McLennan County Intake & Reception Inmate Bail & Bonds

A magistrate does. Under Texas law, police must bring the arrested person before one quickly, and within 48 hours at the latest. The magistrate may see them face to face, or on a two-way video call (Texas CCP 14.06, 15.17). Many kinds of judges can serve as magistrates, from district judges to justices of the peace and city judges (Texas CCP 2A.151).

In that brief hearing, expect the magistrate to:

• say what the charge is and list rights like keeping quiet and having a lawyer present;
• ask whether the person wants a lawyer at county cost, then help with the paperwork;
• check a public safety report before ruling on any Class B or more serious charge (Texas CCP 17.022);
• set bail for this one person, with the lightest terms that will still do the job (Texas CCP 17.028).

If jailers get word of a possible mental illness, the magistrate must hear from them within 12 hours (Texas CCP 16.22). After a warrantless arrest, if no probable cause finding is made fast enough, the jail must free the person by hour 24 (misdemeanor) or hour 48 (felony) (Texas CCP 17.033). To learn when your person's hearing is, phone the Bond Office at 254-757-2555.

Texas CCP 17.01 names just two umbrella types: a personal bond, or else a bail bond. In practice, families see four kinds:

• Surety bond. A state-licensed bondsman stands behind the entire bail and is on the hook for it should the person run. You pay that bondsman a fee, and it stays theirs.
• Cash bond. You put up every dollar yourself. You get it back after the case wraps up, less any fee (Texas CCP 17.02).
• Attorney bond. A lawyer already on the case can post the bond as surety (Occupations Code 1704.163). Bond Office staff notarize every one of these.
• Personal bond. No cash and no bondsman, only a signed pledge (Texas CCP 17.03). The county runs a Pretrial Services (PR Bond) Office for this kind of release.

Plenty of charges rule out a personal bond. Examples: most violent crimes, terroristic threats graded Class A or higher, certain protective order breaches, and a felon who has a gun. Senate Bill 9 grew that list in 2025. With burglary, organized crime and certain drug felonies, the trial judge alone decides (Texas CCP 17.03). Any bond may come with extra rules. Following a repeat drunk driving charge, for instance, the car needs an ignition interlock (Texas CCP 17.441). Our Texas bail rules page has more.

No statewide price list exists. Each bail is fitted to the one person standing before the magistrate, so we won't quote typical figures. The law tells the magistrate to weigh (Texas CCP 17.15):

• whether the amount will get the person back to court;
• that bail is never meant as a tool of oppression;
• the facts of the charge, especially any violence;
• what the person truly can pay, which they may prove;
• how safe the victim, officers and neighbors will be;
• criminal history, pending cases and earlier no-shows;
• whether the person is a citizen.

For Class A and B misdemeanors and all felonies, the person may swear out a form stating they can't afford the bail, and a judge must look at it soon (Texas CCP 17.028). For a Class C charge, which carries only a fine, a written promise to appear in court can replace bond (Texas CCP 15.17(b)). The Bond Office at 254-757-2555 can tell you what was set.

Under the county's written bond rules, bonds are posted at the Bond Office at the jail, 254-757-2555. Get the street address from that office when you call. Then work through this list:

1. Call before going. Before dialing, put the legal name and birth date on a scrap of paper. Note each charge, each amount and any hold.
2. Decide who will post. Staff at the jail don't supply bond forms. A bail bond agency active in this county, or a lawyer, brings and fills them in.
3. Bonding staff will notarize a form that needs it.
4. Give the Bond Clerk the bond, its copy and the money order in one stack. Staff stamp the spare copy "Defendant Copy" in red. Hold on to it.
5. Bonds on charges listed in Texas CCP 17.081 must carry the person's address and license or ID number. This has been required since September 1, 2021.

A family member can't correct a surety bond at the window. Only someone from the bonding company can. Errors found from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. bring a notice, and the correction is made in person from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. the following day.

Felony bonds are made out to district court and misdemeanor bonds to the County Courts at Law. Instead of a date, the bond says "INSTANTER," which means right away. Check with the lawyer or the court on how the actual date will reach the person.

The bond rules send families to the jail's Bond Office to post. Three other offices play roles:

• Pretrial Services (PR Bond) Office. Handles release on personal bonds. The Bond Office at 254-757-2555 can tell you how to reach it.
• District Clerk. Holds felony files and returns cash bonds. Suite 300 of the Courthouse Annex, 501 Washington Avenue, Waco, TX 76701. Criminal Division 254-757-5054. Weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Justice courts. On a fine-only ticket, call the justice of the peace printed on it. Each court's address is listed under the courthouse question.

The Courthouse Annex is reached through the main courthouse's ground-floor door or the Jury Entrance in the alley. Everyone passes a metal detector and an x-ray machine.

The county's bond page has the bond papers and a money order handed to the Bond Clerk together. Before you leave home, call 254-757-2555 to ask about cash, checks or cards, and who to name on the money order.

Bondsmen set their own prices and payment plans, and Texas sets no ceiling on them. A bondsman owes you a receipt for each payment (Occupations Code 1704.304). Don't send cash through the mail. The jail's Phoenix, Maryland mail scanning box must never get a check or money order.

State law gives every county above 110,000 residents a bail bond board. The board grants bondsmen their licenses and hangs the approved list at booking and in criminal courtrooms (Occupations Code ch. 1704). This county has a board. Start with its Bail Bond Board page and the county's active bail bonding agencies list.

• Bondsmen are not allowed to solicit clients in the jail.
• Collateral, like a truck title, should come with written terms. Once all the cases end, put your request in writing. From then, the bondsman gets 30 days to hand it back (Occupations Code 1704.301).
• Bondsmen can take a client back into custody. Since a 2025 change, they must first alert the defense lawyer (and on felonies the prosecutor) and file an affidavit (Texas CCP 17.19). Ask the bondsman about this up front.

Each bond releases the person from one charge, nothing more. Before money changes hands, ask the Bond Office at 254-757-2555 to list every hold. Watch for these:

• Family violence hold. A magistrate who expects the family violence to keep going must hold the person at least 4 hours after bond. With a written order, the magistrate can stretch that to 48 hours (Texas CCP 17.291(b)).
• Another Texas county's warrant. Local magistrates are allowed to take bail on that warrant and pass the bond along (Texas CCP 15.18). If not, that county sends for the person.
• A second felony while on felony bail. In the same county, release then belongs to the first court or a court it picks in writing (Texas CCP 17.027).
• Parole blue warrant. The person stays held until the parole violation hearing (Government Code 508.254(c)).
• ICE or federal detainers. See the immigration and federal answers lower on this page.

Under the state constitution, nearly every accused person can get bail. The chief exception: capital charges backed by evident proof (Texas Constitution, art. I, sec. 11). District judges can also hold someone without bail after a hearing in some repeat felony cases, some felonies committed while out on bond, and after certain bond or protective order violations (Texas Constitution, art. I, secs. 11a-11c).

Proposition 3, a constitutional amendment, won at the ballot box on November 4, 2025. It reaches eight charges. Four are murder, capital murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping. The others are aggravated sexual assault, indecency with a child, human trafficking, and an aggravated assault that leaves serious injury or involves a gun, knife, club or explosive. For these, bail shall be denied when a hearing shows the person is likely to skip court or poses a real danger, and the prosecutor carries that burden. Only the prosecutor may seek this. Granting bail anyway obliges the judge to explain the reasons in a written order (Tex. Const. art. I, §11d).

Two more 2025 changes: prosecutors can request a district judge's review of a felony bail (Texas CCP 17.029), and on a short list of violent charges, the state may challenge a too-low bail in a higher court, with the person held until it rules (Texas CCP 44.01). The Criminal District Attorney's Office brings felony cases in this county.

A motion to lower bail is filed by the defense lawyer with the case's judge. Three tools come up often:

1. Money proof. The amount must fit the person's means (Texas CCP 17.15). A sworn inability-to-pay form must get a quick review (Texas CCP 17.028).
2. Slow state. A person jailed 90 days on a felony with the state still unready for trial must be given a personal bond or a lower bail. Misdemeanor clocks run faster: 30 or 15 days for most and 5 days for fine-only charges, with some exceptions (Texas CCP 17.151).
3. Examining trial. On a felony not yet indicted, this hearing tests the evidence, and the magistrate can revisit bail there (Texas CCP 16.01).

To set a felony hearing, the District Clerk's docket coordinator answers at 254-757-7550. Misdemeanor cases go before the County Courts at Law, including County Court at Law No. 1.

Asking for a court-appointed lawyer starts at the magistrate hearing, where the magistrate walks the person through the form. Within 24 hours, the form goes to the judges who make appointments. Since over 250,000 people live here, the appointment must happen no later than the first working day after the form comes in (Texas CCP 1.051(c) and 15.17). After that, the appointed lawyer must make an effort to get in touch with their new client within one more working day (Texas CCP 26.04).

Local judges appoint private defense lawyers under the county's indigent defense plan. Also useful: the county's Office for Appointed Criminal Attorney page and its affidavit of indigency.

• For mental health cases: McLennan County Mental Health Managed Assigned Counsel, 501 Washington Ave., Ste 405, Waco, TX 76701, 254-447-0111.
• Statewide oversight: Texas Indigent Defense Commission, 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994.

Felonies are tried in district courts, the 19th District Court among them, and their records stay with the District Clerk. Misdemeanors of Class A or B go before the County Courts at Law. Class C, fine-only cases are heard by justice courts and city courts.

• District Clerk, Suite 300, Courthouse Annex, 501 Washington Avenue, Waco, TX 76701. Criminal 254-757-5054.
• Justice court, Precinct 1, Place 1, 501 Washington Ave, Suite 104-D, Waco, TX 76701, 254-714-2899
• Justice court, Precinct 1, Place 2, 501 Washington Ave, Suite 108, Waco, TX 76701, 254-757-5128
• Justice court, Precinct 2, 929 Elm Avenue, Waco, TX 76704, 254-752-9353
• Justice court, Precinct 3, 201 N. Reagan, West, TX 76691, 254-826-3341
• Justice court, Precinct 4, 415 N. Johnson, McGregor, TX 76657, 254-759-7558
• Justice court, Precinct 5, 1800 Richter Avenue, Waco, TX 76711, 254-752-4242
• Federal court, U.S. District Clerk's Office, 800 Franklin Avenue, Room 380, Waco, TX 76701, 254-750-1501

Misdemeanor case details start on the County Clerk's criminal misdemeanor page.

Cash bond refunds run through the District Clerk's Office. You collect the check at Suite 300 of the Courthouse Annex, 501 Washington Avenue, Waco, TX 76701, and questions go to 254-757-5054. What to expect:

• No refund until the person has kept every bond term, the case is finished and the judge signs a refund order. The clerk gives no fixed timeline.
• The check goes to the person who posted the cash. Bring a driver's license or ID, the jail receipt and the original bond from the jail.
• Moving? Fill out the District Clerk's change of address form while the case is still open.
• A 5% fee, never more than $50, may be kept by the clerk, and only if the case closes with a conviction or deferred adjudication. Money left in the bond can also cover unpaid fines and costs (Local Government Code 117.055).

Missing court lets the judge declare the bond forfeited (Texas CCP 22.01). The bondsman escapes paying if the person returns to custody soon enough, meaning 180 days after a misdemeanor forfeiture or 270 after a felony one (Texas CCP 22.13). The no-show itself may bring a fresh bail jumping charge (Penal Code 38.10).

Sort this out before the person walks out. Phone the jail's Bond Office at 254-757-2555 and ask two things: how unspent account money gets returned, and what hours property is released. Bring photo ID. If you are not the owner, check whether the jail asks for the person's written okay. General deposit and refund rules are on our jail money page.

Federal charges brought here are heard in Waco by the Western District of Texas. For that division, the clerk sits at 800 Franklin Avenue, Room 380, Waco, TX 76701, 254-750-1501.

• On the first federal court date, a judge rules on release versus detention. If a lawyer asks, it may slide a few days, but no longer (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Pretrial custody falls to the U.S. Marshals Service. Find that office at 800 Franklin Avenue, Room 200, Waco, TX 76701, 254-750-1570.
• The county jail houses federal prisoners too, with 352 counted on June 1, 2022 in a state jail standards report. Ask the Marshals where your person is.
• Once sentenced to federal prison, look the person up with the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Yes. Paying a state bond leaves any ICE hold in place. Expect this sequence:

1. ICE, short for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, places a hold through Form I-247A, its detainer.
2. Under federal rules, the person can stay up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Under a 2017 Texas law, jails must comply with these detainers; a person who proves lawful status is the exception (Government Code 752.053; Texas CCP 2A.060). Another law, passed in 2025, directs each jail-operating county to request a 287(g) deal with ICE. That deadline falls on December 1, 2026. If you want to know where this county stands, ask the jail at 254-757-2555.
4. Next, ICE agents take custody and bring the person to a detention site.
5. Search for them on the ICE Online Detainee Locator using full name and country of birth. If they don't appear, try the ICE Dallas Field Office, 8101 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75247, 972-367-2200.

People given state jail felony time serve it at a state jail. A prison unit is where third-degree and more serious felony terms are served (Penal Code chapter 12). Those units belong to TDCJ, the state's prison agency. Once sentenced, people usually wait in the county lockup until TDCJ moves them to intake. Then they are assigned a unit.

• Search the TDCJ inmate database by last name plus first initial, by TDCJ number or by SID. The data refreshes each working day and lags by a day or more.
• To read about the units themselves, open our Texas state prisons page for details.

Texas juvenile courts take children from age 10 through age 16. Seventeen-year-olds face the adult courts instead (Family Code 51.02). Kids don't go to the adult jail. Instead they are detained at the Bill Logue Juvenile Justice Center, 254-757-5072.

• Police holding a youth owe the family prompt word of it, by notice to a parent or guardian (FC 52.02).
• A detention hearing, held inside two working days, settles if the child remains in custody. A Friday or Saturday arrest moves that hearing to the next working day (FC 54.01).
• Before that hearing, the child is given a lawyer.
• For some serious felonies, a child as young as 14 can be sent to adult court (Family Code 54.02).

Phone the center to ask about the hearing time and release.