Val Verde County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

Bail is the magistrate's call. Texas gives magistrate power to a long list of officials: district judges, county judges, JPs, city judges and more (CCP 2A.151). Val Verde's appointed-counsel plan orders whoever holds the prisoner to bring them before one within 48 hours of arrest. For the time and place, phone the Sheriff's Office at 830-774-7513.

That quick hearing does three jobs:

• It reads the charge and spells out two key rights: silence, and a lawyer (CCP 15.17).
• It offers a free-lawyer request form, and the magistrate helps complete it.
• It fixes the bail figure plus any release conditions.

By hour 48 the bail ruling should be made too. It must fit this one person, using the gentlest conditions that keep others safe (CCP 17.028). From Class B upward, a public safety report summing up past arrests lands on the magistrate's desk first. The report holds no risk score and never recommends an amount (CCP 17.021, 17.022).

Under CCP 17.01-17.03, Texas law names two release labels, and every Val Verde bond wears one: bail bond or personal bond.

• Cash bond. Real money for the whole figure goes on deposit. Follow every rule and it gets refunded later.
• Surety bond. A licensed bondsman, or a property owner worth enough, signs on and owes the full sum should court be skipped.
• Personal bond. Nobody deposits money or signs as surety. Your loved one simply pledges, in writing, to return.

Certain charges block personal bonds entirely. Among them: violent offenses named in the statute, firearm possession by a felon, Class A or felony terroristic threat, plus some protective-order breaches. Only the trial court itself may grant one on a burglary charge, an organized crime charge or several drug felonies (CCP 17.03).

Conditions may ride along with any bond. Drivers facing repeat DWI, or DWI with a child passenger, must install an ignition interlock, a breath gadget that keeps a car from starting after drinking (CCP 17.441).

Texas publishes no single statewide price list. Even local lists must leave room for each magistrate to judge the individual (CCP 17.028), so identical charges can carry quite different numbers.

Under the law, magistrates weigh:

• a figure big enough to make skipping court a bad bet;
• no amount set to oppress the accused;
• the offense and its details;
• real ability to pay;
• safety of victims, officers and neighbors;
• criminal history plus citizenship status (CCP 17.15).

Statute fixes just two dollar ceilings. Picture an arrest made without a warrant. When the probable-cause ruling runs late, Texas sets a clock: release by hour 24 at $5,000 or less on a misdemeanor, by hour 48 at $10,000 or less on a felony. If even that is too much, the release comes on a personal bond. The state can request extra time, up to 72 hours in all (CCP 17.033). For your figure, call 830-774-7513.

The Sheriff's Office lists "bail acceptance" among its duties, beside jail operation. Its office stands next to the detention complex at 295 FM 2523 Hamilton Road, Del Rio, TX 78840. Business hours run 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, while the phone stays staffed nonstop.

1. Dial 830-774-7513. Have the legal name and birthday handy.
2. Jot down each charge, its bail figure, the bond type and any case numbers.
3. Find out if another county, a parole officer or immigration has a hold.
4. Confirm which payments the bond desk accepts today and what hour to arrive.
5. Carry photo ID plus the exact amount, then guard your receipt.

Texas makes any jailer taking bail run a records check first. When the charge is violent, only a magistrate may choose the figure (CCP 17.20, 17.22).

Sometimes. Each clerk's window handles its own court's cases, so phone ahead and ask whether it accepts a cash bond for yours:

• Felony cases: District Clerk, 100 E. Broadway, 1st Floor, Del Rio, TX 78840. Criminal line 830-774-7539. Hours 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
• Class A or B cases: County Clerk, 400 Pecan Street, 1st Floor, Del Rio, TX 78840. Line 830-774-7564. Weekdays 8:00 a.m. until 4:45 p.m.
• Class C tickets: Justice of the Peace offices, 309 Mills Street, 2nd Floor, Del Rio, TX 78840. Precinct 1 830-774-7545; Precinct 2 830-774-7579; Precinct 3 830-774-7511; Precinct 4 830-774-7581.

Fine-only charges usually end with a personal bond, not cash (CCP 45A.107). Whatever window you use, ask how fast word reaches the jail.

Rules shift, so call the Sheriff's Office at 830-774-7513 before driving out to FM 2523. Good questions:

• Does the desk want cash, and should it be exact?
• Money orders and cashier's checks: allowed? If so, what payee name?
• Do they swipe cards, and for what extra charge?

Misdemeanor fines and court costs, not bonds, can go by card over the phone through the County Clerk at 830-774-7564, using the case number.

The Sheriff's Office has warned about crooks phoning families while posing as deputies. No real deputy collects bail by phone call. Hang up and report it to the Sheriff's Office line.

Bondsmen, called sureties in the statute, charge a fee that is gone for good. In return they back the whole bail amount with the court. State law caps no fee, so shop around and insist on paper.

• Once a county reaches 110,000 residents, Texas requires a bail bond board to license sureties; smaller ones may create one by choice (OC 1704.002).
• Where a county lacks a board, CCP 17.141 lets the sheriff post its own list of sureties. Ask the Sheriff's Office which names it honors.
• Where a board exists, sureties owe a written receipt, and recruiting clients inside a jail is banned (OC 1704.305, 1704.304). Ask for a receipt anyway.
• Gave the bondsman your truck title or other security? Write a letter asking for it once the Val Verde case is finished. In board counties, the surety must return it inside 30 days (OC 1704.301).
• Any attorney already hired on the case may write the bond (OC 1704.163).

To drop a client, a bondsman has to warn the defense attorney first, then swear out an affidavit (CCP 17.19).

Bail clears only the charge it covers. Other holds stay put:

• Out-of-county warrant. Local magistrates can take bail and forward the bond (CCP 15.18), or that county may send deputies for pickup.
• Parole "blue warrant." State parolees may wait for a violation hearing (GC 508.254).
• ICE detainer. Under CCP 2A.060 such holds are mandatory for the jail. Details sit in the ICE answer on this page.
• Probation. A new charge may lead the probation officer to ask a judge to revoke. Val Verde's adult probation office: 239 FM 2523, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-774-7554.
• Family violence. Where the violence seems likely to repeat, the person stays 4 hours longer once bond is paid. A signed order may hold them up to 48 hours more (CCP 17.291).

Have jail staff at 830-774-7513 name every hold for you first, then pay.

Seldom. The state constitution makes bail the rule. It names a capital charge with evident proof as the first carve-out. Later sections let judges refuse it for certain repeat felons, anyone accused of a new felony during a felony bond, and those who broke safety or protective-order conditions (Tex. Const. art. I, §§11-11c).

On November 4, 2025, Texans voted yes on Proposition 3. That vote wrote §11d into the state constitution. Eight kinds of charges qualify. Four are trafficking, murder, indecency with a child and capital murder. Three others start with the label aggravated: kidnapping, robbery, sexual assault. The eighth is an aggravated assault that left serious injury or involved a weapon. Only the prosecutor can start this. At a hearing, proof of flight risk (preponderance) or of danger (clear and convincing evidence) means bail "shall be denied." Judges who still allow bail must put their reasons in writing.

Val Verde felony cases belong to the 63rd District Attorney, 830-775-0505. Call for its street location.

Step one is a lawyer. A bond-reduction motion then goes to whichever Val Verde judge has the case. Gather paperwork showing pay, rent, family nearby and a ride to court.

Delay also matters. When prosecutors aren't trial-ready in time, Texas requires a personal bond or reduced bail (CCP 17.151):

• 5 days if the charge carries only a fine;
• 15 days if the misdemeanor's jail cap is 180 days or under;
• 30 days if that cap is longer;
• 90 days on any felony.

Exceptions apply. The 2025 S.B. 9 changes cut the other way too. District judges can now review felony bail when prosecutors ask, and for listed violent charges the state may appeal an amount it calls too small (CCP 17.029, 44.01).

Say so at the first hearing if paying a lawyer is impossible. Under the county plan, the public defender gets the case unless good cause points elsewhere. Val Verde's plan sets a three-working-day clock, starting when the request reaches the court, for naming that lawyer.

Val Verde's public defender work runs through an office in Alpine: Far West Texas Regional Public Defender, 203 North 7th St., Alpine, TX 79830, 432-837-4120. It serves a string of border and mountain counties.

Forms travel to the County Court at Law for misdemeanors or the 63rd or 83rd District Court for felonies. Skipped it at the hearing? Phone the County Court at Law at 830-774-7575 or the District Clerk at 830-774-7538. Read the plan on TIDC's plan site.

• 63rd District Court, felonies, 830-774-7523; 83rd District Court, felonies, 830-774-7654. Clerk: 100 E. Broadway, 1st Floor, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-774-7538.
• County Court at Law, which hears misdemeanors, 830-774-7575. Clerk: County Clerk, 400 Pecan Street, 1st Floor, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-774-7564.
• Constitutional County Court, county offices at 400 Pecan Street, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-774-7501.
• Four Justice of the Peace courts, fine-only cases, 309 Mills Street, 2nd Floor, Del Rio, TX 78840; Precinct 1 answers 830-774-7545.
• U.S. District Court, 111 East Broadway, Room L100, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-703-2054.

City tickets go before the municipal court; the citation shows its date and location. Need help reaching it? Ring the Sheriff's Office, 830-774-7513.

Whoever's name sits on the bond receipt gets the money back after the bond's rules are met (CCP 17.02). Clerks may hold back 5 percent, no more than $50, once a judge convicts or grants deferred adjudication. The deposit can also cover any Val Verde fines and costs left unpaid (CCP 17.53). Hang on to that receipt. To start a refund, call whichever clerk holds the bond: District Clerk 830-774-7539 or County Clerk 830-774-7564.

A missed court date sets off a forfeiture called a judgment nisi (CCP 22.01). A surety gets released from paying if the no-show is arrested and jailed in time: 180 days for misdemeanor cases, 270 for felony ones (CCP 22.13). Skipping court can also bring a separate bail-jumping charge, ranging from Class C to third-degree felony (PC 38.10).

Belongings taken during booking go into storage at the detention complex. Leftover account money normally goes back at release. Ask the Sheriff's Office, 830-774-7513, how balances are paid and how relatives collect items for someone who can't come in.

The GEO facility's front desk answers 830-778-0096. Bring photo ID, plus a signed release from the owner when picking up on their behalf.

Federal charges out of Val Verde go to Del Rio's federal courthouse (Western District of Texas) on Broadway: 111 East Broadway, Room L100, Del Rio, TX 78840, clerk 830-703-2054.

A U.S. magistrate judge, not any county official, rules on release there. Prosecutors may request a detention hearing about flight and danger (18 U.S.C. 3142). Until trial, federal defendants stay in Marshals Service custody; the local office sits at 111 East Broadway, Room 159, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-703-2075. GEO lists the Marshals Service as a customer of the very complex on FM 2523.

Federal defenders work from 2205 Veterans Boulevard, Suite A-2, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-703-2040. If the federal case ends in prison time, the BOP inmate locator lists the assigned prison.

Not by itself. Texas bail settles the state charge, while an ICE hold answers to federal officers. The steps:

1. Val Verde's jail on FM 2523 receives ICE's Form I-247A.
2. With that form in the file, staff may hold them up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released while ICE arranges a pickup (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. After an ICE pickup, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator, with an A-number or, failing that, the full name and birth country.

Texas jails must honor detainers unless lawful status is proven (S.B. 4, 2017; GC 752.053; CCP 2A.060). S.B. 8 (2025) reaches every county that runs a jail, even through a private vendor. By December 1, 2026, each such county must have asked ICE to enter a 287(g) agreement. To learn where Val Verde stands, phone the Sheriff's Office, 830-774-7513.

Someone given state jail time serves it at a state jail unit. Felonies of the third degree and up are sentenced to the custody of TDCJ (PC 12.31-12.35). Following sentencing, people wait at the county unit until the state transfers them. TDCJ intake then classifies each one and assigns a unit that fits.

Type a name or TDCJ number into the state's prison inmate lookup, which updates each working day. For a tour of Texas units, see our state prisons page.

Texas juvenile court handles ages 10 through 16 at the offense date. Seventeen-year-olds are handled by adult courts (FC 51.02). Kids are taken to the Val Verde Juvenile Detention Center in Del Rio, 830-774-7553, rather than the adult unit. Phone that line for its street address.

Youths never post money bail. Within two working days, a judge decides whether the youth stays locked up. For a Friday or Saturday pickup, the hearing moves up to the next working day. Before it starts, the youth must have a lawyer (FC 54.01). Officers must alert parents promptly (FC 52.02).