Menard County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

Locally, the Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1 serves as magistrate. The county says this judge is on call day and night, all week, for warrants and magistrate duty. The office is in the Menard County Courthouse, 206 E. San Saba Ave., Menard, TX 76859, 325-396-2239.

Texas forbids needless delay here and sets 48 hours from the arrest as the deadline. A video link works as well as standing in the room (CCP §§14.06(a), 15.17(a)). In that brief hearing the magistrate:

• Reads off what the person is accused of and goes over rights, like silence and counsel.
• Walks the person through requesting an appointed lawyer and fills in the form with them.
• Picks bail and conditions to fit this individual, leaning toward the mildest set that still keeps people safe (CCP §17.028).

For a Class B, Class A or felony arrest, the magistrate must study a public safety report before ruling on bail for that person. It reads like a rap sheet, with old cases and skipped court dates. The statute leaves out risk scores and bail suggestions (CCP §§17.021, 17.022), so the magistrate still makes the call.

Bail in Texas means the security that frees someone until the case is decided. The law lists the forms in CCP §§17.01-17.03:

• Personal bond. With just a signature, the accused walks out, paying nothing up front and needing no surety, though rules may be attached.
• Surety bond. A bonding company or other surety promises the court the full sum if a date is missed, and charges the family a fee for that promise.
• Cash bond. Someone puts the whole amount down, and the court holds that money as long as the charge is open.

Rules can travel with all three kinds. Common examples: keep clear of the alleged victim, stay sober, or blow into a car's breath-test lock, which the law demands after repeat DWI and a few other charges (CCP §17.441(a)).

Personal bonds are barred for certain groups. Examples are many violent offenses, a felon accused of carrying a gun, and someone already supervised for violence who is arrested again (CCP §17.03).

Texas sets no statewide price tag per charge, and a county's own schedule must still obey state law (CCP §17.028). So amounts are set case by case. The magistrate weighs (CCP §17.15(a)):

• whether the sum is enough to bring the person back,
• whether it is so large it becomes oppressive,
• the nature of the offense and the way it happened,
• how much cash the accused could honestly gather,
• safety for any victim, officers and neighbors,
• prior record and the safety report,
• and citizenship.

The statute does name two caps. If probable cause goes undecided too long after an arrest made without a warrant, release follows on a bond of no more than $5,000 for a misdemeanor or $10,000 for a felony (CCP §17.033).

The exact amount on a booking comes from the Justice of the Peace, 325-396-2239, or the jail, 325-396-4705.

The Sheriff's Office building is 208 Tipton, Menard, TX 76859, and letters go to P.O. Box 307, Menard, TX 76859. Work through it like this:

1. Dial 325-396-4705 before the drive.
2. Give the jailer the person's legal name, spelled out, plus birth date.
3. Confirm a bond is set, its size, and the charge behind it.
4. Learn whether payment happens at the Sheriff's Office or with a clerk, and what hour to show up.
5. Ask about accepted payment types and the payee line for any check or money order.
6. Have ID with your picture on it, and tuck each receipt somewhere safe.

Jail staff accepting a bond must run a records check first. They are not allowed to fix the amount in a violent case; that stays with a magistrate (CCP §§17.20, 17.22).

Two courthouse offices might take your money. Phone before walking in.

• District and County Clerk (keeper of felony and misdemeanor files), 206 E. San Saba Ave., Menard, TX 76859, 325-396-4682. Open Monday to Thursday from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Ask whether cash bonds on your case are posted there.
• Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1, which takes tickets, magistrate work and the lowest misdemeanors, down the hall in the same courthouse, 325-396-2239. Open Monday to Thursday 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., Friday 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

When the only possible penalty is a fine, a justice court will generally accept a personal bond (CCP §45A.107). Before paying, have the clerk read back the amount and payee.

Rules about payment shift now and then. A short call to the jail, 325-396-4705, or the clerk, 325-396-4682, settles it. Questions worth asking:

1. Is paper money accepted, and what about money orders and cashier's checks?
2. Is a card possible, and what fee comes with it?
3. Whose name belongs on the payee line?

On its county page, the justice court links an online payment site: Menard County JP online payments. It exists for ticket fines and fees. Call 325-396-2239 before trying it for a bond.

Mailing cash is a bad idea. Your receipt matters later, since returned cash bail is made out to whoever it names.

Only counties of 110,000 or more must keep a bail bond board, though a smaller one can create a board by choice (Occupations Code §1704.002). None has been found here. Lacking a board, the sheriff may display the names of sureties cleared to write bonds in this county (CCP §17.141). The Sheriff's Office at 325-396-4705 can say who qualifies.

Protect yourself before signing:

• Have the bondsman write down the whole fee and say if any part is refundable.
• Find out what collateral they keep, a pickup title for instance, and how it comes back.
• Walk away with copies of all paperwork.

A surety wanting out of a bond files a sworn affidavit with the court and must alert the defense lawyer first (CCP §17.19). After that, the person may be rearrested.

A bond frees someone only from the one case it was written on. Watch for these:

• Family violence. A magistrate who fears the abuse will go on must keep the person four hours past posting, and may stretch it to 48 hours in a signed order (CCP §17.291(b)).
• Paper from another county. A judge here may fix bail on the other county's paper and forward the bond (CCP §15.18). If not, deputies from there come for the person.
• Parole. A state parole warrant keeps the person in jail until the parole hearing. That rule is in Gov't Code §508.254(c). A bond on the new charge won't change that.
• Probation. Adults on supervision report to the McCulloch County office, 116 W Main St, Brady, TX 76825, 325-597-3416.
• ICE. See the immigration answer near the end.
• Stacked cases. Each separate charge carries a separate bond.

Before you spend a cent, have the jail at 325-396-4705 read off any holds.

Under the Texas Constitution, almost every accused person is bailable. Capital murder cases with evident proof are the main exception. A few tighter exceptions cover certain felonies by someone with a prior felony record or already out on bond, people who break bond rules meant to keep others safe, and people who violate protective orders. Those limits sit in Article I of the state constitution, sections 11 through 11c.

Texans then voted for Proposition 3 in November 2025, which goes further. Covered crimes include capital murder and murder, plus trafficking. Aggravated sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery are on it, along with indecency with a child. So are aggravated assaults with serious injury or a weapon. For these, after a hearing, no bail is allowed when the prosecutor convinces the judge of a real risk of running off or of harm to someone. Only the state's lawyer can seek this. If a judge grants bail regardless, the reasons go in writing (Tex. Const. art. I, §11d).

Felony prosecutors for this area work at the 452nd District Attorney, 325-347-8400, whose mailbox is P.O. Box 635, Mason, TX 76856. The County Attorney is at 206 E. San Saba Ave., Menard, TX 76859, 325-396-0866.

The defense attorney puts the ask in a written motion for the trial judge. Back it up with proof: work, nearby family, a local address and the real size of the family budget.

A slow prosecution can also help. When prosecutors still can't go to trial by these marks, release must follow on personal bond or at a reduced amount, unless an exception applies (CCP §17.151):

• felonies, after 90 days
• misdemeanors whose maximum sentence tops 180 days, after 30
• misdemeanors capped at 180 days, after 15
• offenses with a fine as the only penalty, after 5

Prosecutors may go the other direction, asking a district judge to revisit a felony bond (CCP §17.029). The District Clerk, 325-396-4682, keeps felony files. For a misdemeanor, try the County Judge's office, 325-396-4789.

Edwards, Kimble, Mason and McCulloch counties follow the same appointed-counsel plan as this one. Anyone can read the five-county appointment plan online. In practice:

1. The magistrate offers the request form at the first hearing and helps complete it.
2. The San Saba Avenue clerk hands out spare copies, 206 E. San Saba Ave., Menard, TX 76859, 325-396-4682. Completed forms go to the clerk of the trial court.
3. The County Judge names lawyers on misdemeanors; the District Judge does so on felonies.
4. Here the judge must appoint someone within three working days of receiving the request. That is the rule for smaller counties like this one (CCP §1.051(c)).

If the state could seek a death sentence, the plan relies on a Lubbock-based office that defends only capital cases. Call 806-696-3740 or write P.O. Box 2097, Lubbock, TX 79408. Every county's plan is reviewed by the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, located at 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994.

The county courthouse at 206 E. San Saba Ave., Menard, TX 76859 holds the local criminal courts:

• 452nd District Court, felonies. The same judge rides circuit to Edwards, Kimble, Mason and McCulloch counties. Records stay with the District Clerk, 325-396-4682.
• County Court, where the County Judge tries Class A and B charges, 325-396-4789.
• Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1, the county's lone JP office, handling fine-only offenses and magistrate hearings, 325-396-2239.

Charges brought by federal agents are tried in San Angelo at the U.S. District Court, 33 E. Twohig Avenue, Room 202, San Angelo, TX 76903, 325-655-4506.

Cash bail comes back to the depositor shown on the receipt after the bond conditions are satisfied (CCP §17.02). Two deductions are possible:

• A clerk's fee of 5%, never above $50. Clerks may keep it only when a guilty judgment or deferred adjudication closes the case, as Local Gov't Code §117.055 allows.
• Money the court applies to whatever fines and costs the defendant ends up owing (CCP §17.53).

When someone fails to show, the court may sign a judgment nisi, which starts the forfeiture (CCP §§22.01, 22.02). A bondsman stops owing that money if the no-show is booked again soon enough: inside 180 days in a misdemeanor case, inside 270 in a felony case (CCP §22.13). Deliberately skipping court is a separate crime, bail jumping (Penal Code §38.10), graded by how serious the original case is.

For a refund, the clerk's office that took the deposit is the place to start, 325-396-4682.

Settle the jail account and belongings before the person goes home. Call 325-396-4705 and ask how an unused account balance is handed back, and when their clothes, wallet and phone can be fetched.

Show a photo ID at pickup. A family member collecting for the released person should ask if a signed release from them is needed. Deposits, balances and refunds in general get their own explainer on our inmate money page, which is worth a look.

For this county, federal court means San Angelo. It is one of several in the Northern District of Texas. The clerk's counter is inside the O.C. Fisher Federal Building, 33 E. Twohig Avenue, Room 202, San Angelo, TX 76903, 325-655-4506.

• A detention hearing, often on the first court day, settles release; a magistrate judge weighs flight and safety (18 U.S.C. 3142). Bail bondsmen play no part.
• Through the pretrial stretch, the U.S. Marshals Service controls where federal defendants are held. Its San Angelo office, 33 East Twohig Street, Suite 106-D, San Angelo, TX 76903, 325-658-4056, is staffed during terms of court. District headquarters: 1100 Commerce Street, Room 1657, Dallas, TX 75242, 214-767-0836.
• Either office can name the jail where a pretrial federal prisoner is kept.
• After a prison sentence, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

An immigration hold survives a paid bond. The steps run this way:

1. First, the Tipton Street jail receives ICE's detainer request on Form I-247A. ICE stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
2. Once it arrives, deputies may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, so agents can collect them (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. State law obliges the jail to honor that request, but anyone who proves lawful status must be let go (CCP §2A.060). Texas lawmakers in 2017 also outlawed any city or county policy that would hold back enforcement of immigration law (Gov't Code §752.053).
4. Since a 2025 statute, each Texas sheriff with a jail is directed to seek ICE's approval for a 287(g) program. Sheriffs were given until December 1, 2026. For where this Sheriff's Office stands, call 325-396-4705.
5. After the transfer, the ICE Online Detainee Locator can find them by name plus country of birth.

A state jail is where state jail felony sentences end up. Longer felony terms, for third-, second- and first-degree and capital crimes, go to prisons operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, with lengths set in the Penal Code (§§12.31-12.35). Following sentencing, the person normally waits in the Tipton Street jail until transfer. TDCJ processes them at intake and then assigns a unit.

• Look up a last name or TDCJ number with the state's TDCJ inmate search. Records there are refreshed on weekdays only.
• Our Texas state prisons page sketches the state system and its many units.

Texas looks at how old the young person was when the offense took place. From 10 through 16 it is a youth case; from 17 on, an adult case (Family Code §51.02). After taking a child in, officers have to notify a parent promptly (Family Code §52.02).

Local youth cases are handled by 452nd District Juvenile Probation, 1000 South Wall Street, Brady, TX 76825, 325-792-4163. The office covers Edwards, Kimble, Mason and McCulloch counties too. Phone it to learn where the child is.

A detained youth's hearing is owed by the second working day. When the detention begins on a Friday or Saturday, the hearing is due on the first working day instead. Appointed counsel must be in place for the youth by then (Family Code §54.01).