Smith County Courthouse Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

A magistrate sets it, at a hearing inside the County Jail. Texas allows no more than 48 hours between the arrest and that hearing (arts. 14.06 and 15.17 of the CCP). Some hearings use a two-way video link instead of a face-to-face meeting.

During those few minutes, the magistrate will:

• read out the accusation and the warnings, including silence and the choice to hire private counsel
• ask whether the person needs a court-appointed lawyer, while jail staff pass out and gather the money forms
• decide, after an arrest made with no warrant, whether police had probable cause, the legal test for a lawful arrest
• fix a bail amount for every count and add any release rules

On a Class B misdemeanor or anything more serious, the magistrate must first read a public safety report, a short summary of past arrests and convictions (CCP art. 17.022). Texas wants the decision made within those first 48 hours, tailored to one person, using the mildest terms that still keep everyone safe (CCP art. 17.028). Staff at 903-590-2800 can say whether the hearing has taken place.

State law (CCP arts. 17.01 to 17.03) recognizes bail bonds and personal bonds. Around Tyler, that plays out three ways:

• Cash bond. You hand over the full sum yourself. The court keeps it until every hearing is done.
• Surety bond. A bondsman licensed in this county promises the court the full sum. The bondsman's fee is what you spend, and it is not refunded.
• Personal bond. Nothing is paid toward bail. The person signs, promising to attend every hearing. Locally, the Pre-Trial Release Bond Office arranges these at 200 E. Ferguson Street, Room 213, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-590-2620, and charges "$20, or 3 percent of the bond amount, whichever is greater."

State law bars personal bonds for a list of charges. Among them are many violent crimes, Class A or higher terroristic threats, certain protective order breaks, gun possession by a felon, and fresh charges against someone already supervised for violence (CCP art. 17.03). Conditions can come with any bond, like staying away from the alleged victim. Drivers facing a repeat DWI, or a DWI where a child rode along, must have an ignition interlock fitted to the car (CCP art. 17.441). Our state bail page goes deeper on these limits.

No single chart of bail prices covers Texas. Each magistrate weighs the case in front of them. Under CCP art. 17.15, the amount should reflect:

1. a sum large enough that showing up at court is likely
2. no amount meant to crush or punish the person
3. the kind of offense and how it allegedly happened
4. what the person can actually afford
5. safety for the victim, officers and the community
6. criminal history and citizenship status

Only a handful of dollar numbers are set in statute. After a warrantless arrest with no timely probable cause ruling, the bond is capped at $5,000 for a misdemeanor and $10,000 for a felony (CCP art. 17.033). On a fine-only Class C count, a magistrate may release the person on a promise to appear on a written date, under art. 15.17(b).

The state keeps completed bail forms on its TOPICs bail form portal. The jail at 903-590-2800 can read you the exact figure on each charge.

Booking and release both happen at the Central Jail, 206 E. Elm Street, Tyler, TX 75702. Work through this list:

1. Phone 903-590-2800. Give the person's legal name and birthday.
2. Jot down every count, the dollar figure on each, and which bond type the magistrate approved.
3. Ask where cash bonds are taken today, which payment types work, and the exact payee name.
4. Going through a bondsman? Pass along the booking details. The bondsman then delivers the paperwork to the jail.
5. Carry government photo ID and save every slip of paper you're given.
6. Release paperwork can take hours. On a family violence count, the law adds a four-hour hold once bond is posted.

The Sheriff's Office headquarters, 227 N. Spring Avenue, Tyler, TX 75702, takes calls at 903-590-2661 when you need the main switchboard.

Personal bonds go through the Pre-Trial Release Bond Office, Room 213 of the Courthouse Annex, 200 E. Ferguson Street, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-590-2620. Staff work Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the office shuts from noon to 1 p.m. County holidays close it too.

1. The person held, or a relative, phones the office and asks about a personal bond.
2. An officer interviews the person in custody and looks into their background. A completed application is required.
3. That folder is sent to a judge, who approves or turns it down.
4. After the judge signs, the fee gets paid, and the office calls the jail to release the person.

Felony court money goes to the District Clerk, 100 North Broadway, Room 204, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-590-1660, open weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the payment window closing at 4:30 p.m. Misdemeanor fines and court costs are paid on the third floor of the annex at the County Clerk, 200 E. Ferguson Street, Suite 300, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-590-4670. Check with the right clerk before you drive downtown.

For its personal bond fee, the Pre-Trial Release Bond Office takes three things only: cash, money orders and cashier's checks. Leave the debit card and checkbook at home for that visit. Questions go to 903-590-2620.

The county runs a county payment page for clerk court fees, justice court fees, traffic tickets, property tax and vehicle registration.

A cash bond for someone at the jail is a separate matter. Before heading out, call 903-590-2800 to learn what kinds of payment staff accept and whether a fee is added. Don't mail cash; it can vanish.

Texas makes counties above 110,000 people run a bail bond board, under Occupations Code 1704.002. The local board adopted its first rules in 1997 and licenses every bondsman who works here. Its bail bond board rules were last revised effective June 18, 2025. Members gather the third Wednesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. at 200 E. Ferguson Street, Suite 100, Tyler, TX 75702.

A current list of licensed sureties has to be posted in each criminal courtroom and at every spot where people are booked or held. Since the Pre-Trial Release Bond Office handles clerical work for the board, it can help you find the list: 903-590-2620.

What Texas expects from a bondsman:

• Fees have no state ceiling, so shop around before you sign.
• Any cash or property you give must come with a written receipt.
• Drumming up business inside a jail or police station is forbidden.
• Collateral comes back no later than 30 days after you ask for it in writing, once all related cases are closed.
• The defense lawyer of record can post the bond without holding a bondsman license.
• A bondsman who wants to hand a client back to jail must first give the defense lawyer notice and then sign a sworn statement for the court (art. 17.19).

A paid bond settles only its own charge. Several things can delay the walk out:

• Family violence hold. When more violence seems likely, the person must stay four hours past the posting of bond. The magistrate may extend it, in writing, by up to two days (art. 17.291).
• Out-of-county warrant. A magistrate in Tyler can sometimes take bond on it and ship the bond papers to that county (art. 15.18). If that doesn't happen, the person stays put until officers from the other county arrive.
• Parole warrant. A parolee picked up on a state parole warrant usually waits in jail for a hearing on the violation (Gov't Code 508.254).
• ICE detainer. Jails in Texas must honor these holds unless the person shows they are lawfully in the country (art. 2A.060).
• Unfinished bond conditions. An interlock device or another court order may need to be in place before the door opens.
• Mental health review. Under art. 16.22, if jailers learn of credible signs that a person may be mentally ill, the magistrate must hear within 12 hours, and the review that follows can slow things down.

Ask the jail at 903-590-2800 about holds before any money changes hands. For probation questions, try Adult Probation, 217 East Line Street, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-590-2700.

The Texas Constitution promises bail to almost everyone. The exceptions:

• capital cases with evident proof of guilt (art. I, sec. 11)
• a felony charge against someone with two earlier felony convictions (sec. 11a)
• a new felony while out on bond for an indicted felony, and a few other repeat cases (sec. 11a). The judge must rule within 7 days, and trial must start within 60.
• breaking a safety rule of an earlier release on a felony or family violence charge (sec. 11b)
• violating certain protective orders (sec. 11c)

A November 2025 ballot measure, Proposition 3, added sec. 11d. It reaches these charges:

• murder or capital murder
• aggravated assault that causes serious bodily injury, or one committed with a firearm, club, knife or explosive
• aggravated kidnapping or aggravated robbery
• aggravated sexual assault or indecency with a child
• trafficking of persons, including continuous trafficking

Here, bail "shall" be denied once a judge, after a hearing, is persuaded by the prosecutor that releasing the person invites flight or puts the community at risk. Only the prosecutor's office may ask for this. If the judge sets bail anyway, written findings are required.

The state also gained the right in 2025 to appeal a bail it sees as too light in some violent cases. While the appeal runs, up to 20 days, the accused stays jailed (CCP art. 44.01). Prosecution here is handled by the Criminal District Attorney's Office, 100 North Broadway Avenue, 4th Floor, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-590-1720.

A defense lawyer can ask the court, in a written motion, to lower the amount or swap it for a personal bond. Gather pay stubs, bills and proof of local family ties, because art. 17.15 makes a person's means part of the bail decision. Other routes:

• Apply for a personal bond. The Pre-Trial Release Bond Office at 903-590-2620 starts the paperwork.
• Request an examining trial. In a felony, this probable cause hearing can happen before indictment, and the magistrate may revisit bail there (CCP art. 16.01).
• Prosecutors run out of time. A felony case gives the state 90 days to be ready. For misdemeanors the limit is 30 days (Class A), 15 days (Class B) or 5 days (fine-only). Past that, release must follow, either on a personal bond or at a lower figure. Some exceptions apply (CCP art. 17.151).
• Swear you can't pay. Someone facing a Class B or higher may file an affidavit of inability to pay and is owed a prompt review (CCP art. 17.028).

The District Clerk at 903-590-1660 handles felony files, and the County Clerk at 903-590-4670 handles misdemeanors.

Instead of a public defender office, the county pays private lawyers. Each district court that hears felonies has three contract defenders who take almost every appointed felony. Misdemeanor appointments rotate through a list of approved attorneys.

1. At magistration, the person asks for counsel. Jail staff help with the financial forms and collect them.
2. Within 24 hours, those forms must go to the court that names lawyers (CCP art. 15.17).
3. State law then sets a deadline of a few working days for that court to appoint someone (CCP art. 1.051).
4. Under art. 26.04, the named lawyer must make a real effort to contact the person before the next working day ends.

No one may be punished for asking for a lawyer, and having posted bail is not, alone, proof that a person can pay one. The county's written plan can be read through the TIDC plan finder. The Texas Indigent Defense Commission sits at 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994.

• Smith County Courthouse, 100 N. Broadway, Tyler, TX 75702: home of the felony district courts and the three County Courts at Law. District Clerk in Room 204, 903-590-1660, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Courthouse Annex (Ferguson Building), 200 E. Ferguson Street, Tyler, TX 75702: County Clerk in Suite 300, 903-590-4670.
• Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1: 200 E. Ferguson Street, Suite 501, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-590-2601.
• Precinct 2: 15405 Highway 155 S, Tyler, TX 75703.
• Precinct 3: 313 E. Duval Street, Troup, TX 75789, 903-590-4729.
• Precinct 4: 14152 Highway 155 N, Winona, TX 75792.
• Precinct 5: 2616 S. Main, Lindale, TX 75771.
• Federal court, in the William M. Steger federal courthouse: 211 West Ferguson Street, Room 106, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-590-1000.

To reach the Precinct 2, 4 or 5 justice courts by phone, ask the county's main line at 903-590-4605 to put you through.

Cash bail goes back, less any fee, to the depositor shown on the receipt, once all bond terms are satisfied (CCP art. 17.02). Two things can shrink the check:

• With a conviction or deferred adjudication at the end, the clerk can keep up to 5 percent, no more than $50. An acquittal or a dismissal without a plea means no fee (Local Gov't Code 117.055).
• Under CCP art. 17.53, the deposit may be put toward the defendant's unpaid fines and court costs.

When the case is over, the clerk hands out the form for asking for the money back at no charge.

A skipped court date turns expensive fast. A judgment nisi is entered, naming both the accused and the bondsman or other surety, the opening step toward forfeiting the bond (arts. 22.01, 22.02). A surety is cleared if the defendant is back in jail inside 180 days (misdemeanors) or 270 days (felonies), per CCP art. 22.13. Skipping a hearing on purpose is a separate offense under Penal Code 38.10.

Felony refund questions: District Clerk, 903-590-1660. Misdemeanor refunds: County Clerk, 903-590-4670.

Phones, keys and clothes collected during booking sit in jail storage. Most of the time they leave with the owner on release day. If a relative has to collect them instead, ask if the owner must sign something first. Money left on the jail account is settled at release as well.

Call 903-590-2800 and ask for property. Keep the Inmate ID from the Sheriff's inmate search handy. Then bring a photo ID to the Central Jail, 206 E. Elm Street, Tyler, TX 75702.

Federal cases from Lindale, Bullard or Whitehouse go to the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, 211 West Ferguson Street, Room 106, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-590-1000. A federal magistrate judge then holds a detention hearing; the question is home or custody until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).

• Custody. Until trial, the person is a Marshals prisoner. The U.S. Marshals Service office is at 211 West Ferguson Street, 4th Floor, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-590-1370. The county jail quit accepting new federal inmates in 2022, so call the Marshals to learn where the person was placed.
• Prosecution. U.S. Attorney's Office, 110 North College, Suite 700, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-590-1400.
• Defense. Federal Public Defender, Plaza Tower, 110 North College Avenue, Suite 1122, Tyler, TX 75702, 903-531-9233.

After the federal sentence, track the person through the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

No. Bail answers the state charge, while the detainer comes from a federal agency. From there, things tend to unfold like this:

1. Step one is paperwork, a request ICE calls Form I-247A.
2. That form lets staff hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, so ICE can pick them up (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Texas law tells the jail to follow the detainer. Papers proving citizenship or lawful status are the only exception (art. 2A.060). Gov't Code 752.053, from 2017, forbids local policies that get in the way of immigration enforcement.
4. A 2025 law, S.B. 8, requires 287(g) agreements with ICE, the federal immigration agency, in every county that runs a jail. The due date is December 1, 2026. Whether the Sheriff's Office has signed one yet is a question for 903-590-2661.
5. Try the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Search with the A-number. Without one, enter the full legal name and birth country.

Still nothing? ICE says to call a field office. Dallas: 8101 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75247, 972-367-2200. Houston: 126 Northpoint Drive, Houston, TX 77060, 281-774-4816.

State jail felony time is done in a state jail facility. Under Penal Code 12.31 to 12.35, higher felonies send people to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Each person first passes through an intake unit for sorting, then moves to a unit matched to them.

• Look the person up by surname or TDCJ number on the state's TDCJ inmate search. TDCJ updates it only on working days, so results can be a day or two old.
• Planning a visit or a letter? Our Texas state prisons page covers each state unit.

Until transport day, the person waits in the county jail. Staff at 903-590-2800 can talk about timing.

If the child was 10 or older but under 17 on the day of the offense, the case belongs to juvenile court. Family Code 51.02 sends anyone 17 or older at the offense to adult court. Children don't post adult bail. The detention hearing comes within two working days of custody. For a Friday or Saturday pickup, it comes on the first working day. The judge decides there whether the child goes home. A lawyer is assigned to the child before it starts (Family Code 54.01).

• Juvenile Services Department: 2630 Morningside Drive, Suite 300, Tyler, TX 75708, 903-535-0850.
• Detention: the 65-bed Juvenile Detention Center at that same Morningside Drive address.
• Court: County Court at Law No. 3 hears juvenile cases.

Under Family Code 52.02, police who detain a child must alert a parent or guardian right away.