Somervell County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

A magistrate does, and fast. The deadline is two days: an officer has 48 hours, tops, to put the arrested person before one. That rule sits in CCP arts. 14.06 and 15.17. Here, the plan for court-appointed lawyers that the county filed with the state lists that same two-day limit. District judges, county judges and justices of the peace can all sit as magistrates (CCP art. 2A.151). Both local justice of the peace precincts share one line, 254-897-2120.

That first hearing is short. In it the magistrate will:

• name each charge, then cover the right to keep quiet and to get legal help
• pass along the free-lawyer request and lend a hand with filling it in
• fix bail and any release rules, choosing the mildest set that does the job, per CCP art. 17.028

From Class B on up, the magistrate needs a public safety report in hand first. That form lists the person's criminal history (CCP arts. 17.021, 17.022). There's no number score in it and no suggested bail. Jail staff at 254-897-2242 know if the hearing has happened and what it decided.

Under CCP art. 17.01 there are two legal types, bail bonds and personal bonds. Families end up choosing among three options:

• Cash. You hand the court every dollar of the bail to hold. When the case is finished and no court date was skipped, the deposit is returned, less any fee the law permits (CCP art. 17.02).
• A bondsman. For a price, a licensed surety guarantees every dollar of the bail. Their price is theirs to keep.
• Personal bond. Nothing is paid up front. Your loved one's signature, given as a promise to attend court, is the whole bond (CCP art. 17.03).

Some people can't use a personal bond. That covers many violent charges and felons caught with guns. It also covers some protective order breaks, and people on supervision for violence who get a new charge. On burglary and some drug or organized crime counts, the trial court alone can approve one (CCP art. 17.03).

When a ticket carries only a fine, the magistrate may skip bond entirely, give a court date on paper and send the person on their way (CCP art. 15.17).

No single Texas chart prices every crime. Locally, the district and county court plan on file with the state attaches a sheet of recommended minimum bond amounts. Even so, each magistrate settles each person's figure.

Here is what goes into the number, per CCP art. 17.15:

• an amount large enough that returning to court is the smart choice, yet never so big it becomes punishment
• the kind of crime charged, and any violence in it
• how much money the person actually has
• keeping the victim, deputies and the wider community out of harm's way
• the person's record
• citizenship

Warrantless arrests come with a hard cap. When probable cause is not decided in time, the law forces release. For a misdemeanor, that means out by hour 24 with bail no more than $5,000. For a felony, it means out by hour 48 with bail no more than $10,000 (CCP art. 17.033). Your person's exact figures come from the jail, 254-897-2242.

Both jail staff and deputies work out of 750 E. Gibbs Boulevard, Glen Rose, TX 76043. Do these steps in order so the trip is not wasted:

1. Phone 254-897-2242 and ask for jail staff.
2. Give the spelling of the full name and a date of birth. Get the amount for each charge, because every charge can carry its own bond.
3. Find out where a bond is being accepted at this moment, the jail or a clerk, and which kinds of money work there.
4. Ask staff to check for warrants, detainers or anything else that would block the release.
5. Carry a photo ID, and file away every slip of paper they give you.

Family violence cases add a pause. Where violence seems likely to continue, the person stays an extra four hours after the bond is accepted. Under CCP art. 17.291, a magistrate's signed order may lengthen the stay to two full days. Plan the ride home around it.

The District Clerk keeps felony case files at 102 NE Vine Street, Glen Rose, TX 76043, 254-898-3971, Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Its mailing address is P.O. Box 1309, Glen Rose, TX 76043.

Class A and B files belong to the County Clerk, 254-897-4427. Tickets that carry only a fine go through the justice courts, 254-897-2120.

Use this short checklist before carrying money to a clerk:

1. Phone ahead, naming the defendant and giving a case number if one exists.
2. Ask if this desk takes a bond on that case, or if the jail handles it.
3. Ask which payment types work, and exactly whose name a money order must show.
4. Don't walk away without paper proof showing the case number and what you paid.

Rules on payment shift, so confirm with the jail at 254-897-2242 before heading out. Ask about cash, money orders, debit or credit cards, and any service fee.

From its own web page, the District Clerk links a defendant payments site. The clerk offers it for district court fines, costs and fees, and says those charges are non-refundable. Before paying anything else that way, check with the clerk at 254-898-3971.

Never drop cash in an envelope. If a caller you don't know offers to spring your loved one for a fee, end the call.

Texas only forces counties of 110,000 residents or more to keep a bail bond board, the panel that licenses bondsmen and puts their names up where people are booked. Smaller places can create one if they like (Occupations Code §§1704.002, 1704.051). Where there's no board, the sheriff is allowed to put up a list of bondsmen whose security checks out (CCP art. 17.141). For the current names, call the Sheriff's Office at 254-897-2242.

• Texas puts no limit on a bondsman's price, and that money stays gone.
• Bondsmen must write you a receipt. Drumming up clients behind jail walls is off limits to them (Occupations Code §§1704.304, 1704.305).
• Collateral, maybe a pickup title, has a 30-day return deadline. The clock starts when you ask in writing after the case closes (Occupations Code §1704.301).
• Attorneys of record may write a bond for their own client as well, a choice worth asking your lawyer about.
• Per CCP art. 17.19, any bondsman who decides to return a client to custody owes the defense lawyer advance notice and a sworn written reason.

Paying covers one case only. Look out for these roadblocks:

• Another county wants them too. A magistrate here is allowed to set bail on that warrant and forward the bond to the county where the warrant began, as CCP art. 15.18 allows. Otherwise, it is a wait for transport.
• A new felony while already out on a felony. In the same county, only the first judge, or one that judge names, can say yes to release (CCP art. 17.027).
• Parole. Gov't Code §508.254 keeps a parolee on a blue warrant in custody pending a violation hearing.
• Immigration. Jail staff must follow an ICE detainer unless papers prove the person may lawfully be here (CCP art. 2A.060).
• Family violence. A set four-hour delay, stretched further only by a magistrate's written order, as CCP art. 17.291 says.
• Extra charges. Each one needs its own bond.

Before you pay, have jail staff at 254-897-2242 list every hold.

Bail, under the state constitution, is available to almost every accused person. Section 11 of the state's Bill of Rights carves out capital cases with evident proof. Judges can also say no, after a hearing, in some repeat-felony or felony-on-bail cases, when a release safety rule gets broken, or when someone defies certain family violence orders. Those rules are in sections 11a, 11b and 11c of the same article.

On November 4, 2025, Proposition 3 added section 11d to the Texas Constitution. It targets murder and several other grave crimes, such as aggravated robbery, aggravated sexual assault and trafficking. In those cases, a hearing decides. If the prosecutor proves a likely escape or a threat to the public, no bail is allowed.

No one but the prosecutor can start that. If a judge allows bail on such a charge, the judge must explain it in writing. And since 2025, under CCP art. 17.029, prosecutors who object to a felony bail amount can bring it to a district judge.

The District Attorney for the 18th and 249th districts takes felonies, 817-556-6802. The County Attorney takes misdemeanors, 254-897-2277.

It can be done. The defense attorney asks the trial court, in a written filing, to lower it. Relatives can make that request stronger:

1. Collect pay stubs, rent receipts, proof of local relatives and an honest budget showing what the family can pay. Ability to pay is part of the law (CCP art. 17.15).
2. Suggest release rules that ease the judge's concerns, like a no-contact order.
3. Count the days. A slow case can open the door. As CCP art. 17.151 puts it, delay by the state earns a jailed person a personal bond or smaller bail. On felonies the wait is 90 days. Misdemeanors punishable by over 180 days take 30 days, and shorter-term jailable misdemeanors take 15. Some exceptions apply.

Ask about hearing dates through the District Clerk, 254-898-3971, on felonies, or the County Clerk, 254-897-4427, on misdemeanors.

Request forms come from the magistrate, who also helps complete them (CCP art. 15.17). The local plan adds two other sources: the state's indigent defense website, and the county's coordinators, one for felony cases and one for misdemeanors.

The plan presumes a defendant can't afford counsel if any one of these fits:

• the household gets SNAP food help, Medicaid, TANF, SSI or public housing
• household take-home income sits at 125% of federal poverty guidelines or below
• they are serving a sentence or are in a public mental health facility

Anyone else may still qualify by showing real hardship. Lawyers rotate off a list, and a capital case gets two. The state deadline to appoint is one working day where 250,000 or more people live, and three working days in smaller counties (CCP art. 1.051). See the county's appointment plan, or reach the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994.

Felony, misdemeanor or ticket, each goes to its own bench:

• Felony: the 18th or 249th District Court, shared with Johnson County. Both judges are based in Cleburne, at 817-556-6820 for the 18th and 817-556-6825 for the 249th, and they hold criminal dockets in Glen Rose. Papers go to the District Clerk, 102 NE Vine Street, Glen Rose, TX 76043, 254-898-3971.
• Class A or B: the County Court. Try the County Judge's office at 254-897-2322, or the County Clerk, keeper of those files, at 254-897-4427.
• Class C ticket: one of two justice of the peace courts, Precincts 1 and 2, sharing 254-897-2120. A city ticket may name a city court on its face.
• Federal crime: the U.S. District Court's Waco courthouse, 800 Franklin Avenue, Room 380, Waco, TX 76701, 254-750-1501.

A cash bond goes back to the person on the receipt once its terms are satisfied (CCP art. 17.02). In addition, Local Gov't Code §117.055 allows a clerk's fee of 5%, never over $50, and only after a guilty plea or verdict, or deferred adjudication. Fines and costs still owed on that case can come out of the deposit too, as CCP art. 17.53 allows. A bondsman's charge is gone for good.

Missing court flips this. A no-show leads the judge to sign a judgment nisi, which puts the bond at risk of being lost (CCP arts. 22.02, 22.01). A surety can escape paying if the no-show lands back in a cell in time, meaning 180 days (misdemeanor) or 270 days (felony) under CCP art. 22.13. Beyond the money, a missed date may also add a fresh bail-jumping count under Penal Code §38.10. How serious depends on the original case, and the worst is a third-degree felony.

If you are owed money back, call the clerk who took the cash, for example the District Clerk at 254-898-3971. Bring the original receipt.

Before release, ask about leftover commissary funds and whatever was bagged up at booking. Jail staff at 254-897-2242 can explain how unspent account money is returned and which day bags can be picked up at 750 E. Gibbs Boulevard, Glen Rose, TX 76043.

Carry a photo ID. If the property isn't yours, the jail may want a signed note from its owner, so check on that. Our inmate money page walks through account deposits and payouts.

For a U.S. crime, the case moves to Waco, home of this area's Western District of Texas division. Find the clerk at 800 Franklin Avenue, Room 380, Waco, TX 76701, 254-750-1501.

• In Waco, the court uses a detention hearing to settle where the accused waits. It may be at home with rules. It may be in a cell until the case ends (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Pretrial, federal prisoners belong to the Marshals, and county jails can hold them on the Marshals' behalf. Their Waco office: 800 Franklin Avenue, Room 200, Waco, TX 76701, 254-750-1570.
• The Federal Public Defender represents many federal defendants who can't pay. Its Waco branch is at 510 Austin Ave, Room 380, Waco, TX 76701, 737-207-4567.
• After sentencing, track the person through the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Yes. ICE holds sit apart from the state case, so posting bond leaves them in force. Expect this sequence:

1. The jail receives ICE's detainer paperwork, called Form I-247A.
2. That request lets the Gibbs Boulevard jail hold someone up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Texas law has the jail obey that request. Under CCP art. 2A.060, showing papers for citizenship or legal immigration status frees the person from it. Cities and counties also may not adopt rules that would slow down federal immigration work, a 2017 limit found in Gov't Code §752.053.
4. Lawmakers in 2025 told every Texas county running its own jail to sign up with ICE through a 287(g) agreement. Their deadline falls on December 1, 2026. To hear what this county has done so far, ask the Sheriff's Office.
5. Look the person up on the ICE Online Detainee Locator by A-number, or else by complete name and native country. With no result, phone ICE's Dallas Field Office, listed for North Texas, at 8101 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75247, 972-367-2200.

Penal Code §§12.32-12.35 sort this out. State jail felonies mean a state jail facility. Third-, second- and first-degree terms mean TDCJ prison. Sentenced people wait on Gibbs Boulevard until state officers collect them. Then comes intake, where the state sorts each person and assigns a unit.

• Tip: plug either a TDCJ number or a surname with one initial into the TDCJ inmate search. Its records update on workdays.
• Our Texas state prisons page lists the prisons across the state.

Family Code §51.02 limits Texas youth court to ages 10 through 16. Someone 17 is tried with adults. Under §52.02, whoever takes a minor in must contact the family without delay and give the reason.

• Family Code §54.01 sets a hearing for a detained youth by the second working day. That deadline tightens to working day one when the youth was detained on a Friday or Saturday.
• A lawyer has to be named for the youth before that hearing starts.
• The county has a separate juvenile board plan on file with the state for lawyers for youth.

Call the Sheriff's Office at 254-897-2242 to learn where the child was placed and when that first hearing is set.