Refugio County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

A magistrate. Officers have 48 hours from the arrest to bring your relative before one, either in a courtroom or through a jailhouse camera hookup (arts. 15.17 and 14.06 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). In this state, a justice of the peace, the county's constitutional judge or a district judge may fill that role (art. 2A.151). Booking at 361-526-1698 knows when it is set.

That first hearing on Mesquite Street or by video covers four jobs:

• reading out every charge, then explaining silence, counsel and the other warnings;
• handing over the free-lawyer request form and helping your relative complete it;
• reviewing the public safety report, a record summary that must come before bail on Class B charges and up (art. 17.021);
• fixing the bail figure and any conditions, choosing the mildest ones that still protect people and the court date (art. 17.028).

Should Mesquite Street jailers suspect mental illness, word goes to a magistrate in no more than 12 hours (art. 16.22). Jailers may also take bonds, but only after pulling a criminal history, and never by naming the dollar figure on a violent charge (arts. 17.20 and 17.22).

Texas divides release into a pair of categories: bail bonds, secured by sureties or a cash deposit, and personal bonds, secured only by a signature (art. 17.01). Families here usually face one of these four:

• Paying it all. Your full deposit sits with the court until the case ends. Kept dates mean it comes home (art. 17.02).
• Hiring a bondsman. A licensed surety vouches to the court for the whole figure. You pay that surety a fee, and the fee never returns.
• Signing out on a promise. Nobody pays a cent up front. Your relative signs an agreement to appear (art. 17.03).
• A ticket-level charge. For a Class C offense, the magistrate may skip bond entirely and pencil in a later court day (art. 15.17(b)).

Signature-only release is off limits for a long roster of violent crimes, some protective order breaches, and a felon caught carrying a gun. It is also off limits when someone already supervised for violence gets arrested again. Senate Bill 9 (2025) made that roster longer. Burglary, organized crime and several drug felony charges add one more step: the trial judge alone may grant it (art. 17.03).

Texas has never adopted a statewide menu of bail prices, and a local schedule can't override the state rules (art. 17.028). Each figure is built around one person, after the magistrate thinks over (art. 17.15):

• the sum needed to make sure every court date is kept;
• the rule against oppressive bail amounts;
• what was charged and how it allegedly happened;
• how much money your relative can really gather;
• protection for a victim, for deputies and for the wider community;
• past convictions and immigration status.

The law fixes a single ceiling. Suppose police arrested your relative with no warrant and probable cause still sits undecided past the deadline. Then bail tops out at $5,000 for a misdemeanor and $10,000 for a felony (art. 17.033). Filed bail forms from around Texas can be browsed on the TOPICs bail form portal. The Sheriff's Office at 361-526-2352 can tell you the figure in your relative's case.

Bond business happens at 405 Mesquite St., Refugio, TX 78377. A QR code labeled for cash bonds appears on the county jail web page. Go through these steps before you scan anything:

1. Call 361-526-1698 and request Booking.
2. Read off your relative's whole legal name and birthday, then copy down each charge with its bail.
3. Confirm a magistrate has already fixed the amount. Nothing can be posted before that.
4. Find out which payments that counter accepts right now, and where the QR code sends you.
5. Show a photo ID. File away each receipt, since any cash refund goes to the person it names.

Paper letters to the Sheriff's Office go to P.O. Box 1022, Refugio, TX 78377. Mailing cash for a bond is never safe.

Sometimes, so phone ahead. The county's courts all work from the Refugio County Courthouse, 808 Commerce St, Refugio, TX 78377.

• District Clerk, keeper of felony files: postal box P.O. Box 736, Refugio, TX 78377; phone 361-526-2721. Find out if its counter will accept a cash bond, and when the counter is staffed.
• JP Precinct 1, for Class C cases: 808 Commerce Street, Room 111, Refugio, TX 78377, 361-526-4877.
• JP Precinct 2: 808 Commerce Street, Room 103, Refugio, TX 78377, 361-526-1635.

On a fine-only case, justice and city courts normally let people sign a personal bond (art. 45A.107). Carry the ticket or the case number plus an ID.

Payment rules can shift, so phone booking at 361-526-1698 before the trip. Go down the list: cash, money order, cashier's check, card. Also get the exact payee name for anything written.

• A card service for case payments is linked from the District Clerk's page. It tacks on 2.35%, with a $2.00 minimum. That page speaks of case payments, so call the clerk before using it on a bond.
• The justice court page offers online payment for fines and citations. It won't release anyone from jail.

Save the slip for any cash you hand across a counter, and keep cash out of envelopes.

Bail bond boards are required only where a Texas county counts 110,000 residents or more (Occupations Code 1704.002). This one counts roughly 6,657, far under that mark. Without a board, a sheriff may post which sureties it accepts (art. 17.141), so ask the Sheriff's Office at 361-526-2352 for that roster.

• Texas leaves a bondsman's premium uncapped, and it is never refunded.
• Demand a written receipt for any cash or item a bondsman takes (Occupations Code 1704.305).
• The Mesquite Street lockup is no place for a bondsman to hunt clients; Texas bans that pitch (1704.304).
• Collateral, say a truck title, is due back no more than 30 days after you send a written demand once the cases close (1704.301).
• A defense attorney already of record may sign as surety on the bond (1704.163).
• A bondsman wanting off the bond must warn defense counsel first, and the prosecutor as well in a felony, before surrendering anyone (art. 17.19).

Paying covers one case and nothing more. Ask booking to read each hold out loud before any money leaves your hands. The usual ones:

• Family violence. Where officers fear a repeat, the jail keeps your relative 4 more hours after the bond is paid. A magistrate's written order can add up to 48 more (art. 17.291).
• Another county's warrant. Here on the Coastal Bend, a magistrate may accept bail for the outside warrant and forward the paperwork (art. 15.18). Otherwise your relative waits for a ride from the county that wants them.
• Parole. Texas parole officers can issue a "blue warrant," and it may keep your relative jailed through the violation hearing.
• Probation. Fresh charges can prompt a probation officer to seek a warrant of their own.
• Immigration. See the ICE detainer answer below.
• A mental health exam. When an exam is ordered after someone refuses one, it can last up to 72 hours (art. 16.22).

Alleged victims of family violence or stalking get notice before release (art. 17.29). An emergency protective order can also be signed by the magistrate at the first hearing (art. 17.292).

Texas's constitution treats nearly every accused person as bailable. Capital cases with plain proof of guilt are the big exception (Tex. Const. art. I, sec. 11). Three later sections allow denial after a hearing:

• for a felony suspect with two prior felonies, or one who allegedly offended again while on bail (sec. 11a);
• when a release condition meant to protect people was broken in a felony or family violence case (sec. 11b);
• after a violation of certain protective orders (sec. 11c).

Section 11d arrived through Proposition 3, which Texas voters approved in November 2025. Its list: murder, capital murder, aggravated assault (with serious bodily harm, or with a firearm, knife, club or explosive), aggravated kidnapping or robbery, aggravated sexual assault, indecency toward a child, and human trafficking. If the district attorney convinces the judge that your relative may run or may hurt someone, bail is refused. Only prosecutors can start that fight. Judges who grant bail anyway must explain their reasons on paper.

Felony prosecutors keep a local office at 808 Commerce Street, Room 200, Refugio, TX 78377, 361-526-1282, with headquarters at 307 N. Gonzales, Cuero, TX 77954, 361-275-2612.

Yes. Your relative's lawyer asks the judge in a written motion. Relatives can make it stronger:

1. Pull together pay stubs, rent slips and bank records showing what the household can spare.
2. Find a job letter, lease or school record tying your person to the Coastal Bend.
3. List relatives who will drive your person to each hearing.

A slow-moving state case can work in your relative's favor. When the state hasn't announced ready for trial, your relative becomes eligible for a signature bond, or a smaller dollar figure, as each clock below runs dry (art. 17.151):

• felony: 90 days in jail;
• misdemeanor where the jail term could top 180 days: 30 days;
• any smaller jailable misdemeanor: 15 days.

Some charges are left out of this rule.

Prosecutors have their own levers. Starting in 2025, the DA's office in Cuero or on Commerce Street can ask a district judge in the felony court to reconsider bail (art. 17.029). For listed violent offenses prosecutors may even appeal a figure they call too low. Your relative stays inside meanwhile; a 20-day limit binds the appeals court (art. 44.01).

Speak up at that first hearing. The magistrate helps fill out the paperwork and has 24 hours to send it along (art. 15.17). With well under 250,000 residents here, appointment has to happen before business closes on the third working day after the judge gets the form (art. 1.051). After appointment, counsel owes your relative a reasonable try at contact by the end of the very next working day (art. 26.04).

This county is served by the Crossroads Regional Public Defender's Office, shared with Jackson, Lavaca and Victoria counties, at 203 N. Liberty St., Victoria, TX 77901, 361-582-5885. Texas courts must give a public defender office priority when one exists.

Judges weigh income, debts and dependents. A posted bond, by itself, can't knock your relative out of line for a free lawyer. Local appointment rules are filed with the Texas Indigent Defense Commission's plan list.

Nearly every local case lands in a single Commerce Street building. Clerks keep regular business hours, so check by phone before driving in.

• Refugio County Courthouse, 808 Commerce St, Refugio, TX 78377: felony trials in the 24th, 135th and 267th District Courts, plus Class A and Class B cases before the County Court.
• District Clerk, inside the courthouse, 361-526-2721.
• Justices of the Peace for Class C cases: Precinct 1 in Room 111, 361-526-4877; Precinct 2 in Room 103, 361-526-1635.
• County Attorney, 808 Commerce Street, Room 108, Refugio, TX 78377, 361-526-4123.
• Federal court, Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Building, 312 S. Main, Room 406, Victoria, TX 77901, 361-788-5000.

Court weeks for the district courts appear on the clerk's yearly district court docket.

Kept every date? Then the cash returns, less any fee, to the receipt's named payer (art. 17.02). A clerk may skim 5%, $50 at most, and only where the judge convicted your relative or ordered deferred adjudication (Local Government Code 117.055). Judges can also apply that deposit to fines and costs left on your relative's case (art. 17.53).

Once the judge closes the case, request the free refund motion form from the clerk. Call the office that took the money, such as the District Clerk on 361-526-2721.

Skipping a date is costly. The judge can forfeit the bond (art. 22.01). A bondsman gets released from paying if your relative is jailed again before the misdemeanor window of 180 days, or the felony window of 270 days, runs out (art. 22.13). Failing to appear is also a new offense whose level tracks the original case: Class C if the first charge carried only a fine, Class A where the skipped case was a jailable misdemeanor, third-degree felony where it was a felony (Penal Code 38.10).

Settle money and property questions on release day. Booking at 361-526-1698 can explain how an account balance is paid out and when personal items can be picked up. Bring ID.

Was a vehicle towed at the arrest? Open the Sheriff's vehicle impound sheet, then call the Sheriff's Office on 361-526-2352. Deposits, balances and refunds in jails generally are the topic of our inmate money page.

A U.S. magistrate or district judge in Victoria. This county falls under the Southern District of Texas. Its Victoria Division clerk works from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Building, 312 S. Main, Room 406, Victoria, TX 77901, 361-788-5000.

• At your relative's first federal court date, a judge weighs release against keeping them locked up until trial at a detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Until trial, your relative stays in U.S. Marshals Service custody, often kept in a contract county jail. Ask its Victoria office, 312 South Main Street, Room 326, Victoria, TX 77902, 361-578-4932, which jail.
• A federal prison sentence puts your relative on the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

No. A paid Texas bond answers only the state charge; ICE's request is federal. Expect these steps:

1. Federal immigration agents send the Mesquite Street jail Form I-247A, the detainer request.
2. That lets the jail keep your person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, giving ICE time to arrive (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Under Texas law the Mesquite Street jail must honor the detainer unless your relative produces papers showing citizenship or lawful presence (art. 2A.060). Since 2017, Government Code chapter 752 has blocked local policies that limit immigration enforcement. Under Senate Bill 8 (2025), December 1, 2026 is the deadline for sheriffs who run jails to join ICE's 287(g) program. For this sheriff's answer, dial the Sheriff's Office at 361-526-2352.
4. Certain appointed magistrates are barred from granting bail at all when a detainer is on file (art. 17.027).
5. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator with the A-number, or with first and last name plus birth country. Nothing found? Call ICE's Houston Field Office, 126 Northpoint Drive, Houston, TX 77060, 281-774-4816, or San Antonio Field Office, 3523 Crosspoint Drive, San Antonio, TX 78217, 210-564-3300, and ask which covers this county.

TDCJ, the state prison system, carries out felony sentences handed down on Commerce Street. A conviction at the state jail felony level means 180 days to 24 months in one of the agency's state jail lockups (Penal Code 12.35). A felony graded third, second or first degree means prison, as little as two years and as much as life (12.32 to 12.34). Your relative waits on Mesquite Street until TDCJ hauls them to intake, where staff sort them and pick a unit.

• Punch a TDCJ or SID number into the agency's TDCJ inmate search; a surname with at least one initial also works. Results include only people who have arrived at a TDCJ unit, and updates happen on business days.
• Unit addresses and visiting basics sit on our Texas state prisons page for quick reference.

Kids aged 10 to 16 belong to Texas juvenile court; once someone turns 17, the adult system takes the case (Family Code 51.02). Police owe a parent quick notice (52.02). A teen kept in custody gets a lawyer first, then a detention hearing. Count two working days for that hearing, or one if police picked the teen up on a Friday or Saturday (54.01).

Children never go to the Mesquite Street jail. With no youth lockup inside the county, a detained youth is sent to a center in another county. The Victoria Regional Juvenile Justice Center, 97 Foster Field Dr., Victoria, TX 77904, 361-575-0399, is one nearby center that takes youth from other counties. Call the Sheriff's Office at 361-526-2352 to find out where your child was taken.