Marion County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

A Marion magistrate does. The county's own lawyer-appointment plan echoes the Texas deadline: no needless delay, with 48 hours as the outer limit for reaching a magistrate (CCP 14.06; CCP 15.17). If the warrant carried no amount, that Jefferson magistrate sets one plus any terms. Marion's district judges, its County Judge and both of its justices of the peace count as Texas magistrates (CCP 2A.151).

The Marion hearing is short and may run in person or by camera. Expect the magistrate to:

• say the charge out loud;
• explain silence, counsel and the chance to stop any Jefferson interview;
• offer an appointed Marion lawyer and walk through that request form;
• settle the bail figure and release terms.

Under CCP 17.028, that bail ruling must come inside the 48 hours, tailored to this one Marion defendant, with the lightest Jefferson conditions able to do the job. For a Class B case or worse, the magistrate first reviews a Texas public safety report listing old cases (CCP 17.021; 17.022). That report gives the Jefferson bench no risk score and proposes no dollar sum. The Sheriff's Office, 903-665-7201, knows the next hearing slot.

Under Texas law, "bail" is the umbrella word (CCP 17.01 to 17.03). In Jefferson that usually means one of these:

• Cash bond. Kin pay the full Marion figure to the court. Most of it is repaid at the end.
• Surety. A Marion bondsman signs, owing the full sum if a Jefferson court date is missed. You owe the bondsman a fee.
• Personal bond. The Marion defendant signs, promising to show up on Austin Street. No money is put up.

Certain Marion charges bar the personal bond. The statute names many violent crimes, a felon holding a gun, threats charged as terroristic at Class A level or up, and some broken protective orders. A fresh arrest while on supervision for a violent case blocks it too. With burglary, organized crime or some Texas drug felonies, the Jefferson trial court alone may allow one (CCP 17.03).

Class C cases are lighter. For those fine-only charges, a Marion magistrate may skip the bond and hand over a written date (CCP 15.17(b)). Some Jefferson bonds add a breath-test lock on the car. Texas requires that device for a second or later DWI, a DWI with a child aboard, and in Marion intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter files (CCP 17.441).

No statewide price chart exists in Texas, and any local Marion list must still obey CCP 17.028 and 17.15. Those sections ask the Jefferson magistrate to weigh:

• a sum large enough that the Marion defendant returns;
• a sum that never acts as oppression;
• the offense itself and its Jefferson facts;
• what this defendant truly can pay;
• safety for the victim, Marion officers and the public;
• prior history, read through the Texas safety report;
• citizenship.

Another clock covers warrantless Marion arrests. When probable cause still hasn't been ruled on, a misdemeanor arrestee must be let out of the Jefferson jail by hour 24, on bail of $5,000 or less. Felony arrestees go by hour 48, with $10,000 the most. If even that Marion bail can't be paid, the jailer releases the person on a personal bond. Prosecutors can seek extra time, up to 72 hours (CCP 17.033).

For the figure on each count, phone the Dallas Street jail at 903-665-3271.

1. Find the name on the Marion roster. Write down each charge with its bond.
2. Phone the Jefferson jail at 903-665-3271. Confirm the total. Ask if another county, parole or ICE has a hold stacked on top.
3. Ask which Marion window takes bonds that day, the jail at 102 W. Dallas Street, Jefferson, TX 75657, or the Sheriff's Office at 114 W. Austin Street, Jefferson, TX 75657, and its hours.
4. Ask what kinds of money Jefferson staff accept, and about any fee.
5. Bring photo ID. Know the Marion inmate's full legal name and birth date.
6. Using a Marion bondsman? Call that bondsman before you drive in. The bondsman files the bond.
7. Keep the Jefferson receipt safe. Texas returns cash bail to whoever that slip names (CCP 17.02).

Release paperwork on Dallas Street takes time, and a family violence case adds a set wait, explained below. For timing, the Sheriff's desk is 903-665-7201.

Phone each Jefferson office first. Ask if it takes bond money, which payments, and when it is open.

• District Clerk (felony files), 102 W. Austin Street, Room 303, Jefferson, TX 75657, 903-665-2441. Open weekdays 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m.
• County Clerk (misdemeanor files), 102 W. Austin Street, Room 206, Jefferson, TX 75657, 903-665-3971. Same Marion weekday hours, closed over lunch.
• Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1, 114 W. Austin Street, Room 204, Jefferson, TX 75657, 903-665-2392. Monday to Wednesday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday 8 a.m. to noon, dark on Fridays.
• Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2, 8249 SH 49, Jefferson, TX 75657, 903-665-3581. Dark on weekends and holidays.
• Jefferson Police Department, 106 North Alley St., Jefferson, TX 75657, 903-665-2432. When a city officer made the arrest, start here to learn where your relative went.

Only Marion jail staff can say what works today. Call 903-665-3271. Ask whether Dallas Street takes cash, cards, money orders or cashier's checks, plus any added fee. Write down who answered and when.

• The Sheriff's page names two online deposit firms. Those fill a Marion commissary account, which is not bail.
• Online links on the Jefferson justice court pages cover tickets and fines.
• Never tuck cash into mail bound for Dallas Street.
• Insist on a receipt from the jail or the bondsman.

The Census Bureau counted about 9,896 Marion residents on July 1, 2025. A bail bond board is mandatory in Texas only once a county's head count hits 110,000, though smaller ones may set one up (Occupations Code 1704.002). Absent a board, a Texas sheriff may post the eligible sureties (CCP 17.141). Ask the Jefferson Sheriff's Office, 903-665-7201, which bondsmen it takes.

Texas rules every Marion bondsman must follow (Occupations Code ch. 1704):

• No state cap exists on the fee, so compare quotes and get terms on paper.
• A receipt comes with each payment.
• Drumming up clients inside the Jefferson jail is forbidden.
• After the case ends, collateral returns within 30 days of a written request.
• A lawyer of record may sign the bond as well.

A Marion bondsman can try to surrender a client. First the defense lawyer gets notice, plus the prosecutor on a felony, and a sworn affidavit goes to the Jefferson court (CCP 17.19).

Several things. Ask Marion jailers, 903-665-3271, about each one before paying:

• ICE. A federal immigration detainer binds every Texas jail, Marion's included, until proof of lawful status appears (CCP 2A.060).
• Parole. A Marion parolee jailed on a violation warrant stays put until that hearing (Government Code 508.254(c)).
• Warrant from elsewhere. On an out-of-county warrant, a Jefferson magistrate can take bail in Marion and send the bond on, yet the other county may still collect your relative (CCP 15.18).
• Violence at home. If a Jefferson magistrate thinks family violence will go on, release waits four hours past posting. The wait can grow, by as long as 48 hours more, on a magistrate's written order (CCP 17.291(b)). Victims hear before the person walks out (CCP 17.29).

On a Marion family violence charge, the magistrate at that Jefferson hearing may sign an order for emergency protection. It runs 61 to 91 days in a typical Marion case, and 91 to 121 days where the case involved a weapon or serious bodily harm (CCP 17.292).

Texas makes bail the norm. Texas Const. art. I, sec. 11 through 11d lists the gaps a Marion judge can use:

• capital charges with evident proof;
• after a hearing, some repeat felonies, and new felonies while on felony bail;
• broken bond terms meant to keep people safe;
• certain broken protective orders.

Proposition 3, adopted November 4, 2025, created section 11d. Its Marion reach: murder, capital murder, trafficking, and aggravated robbery, kidnapping or sexual assault. Marion indecency-with-a-child charges qualify too. So does an aggravated assault in which a Jefferson victim suffered serious injury, or one involving a gun, club, knife or explosive in Marion. In those Marion cases bail "shall be denied" if, at a Jefferson hearing, the prosecutor proves flight risk or danger. Only prosecutors may ask. If a Marion judge still allows bail, written findings must back that choice.

Marion prosecutors work at 102 W. Austin Street, Room 201, Jefferson, TX 75657, 903-665-2611. The District Attorney and County Attorney share that room and number.

Ask your Jefferson defense lawyer to file a written bail motion in the Marion court that holds the charge. Hand over pay stubs, bills and the names of anyone who relies on your relative, since CCP 17.15 counts ability to pay.

• Readiness clock. When Marion prosecutors aren't ready, the Jefferson judge has to drop the bail or allow a personal bond. The deadlines: felonies, 90 days; Marion misdemeanors punishable by more than 180 days, 30; lesser jailable ones, 15; fine-only charges, 5. Exceptions apply (CCP 17.151).
• Felony second look. Prosecutors may ask a Texas district judge to revisit a felony bail (CCP 17.029).
• State appeal. When a listed violent charge gets what the state calls too low a Marion bail, it may appeal. The appeals court has 20 days, and your relative stays on Dallas Street meanwhile (CCP 44.01).

Reach the Jefferson felony courts through the District Clerk, 903-665-2441. Marion misdemeanor files are with the County Clerk, 903-665-3971.

The county runs no public defender office. Private Marion lawyers on a rotating contract list take these cases instead. Capital charges are sent on to a statewide group, the Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases, 806-696-3740. Read the full Marion appointment plan on the state commission's data site.

1. Ask out loud during the Jefferson warnings. Texas makes that magistrate help complete the request (CCP 15.17).
2. Forms go to the Marion justice of the peace on rotation: Precinct 1, 114 W. Austin Street, Room 204, Jefferson, TX 75657, 903-665-2392, or Precinct 2, 8249 SH 49, Jefferson, TX 75657, 903-665-3581.
3. Marion's deadline to name counsel ends with the third working day after the Jefferson judge receives the form, as for any Texas county under 250,000 residents (CCP 1.051).
4. The assigned Marion lawyer then has one working day to make every reasonable effort at contacting the Jefferson client (CCP 26.04).

The Marion plan presumes a defendant can't pay for counsel if the Marion household draws SNAP, TANF, SSI, Medicaid or housing aid, or if household income is at most 1.25 times the federal poverty guideline. Posting a Jefferson bond does not count against anyone. Statewide questions: Texas Indigent Defense Commission, 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994.

• 115th and 276th District Courts (felonies), 102 W. Austin Street, Room 303, Jefferson, TX 75657, through the District Clerk, 903-665-2441. The 115th shares its judge with Upshur County, and the 276th with Camp, Morris and Titus.
• County Court (Class A and B), 102 W. Austin Street, Room 206, Jefferson, TX 75657, through the County Clerk, 903-665-3971. The County Judge's line is 903-665-3261.
• Justice Court, Precinct 1 (Class C), 114 W. Austin Street, Room 204, Jefferson, TX 75657, 903-665-2392.
• Justice Court, Precinct 2 (Class C), 8249 SH 49, Jefferson, TX 75657, 903-665-3581.
• Jefferson Municipal Court (city Class C), at City Hall, 102 N. Polk, Jefferson, TX 75657, 903-665-7159.
• U.S. District Court, Marshall Division, 100 East Houston Street, Room 125, Marshall, TX 75670, 903-935-2912.

Once a Marion bond's terms are met, Marion repays the cash to whoever the Jefferson receipt names (CCP 17.02). When a Jefferson case closes in a Marion conviction or a deferred adjudication, the Marion clerk is allowed to hold back 5%, capped at $50, and may apply the rest to fines and costs owed (CCP 17.53; LGC 117.055). Start the refund with the District or County Clerk who kept the file.

Missing a Marion court date reverses all this. The bond is forfeited through a Jefferson judgment nisi (CCP 22.01). A bondsman escapes paying if your relative returns to a Texas jail within 180 days on a Marion misdemeanor, or within 270 on a Marion felony (CCP 22.13). Separately, skipping court is a new crime called bail jumping. Under PC 38.10, its grade depends on the original Marion charge and can reach a third-degree felony.

Each Texas jail handles this its own way. Phone Dallas Street, 903-665-3271, before driving over. Ask:

• How is any Marion account balance paid back?
• Do belongings leave with your relative, or can kin pick them up?
• Does the Marion inmate need to sign something letting you collect?
• Which ID and what time of day suit the Jefferson staff?

The Sheriff's page says Marion deposits come in online only, through the firms it names. Our inmate money page covers how deposits tend to work across Texas jails.

Federal charges filed from Jefferson, or from anywhere else in Marion, are heard in the federal Eastern District, at its Marshall courthouse, 100 East Houston Street, Room 125, Marshall, TX 75670, 903-935-2912.

• Marion bail rules drop away. In Marshall, a federal magistrate judge hears the Marion detention question and orders release, or jail until the trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Until a Marion federal trial, the defendant sleeps in a rented county jail bed under U.S. Marshals Service control. Its East Texas headquarters: 211 West Ferguson Street, 4th Floor, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-590-1370.
• Defense help: Federal Public Defender, 110 North College Avenue, Suite 1122, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-531-9233.
• After a Marshall sentencing, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

No. A Marion bond answers the state charge alone. Here is the separate ICE track:

1. Through Form I-247A, ICE asks the Jefferson jail to hold your relative.
2. The Dallas Street staff may then keep your relative up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Texas law adds its own layer. Government Code ch. 752 (2017) forbids local limits on immigration enforcement. Under CCP 2A.060, a Marion jailer must follow the detainer until lawful status is shown. Next, a 2025 Texas statute tells Marion's sheriff, along with each other sheriff who runs a jail, to request ICE's 287(g) partnership before December 1, 2026. The Marion Sheriff's Office can tell you its status.
4. ICE officers pick up the detainee and may move your relative to a detention center.
5. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator by full name with birth country, or by A-number. If it comes up empty, ICE says to phone its field office, such as Dallas, 8101 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75247, 972-367-2200.

Misdemeanor time is served right in the Jefferson jail. State jail felonies from Marion lead to a state jail stay. Under PC 12.31 to 12.35, third-degree and higher felonies send Marion defendants into the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. At TDCJ, Marion arrivals go through intake and are then assigned a Texas unit.

The TDCJ inmate search finds a Marion inmate by surname plus a first initial, spelled as on the Jefferson booking. Marion court papers may also list a TDCJ or SID number to search with. TDCJ updates it on working days only, so Marion families may wait a day or more to see a move. Planning a Marion family trip to a prison? Read our Texas state prisons page on visits and letters first.

Texas juvenile courts take youths from 10 through 16. At 17, a Marion teen facing a new charge is tried with adults (Family Code 51.02). No Marion child posts bail on Dallas Street. Within two working days, a Texas judge holds the child's detention hearing. When Marion deputies take a child in on a Friday or Saturday, that Jefferson hearing comes on the next working day instead. Texas law requires a court-named lawyer for the Marion youth before that hearing opens (Family Code 54.01).

Camp, Marion, Morris and Titus share one juvenile probation office, at 100 W. 1st Street, Suite 400, Mount Pleasant, TX 75455, 903-577-6737. Phone that Mount Pleasant office to learn where the Marion child is held and what comes next.