Presidio County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

A magistrate decides. Texas allows officers no more than 48 hours to get an arrested adult in front of one, and CCP arts. 14.06 and 15.17 permit a video link from the jail. Presidio County's written misdemeanor lawyer plan repeats that clock and has the magistrate fix bail plus any rules when no judge has acted.

This brief session covers the accusation, plus warnings about staying silent and about getting counsel. They're also asked if they want a lawyer at county cost. CCP art. 17.028 then asks for a bail ruling inside that same window, fitted to the individual, with the gentlest rules that still protect everyone.

Two justices of the peace sit here, and Texas counts them as magistrates (CCP art. 2A.151):

• Precinct 1 in Marfa: 300 N. Highland, Marfa, TX 79843, 432-729-4831
• Precinct 2 in the city of Presidio: 300 E. O'Reilly, Presidio, TX 79845, 432-229-3705

Ask the Sheriff's Office at 432-729-4308 which one is handling your person's hearing.

Texas law gives two broad routes out. One is a bail bond, where dollars stand behind the release. The other is a personal bond, where only a promise does. Compare them:

• Cash. Somebody close to the person lays down the entire figure. The court keeps it during the case and hands it back later, less any fee or costs owed.
• Surety. A licensed bondsman guarantees the full figure. Your family pays the company a charge that is gone for good.
• Personal bond. Zero dollars at the start. The person signs an oath to appear and obey conditions.

Plenty of violent counts rule out a personal bond. So do a few more. Examples: a Class A-or-higher terroristic threat, many protective order violations, and a felon found carrying a gun. A new arrest while on supervision for violence blocks it too (CCP art. 17.03).

Conditions can ride along with any bond, like a ban on contacting the person who reported the crime. After a second drunk driving arrest, the car must get an ignition lock that checks breath before it starts (CCP art. 17.441). More statewide rules sit on our Texas bail page.

No state chart sets bail prices in Texas. A magistrate chooses a number for each person, so phone the jail for yours. The magistrate balances these, all drawn from CCP art. 17.15:

• a sum that brings the person back to court
• never a sum meant to crush them
• what the count is and the facts around it
• the cash the person truly can reach
• safety for the victim, police and the town
• any record, the safety report, and citizenship

The Damon Allen Act of 2021 created that safety report. Bail on Class B or above can't be set without it. It lists past arrests and convictions, under CCP arts. 17.021-17.022, yet gives neither a score nor a price.

Release caps apply when a warrantless arrest goes without a timely probable cause ruling. A misdemeanor suspect must walk by hour 24 on $5,000 or less. A felony suspect must walk by hour 48 on $10,000 or less. Those who still can't cover it are released on their word. CCP art. 17.033 lets prosecutors ask for as long as 72 hours.

Your person's real figure comes from the Sheriff's Office at 432-729-4308.

The jail stands at 320 N. Highland Ave., Marfa, TX 79843. Texas makes a sheriff or jailer look up a person's record before taking bail. CCP arts. 17.20 and 17.22 also bar them from choosing the figure on a violent count. Steps:

1. Phone 432-729-4308. Jail staff will want the legal name, spelled right, and a birthday.
2. Get a dollar figure for each count. Two charges usually mean two bonds.
3. Confirm today's payment options and the payee for a money order.
4. Check for warrants from other counties or other holds.
5. Show up holding photo ID and exact payment. Hold onto that slip of paper for a later refund.

When the charge involves family violence, release must pause for 4 hours after posting if more violence looks likely to follow; with a signed order, a magistrate may push that 48 hours further (CCP art. 17.291). If the main number keeps ringing busy, the Sheriff also staffs 432-729-4911 and 432-729-3002 around the clock.

Bond papers go to the clerk who serves the court on the case. Call ahead to see if that clerk takes bond money, the window's hours and which payments are fine.

• District Clerk, for felonies: Presidio County Courthouse, 1st Floor, 300 N. Highland Avenue, Marfa, TX 79843, 432-729-3857
• County Clerk, for Class A and B misdemeanors: also on the first floor there, 432-729-4812
• Justice courts, for fine-only Class C tickets: Precinct 1 in that courthouse, 432-729-4831; Precinct 2 at 300 E. O'Reilly, Presidio, TX 79845, 432-229-3705
• Marfa Municipal Court, for city tickets: City Hall, 113 S. Highland Ave, Marfa, TX 79843, 800-444-1187

For Class C tickets, these small courts normally let a person go on a signed personal bond (CCP art. 45A.107).

What the window takes can change, so ring the jail at 432-729-4308 right before you drive over. Go down the list: cash, cashier's check, money order, card. Mailing paper cash is never a safe plan.

Choose the name on a cash bond on purpose. Under CCP art. 17.02, Texas refunds that money to whoever the receipt lists. So the receipt should name the person who will want it returned.

Marfa offers a card payment site and a phone line, 800-444-1187, for its municipal court. Those are built for paying ticket fines, not for bail.

Under Occ. Code 1704.002, a board licensing bondsmen is required just in the state's larger counties, those past 110,000 people. In counties under that size, posting a surety list is up to the sheriff, per CCP art. 17.141, so check with the Sheriff's Office at 432-729-4308 which bondsmen it takes. Rules for bondsmen in counties with a board (Occ. Code 1704.163, 1704.301-1704.305):

• Their fee is theirs to keep, and the state sets no top limit, so compare a few.
• You are owed a written receipt. Chasing new clients inside a jail breaks the rules.
• Pledged property, maybe a pickup's title, goes home to you within a month once the case is over and you've asked on paper.
• Before backing out, a bondsman has to alert the defense lawyer, and CCP art. 17.19 adds a sworn filing.
• A defendant's own attorney may sign on as surety.

A bond covers just the count printed on it. Have the jail at 432-729-4308 read every hold aloud before any payment. Common ones:

• Out-of-county warrant. On a warrant from elsewhere, a Presidio-area magistrate may accept bail and send the paperwork along, as CCP art. 15.18 allows. Otherwise that county's deputies make the long drive to fetch the person.
• Parole. State parole's "blue warrant" keeps a person jailed until their violation hearing, per Gov't Code 508.254.
• ICE. CCP art. 2A.060 makes Texas jails keep a person named in an immigration detainer until lawful status is shown.
• Outside agencies. The jail boards people for others. A state tally on June 1, 2022 showed 32 of its 48 inmates were contract or federal.
• Mental health. A jailer who suspects mental illness reports it to the magistrate, due in 12 hours under CCP art. 16.22, and a review may follow.

Nearly every Texan has a right to bail. Strong proof of a capital crime is the classic exception. Smaller ones reach some repeat felons, people who break safety terms of release, and protective order violators (Tex. Const. art. I, §§11-11c).

Texans voted Proposition 3 into the constitution on November 4, 2025. Its new section 11d targets murder and capital murder, plus several aggravated crimes: assault causing serious injury or using a weapon, kidnapping, robbery and sexual assault. Human trafficking and child indecency charges fall under it as well. Only the prosecutor can request that hearing. Proof of a flight risk or danger means no bail, and a judge granting bail regardless owes written reasons.

A separate 2025 change, CCP art. 44.01, gives the state an appeal when it thinks bail for certain violent crimes came out too small. Release is frozen until the appeals court answers, within 20 days.

The 83rd Judicial District Attorney brings felony cases. Its Alpine office sits in the Brewster County Courthouse, 201 West Ave E, Alpine, TX 79830, 432-837-4420. Misdemeanors belong to the County Attorney, 2nd Floor, Presidio County Courthouse, 300 N. Highland Avenue, Marfa, TX 79843, 432-729-4054.

A judge's order is the only way bail drops, and the defense lawyer asks for one in a written motion. Relatives can gather pay records, a lease, support letters and an honest money picture for that lawyer. CCP art. 17.15 says bail must not oppress.

Delay by the state helps as well. Article 17.151 says a prosecution still not trial-ready at these marks means release on personal bond, or a lower figure:

• felony: 90 days
• misdemeanor with over 180 days possible: 30 days
• lesser misdemeanor: 15 days
• fine-only count: 5 days

The 394th District Court hears felony motions and keeps its office at 201 W. Ave E, Alpine, TX 79830, 432-837-5831. On a misdemeanor, the County Clerk at 432-729-4812 can explain setting a hearing.

Speak up about money at the magistrate hearing. The magistrate fills in an online request alongside the person. Paper forms also wait at the County Attorney's Office, 300 N. Highland Avenue, Marfa, TX 79843, 432-729-4054. Posting bail does not prove someone can pay for a lawyer.

Requests on misdemeanors reach the County Judge. Felonies, and any case already filed, go to the 394th District Judge. Under CCP art. 1.051, a lawyer gets assigned by day three, counting working days only, after the paperwork arrives.

The county's plans hand poor clients in both felony and misdemeanor cases to a regional public defender, barring good cause:

• Far West Texas Regional Public Defender Office, 203 North 7th St., Alpine, TX 79830, 432-837-4120
• State watchdog: Texas Indigent Defense Commission, 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994

Most local hearings happen in Marfa. The felony court is based in Alpine and serves five counties.

• County courthouse, 300 N. Highland Avenue, Marfa, TX 79843: District Clerk 432-729-3857, County Clerk 432-729-4812, Justice Court Precinct 1 432-729-4831
• 394th District Court office, 201 W. Ave E, Alpine, TX 79830, 432-837-5831
• Justice Court Precinct 2, 300 E. O'Reilly, Presidio, TX 79845, 432-229-3705
• Marfa Municipal Court, City Hall, 113 S. Highland Ave, Marfa, TX 79843, 800-444-1187
• Presidio Municipal Court, reached through City Hall, 507 W. O'Reilly Street, Presidio, TX 79845, 432-229-3517
• Federal court, 2450 State Hwy. 118, Alpine, TX 79830, 432-837-7323

CCP art. 17.02 returns a finished bond's cash to the receipt's named payer. The clerk can deduct a 5% fee, never over $50, though only after a conviction, or once deferred adjudication is ordered. Fines and costs still owed by the person may be deducted as well (CCP art. 17.53). A state bond money handout explains the details.

Skipping a court date endangers the whole bond. The judge enters a judgment nisi (CCP art. 22.02), the opening move toward forfeiture. The bondsman is excused if the client returns to a cell in time, meaning 180 days for a misdemeanor and 270 days if the charge was a felony. Penal Code 38.10 makes bail jumping a crime of its own, graded by the original case.

Refund calls go to the clerk holding the money. Felony bonds sit with the District Clerk, 432-729-3857. Misdemeanor bonds sit with the County Clerk, 432-729-4812.

Handle these before release if possible. Call the Sheriff's Office at 432-729-4308 to learn how unspent account money is returned and what hours belongings are released at 320 N. Highland Ave., Marfa, TX 79843.

Bring a photo ID. Picking up for someone still locked up may require their signed okay. Deposits and refunds are explained in our guide to jail accounts.

Federal prosecutions here run through the Western District of Texas, Pecos Division. The clerk's Alpine office: 2450 State Hwy. 118, Alpine, TX 79830, 432-837-7323.

• At the first federal hearing, a U.S. magistrate judge chooses jail or release, though either party can win a postponement of several days (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Until trial, the U.S. Marshals Service handles custody from an Alpine office at 2450 North Highway 118, Alpine, TX 79830, 432-837-7295, and can name the jail in use.
• Poor defendants may be assigned a lawyer from the Federal Public Defender, 108 N. 10th Street, Alpine, TX 79830, 432-837-5598.
• After sentencing to federal prison, check the BOP inmate locator.

Posting state bail leaves an ICE detainer standing. The steps usually run like this:

1. ICE faxes or sends the Marfa jail a request on Form I-247A.
2. The detainer lets the Marfa jail hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Texas jails must comply under CCP art. 2A.060. A person who proves they belong here, as a citizen or a lawful immigrant, is the exception. A 2017 statute, Gov't Code 752.053, separately keeps cities and counties from curbing immigration enforcement.
4. Agents arrive, take over custody, and drive the person to an ICE facility.
5. Track them through the ICE Online Detainee Locator, using an A-number or else name plus birth country.

Texas passed a 2025 law setting December 1, 2026 as the deadline for every jail-running county's sheriff to ask for, and enter, a 287(g) agreement. To hear where this county stands, call 432-729-4308.

Penal Code 12.31-12.35 routes the lowest felony grade to a state jail, while bigger felonies mean TDCJ, the Texas prison system. After sentencing, most people sit in the Marfa jail awaiting TDCJ transport to intake. There, staff classify each person and pick a unit.

• Follow them on the TDCJ inmate search, which posts updates on business days and runs a day or so behind.
• Our Texas state prisons listing describes the units one by one.

Anyone from 10 through 16 is handled in juvenile court, while 17 and older means adult court (Family Code 51.02). Even late at night, a mom, dad or guardian should get a prompt call (Family Code 52.02).

• Any youth kept locked up gets in front of a juvenile judge for a detention ruling by the second working day. A Friday arrest, or one on Saturday, moves that up to one working day. Before that, the board's appointment list supplies a lawyer.
• This county shares its juvenile board with Brewster and Jeff Davis counties.
• Inside Marfa, the municipal court gives juvenile magistrate warnings.

Call the Sheriff's Office, 432-729-4308, to learn where the youth is housed and when the judge will see them.