Travis County Jail Release

Need a jail release in Austin or Travis County?

If you need immediate assistance to get someone released from jail, let us help. Our phones are answered 24 hours! Call (512) 448-4560.

If you have been arrested in Travis County contact attorney James Gill immediately to get your jail release. Working with a criminal defense lawyer is often faster and cheaper than working with a bail bonds company. The Travis County jail release process can be agonizingly slow without an attorney.

After arrest you are brought to downtown booking to be processed. After you are fingerprinted, photographed, and inventoried you are eventually sent to the basement to be magistrated by a judge. A good Austin lawyer can navigate you through this unfortunate experience. While people accused on nonviolent misdemeanors MAY get a personal bond, it can take upwards of 24 hours for the process to be complete. An attorney can skip the red tape, take the bond directly to a judge, waive magistration and have you out significantly faster.

I got a DWI. How long will I be in jail and how much is my bond?

In jail release situations, most first time DWI bail amounts will be between $1500 and $3500, if the defendant has no prior arrests. There is no set schedule for this though, so the amount may be higher depending on the judge that initially reviews the case.

In Travis County, judges are available to set the bail amount between approximately 7 A.M. and 1:00 A.M. People who are arrested after 1:00 A.M. (like most DWIs, for example) will not have a bail amount set until sometime in the morning – or even the next afternoon.

What about getting a jail release from a bondsman?

While a bail bonds office can also get you out of jail there are significant drawbacks. One is the need for co-signors. Attorneys don’t need co-signors. They can get a judge to sign a personal bond that otherwise wouldn’t have been approved. They can also get waive magistration for a client while a bail bondsmen cannot.

A great additional benefit to hiring an attorney to secure someone’s jail release that is the fee you pay is credited towards his or her representation on the criminal case. This is really what makes it a no-brainer to hire an attorney. Why would you pay some twice to do the same thing? You wouldn’t. Don’t waste your money hiring a bondsman. If someone you care about is in custody they want their jail release as fast as possible, so don’t delay in contacting an attorney. Once an attorney posts your bond the typical time to be released is 2 to 4 hrs.

Surety bonds and cash bonds

Two additional types of bonds are routinely done in Travis County: surety bonds and cash bonds. A surety bond is what a bail bondsmen uses. They have a line of credit with the sheriff’s office to write up to a certain amount of bonds. They then decide which clients to bond, betting that those clients will return to court without disappearing and “jumping bond.” Given the financial liability they often charge upwards of 15% of the total bond amount; i.e., for a $10,000 bond you will have to come up with $1500 plus co-signors.

While attorneys can also write surety bonds it is often unnecessary as they can procure a personal bond. A cash bond is another option used by only attorneys. In instances where the defendant is not approved for a personal bond, a cash bond can almost always be approved. The judge will agree to release the defendant to the attorney’s care as long as a fee is deposited with the court to ensure the defendant’s return to court. If the defendant fails to return to court the sheriff’s office claims the money that was left as a deposit.

This information is offered for the convenience of the general public and no warranty is expressed or implied as to the accuracy or completeness of the data.

Travis County Criminal Justice Center
509 W 11th St
Austin, Texas 78701
Phone: (512) 854-9000

Williamson County
405 S Martin Luther King St
Georgetown, Texas 78626
Phone: (512) 930-4300

Hays County
110 E Martin Luther King Dr.
San Marcos, Texas 78666
Phone (512) 393-7738