McCulloch County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

That job belongs to a magistrate. Under Texas law, officers get 48 hours at most, with no needless stalling, to bring an arrested person before one (CCP art. 15.17). The lawyer plan this county shares with four neighbors repeats that same 48-hour limit. Video hearings are allowed under state law.

State law hands that power to justices of the peace, county judges, district judges and city judges alike (CCP art. 2A.151). During the hearing, your person hears the charge and their rights, gets asked about a free lawyer, and hears the bail amount. Texas wants bail decided inside that same 48-hour window, under CCP art. 17.028.

On Class B cases and up, a public safety report reaches the magistrate before any bail is set. That report sums up old cases and records. It carries no risk score, and the choice of a dollar figure stays with the magistrate (CCP arts. 17.021, 17.022). To find out when the hearing will happen, phone the jail at 325-597-0639. The Justice of the Peace, 199 Courthouse Square, Brady, TX 76825, takes calls at 325-597-8000.

Texas bail takes one of two shapes (CCP art. 17.01). With a bail bond, cash or a bondsman stands behind the release. A personal bond rests on a signed promise alone. State law nudges the magistrate toward the lightest terms that will still keep folks safe and get your person to each court date (CCP art. 17.028).

• Cash bond. Someone puts down every dollar. Under CCP art. 17.02, the court keeps a cash deposit for the life of the case.
• Surety bond. A bondsman backs the full bail for you. The fee charged for that service is gone for good.
• Personal bond. Your person signs a pledge to come to every hearing. No bail money is paid in at the start (CCP art. 17.03).
• Conditions. A bond can come with rules too, such as keeping clear of the alleged victim. Repeat DWI charges, or DWI with a child passenger, mean an ignition interlock goes in the car (CCP art. 17.441).

Certain charges rule out a personal bond: anything on the state's violent offense list, felons charged with gun possession, and certain protective-order cases. For burglary and a handful of drug felonies, the trial judge decides (CCP art. 17.03).

No price chart covers all of Texas. Bail gets set person by person. For this district, the county's JP web page carries a 452nd District bail-setting order. Ask the jail how that order fits the charge your person faces.

Article 17.15 tells a magistrate to weigh these points:

• a sum high enough to bring your person back, but never so high it is used to oppress
• the type of offense and its weight
• how much your person can actually afford
• whether the victim, police and neighbors will be safe
• criminal history plus the public safety report
• immigration and citizenship status

A few caps come straight from statute. After a warrantless arrest where probable cause isn't decided in time, the bond tops out at $5,000 for a misdemeanor and $10,000 for a felony (CCP art. 17.033). To hear the real number, ring 325-597-0639.

Bonds start at the Sheriff's jail, 900 East Main Street, Brady, TX 76825. Jailers there may take a bond after running a criminal history check, though on a violent charge they can't pick the figure themselves (CCP arts. 17.20, 17.22). Then follow these steps:

1. Phone 325-597-0639 and ask for the jail. A regional government directory also shows 325-597-2290 for the Sheriff.
2. Spell out the full name, then give a birth date. Ask what bail is set on every charge, one by one.
3. Ask which payments the jail takes today, and what payee name to print on a money order.
4. Have staff look for holds, such as a warrant out of another county.
5. Ask the hours for posting a bond so the drive isn't wasted.
6. Bring a photo ID and exact payment. Put the receipt somewhere safe.

Phone ahead first. After charges are filed, the clerk's office keeps the case papers, so ask each one if it accepts bond money or just bond paperwork.

• District Clerk (felonies): 199 Courthouse Square, Room 103, Brady, TX 76825, 325-597-0733, ask for the District Clerk. Hours run Monday to Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• County Clerk (misdemeanors): 101 N. High, Brady, TX 76825, 325-597-2400. Hours run Monday to Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Brady Police Department: Public Service Building, 209 S Elm Street, Brady, TX 76825, 325-597-2121. Staff are there around the clock. Ask where someone picked up by city officers went.

Check with the jail on payment types before driving over. Carrying a money order or cash is a good backup if a card or personal check gets refused. Mailing cash is never a good idea.

Online pay pages run by the county and the city are built for fines and court costs, not for bonding someone out:

• The District Clerk page points to Certified Payments. It asks for the cause number, adds a $2.00 fee, and credits the payment the next business day.
• JP fines go through the Justice of the Peace payment site or the phone line 833-299-4148.
• City of Brady fines use the link on the Municipal Court page.

Ask jail staff at 325-597-0639 which payments they take for a bond.

Texas law calls a bondsman a surety. In return for a fee you won't get back, the surety backs every dollar of the bail. The state puts no ceiling on that fee (OC ch. 1704). Before signing:

• Once a county passes 110,000 residents, state law requires a bail bond board to license bondsmen. Counties under that size can create a board if they want one (OC 1704.002).
• When a county has no board, CCP art. 17.141 allows its sheriff to post a roster of approved sureties. Call the Sheriff at 325-597-0639 and ask which ones the Brady jail accepts.
• Texas bars bondsmen from chasing clients inside a jail (OC 1704.304) and requires receipts (OC 1704.305).
• Ask in writing for any collateral once the case ends. It must be handed back within 30 days (OC 1704.301).
• A lawyer of record on the case can post the bond too (OC 1704.163).
• If a bondsman wants to drop the bond, Texas makes it warn the defense lawyer and then swear out a filing in court (CCP art. 17.19).

Several can, because each bail covers just one charge. Before any cash leaves your hands, have the jail at 325-597-0639 look for each of these:

• Another county's warrant. A Brady magistrate can set bail on a warrant out of another Texas county and pass the bond along (CCP art. 15.18).
• Parole. On a parole "blue warrant," a parolee may stay locked up until the claimed violation gets its hearing (GC 508.254).
• Probation. Ask the McCulloch CSCD, 116 W Main St, Brady, TX 76825, 325-597-3416, what the new arrest means for supervision.
• Family violence. Where officers think the violence may go on, release waits until 4 hours have passed since the bond. A magistrate's written order can lengthen that hold, but only by up to two days (CCP art. 17.291). The magistrate may add an emergency protective order on top of that (CCP art. 17.292).
• ICE or federal custody. Each runs on separate rules, covered further down.

The Texas Constitution (article I, section 11) makes bail a right in nearly every criminal case. Only one old exception remains: capital charges, when the proof is evident. Sections 11a, 11b and 11c add a few narrow denials. They cover repeat felons, a person charged with a fresh felony while on bond, and broken safety terms or protective orders.

Proposition 3 passed at the polls on November 4, 2025, and wrote section 11d into the state's bill of rights. Murder and capital murder fall under it. So does a handful of violent felonies, such as aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping, trafficking and indecency with a child. In those cases, a hearing is held. Bail is then refused if the prosecutor shows your person might skip town or might hurt someone.

For flight risk, the proof must tip the scale past fifty percent. Danger needs clear and convincing proof. The judge can't take this step unless the prosecutor asks, and granting bail anyway calls for written reasons. Since a 2025 change (CCP art. 44.01), the state can take a low bail in one of those violent cases to a higher court, and the accused remains in the Main Street jail until it rules. Felonies from Brady are prosecuted by the 452nd District Attorney's office (mail: P.O. Box 635, Mason, TX 76856), phone 325-347-8400.

A defense lawyer can ask in a written motion for a smaller bail or easier conditions. Pay stubs, a lease or mortgage near Brady, and an honest family budget help, since the court must weigh ability to pay (CCP art. 17.15).

A jail clock runs too. When prosecutors aren't trial-ready in time, CCP art. 17.151 can force a personal bond or lower bail, apart from some exceptions. The time limit depends on the charge:

• felony: 90 days
• Class A, which can mean a year behind bars: 30 days
• Class B, which tops out at 180 days: 15 days
• Class C, a fine only: 5 days

In felony cases, a district judge can also review bail when the prosecutor requests it (CCP art. 17.029). Felony paperwork goes to the District Clerk, 199 Courthouse Square, Room 103, Brady, TX 76825, 325-597-0733. The County Clerk, 101 N. High, Brady, TX 76825, 325-597-2400, holds misdemeanor files.

Five counties, Edwards, Kimble, Mason, Menard and this one, run under a single plan for appointed lawyers. A regional public defender office in Texas handles capital cases only, and private lawyers take the rest.

1. Tell the magistrate you can't pay for a lawyer and want one. Under article 15.17, the magistrate has to help with the paperwork.
2. Request forms are also kept by the County Clerk and District Clerk, and the Texas Indigent Defense Commission offers them.
3. The County Judge picks lawyers in misdemeanor cases, while the District Judge picks them in felony cases.
4. In a county as small as this one, the appointment must happen within three working days of the request landing at the courthouse (CCP art. 1.051).
5. The lawyer must then make an early try at contacting the client (CCP art. 26.04).

The full 452nd District lawyer plan is online. For help, call the courthouse at 199 Courthouse Square, Brady, TX 76825, 325-597-0733, option 4 for the County Judge. The state commission sits at 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994.

Most local criminal work happens inside the county courthouse, 199 Courthouse Square, Brady, TX 76825, main line 325-597-0733.

• 452nd District Court (felonies): District Clerk in Room 103. The same court rides circuit for Edwards, Kimble, Mason and Menard counties.
• County Court (Class A or B charges): County Judge in Room 302, option 4 on the main line.
• County Clerk (misdemeanor records): 101 N. High, Brady, TX 76825, 325-597-2400.
• Justice of the Peace (Class C tickets, fine only): inside the courthouse, mailing address 104 N College, Brady, TX 76825, 325-597-8000.
• Brady Municipal Court (city Class C tickets): 201 E Main, Brady, TX 76825, 325-597-2156.
• Federal court: Austin Division clerk, 501 West Fifth Street, Suite 1100, Austin, TX 78701, 512-916-5896.

When every bond term is satisfied, cash bail is refunded, less any fee (CCP art. 17.02). Checks are made out to the payer named on the receipt. The court may also use that cash for fines and costs the defendant still owes (CCP art. 17.53).

For a refund here, file the County Clerk's motion to release cash bail funds at 101 N. High, Brady, TX 76825, 325-597-2400.

A missed court date can cost the bond. At that point the judge signs a judgment nisi, the paper that starts the bond's loss (CCP arts. 22.01, 22.02). If your person is locked up again fast enough, the surety can escape paying (CCP art. 22.13). For a misdemeanor that means within 180 days, and for a felony within 270. Bail jumping is its own charge too. In a fine-only case it is Class C, and in a felony case it can climb to third degree (PC 38.10).

On release day, check on the bags the jail stored and on whatever money sits unspent in the jail account. Jail staff at 900 East Main Street, Brady, TX 76825 can tell you how any leftover money is paid out and when bags can be picked up. Ring 325-597-0639 and ask for the jail.

Bring a photo ID. Picking up items for a friend or relative may take that person's signed release, so ask about it. Our inmate money page covers deposits during a stay.

Federal cases from here go to Austin, home of one Western District of Texas courthouse. Reach the clerk at 501 West Fifth Street, Suite 1100, Austin, TX 78701, 512-916-5896.

• A detention hearing comes first. At that hearing, the judge either sets release conditions or orders custody until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Until the trial, U.S. Marshals hold federal defendants. Their Austin office, 501 West 5th Street, Suite 3300, Austin, TX 78701, 512-916-5393, can say which jail is holding someone.
• When a lawyer can't be afforded, the Federal Public Defender's Austin office steps in: 504 Lavaca Street, Suite 960, Austin, TX 78701, 512-916-5025.
• After sentencing, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator to find the person.

No. Bonding out on the state charge leaves an ICE request in place. Expect things to unfold in this order:

1. ICE sends the Brady jail Form I-247A, which asks jailers to keep your person for immigration agents.
2. That hold may last up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. State law requires the jail to honor that detainer (CCP art. 2A.060). Proof that your person is a U.S. citizen, or is in the country lawfully, lifts it. A 2017 Texas law also bars cities and counties from adopting any policy that limits immigration enforcement (GC 752.053).
4. Sheriffs face their own 2025 rule. Texas wants a 287(g) request sent to ICE from every county with a jail, no later than December 1, 2026. Phone the Sheriff's Office at 325-597-0639 to ask about this county.
5. Officers from ICE then pick your person up and take them to a detention site of the agency's choosing.
6. Look them up on the ICE Online Detainee Locator by A-number, or name plus country of birth. For questions, one Texas office you can try is the ICE San Antonio Field Office, 3523 Crosspoint Drive, San Antonio, TX 78217, 210-564-3300.

A judge who hands down a state jail felony term sends the person to one of Texas's state jails. Third-degree felonies and worse mean time with TDCJ, the state's prison agency (PC 12.31-12.35). Once the county hands them over, the person first goes to an intake unit, where staff test them and decide which prison unit fits.

• The TDCJ inmate search runs on last names, or TDCJ and SID numbers. Its records update each working day, so a move made today may surface only tomorrow or later.
• For the facilities themselves, open our Texas state prisons list.

Texas sends a child who was 10 to 16 on the offense date to juvenile court (FC 51.02). A person who was 17 then goes to adult court. Under FC 52.02, the police must soon tell a parent or guardian where the child was taken.

The hearing on whether the child stays locked up must be held fast (FC 54.01). Count two working days from custody, or just one for a child arrested at the end of the week. Before that hearing, a judge appoints the child's lawyer.

The 452nd District Juvenile Probation Department, 1000 South Wall Street, Brady, TX 76825, 325-792-4163, handles youth referrals for this county and four others. The juvenile office in Brady can say which center holds your child and when the judge will take up the case.