Red River County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

That decision falls to a magistrate. The Texas list of people who qualify is long. It covers JPs, the elected County Judge, district judges and more (Code of Criminal Procedure art. 2A.151). Forty-eight hours is the outside limit for getting a jailed person in front of one. A camera link from the jail counts, so many of these hearings happen on a monitor (arts. 14.06, 15.17).

What happens in those few minutes:

• The accusation is read out.
• Rights get spelled out: keeping quiet, hiring an attorney, ending a police interview whenever they like.
• A person without lawyer money may request one on the spot, and the magistrate must assist with that paperwork.
• Bail is fitted to the individual, using the least restrictive terms that still do the job (art. 17.028).

On a felony or jailable misdemeanor, the bail decision belongs to magistrates who completed the required state course (arts. 17.023, 17.024). Ring the jail desk at 903-427-3838 to learn when your person goes up.

Texas puts every release into one of two bins, a bail bond or a personal bond (art. 17.01). In practice, a family deals with one of three:

• Cash. Someone sets the whole bail amount down in money, and the court guards it until the case wraps (art. 17.02).
• Surety. Here a licensed bondsman pledges the complete amount on the defendant's behalf. Your payment to that bondsman is their earnings, never a deposit.
• Personal bond. No money changes hands. A signed pledge to return to court, plus any conditions, opens the door (art. 17.03).

Not every charge allows that no-money option. No personal bond is possible on the statute's violent-crime list. That bar also covers a felon caught armed, a Class A-or-above terroristic threat, and some violations of court protective orders. SB 9 (2025) lengthened the list. Burglary and some drug felony cases add a twist: a Clarksville magistrate can't grant one, and only the trial court can (art. 17.03).

Extra terms can attach to any bond, from a curfew to a GPS bracelet. A second or later DWI brings an ignition interlock (art. 17.441), a breath test wired to the car. Want the law in more depth? Our Texas bail laws page goes chapter by chapter.

Texas has no master price sheet. A magistrate weighs each count on its own, guided by seven factors (art. 17.15):

• Will the figure reasonably secure every court appearance?
• Oppression is off limits; bail may not be a club.
• Facts of the offense count, violence most of all.
• Means matter, and families may offer proof of what is affordable.
• The magistrate asks whether the victim, officers or the public could be harmed.
• Prior history counts, and for Class B or higher the magistrate reviews a public safety report before deciding (arts. 17.021, 17.022).
• Citizenship status sits on the list too.

From Class B up, a defendant may swear in writing that the amount is out of reach, which earns quick attention (art. 17.028). The actual numbers on your person's charges come from the Sheriff's Office at 903-427-3838.

Bonds at the jail are handled at 500 N. Cedar Street, Clarksville, TX 75426. Work this list to avoid a wasted trip:

1. Call 903-427-3838; request the jail.
2. Give the defendant's legal name, spelled slowly, with a birthday.
3. Write each charge's bail beside it, then ask whether some other hold stacks on top.
4. Confirm the forms of payment and the hours bonds are processed.
5. Pocket your driver's license and bring the exact total.
6. Protect the receipt, because state law repays cash bail to the name it shows (art. 17.02).

A bondsman may handle the posting for you. A jailer accepting bail must review criminal history and lacks authority to set the figure in a violent case (art. 17.22).

Habits differ by office. Before heading over, call the clerk with the file and confirm whether cash bonds are taken there, and in what form. The three offices:

• District Clerk, felony files: 400 N. Walnut Street, Clarksville, TX 75426, 903-427-3761. Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday 8 a.m. to noon, closed noon to 1 p.m. daily.
• County Clerk, where misdemeanor case papers live: annex building, 200 N. Walnut Street, Clarksville, TX 75426, 903-427-2401. Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday 8 a.m. to noon. Papers handed in past 4 p.m. carry the next workday's date.
• Justice of the Peace, Class C tickets: 500 N. Cedar Street, Clarksville, TX 75426, 903-427-3322. Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a noon to 1 p.m. lunch, Friday 8 a.m. to noon.

On Class C tickets, justice courts usually free people on personal bond (art. 45A.107).

The jail sets its own rules on payment, and those can shift. Before the drive, call 903-427-3838 with these questions:

• Are paper bills fine, or must it be a cashier's check or money order?
• Who goes on the "pay to" line?
• Do they run cards, and what extra charge applies?
• Is anyone on duty to process a bond at 2 a.m. or on a weekend?

Cash bail must be legal U.S. tender (art. 17.02). Mailing currency to a jail invites loss. If the total is too steep, look at a licensed bondsman.

In legal language a bondsman is a surety, someone who guarantees the full bail to the court. Their charge is kept whatever the outcome, and Texas caps it nowhere, so get the price in writing first. Keep these points handy:

• State law demands a bond board, the group that licenses bondsmen, in counties of 110,000 or more. The 2025 Census estimate here was 11,816, so Red River is free to skip one (Occupations Code 1704.002).
• Counties with no board let the sheriff post a list of qualified sureties (art. 17.141). Phone the Cedar Street office at 903-427-3838 for a copy.
• Receipts are mandatory. Bondsmen may not hunt for clients among the people locked up.
• Collateral you pledged, perhaps a land deed, must be returned no more than 30 days after your written demand, once the case closes.
• Your own defense lawyer is allowed to post the bond, too (Occupations Code ch. 1704).

Should the bondsman decide to surrender the client, the defense lawyer hears first, and an affidavit follows in court (art. 17.19).

Bail covers one case and only that case. Watch for these other locks:

• Family violence. Where a magistrate fears more violence, release is delayed four hours past posting. A written order may push that delay out to 48 hours (art. 17.291).
• Another county's warrant. A Clarksville magistrate may take bail locally, then route the bond papers back home to the warrant's county (art. 15.18).
• Parole "blue warrant." The parole system may keep that person jailed until a hearing officer rules (Government Code 508.254).
• ICE detainer. Texas makes the jail honor it until papers proving lawful status are shown (art. 2A.060).
• Stacked cases. Two cases mean two bonds.
• Possible mental illness. Jailers who suspect it must alert a magistrate inside 12 hours, which can lead to an expert interview (art. 16.22).

Get the jail at 903-427-3838 to list all holds before handing over a dollar.

Texas promises bail to nearly everyone charged. The oldest exception: a capital charge backed by plain proof. Smaller exceptions reach certain two-time felons, someone arrested for a felony while already free on a felony bond, and anyone breaking bond rules or protective orders (Bill of Rights of the Texas Constitution, art. I, §§ 11-11c).

Section 11d is newer. It grew out of the Proposition 3 ballot measure that won on November 4, 2025, and its charge list is short. Think murder, capital murder, trafficking and child indecency. Kidnapping, robbery and sexual assault count in their aggravated forms. So does an aggravated assault with a gun, knife or club, or one that caused grave harm. On those counts, bail "shall be denied" once the DA's side carries one of two burdens in a special hearing:

• flight risk, by the preponderance standard, or
• danger to others, by the tougher clear-and-convincing test.

Only the prosecution may make this request. Any judge who grants bail over that objection must write out the findings (Tex. Const. art. I, § 11d). In Clarksville, that prosecution office is the joint County Attorney and District Attorney, 400 N. Walnut Street, Clarksville, TX 75426, 903-427-2009.

Lowering bail starts with a written motion your defense attorney files with the trial court. Arm that lawyer with paper: check stubs, a rental contract, names of nearby relatives, and the sum your household can honestly gather. Texas forbids bail meant to oppress (art. 17.15).

The clock helps too. If prosecutors cannot announce ready within these windows, a still-jailed defendant must get a personal bond or a lowered bail, with exceptions (art. 17.151):

• 90 days on any felony;
• 30 days on a Class A misdemeanor, the kind with up to a year in jail;
• 15 days on a lesser jailable misdemeanor;
• 5 days on a fine-only offense.

SB 9 (2025) also handed prosecutors new tools. At the DA's request, a district judge may revisit any felony bail. For listed violent crimes, the state may even appeal a bail it calls inadequate (arts. 17.029, 44.01). The District Clerk takes felony calls at 903-427-3761.

At the first hearing the magistrate brings up the right to counsel and assists with the request. That request is forwarded to the appointing judge within one day. In a county of about 12,000 people, the appointing judge gets three working days after that form lands on the desk to choose the lawyer (arts. 15.17, 1.051).

Judges review wages, bills and household size. Having posted bail can't be the sole reason to refuse (art. 26.04). Appointed counsel should then try to reach the jailed client within about one working day.

Each county's appointment rules get filed with a state office in Austin, the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994. Pull up any county's plan on the TIDC plan page. For felony appointments, the District Clerk answers at 903-427-3761.

State charges are heard in the county seat. Match the charge level to the room:

• 6th and 102nd District Courts (felonies): courthouse, 400 N. Walnut Street, Clarksville, TX 75426. District Clerk: 903-427-3761.
• County Court (Class A and B), where the County Judge presides: 400 N. Walnut Street, Clarksville, TX 75426, 903-427-2680, Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Files sit with the County Clerk at 903-427-2401.
• Justice of the Peace (Class C fines): 500 N. Cedar Street, Clarksville, TX 75426, 903-427-3322.
• Federal court in Texarkana: 500 North State Line Avenue, Room 301, Texarkana, TX 75501, 903-794-8561.

Citations written by a town officer can be due in that town's court. Look for the court's name on the ticket itself.

Kept every bond rule? Then the clerk refunds the cash, less any fee, to whoever the receipt names. That is why the receipt matters (art. 17.02). A 5% clerk fee, topping out at $50, is taken only when the case closes in a guilty judgment or with deferred adjudication. Bail cash can also be used to settle what that defendant owes the court (art. 17.53; the 5% fee rule is Local Government Code 117.055).

No-shows endanger the deposit. A judgment nisi gets entered, opening forfeiture (art. 22.01). Willful no-shows can also be charged with bail jumping (Penal Code 38.10). A bondsman is cleared if the missing defendant gets rearrested in time, with a 180-day window when the charge was a misdemeanor and a 270-day window on felonies (art. 22.13).

Felony refund questions: District Clerk, 903-427-3761. Misdemeanor refund questions: County Clerk, 903-427-2401.

Sort out money and belongings while release is underway. Call 903-427-3838 about how any unspent balance is repaid and when a stored property bag can be claimed at 500 N. Cedar Street, Clarksville, TX 75426.

ID is needed at pickup. Picking up for another adult may take a signed authorization, so confirm first. Our inmate money page has more on jail accounts.

Federal prosecutors bring cases from here in the Eastern District of Texas federal court, Texarkana Division. Its clerk answers from the United States Courthouse and Post Office, 500 North State Line Avenue, Room 301, Texarkana, TX 75501, 903-794-8561.

• The opening federal appearance brings a detention hearing. A judge asks if any release terms would protect Texarkana-area residents and still guarantee court attendance (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Pretrial, deputy U.S. marshals hold the federal prisoner. Many such prisoners sleep in contracted county jail beds. District office: 211 West Ferguson Street, 4th Floor, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-590-1370. Texarkana line: 903-793-8782.
• Defendants who can't hire counsel get the Federal Public Defender, 110 North College Avenue, Suite 1122, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-531-9233.
• Once sentenced to prison, search the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

No. A Texas bond doesn't touch a federal immigration hold. Expect these steps:

1. The Cedar Street jail gets an immigration detainer (ICE's I-247A).
2. The Sheriff's staff may then keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, so ICE has time to collect them (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. State law makes jails comply. A Texas driver's license or another document proving lawful status or citizenship releases the person (art. 2A.060).
4. A 2017 Texas statute bars local governments here from rules that hold back immigration enforcement, as Government Code 752.053 spells out.
5. SB 8 (2025) requires counties that run jails, Red River among them, to apply for ICE's 287(g) program. Their deadline falls on December 1, 2026.
6. ICE's field office for North Texas: 8101 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75247, 972-367-2200. That office can say which facility received the person.
7. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator with full name and nation of birth, plus the A-number or a birth date.

Third-, second- and first-degree felony terms, along with capital sentences, are served in state prison (Penal Code 12.31-12.34), meaning TDCJ custody. State jail felony terms happen in TDCJ state jails instead (Penal Code 12.35). A newly sentenced prisoner stays on Cedar Street until TDCJ calls for them, passes through intake, and is assigned a unit.

• Use the TDCJ inmate search. Enter a surname plus first initial. If the family has a TDCJ or SID number, that is quicker. Records refresh each working day.
• Curious about the units themselves? Start with our Texas state prisons overview.
• Clarksville's adult probation office, which supervises people sentenced to community supervision, is at 400 N. Cedar Street, Clarksville, TX 75426, 903-427-3491.

Texas treats a 10- through 16-year-old as a child for court purposes. Seventeen-year-olds land in adult court, same as grown-ups (Family Code 51.02). In Clarksville or anywhere else in Texas, police holding a youngster must promptly reach a parent and say why the child was taken into custody (Family Code 52.02).

• Youth detention hearings come quickly, by the second working day. A child held over a Friday or Saturday sees the judge by the first working day. Each child has a lawyer before stepping into that hearing (Family Code 54.01).
• Teens 14 and up may be transferred to adult court on certain grave felonies (Family Code 54.02).

Call the Juvenile Probation Department, 301 W. Madison Street, Clarksville, TX 75426, 903-427-5761, for the child's location and hearing date.