Trinity County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

A magistrate. Here the job can fall to a district judge, the elected county judge, or any of four JPs (CCP art. 2A.151). Nobody should sit more than 48 hours before seeing one. Some magistrates appear on a screen rather than in the room (CCP art. 15.17(a)).

What happens in those few minutes:

• The magistrate names the charge out loud.
• Your person learns they may keep quiet, and that what they say can come back in court.
• They are asked whether they want counsel paid for by the county, and they get help with that request form.
• Bail is fixed for them alone, choosing the gentlest conditions able to secure their return.

On Class B charges and above, Texas adds a step from the 2021 Damon Allen Act. First, a public safety report summing up any record lands on the magistrate's desk. That sheet holds no risk number and no suggested dollar amount (CCP art. 17.022). Jail staff at 936-642-1424 know roughly when magistration happens.

Texas law names three ways out (CCP art. 17.01 and the two articles after it):

• Cash. Someone deposits every dollar of the bail. Most of it is repaid later.
• Surety. A licensed bondsman vouches for the full sum. Their fee is your cost and is not repaid.
• Personal bond. Your person signs and walks out with nothing paid up front, though a small fee may be charged or waived.

The signature-only option is closed for a long list of charges. Many violent crimes are on it. Others include gun possession by a felon, terroristic threats graded Class A or above, and breaking particular protective orders. Anyone already on supervision in a violent case who gets charged anew is out too. Lawmakers lengthened the list with S.B. 9 in 2025. Trial judges keep sole say over signature bonds for burglary, for organized crime, and for a few drug felonies (CCP art. 17.03).

Extra rules can ride along with any bond. Picture a no-contact order, or an ignition interlock for a second DWI (CCP art. 17.441). Judges tailor these.

Texas uses no price chart that pairs a charge with a dollar figure. Each amount gets set one person at a time. The law wants enough to make showing up in court likely, yet it bars bail used to oppress. Under CCP art. 17.15(a), magistrates weigh:

• how serious the offense is and what is alleged;
• the cash and income the accused truly has;
• danger to the victim, officers or neighbors;
• earlier convictions plus the public safety report;
• citizenship.

One firm limit exists. Suppose deputies made a warrantless arrest, and probable cause still sits unresolved. Then a misdemeanor bond no higher than $5,000 is due by hour 24, while felonies get a $10,000 ceiling by hour 48. Under CCP art. 17.033, the state may ask to stall that by up to 72 hours.

Exact numbers per count come from jail staff at 936-642-1424.

The lockup is at 214 W. 1st St., Groveton, TX 75845, reached through the Sheriff's line, 936-642-1424. With so little room, the Sheriff also places people here:

• Houston County Jail, 700A South 4th Street, Crockett, TX 75835, 936-544-3261
• San Jacinto County Jail, 75 W. Cedar Avenue, Coldspring, TX 77331, 936-653-4367
• Grimes County Jail, 382 FM 149 West, Anderson, TX 77830, 936-873-6439
• Waller County Jail, 100 Sheriff R. Glenn Smith Drive, Hempstead, TX 77445, 979-826-8282
• Milam County Jail, 512 N. Jefferson, Cameron, TX 76520, 254-697-7063
• Bosque County Jail, 266 FM 2840, Meridian, TX 76665, 254-435-9966
• Somervell County Jail, 750 E. Gibbs Blvd., Glen Rose, TX 76043, 254-897-2242

Whichever building it is, these steps save a wasted trip:

1. Start with the Sheriff's number. Spell out the full legal name, then the birthday.
2. Jot down every count, its bond type and its amount.
3. Ask if the bond is posted in Groveton or at the out-of-county jail.
4. Get the hours and the payments that office accepts.
5. Carry a photo ID, and walk out with a receipt.

Money posted as cash bail belongs with the court file, and the clerk keeping that file tracks it. Felony files sit with the District Clerk, 219 W. 1st St., Groveton, TX 75845, 936-642-1118. Misdemeanor money (Class A or B) is tracked by the County Clerk, 211 W. 1st St., Groveton, TX 75845, 936-642-1208.

Fine-only tickets belong to the four JP courts, and those courts mostly release on a signature (CCP art. 45A.107). The Precinct 1 office sits at 126 W. 1st St., Groveton, TX 75845, 936-642-1224. Before you go, ask the office on your case if its window takes bond money, when it opens and what forms of payment it uses.

Each jail that houses prisoners for the Sheriff may run its own cashier rules. Settle them on the phone at 936-642-1424 before driving:

• Is paper money fine, and should the bills match the bond to the cent?
• Whose name belongs on a money order or cashier's check?
• Do they run plastic, and what surcharge applies?

Bondsmen collect their fee their own way. Do not ever put cash in the mail. Hold on to each receipt: whoever is printed on a cash bail receipt is who the refund goes to (CCP art. 17.02).

A bondsman, or surety, puts the full bond on the line for your person and charges you a fee for it. No state cap limits that fee, and it never comes back.

• State law demands a bail bond board, which licenses sureties, in counties with at least 110,000 residents (Occ. Code §1704.002). Here, a July 2025 Census Bureau estimate counted roughly 14,384.
• Where no board operates, CCP art. 17.141 lets a sheriff display which sureties qualify. Phone 936-642-1424 to request that list.
• Expect a receipt. Bondsmen are banned from drumming up customers inside a jail.
• Pledged collateral, like a deed or truck title, is owed back 30 days after your letter requesting it, provided the case is over (Occ. Code §1704.305).
• An attorney already on the case is allowed to sign as surety as well.

To quit a bond, a surety files a sworn paper and warns the defense lawyer first (CCP art. 17.19). After that, a new arrest is possible.

One receipt does not clear every hold. Watch for these:

• A second warrant. Each outside case, say from Polk or Walker, carries its own bond. Magistrates here can still take that bail, then forward the paperwork (CCP art. 15.18).
• Parole. State parole issues a "blue warrant" that pins a parolee in jail until the violation gets heard.
• Probation. Prosecutors seeking revocation usually get a warrant signed too.
• ICE. An immigration detainer can block the door.
• Family violence. Where further violence seems likely, Texas keeps the person four extra hours once bond posts. Under CCP art. 17.291(b), a written magistrate's order may lengthen it, with 48 hours the most allowed.

Before any money changes hands, call 936-642-1424 and have staff run a check for holds.

Bail is the general rule for nearly everyone accused. Its exceptions (Tex. Const. art. I, §11, then §§11a through 11c) cover:

• capital cases with evident proof;
• certain repeat felony offenders, plus some people accused of a fresh felony during an existing bond;
• breaking safety conditions of a bond;
• disobeying a family violence protective order.

A fifth exception, section 11d, arrived once Proposition 3 passed in the November 4, 2025 election. Covered charges include capital murder and murder. The aggravated forms of sexual assault, kidnapping and robbery are listed too, along with child indecency, trafficking and some aggravated assaults. Should the state prove at a hearing that the accused will likely run, or is dangerous, bail must be denied. Only the state may request that hearing. Judges who still allow bail must record written findings.

Also new in 2025: for certain violent charges, the state can appeal a bail it views as inadequate. While that challenge is pending, the accused remains behind bars (CCP art. 44.01). Felony prosecutors work from 126 W. 1st St., Groveton, TX 75845, 936-642-2401.

Start with the defense lawyer. They can ask the judge on the case for a fresh look at the bail. That judge must weigh real ability to pay. A Class B defendant, or anyone charged with something worse, can sign a sworn form saying they cannot afford it, and that form must be reviewed quickly (CCP art. 17.028).

Delay by the state works in your favor. An unready prosecution triggers a personal bond or reduced bail after these stretches behind bars (CCP art. 17.151):

• 90 days on a felony;
• 30 days if the misdemeanor can bring over 180 days in jail;
• 15 days when the most jail possible is 180 days;
• 5 days where only a fine is possible.

A few charges are carved out. For felony bail questions, call the District Clerk at 936-642-1118.

Raise it during magistration. Explaining how to request counsel, and assisting on paperwork, falls to the magistrate. If that magistrate cannot appoint, CCP art. 15.17(a) has the forms reach the appointing judge inside a day.

Because the population sits under 250,000, the appointing judge has three working days, starting once the request lands, to name someone (CCP art. 1.051(c)). From appointment, counsel gets roughly one working day for genuine efforts to reach this client (CCP art. 26.04(j)).

Appointments follow a written plan adopted by local judges. You can read it by choosing the county on the TIDC indigent defense plan page. TIDC's Austin office: 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701, 512-936-6994. Felony callers can also reach the District Clerk at 936-642-1118.

• 258th and 411th District Courts (felonies), filed through the District Clerk, 219 W. 1st St., Groveton, TX 75845, 936-642-1118.
• County Court (Class A and B misdemeanors), led by the County Judge, 162 W. First Street, Groveton, TX 75845, 936-642-1746. The County Clerk holds its files at 211 W. 1st St., Groveton, TX 75845, 936-642-1208.
• JP Precinct 1, 126 W. 1st St., Groveton, TX 75845, 936-642-1224.
• JP Precinct 2, 106 N. Elm, Trinity, TX 75862, 936-594-2011.
• JP Precinct 3, 106 N. Elm Street, Trinity, TX 75862, 936-594-3456.
• JP Precinct 4, 133 JP-4 Road, Apple Springs, TX 75926, 936-831-3778.
• Federal: Lufkin courthouse of the Eastern District, 104 North Third Street, Lufkin, TX 75901, 936-632-2739.

Under CCP art. 17.02, a finished bond's cash goes back to whichever depositor the receipt lists. After a guilty finding or deferred adjudication, a clerk may withhold 5 percent, up to $50. Judges can also apply the deposit to that person's own fines and court costs, as CCP art. 17.53 allows. Ask the clerk how and when the check is mailed.

A missed court date can wipe the bond out. Forfeiture begins with what Texas calls a judgment nisi, a first-step order under CCP art. 22.02. Sureties can escape paying when the person is returned to jail in time. Misdemeanor sureties get a 180-day window, felony sureties 270 (CCP art. 22.13), so call quickly. Skipping court knowingly is bail jumping, a crime of its own. Its level tracks the first charge, from Class C at the bottom to a third-degree felony at the top (Penal Code §38.10).

Felony deposits: District Clerk, 936-642-1118. Misdemeanor deposits: County Clerk, 936-642-1208.

Things bagged at booking, plus any cash on the commissary account, are handed out by whichever jail did the releasing. Someone housed in Crockett or Hempstead may have to collect there. Ring the Sheriff's Office at 936-642-1424 and find out:

1. where the property bag is now;
2. who may collect it and which ID to bring;
3. how leftover account money is paid out.

Sending money to someone still locked up has its own page: our inmate deposits page.

Federal crimes charged here are tried in Lufkin, at 104 North Third Street, Lufkin, TX 75901, 936-632-2739. No bondsman is involved. A U.S. magistrate judge weighs release at what federal law calls a detention hearing, then sets conditions or orders the defendant held for trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).

Before trial, people charged federally stay in U.S. Marshals Service custody, frequently inside county jails it pays. The Marshals' Lufkin line is 936-219-6412. For a free federal lawyer, the Eastern District's Federal Public Defender works out of 510 Park Street, Suite 450, Beaumont, TX 77701, 409-839-2608.

Once sentenced, the person transfers to federal prison. Find them through the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator with a name or a register number.

No. State bail covers the Texas charge and nothing more. The immigration side goes step by step:

1. Paperwork comes first. ICE emails or faxes Form I-247A, the detainer, over to the lockup.
2. Jailers then may hold your loved one for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, giving ICE time to collect them (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Texas jails must comply with detainers. Showing lawful status ends that duty (CCP art. 2A.060). Local leaders may not adopt rules that restrain immigration work (Gov't Code §752.053).
4. Lawmakers passed Senate Bill 8 in 2025. It orders each county that keeps a jail into a 287(g) pact with ICE, setting a finish line of December 1, 2026.
5. After the transfer, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Type an A-number. Without one, use a name together with date and country of birth.

The ICE Houston Field Office handles Southeast Texas from 126 Northpoint Drive, Houston, TX 77060, 281-774-4816.

Penal Code chapter 12 routes state jail felony time to a state jail. Felony terms of the third, second or first degree mean prison. Texas Department of Criminal Justice units hold those prisoners. Until a TDCJ bus arrives, your person stays in county custody. Intake staff then test and sort them before a move to a unit that matches.

The TDCJ inmate search shows only people now inside a TDCJ unit, with updates on working days. For contact once they reach a unit, read our Texas state prisons page, written for families.

Children from 10 through 16 years old fall under Texas juvenile courts. Once a teen turns 17, new charges are filed as adult cases (Family Code §51.02). Parents hear from the officer quickly; that's required too.

Two working days is the outer limit before a judge reviews holding the child. For kids picked up Friday or Saturday, that shrinks to one working day. The child has an appointed lawyer by then (Family Code §54.01). Kids are not bailed out the way adults are. The judge decides whether going home is safe.

The county's own site points parents to San Jacinto County Juvenile Probation, 1114 Dogwood, Livingston, TX 77351, 936-327-6850. Ask staff there where the child is held and the time of the hearing.