Ochiltree County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

Here it is usually the Justice of the Peace, acting as magistrate. That office says magistrations run from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day, as needed, and it streams them live on its YouTube channel. Call for the channel name.

• Justice of the Peace: second floor of the courthouse, 511 S. Main St., Perryton, TX 79070, 806-435-8020.

Texas allows 48 hours, at most, between arrest and this hearing, which may happen in a room or on a screen (Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, or CCP, art. 15.17). During it, the charge is read out, the right to silence and to counsel is explained, and the magistrate helps with paperwork to ask for a free lawyer. The bail ruling must land inside those same 48 hours, fitted to this one person and kept as light as safety allows (CCP art. 17.028). Ask the Justice of the Peace office when the next one is planned.

Any charge from Class B upward triggers a public safety report, which lands on the magistrate's desk ahead of the bail decision. That report shows past records only. It holds no risk score and suggests no amount (CCP art. 17.022), so the dollar figure is the magistrate's own choice.

Texas law splits bail two ways. A bail bond is backed by cash or by sureties, while a personal bond needs neither (CCP art. 17.01). Locally, three forms come up:

• Cash. Someone pays the full sum to the court. It can be refunded when the case wraps up.
• Surety. A bondsman promises the court the full sum if the person skips. Their fee is theirs to keep.
• Personal. Release on a signed promise to show up. The statute fee is $20 or three percent of the bail, the larger one, and it can be waived (CCP art. 17.42).

Not everyone qualifies for a personal bond. State law rules it out for many violent crimes, some protective order cases, firearm possession by someone with a felony record and several others. For burglary, some drug felonies and organized crime, that call belongs to the trial judge (CCP art. 17.03).

Bond terms can come with rules, too. Drunk driving charged a second time, or with a kid along for the ride, forces the magistrate to order an ignition interlock (CCP art. 17.441), a breath tester the driver blows into before the engine starts. Ask what rules came with the bond before you sign anything.

Texas has no single price list for charges, so each amount is set case by case (CCP art. 17.15). The roster is the fast answer. For every person held, it shows a figure beside each charge, a total, or DENIED.

By law the magistrate thinks about:

• Whether the sum will bring the person to each hearing
• Keeping bail from becoming a tool of oppression
• The charge and its facts
• The money the person truly has
• Any danger to the victim, police or the public
• Earlier convictions, and whether the person is a citizen

The Texas courts bail page holds the statewide bail forms. For one case's amount, ask the Justice of the Peace office at 806-435-8020.

The jail and Sheriff's Office share 511 S. Ash, Perryton, TX 79070. Here is a simple order of steps:

1. Pull up the roster and jot down the total bond.
2. Phone 806-435-8000 and ask for the jail.
3. Spell out their legal name, add a birth date, then check that every charge already carries a bond.
4. Ask the hours for posting and which payments the jail takes.
5. Ask whether any hold stays after the bond clears.
6. Carry photo ID, and save the receipt. A cash refund goes to whoever it names.

Before jail staff accept bail, they must look up the person's record. Where violence is charged, the amount comes from a magistrate, never from the jailer (CCP art. 17.22).

The county courthouse is at 511 S. Main St., Perryton, TX 79070, main number 806-435-8031. Three offices inside it deal with cases:

• District Clerk, keeper of felony files: 511 S. Main Box 3, Perryton, TX 79070, 806-435-8054.
• County Clerk, for Class A and B case files: 806-435-8039.
• Justice of the Peace, second floor, Class C tickets: Monday to Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Friday 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 806-435-8020.

Phone the office with the case first. Ask if it accepts bond money, or if the jail handles it, and how soon the jail hears that bond was paid.

Ask jail staff at 806-435-8000 what they take for a cash bond before you set out.

The Justice of the Peace office states its own rules for what it collects:

• Cash, cashier's checks and money orders
• Visa, MasterCard or Discover, with 5% added for card use
• No personal checks

The Justice of the Peace page has a "Pay Ticket Here" button for paying citations online. It serves ticket fines, not bail for someone held in jail. Never mail cash.

Texas makes a bail bond board a must only at 110,000 residents. Census figures put this county at 9,284 residents as of July 1, 2025. That leaves a board up to local leaders (Occupations Code 1704.002). Without a board, state law lets the sheriff post a roll of sureties whose money backing passed a check. Each one files a sworn financial statement with the sheriff every year (CCP art. 17.141).

For the names of bondsmen the jail will deal with, ask the Sheriff's Office at 806-435-8000 directly. Keep these in mind:

• The bondsman sets the fee, since no Texas cap applies. Get it on paper, along with any deal about a truck title or other collateral.
• The fee pays for the bondsman's risk and stays with them.
• A bondsman who wants out can surrender the person. State rules require a sworn filing and a heads-up to the defense lawyer, and in a felony to the District Attorney as well (CCP art. 17.19), before the surrender is final.

A bond only clears its own charge. Watch for these:

• More charges. The roster shows a separate bond on each line. Every line needs its own bond posted.
• An out-of-county warrant. A magistrate in Perryton can take bail on it, then ship the bond off to the far county (CCP art. 15.18).
• Parole. Someone held on a parole "blue warrant" sits tight until the board hears the violation (Government Code 508.254).
• Family violence. When more harm looks likely, release waits 4 hours past bond (CCP art. 17.291). A magistrate can sign an order adding up to 48 hours in total.
• ICE. Under CCP art. 2A.060, an immigration detainer is binding on Texas jails, so the person stays unless their lawful status is proven.

Phone the jail at 806-435-8000 and have them read out each hold before you pay a cent.

Yes, but only in set cases. Bail is the default promise in the state constitution. Capital charges with evident proof have long been the main exception, under Tex. Const. art. I, §11. Three later sections permit narrow denials for people with repeat felonies or new felonies on bail, for broken safety terms and for protective order breaks (Tex. Const. art. I, §11a, 11b, 11c).

Next, in a November 2025 vote, Texans approved Proposition 3. That measure added Tex. Const. art. I, §11d, which covers murder, capital murder and the most serious aggravated crimes, plus child indecency and trafficking. For those charges, if the District Attorney persuades a judge at a hearing that the accused would skip town or harm someone, bail "shall be denied." No one else can start that process. Should the judge allow bail anyway, written findings are required.

Separately, S.B. 9 in 2025 let prosecutors ask that a district judge re-check any felony bail they dislike (CCP art. 17.029). The prosecutor here is the District Attorney, 9 SE 5th Ave, Perryton, TX 79070, 806-435-8035.

Yes. A defense lawyer files the request on paper. Help by collecting pay records, a rent or mortgage paper for a home in the area, names of relatives close by and the amount the family can honestly raise. The law forbids using bail to oppress someone (CCP art. 17.15).

Slow prosecutors can help too. If the state is still unready for trial when these windows close, CCP art. 17.151 says the person must be offered a personal bond or a smaller bail, though some charges are left out:

• Felonies of every degree: 90 days
• Misdemeanor with a top jail term above 180 days: 30 days
• Misdemeanor of 180 days or under: 15 days
• Fine-only: 5 days

On a felony, the District Clerk at 806-435-8054 can explain how motions get a hearing date.

Speak up at the magistrate hearing. The magistrate walks the person through the request and its forms, which must reach the appointing judge within 24 hours. Below 250,000 residents, as here, the judge has three working days after the forms come in to appoint someone (CCP art. 1.051).

To judge need, the court weighs pay, property, bills and the family the person supports. Making bail can't be the only reason for a no (CCP art. 26.04). The lawyer then has about one working day to make a first try at contact.

The local plan for appointing lawyers is on the indigent defense plan list. The state agency behind it is the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994.

Local courts sit in the courthouse at 511 S. Main St., Perryton, TX 79070, 806-435-8031.

• 84th Judicial District Court hears felonies here and in Hansford and Hutchinson counties. Office mail: P.O. Drawer 3437, Stinnett, TX 79083, 806-878-4022. The District Clerk, 806-435-8054, keeps the files.
• County Court, run by the County Judge, takes Class A and B misdemeanors. Its files sit with the County Clerk, 806-435-8039.
• Justice of the Peace, second floor, hears Class C cases, 806-435-8020.
• Federal court: U.S. District Court, 205 SE 5th Avenue, Room 133, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-468-3800.

Appeals from local courts go to the Seventh Court of Appeals.

After the final ruling, if every bond term was kept, the cash is returned, minus any fee, to whoever the receipt names (CCP art. 17.02). Clerks are allowed to keep 5% with a $50 limit, a fee set by Local Government Code 117.055, and only when the outcome was a guilty finding or deferred adjudication. On a court order, the money can also pay that person's own fines and costs.

A skipped court date lets the judge sign a "judgment nisi," the first order toward keeping the bail (CCP art. 22.01). Even then, the bondsman goes free of the debt when the missing person is back behind bars soon enough (CCP art. 22.13). Misdemeanor cases allow 180 days for that. Felony cases allow 270. Skipping court can bring its own new charge, bail jumping (Penal Code 38.10).

Whichever clerk handled the case answers refund questions. For Class A and B cases, that is the County Clerk at 806-435-8039.

Settle money and property questions on the day of release. Call the jail at 806-435-8000, 511 S. Ash, Perryton, TX 79070, and ask how leftover funds are returned and when items can be picked up.

Show a photo ID at pickup. If the items belong to someone else, check whether the jail needs a note signed by them. Our page on inmate account deposits covers how the money side usually works.

The Amarillo Division of the federal Northern District of Texas takes federal cases from here. The courthouse is U.S. District Court, 205 SE 5th Avenue, Room 133, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-468-3800.

• A federal judge chooses release or custody at a detention hearing, which usually takes place on the first court day. Either side may ask to delay it briefly (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Federal defendants awaiting trial are kept by the U.S. Marshals Service, whose Amarillo office is at 205 SE 5th Street, Unit 214, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-324-2350. They can say where the person is held.
• Federal Public Defender, Amarillo: 600 S. Tyler Street, Suite 2300, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-324-2370.
• Once sentenced to prison, the person shows on the BOP inmate locator, run by the federal prison system.

No. Paying Texas bail does nothing to an immigration detainer. This is the usual order:

1. ICE delivers a detainer to the jail. It comes on Form I-247A and asks that release be put off.
2. The jail can hold them up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Texas jails must comply (CCP art. 2A.060). Documents proving citizenship or lawful presence make the jail drop the hold. Government Code 752.053, from 2017, also stops cities and counties from adopting policies that curb immigration work.
4. Sheriffs who run jails face a state order (S.B. 8, 2025) to seek ICE's 287(g) program for their deputies. Their deadline: December 1, 2026. Whether the Sheriff has one is a question for the office at 806-435-8000.
5. ICE collects the person. Its Dallas Field Office covers North Texas: 8101 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75247, 972-367-2200.
6. Look them up on the ICE Online Detainee Locator with full name and birth country.

People convicted of the lowest felony level, a state jail felony, serve in a state jail. Bigger felonies lead to prison with TDCJ, which runs the state's prisons (Penal Code 12.35). After the sentence, many wait in the county jail for TDCJ to come get them. Intake comes next, where staff choose the right unit.

• Enter a surname, TDCJ number or SID into the state's TDCJ inmate search. New data posts on working days.
• Plan a long drive to a unit with help from our Texas state prisons page.

In Texas, juvenile court is for kids aged 10 through 16. Anyone 17 or older goes to adult court and may be held in the county jail (Family Code 51.02).

Kids don't post bail like grown-ups. Family Code 54.01 calls for a judge to look at detention no later than working day two, and to weigh sending the youth home. A Friday or Saturday pickup moves that up to one working day, and a lawyer is assigned to the youth beforehand. Officers owe the parents quick notice (Family Code 52.02).

To find where a youth went and when the hearing is, call the Sheriff's Office at 806-435-8000.