Each charge lands with a judge based on its class. Four courts share the load in this county:

• 112th District Court hears all felonies. One judge rides this circuit across five counties: Crockett, Pecos, Reagan, Sutton and Upton.
• County Court has the elected County Judge on its bench and gets Class A and B misdemeanors. Those are the lower charges that still carry possible jail.
• Justice of the Peace court gets Class C cases, where a fine is the most a judge can give.
• The city's own court deals with Class C tickets and ordinance cases written inside town limits.

A single office keeps files for both the felony court and the misdemeanor court. So the District and County Clerk is your best starting point for nearly any case that has been filed.

Criminal matters run through these offices:

• District and County Clerk, Sutton County Annex, 300 E. Oak Street, Suite 3, Sonora, TX 76950, 325-387-3815. Hours run 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, straight through the noon hour. Both felony and misdemeanor files live here.
• County Judge, 300 E. Oak Street, Suite 4, Sonora, TX 76950, 325-387-2711.
• Justice of the Peace, Sutton County Courthouse, 102 N. Water Street, Sonora, TX 76950, 325-387-3322. Doors are open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. Phones stop at 3:00 p.m., and Tuesday and Thursday are set aside as office days.
• 112th District Court office, mailing address P.O. Drawer C, Ozona, TX 76943, 325-392-5225. Local felony files still sit with the clerk in the Annex.

A District Court calendar on the county website lists the days the felony judge holds court locally.

The county has just one incorporated city. When town officers write a ticket, or the charge breaks a city ordinance, the city handles it, not the county.

To learn where the city's court meets, a ticket's date or how to pay, phone City Hall at 201 E Main St, Sonora, TX 76950, 325-206-1257. The regional council of governments lists another City Hall number, 325-387-2558.

If a deputy or state trooper wrote the ticket on a county road or highway, the JP handles it at 102 N. Water Street, Sonora, TX 76950, 325-387-3322.

Within 48 hours, a magistrate must meet with each arrested person (Code Crim. Proc. art. 15.17). It is a short talk, in a room together or on a screen. Local rules for court-appointed lawyers follow that same 48-hour clock. Expect the magistrate to explain:

• the exact charge, along with any sworn complaint;
• the choice to hire a defense lawyer or ask the court for one at no cost, with help on the forms;
• the right to stay quiet, because anything said may come up at trial;
• the right to have a lawyer during any police interview, and to end it at any time;
• for felonies, the option to request an examining trial to test the proof.

Next the magistrate sets bail and any rules for release. Art. 16.22 gives the jail a 12-hour deadline to pass along any sign of mental illness to the magistrate.

For these charges the County Attorney drafts a written accusation, known as an information, for the County Court. A grand jury plays no part. When jail is possible, the person comes before the judge to hear the charge and give a plea (Code Crim. Proc. art. 26.01). Pretrial dates follow, and in time the case wraps up with a deal or a trial. Check the paperwork or ask the clerk for the exact class.

Penal Code chapter 12 caps each class like this:

• Class A: the stiffest misdemeanor. It can mean a year locked up and a $4,000 fine.
• Class B: a jail term that stops at 180 days, plus up to $2,000 as a fine.
• Class C: only a fine, $500 at most.

A judge can place someone on probation instead, which Texas law names community supervision. Misdemeanor probation tops out at two years. With deferred adjudication, the judge waits to find guilt. Finish every term and the charge gets dismissed.

A felony case usually goes step by step like this:

1. Magistrate hearing, where the bail amount is set.
2. Examining trial, held when the defense requests one ahead of an indictment. Code Crim. Proc. art. 16.01 lets a judge test the case for probable cause there.
3. Grand jury. Jurors hear the evidence in secret. An indictment issues only when nine or more of them agree (art. 20A.301).
4. Arraignment: the district judge reads the charge aloud, and the defendant pleads.
5. Pretrial settings and plea talks. If the judge refuses the bargain, art. 26.13 lets the defendant take back a plea of guilty.
6. Trial to a jury or to the judge alone, with sentencing after a guilty verdict.

Prison ranges by level: a state jail felony runs 180 days to two years. Third degree felonies can bring 2 to 10 years. A second degree conviction means 2 to 20 years. For first degree the range is 5 to 99 years, or life. Any level can also carry a $10,000 fine at most. Under Penal Code 12.42, older felony convictions can move a sentence into the next range up.

Murder, aggravated assault, sexual assault and similar charges face tougher rules from day one:

• Bail denial. Voters approved a new rule in November 2025. It covers murder, aggravated robbery and some other listed crimes. If a prosecutor shows at a hearing that the accused may skip court or poses a danger, bail must be refused (Tex. Const. art. I, §11d).
• Release without money, called a personal bond, is barred for crimes the law lists as violent (Code Crim. Proc. art. 17.03).
• Family violence. At the first hearing, the magistrate often signs an emergency protective order. Most last from 61 to 91 days. They last longer still after a serious injury or when a weapon came into it (art. 17.292).
• Capital murder carries either death or life in prison with no chance of parole for adults. Life is the penalty for anyone under 18 when the crime happened (Penal Code 12.31).
• Defense in a capital case is the job of a state office built only for trials where death is possible. Lawyers there work for the Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases.

The 112th District Attorney prosecutes felonies. Its headquarters sits at 400 South Nelson, Fort Stockton, TX 79735, 432-336-6294. Closer to home, the DA keeps an Ozona office with the mailing address P.O. Box 1187, Ozona, TX 76943, 325-392-2025.

The County Attorney prosecutes the misdemeanors from 105 W. Main, Sonora, TX 76950, 325-387-6553. Email the office at sca@co.sutton.tx.us.

No public defender office takes everyday cases in this county. Instead, judges choose a private lawyer from a rotating list. The magistrate takes the request at the first hearing. The County Judge or the District Judge then has until the third working day to appoint someone. The clerk at 325-387-3815 also has the request forms. Art. 26.04 then gives the new lawyer one working day to make a fair try at reaching the client.

Try these, and call the clerk for anything they miss:

• Felony cases show up on the clerk's District Court docket search.
• The District Court calendar gives the weeks the district judge is in town.
• re:SearchTX is a free statewide records site. You must sign up, and it shows filed papers and judgments but not hearing times.
• To order copies, fill out the clerk's records request form. Records older than 1992 take an office visit or a mailed form, plus a $10 search fee.

For Class A, B or felony court dates, try the District and County Clerk at 325-387-3815 or county.district_clerk@co.sutton.tx.us. On a Class C ticket, phone the Justice of the Peace at 325-387-3322, and call early, since the line closes at 3:00 p.m.

Sheriff's deputies carry out warrants countywide, and city officers do so in town. Any warrant question can go to the Sheriff's Office, 325-387-2288, or the Sonora Police Department, 609 S Water Ave, Sonora, TX 76950, 325-387-3888. Texas posts its worst fugitives in a statewide DPS Texas 10 Most Wanted gallery. The clerk can look up filed cases over the phone, too. To clear a warrant, speak with a defense lawyer first. With that lawyer's advice, turn yourself in at the jail, 401 E. Oak Street, Sonora, TX 76950, or ask the issuing judge's office to reset the date. Reach the District and County Clerk at 300 E. Oak Street, Suite 3, Sonora, TX 76950, 325-387-3815.

A federal charge from out here is tried in San Angelo, home of a division within the Northern District of Texas. Federal judges there work in the O.C. Fisher Federal Building, 33 E. Twohig Avenue, Room 202, San Angelo, TX 76903, 325-655-4506.

• Federal release is decided early. A U.S. magistrate judge weighs detention at the first appearance and decides on freedom until the trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Marshals deputies take charge of any federal defendant the judge keeps locked up. Their local office is open during court terms at 33 East Twohig Street, Suite 106-D, San Angelo, TX 76903, 325-658-4056. The district's main U.S. Marshals office is at 1100 Commerce Street, Room 1657, Dallas, TX 75242, 214-767-0836.
• Prosecutors for the government in these cases are based at the U.S. Attorney's office in Dallas, 1100 Commerce Street, 3rd Floor, Dallas, TX 75242, 214-659-8600.
• After the sentence, the BOP inmate locator tells you which federal prison has the person.

The Texas charge goes forward as usual. What a detainer changes is the release:

1. Immigration agents ask for the hold by sending the jail a Form I-247A.
2. At that point the jail may hold them up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. A 2017 Texas law requires jails to honor a detainer. Showing lawful status is the single exception (Code Crim. Proc. art. 2A.060).
4. By state law, officers may not be blocked by local rules from helping with immigration enforcement (Gov't Code 752.053).
5. Sheriffs got a new task in 2025. Counties in Texas that run a jail are told to seek a deal with ICE under section 287(g), and the deadline is December 1, 2026. Whether this Sheriff has one is a question for 325-387-2288.
6. After ICE takes custody, search the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

Under art. 26.13, judges give non-citizens a warning before a plea of guilty or no contest: deportation may follow. Tell the defense lawyer early on if a detainer exists.

Texas prisons are run by TDCJ (in full, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice). Shorter state jail felony terms are spent inside a state jail. Most people sit in the local jail for some days or weeks after sentencing. TDCJ then does intake and picks a unit.

• Look someone up by name or by TDCJ number with the TDCJ inmate search.
• For details on every unit, see our Texas state prisons page.
• Probation for adults here is supervised from the Pecos County office, 111 West Gallagher, Fort Stockton, TX 79735, 432-336-8562.

Texas juvenile courts take youths aged 10 through 16. By law, a 17-year-old is an adult for criminal cases (Family Code 51.02).

• A parent is owed quick notice from officers after a child is arrested (Family Code 52.02).
• A detained child's hearing must come by working day two after custody (Family Code 54.01). Before it starts, the judge names a lawyer for the child.
• After a hearing, a child aged 14 or more may be moved to adult court for the worst felonies (Family Code 54.02).
• The Justice of the Peace sends Class C youth cases through a youth diversion plan.

Phone the Sheriff's Office at 325-387-2288 to ask which facility a child went to and the date set for the detention hearing.

Code Crim. Proc. art. 56A.051 lists rights for victims. Their safety must be weighed in any bail decision. On request, they get word of court dates. They may also tell the judge, in an impact statement, what the crime did to them.

• Sign up for custody alerts on Texas IVSS-Counties, or phone 866-268-8959 day or night, in English or Spanish.
• Run by the attorney general, the Crime Victims' Compensation program helps with medical bills, counseling and lost wages, with a $50,000 limit. Phone 800-983-9933.
• Pick up a protective order packet from the District Clerk at 300 E. Oak Street, Suite 3, Sonora, TX 76950.
• With case questions, call the County Attorney at 325-387-6553 for a misdemeanor or the District Attorney at 325-392-2025 for a felony.