Past that level, a criminal appeal can climb one more rung, to Texas's highest criminal bench, the Court of Criminal Appeals.

• Lavaca County Courthouse, 109 North LaGrange Street, Hallettsville, TX 77964. Home to both district courts and the District Clerk, 361-798-2351. The clerk's window opens 8 to noon, then 1 to 5, on weekdays. Letters: P.O. Box 306, Hallettsville, TX 77964.
• Courthouse Annex, 412 North Texana Street, Hallettsville, TX 77964. The County Clerk works here, 361-798-3612, from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, with doors shut over lunch from noon to 1. Letters: P.O. Box 326, Hallettsville, TX 77964.
• Precinct 1 justice court, inside the Criminal Justice Center, 38 FM 318, Hallettsville, TX 77964, 361-798-3945. Staff work 8 to 5 on weekdays minus the noon hour. The lobby stays open 9 to 4.
• Precinct 3 justice court, 116 West 6th Street, Suite A-3, Shiner, TX 77984, 361-594-8505. Mornings only, Monday through Thursday, 8 to noon, or phone for an appointment.
• Precinct 4 justice court, 113 Nelson Street, Yoakum, TX 77995, 361-293-9146. Weekdays 8 to 5, with lunch from 12:30 to 1:30.

Moulton's Precinct 2 court has closed for the time being, and the other three precincts split its work. Its mailing address is P.O. Box 288, Hallettsville, TX 77964. Many tickets can be paid online or by phone, using links on the county's justice court page.

Each incorporated Texas town runs its own municipal court. It deals with fine-only offenses that happen within town lines, like rolling a stop sign on Main Street or breaking a city ordinance. Its judge may also sign arrest warrants.

• Hallettsville Municipal Court: 101 North Main Street, Hallettsville, TX 77964, 361-798-3681.
• Shiner, Yoakum and Moulton: each town's court handles its own tickets. The Sheriff's Office, 38 FM 318, Hallettsville, TX 77964, 361-798-2121, can point you to the right window and its hours.

Got a Class C ticket? The usual paths are paying it, asking for deferred disposition, or setting it for trial. Short on cash? Ask the judge for a payment schedule, for community service (each 8 hours knocks $150 off), or for a waiver. Nobody is jailed over unpaid fines without a hearing first (CCP 45A.252 to 45A.261).

No more than 48 hours pass before the accused faces a magistrate, frequently through a TV hookup from FM 318 (CCP 15.17). Nobody decides guilt at this stage. The visit covers:

1. The accusation, said out loud.
2. Warnings about silence, a hired lawyer, and halting an interview whenever wanted.
3. An offer of a free lawyer, plus a hand filling out the form.
4. A bail figure and any rules for release.

Someone facing a felony can also insist on an examining trial. That is a hearing to test probable cause before the grand jury meets (CCP 16.01). No probable cause found? Then the magistrate must put the reasons on paper within 24 hours, under subsection (h) of that same article.

These cases begin with a charging paper called an information, which the prosecutor writes and files in County Court. The County Clerk, 412 North Texana Street, Hallettsville, TX 77964, 361-798-3612, holds the paperwork.

• Class B covers things like a first DWI, or stealing $100 to $750 worth. It carries up to 180 days locked up, up to $2,000 in fines, or both (PC 12.22).
• Class A covers things like an assault that injures someone, or a second DWI. It carries up to 12 months locked up, up to $4,000 in fines, or both (PC 12.21).

Expect an arraignment, then a handful of resets while lawyers bargain, and finally a plea or a trial. Two endings avoid a final conviction for now:

• Deferred adjudication. After the plea, the judge puts off any guilty finding. If every condition is met during a term of up to two years, the court throws the case out. Articles 42A.101, 42A.103 and 42A.111 of the CCP set this up.
• Community supervision. Probation with a conviction on the books. For misdemeanors the term can stretch to two years (CCP 42A.053).

Certain charges, such as some DWIs, are barred from deferred adjudication. Probation officers for this district, who also serve Gonzales and Colorado counties, keep watch over those cases. Their office is in the Courthouse Annex, 412 North Texana Street, Hallettsville, TX 77964, adult line 361-798-4353.

The District Clerk, 109 North LaGrange Street, Hallettsville, TX 77964, 361-798-2351, opens a file for each felony. Typical stops along the way:

1. Grand jury. A felony case can't go forward without an indictment. Twelve grand jurors hear the evidence, and nine must agree (CCP 20A.301).
2. Arraignment. The judge reads out what the grand jury voted, and the defendant gives an answer (CCP 26.01).
3. Settings before trial. Evidence changes hands, motions get argued, and plea talks go on.
4. Plea or jury. Should the judge refuse to follow a plea bargain, the defendant can change course and withdraw it (CCP 26.13).

Felony punishment ranges, from chapter 12 of the Penal Code, are:

• State jail felony: six months on the short side, 24 months on the long side (PC 12.35).
• Third degree: no fewer than two years and no more than ten (PC 12.34).
• Second degree: as little as two years, as much as twenty (PC 12.33).
• First degree: as little as five years, as much as ninety-nine, or life (PC 12.32).

A fine as high as $10,000 may come with any of these. Prior felony records can raise these ranges a notch (PC 12.42). For felonies, either kind of probation may last a full decade. The District Clerk reports that dockets meet in person again, while Zoom still covers some older settings and cases where the defendant is in jail.

Several rules shift for the most serious charges:

• Bail can be refused. A November 2025 vote added a new section to the Texas Constitution. It makes judges refuse bail in cases like murder, aggravated robbery or aggravated sexual assault, plus several other violent crimes. The state must first win a hearing showing the accused may run off or put others in danger. See Tex. Const. art. I, §11d.
• Signature release off limits. Release on a mere promise can't happen for the violent crimes that CCP 17.03 names.
• Capital murder. A guilty verdict against an adult means execution or else a whole life in prison with parole ruled out (PC 12.31).
• Slower calendars. Waiting on crime lab results and expert reports often drags these cases out.

People harmed by these crimes hold extra rights, laid out in the victims answer near the bottom. Scheduling questions for the 25th District Court go to its court coordinator at 830-303-4188.

Prosecution. Criminal cases in the county-level courts are brought by the County Attorney, 109 North LaGrange Street, Hallettsville, TX 77964, 361-798-4757. To learn which prosecutor is assigned to a felony, phone that office.

Defense. Free defense here comes through the Crossroads Regional Public Defender Office. Its lawyers also cover Jackson, Refugio and Victoria counties. It sits at 203 North Liberty Street, Victoria, TX 77901, 361-582-5885. Make the request at the magistrate hearing. Because of the county's size, the request must be answered with an appointed lawyer inside three business days (CCP 1.051). Income, debts and the number of people at home count. Having made bail does not (CCP 26.04). For outside questions about the system, there is a state agency too.

That agency, the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994, oversees how counties pick lawyers for people who can't pay and can explain the local plan.

• Phone the clerk. Felonies: District Clerk, 361-798-2351. Class A and B: County Clerk, 361-798-3612. Give a full name and date of birth.
• Search online. With a free account, re:SearchTX shows filings from Texas courts, such as charges, indictments and judgments. Settings and times come from the clerk's phone line.
• Fine-only tickets. Call the justice court for the precinct where the officer wrote it.
• Older convictions. DPS sells a conviction name search.

Court settings move around a lot, so confirm yours the day before.

Sheriff's deputies carry out most warrants here. They work from 38 FM 318, Hallettsville, TX 77964, 361-798-2121. The four precinct constables and the town police serve some too. To find out whether one is out, call the Sheriff's Office, or check with the clerk of whichever court might have issued it. The Department of Public Safety runs a Texas 10 Most Wanted list of the state's most-sought fugitives. Get a lawyer's advice before acting on a warrant. Then pick a path: walk into the jail, or contact the judge whose name is on it about a fresh court date. Felony warrant? Ask the District Clerk, 109 North LaGrange Street, Hallettsville, TX 77964, 361-798-2351. For misdemeanor ones, try the County Clerk, 412 North Texana Street, Hallettsville, TX 77964, 361-798-3612.

Federal crimes from these parts go to the nearest federal courthouse, in Victoria. That is the Southern District of Texas, Victoria Division, 312 South Main Street, Room 406, Victoria, TX 77901, 361-788-5000.

• Release. Under 18 U.S.C. 3142, a U.S. magistrate judge weighs whether the defendant can leave custody. Bondsmen play no part in federal court.
• Who holds them. While a federal case is open, anyone not released stays in U.S. Marshals hands. The Victoria office is at 312 South Main Street, Room 326, Victoria, TX 77902, 361-578-4932.
• Prosecution. The Southern District's U.S. Attorney, 1000 Louisiana Street, Suite 2300, Houston, TX 77002, 713-567-9000.
• Defense. The Federal Public Defender's Houston office, 440 Louisiana Street, Room 1350, Houston, TX 77002, 713-718-4600.

Federal prisoners after sentencing are listed in the BOP inmate locator.

No. The local case goes on, though custody can change. Immigration officers can file a detainer, Form I-247A, at FM 318. On that form, ICE asks for a hold of up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)). Texas jails have to go along with that request. The exception is a person who proves legal status (CCP 2A.060). Federal immigration custody doesn't free a bondsman from the bond (CCP 17.16).

Someone who isn't a U.S. citizen could be deported over a guilty or no contest plea, and the judge must give that warning first (CCP 26.13). Raise this with defense counsel before agreeing to any deal. Once ICE has taken custody, search for them with the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Sheriffs who run jails face a deadline from Senate Bill 8 (2025): by December 1, 2026, each one owes ICE a request to join its 287(g) program. To hear the status at FM 318, call the Sheriff's Office, 38 FM 318, Hallettsville, TX 77964, 361-798-2121.

State jail and prison terms are TDCJ's responsibility. A newly sentenced person keeps waiting on FM 318 until a TDCJ intake unit has an open bed. Intake staff check health and history, choose a custody level, and pick the unit where the sentence is served.

The TDCJ inmate search finds people in state custody by their name or state ID. For a wider look at state lockups, see our Texas state prisons page. Short misdemeanor jail terms are done locally at the FM 318 jail.

A child's case belongs in juvenile court if the offense happened on or after the 10th birthday and before the 17th (FC 51.02). From age 17, the adult system applies.

• Once a child is picked up, police must reach a parent promptly (FC 52.02).
• Keeping a child locked up requires a detention hearing within two business days, with a lawyer named ahead of it (FC 54.01).
• For a serious felony, a teen 14 or older might be moved over to the adult system. A judge first holds a hearing to decide (FC 54.02).

Juvenile probation is the first call: the juvenile office for the 2nd 25th district, Courthouse Annex, 412 North Texana Street, Hallettsville, TX 77964, 361-798-9906. State listings show no juvenile detention center in this county. When a child must be locked up, it may be at a regional center, for example the Victoria Regional Juvenile Justice Center, 97 Foster Field Drive, Victoria, TX 77904, 361-575-0399. Call juvenile probation to learn which center has the child.

Some of the rights CCP 56A.051 grants to victims:

• Safety taken into account when bail is decided.
• Notice of court dates for those who ask.
• A written statement on how the crime hurt them, which the judge reads before choosing a sentence.
• Details about state crime victims' compensation.

Through the Attorney General's compensation program, victims can get up to $50,000 toward hospital bills, therapy and missed paychecks. Apply online or call 800-983-9933. To hear by phone or text when an offender is moved or let go, enroll with Texas IVSS-Counties online or by dialing 866-268-8959. Case questions go to the County Attorney, 109 North LaGrange Street, Hallettsville, TX 77964, 361-798-4757.