In Texas the grade of the charge chooses the court. All three local trial courts work from the courthouse on S. Main:

• Class C cases carry a fine and nothing more. They begin before the Justice of the Peace, 806-435-8020.
• Class A and B cases can mean county jail. The County Judge hears them in the County Court, and the County Clerk, 806-435-8039, keeps those files.
• Felonies are tried by the 84th Judicial District Court. The District Clerk, 806-435-8054, keeps those files.

The 84th District judge rides a circuit of Ochiltree, Hansford and Hutchinson counties. Appeals from this corner of the Panhandle head to the Seventh Court of Appeals, and criminal appeals that go further reach the Court of Criminal Appeals, which sits above every other Texas criminal court.

The county courthouse is at 511 S. Main St., Perryton, TX 79070, main line 806-435-8031. Inside:

• District Clerk (felony records): 511 S. Main Box 3, Perryton, TX 79070, 806-435-8054.
• County Clerk (Class A and B records): 806-435-8039.
• Justice of the Peace, second floor: open Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 806-435-8020, email justiceofthepeace@ochiltree.net.

The 84th District Court keeps a judge's office outside the county. Its mail goes to P.O. Drawer 3437, Stinnett, TX 79083, and it answers at 806-878-4022, with a second line at 806-659-4160. The 84th District Court site has its notices.

Federal charges go before a judge 115 miles away, give or take, at the U.S. District Court, 205 SE 5th Avenue, Room 133, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-468-3800.

Tickets written by Perryton police inside town can go to a city court instead of the Justice of the Peace. The court named on the ticket is the one to call. If the ticket is lost or unclear, the Justice of the Peace office, second floor of the courthouse, 511 S. Main St., Perryton, TX 79070, 806-435-8020, can tell you where the case sits.

Either way, the case is a Class C offense: a $500 top fine and no jail sentence (Penal Code 12.23). Someone short on cash can ask the court for a payment plan, community service credited at $150 per 8 hours, or a waiver (CCP art. 45A.257). Being locked up for an unpaid ticket can happen only if a judge first holds a hearing and decides the person was able to pay but refused.

Justice court tickets can be paid online through the "Pay Ticket Here" link on the Justice of the Peace page.

The first stop is a magistrate, usually the Justice of the Peace. That office says magistrations take place each day between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. as needed, and it shows them live on its YouTube channel. Ask the office at 806-435-8020 how to find it.

Texas sets the clock at 48 hours from arrest, and the hearing may be by video from the jail. That rule is in CCP art. 15.17, CCP being short for the state's Code of Criminal Procedure. In it the magistrate:

1. Reads the charge out loud.
2. Tells the person they may keep quiet, hire counsel, have counsel present for any police interview and end that interview at will.
3. On a felony, notes the option of an examining trial, a short hearing that tests the evidence before any indictment.
4. Gives forms to ask for a court-appointed lawyer and helps fill them in.
5. Sets bail, or a personal bond, for each charge.

Family can't speak at this hearing, but a lawyer hired by the family can attend. Write down the charge and the amount the magistrate announces.

Most Class A and B cases begin with a written charge, called an information, filed by the prosecutor in the County Court. The steps after that:

1. Arraignment. In open court, the accused hears the formal charge and enters a plea, as CCP art. 26.01 lays out.
2. Pretrial settings. Each side swaps reports, argues motions and may reach a deal.
3. Plea. If there is a plea bargain, the judge first states whether the deal will be honored. A judge who turns down the deal must let the person withdraw that plea, per CCP art. 26.13.
4. Trial, if there is no deal.

How much punishment the law allows:

• Class B: county jail of no more than 180 days, a fine of no more than $2,000, or a mix of the two (Penal Code 12.22).
• Class A: county jail of no more than one year, a fine of no more than $4,000, or a mix of the two (Penal Code 12.21).

Deferred adjudication is another route. It pauses the case with no conviction entered, puts the person on up to two years of supervision for a misdemeanor, and ends in dismissal when every term is met (CCP art. 42A.103). For a date on a pending case, ask the County Clerk at 806-435-8039.

A felony moves from the jail to District Court in stages:

1. Magistrate warnings and bail within 48 hours.
2. Examining trial, on request, a pre-indictment check of the evidence.
3. Grand jury. Nine grand jurors must vote yes to indict.
4. Arraignment, motions and plea talks in District Court.
5. Trial or plea, then sentencing.

Penal Code chapter 12 sets these felony ranges:

• State jail felony: from 180 days to a two-year cap.
• Third degree: a two-year minimum and ten-year maximum.
• Second degree: two to twenty years of prison.
• First degree: as little as 5 years, as much as 99, or a life term.
• A fine as high as $10,000 can be added at any felony grade.

A record of past convictions may bump the range up a level under Penal Code 12.42. On felonies, deferred adjudication supervision may run as long as a decade. The District Clerk, 806-435-8054, keeps the docket.

Yes, at bail time and at sentencing. A capital murder conviction carries one of two sentences, death or life without parole, except that a defendant who was 17 or younger at the time can get only life (Penal Code 12.31).

Bail is harder to get on the most serious charges. In November 2025, Texans voted in Proposition 3, adding a new bail section, Tex. Const. art. I, §11d, to the state constitution. Under it, the District Attorney may ask the court to hold someone with no bail on murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping, child indecency, trafficking and a few related crimes. Proving flight risk or danger at that hearing means bail "shall be denied."

Many violent charges also rule out a personal bond. In a family violence arrest, the magistrate may hand down an emergency protective order (CCP art. 17.292) when the person is first brought in. It stays in force 61 to 91 days, and serious injury or a weapon can stretch that out further.

The prosecutor on these cases is the District Attorney, 9 SE 5th Ave, Perryton, TX 79070, 806-435-8035.

Prosecution. The District Attorney's office is at 9 SE 5th Ave, Perryton, TX 79070, 806-435-8035. The state's directory lists the same phone for the County Attorney, so one call should reach whoever handles a misdemeanor.

Defense. Here, a judge picks a private local attorney for a person too poor to hire one, following the county's written appointment plan. The path:

1. Speak up at magistration. The magistrate must help with the request paperwork.
2. Within one day, those papers go to the judge who appoints lawyers.
3. Counties under 250,000 people allow three working days from receipt for the appointment (CCP art. 1.051).
4. After that, appointed counsel tries to make contact, usually within a working day.

Pick this county from the menu on the indigent defense plan list to read its appointment rules. Its state overseer is the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994.

Hearing dates come straight from the clerk who keeps the file. Call with the full name and, if you know it, the date of birth:

• Felonies: District Clerk, 806-435-8054
• Class A and B misdemeanors: County Clerk, 806-435-8039
• Class C tickets: Justice of the Peace, 806-435-8020

Statewide, re:SearchTX lets registered users, at no charge, look up filed charges, the court and the cause number. Settings and hearing times come from the clerk instead. Closed cases with a conviction may turn up in the Department of Public Safety's paid conviction name search.

The jail roster helps too, since it lists charges and the statute for each person held.

Deputies with the Sheriff's Office, 511 S. Ash, Perryton, TX 79070, 806-435-8000, carry out warrants across the county. Perryton police and the county constable also make arrests, and the jail roster prints a warrant number beside each charge for people held. Phone the Sheriff's Office to ask if a warrant is active. Texas DPS keeps its Texas 10 Most Wanted list of top fugitives.

To settle a warrant, get a lawyer on board first. With that lawyer, surrender at the jail on S. Ash, or have the lawyer phone the issuing court to get a new hearing on the calendar. For felony warrant records, call or visit the District Clerk at 511 S. Main Box 3, Perryton, TX 79070, 806-435-8054.

A federal arrest here sends the case 115 miles south, more or less, to Amarillo. The Northern District of Texas runs its Amarillo docket from the U.S. District Court, 205 SE 5th Avenue, Room 133, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-468-3800.

• Detention hearing. Under 18 U.S.C. 3142, a federal judge holds this hearing early on to settle whether the accused goes home before trial or stays locked up. Either lawyer may request a brief delay.
• U.S. Marshals. Federal prisoners waiting for trial are held by the Marshals, whose Amarillo office is at 205 SE 5th Street, Unit 214, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-324-2350. Call them to learn which jail is being used.
• Defense. Amarillo's Federal Public Defender office sits at 600 S. Tyler Street, Suite 2300, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-324-2370.
• After sentencing. Federal prison stays appear on the Bureau of Prisons locator once the person reaches a federal prison.

The Texas charge carries on in court. What changes is the release date. In order:

1. Immigration agents send the Sheriff's jail Form I-247A, the detainer.
2. Federal rules then allow staff to keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Texas jails are bound to follow it, though proof of lawful presence ends the hold (CCP art. 2A.060). Local leaders also can't adopt rules limiting immigration enforcement, under a 2017 law (Government Code 752.053).
4. Next on the calendar is S.B. 8, a 2025 statute requiring sheriffs who run jails to have asked ICE for 287(g) partnerships when December 1, 2026 arrives. The Sheriff's Office at 806-435-8000 can speak to where it stands.
5. When ICE takes custody, check the ICE Online Detainee Locator, or call ICE's Dallas Field Office, listed as covering North Texas: 8101 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75247, 972-367-2200.

A guilty plea may cause immigration trouble later, which is why the defense lawyer should hear about an ICE hold on day one.

A state jail felony sentence is spent at a state jail. Any higher grade means prison time with the state prison agency, TDCJ. Once sentenced, a person generally waits in Perryton for a state transfer to intake, where TDCJ staff classify them and pick a unit for them.

• Families can track a state prisoner by family name, TDCJ number or SID through the TDCJ inmate search, which updates on working days.
• For the full set of units, visit our Texas state prisons page.

Probation, which Texas calls community supervision, is another outcome. On a felony it can generally go on for up to ten years (CCP art. 42A.053), with rules like check-ins and drug tests.

Texas sends kids aged 10 through 16 to juvenile court, judged by their age on the date of the offense. Family Code 51.02 puts anyone 17 or older in the adult system.

• Once a child is taken in, the officer must promptly let a parent or guardian know.
• Juvenile detention gets a judge's review within two working days. When a youth is picked up at the end of the week, Friday or Saturday, the review comes on the first working day, and counsel is assigned first (Family Code 54.01).
• Some serious felony cases against teens aged 14 and up can be moved to adult court. A juvenile judge decides at a hearing. This is called certification.

For the youth's location and the juvenile probation contact, call the Sheriff's Office at 806-435-8000. The state agency for youth detention is the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, 1711 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin, TX 78701, 512-490-7130.

Victims' rights in Texas are listed in CCP art. 56A.051, and they cover a lot. Those most useful early in a case include:

• The magistrate must think about victim safety when bail is set
• Hearing notices sent ahead of time, when asked
• Information about the case, bail and any plea
• A victim impact statement before sentencing

For notices on a local case, contact the District Attorney at 806-435-8035. The Crime Victims' Compensation fund at the Attorney General's office can repay up to $50,000 in crime costs such as doctor visits, therapy and missed work, 800-983-9933.

For a phone or email alert on a booking or release, register with Texas IVSS-Counties. It is free, and help is available around the clock at 866-268-8959.