Jail & booking terms
These are the words you hit in the first hours after an arrest — getting someone processed, located, and able to receive money and visits. Looking for the facility itself? Start at our DFW jails & inmate-search hub.
- Booking
- The intake process right after arrest: officers record the person's name and the charges, take fingerprints and a mug shot, search them, and log their property. It's how someone officially enters the jail system, and it's usually why a new arrest takes a few hours to show up in an inmate search.
- Intake
- The jail unit and physical area where a newly arrested person is processed, medically screened, and held before being assigned to a housing area. Booking happens during intake; people are often still in intake when families first start looking for them.
- Magistration / Article 15.17 hearing
- A defendant's first appearance before a magistrate after arrest. The magistrate reads the charges and the person's rights and sets the bond amount. Texas law requires this happen without unnecessary delay and no later than 48 hours after arrest (Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 15.17). Until magistration is done, the inmate search often shows no bond amount.
- Detention facility
- The formal name many Texas counties use for the county jail — for example, the Collin County Detention Facility. It's run by the county Sheriff's Office and holds people awaiting bond, hearings, or transfer. You'll see it in addresses and on official forms where you'd expect the word "jail."
- Inmate number (SO / SID number)
- The booking ID assigned to a person in custody. The SO (Sheriff's Office) number is the local jail ID; the SID is the statewide State Identification number. You'll use the SO number to search for someone, address mail correctly, and put money on their books — having it makes every step faster.
- Commissary / "money on the books"
- The jail store where inmates buy snacks, hygiene items, and phone or tablet time. "Putting money on the books" means depositing funds into a person's commissary account, almost always through a vendor (like Access Corrections) online, by app, by phone, or at a lobby kiosk — not by mailing cash.
- Video visitation
- A scheduled video call with an inmate through a vendor such as ViaPath or ICSolutions. Many DFW jails have replaced or limited in-person visits with on-site or at-home video sessions. You usually have to be on the inmate's approved list and book the session in advance.
- Probable-cause affidavit
- The sworn statement an officer writes laying out the facts that justified the arrest. A magistrate reviews it to decide whether there was probable cause to keep the person in custody. It often becomes part of the public court file you can later request or view online.
- Hold (detainer)
- A request from another agency — another county, the state, immigration, or a probation department — to keep a person in custody even after they post bond on the local charge. A hold can stop a release from happening until that other agency acts, which surprises a lot of families at the bond window.
- Release
- The point at which the jail actually lets a person leave — after a bond is posted and processed, the charges are dropped, or a judge orders it. Once a bond clears, the time it takes to walk someone out of the detention-facility lobby varies with how busy the jail is.
Bond & release terms
This is the vocabulary of getting someone out. New to all of it? Our plain-English guide to how bail works in Texas walks through the whole process; the definitions below are the quick reference.
- Bail
- The amount of money or set of conditions a court requires to let an arrested person stay free while their case is pending, on the promise they'll come back to court. Bail is the broad requirement; a bond is how you satisfy it.
- Bond
- The actual financial instrument that secures release — the paperwork and money posted to satisfy bail. People use "bail" and "bond" interchangeably, but technically the bond is the mechanism that gets the person out the door.
- Cash bond
- Posting the full bail amount in cash (or money order or cashier's check) directly with the county. It's typically refundable at the end of the case — if the defendant made every required court appearance.
- Surety bond
- A bond posted by a licensed bail bondsman who guarantees the full amount to the court in exchange for a non-refundable fee (often around 10%). The bondsman is financially on the hook if the defendant skips court.
- Personal-recognizance (PR) bond
- Release on the defendant's written promise to appear, with no money up front, when a judge decides the person is low-risk. Also called a personal bond. It can still carry conditions like check-ins or monitoring.
- Attorney bond
- In Texas, a bond a licensed defense attorney is authorized to post for their own client, similar to a surety bond. It can let someone bond out while also lining up the lawyer who will handle the case.
- Bail bondsman
- A state-licensed business that posts a surety bond for a non-refundable fee so a defendant can be released. In Texas, bonding companies are regulated, and you can verify one through the Texas Department of Insurance.
- The non-refundable fee a bondsman charges to post a surety bond — commonly about 10% of the total bail. You don't get the premium back even if the case is later dismissed; it's the price of using a bondsman instead of paying full cash.
- Bond conditions
- Rules a judge attaches to release — no contact with an alleged victim, no alcohol or drugs, GPS or alcohol monitoring, a curfew, or surrendering firearms. Breaking a condition can get the bond revoked and land the person back in jail.
- Forfeiture
- What happens to a bond when a defendant fails to appear: the court can declare the bail forfeited, meaning the cash or the bondsman's guarantee is lost, and a warrant usually issues for the person's arrest.
- GPS / SCRAM monitoring
- Electronic monitoring sometimes required as a bond condition. A GPS ankle unit tracks location; a SCRAM device is an ankle monitor that continuously tests for alcohol through the skin. Both are typically paid for by the person on bond.
Court & hearing terms
Once someone is out (or even while they're still in), the case moves to court. Use our DFW court directory to find the right courthouse, then these definitions to decode the notices and settings.
- Arraignment
- An early court hearing where the defendant is formally told the charges and enters a plea — guilty, not guilty, or no contest. In some Texas courts this overlaps with the first court setting rather than being a separate date.
- Docket
- The court's official list of cases and the schedule of hearings for a given day or court. When someone says your case is "on the docket," they mean it's scheduled to be called in that court.
- Setting
- A scheduled court date for a specific stage of a case — an announcement setting, a pretrial setting, a plea setting, and so on. Each setting is a date you're expected to appear; missing one can trigger a warrant.
- Plea
- The defendant's formal answer to a charge: guilty, not guilty, or no contest (nolo contendere). "Taking a plea" can also refer to a negotiated agreement that resolves the case without a trial.
- Continuance
- A postponement of a court setting to a later date, granted by the judge — often so a defense attorney has time to prepare or because a party is unavailable. It resets the date; it doesn't cancel the obligation to appear.
- District court
- The Texas trial court that hears felony criminal cases (and larger civil matters). Felony charges from a DFW arrest are handled in a county's district courts, with the case file kept by the District Clerk.
- County court at law
- A Texas trial court that handles Class A and Class B misdemeanor criminal cases (and some civil matters). Most misdemeanors from a DFW arrest are heard here, with the file kept by the County Clerk.
- Municipal court
- A city court that handles Class C misdemeanors, traffic tickets, and city-ordinance violations — the lowest-level offenses, which carry only fines (no jail time) on conviction. Each DFW city runs its own.
- District clerk
- The county official who keeps the records for felony (district court) cases and runs the public case-search portals. Call the District Clerk to confirm a felony court date using the cause number.
- Prosecutor / DA
- The government lawyer — a District Attorney or County/Criminal District Attorney and their assistants — who files and prosecutes the charges on behalf of the State of Texas. The DA is the opposing side from the defense.
- Defense attorney
- The lawyer who represents the accused person, protects their rights, negotiates with the prosecutor, and presents a defense. They may be retained (privately hired) or court-appointed.
- Bench warrant
- A warrant a judge issues "from the bench," most often because a defendant missed a court setting. It authorizes police to arrest the person and bring them before the court. If you think one may be out for you or a family member, learn how to check for and lift one at liftmywarrant.com.
- Capias
- A type of arrest warrant ordering that a person be taken into custody and brought to court — commonly issued for a failure to appear or to pay a fine (a capias pro fine). In everyday terms it works just like a bench warrant.
- Failure to appear (FTA)
- Missing a required court date. An FTA can lead to a new charge, a bench warrant or capias, and forfeiture of any bond that was posted — which is why a missed setting is never something to ignore.
People & roles
A lot of confusion comes from not knowing who's who. Here are the people you'll deal with — or hear about — from the jail through the courtroom.
- Magistrate
- A judicial officer who handles a defendant's first appearance after arrest — reading the charges and rights and setting bond. A magistrate may be a judge of any level acting in that role, not a separate kind of judge.
- Judge
- The elected or appointed official who presides over a court, rules on legal questions, oversees hearings and trials, and imposes sentences after a conviction or plea. The judge over a case is usually different from the magistrate who set bond.
- Sheriff
- The elected county law-enforcement official who runs the county jail (detention facility) and the deputies who staff it. The Sheriff's Office handles bookings, custody, and the inmate-search system you use to find someone.
- Jailer / detention officer
- A licensed officer who works inside the jail — running intake, supervising housing units, and overseeing visitation. In Texas, jailers are licensed by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE).
- Bail bondsman
- The licensed business that posts a surety bond for a fee so a defendant can be released. (See the bond section above for how the surety bond and premium work.) Always verify a company is currently licensed before paying.
- Pretrial services
- A county program that screens arrestees and supervises people released on bond — verifying check-ins, monitoring conditions, and reporting back to the court. Judges often route personal (PR) bonds through pretrial services.
- Public defender vs. retained counsel
- A public defender or court-appointed attorney is provided when a defendant can't afford a lawyer; retained counsel is a private attorney the defendant or family hires directly. Both are licensed defense attorneys — the difference is who pays and how they're assigned.
Glossary FAQ
What's the difference between bail and bond?
Bail is the amount or set of conditions a court requires to release someone while the case is pending. A bond is how you actually satisfy that bail — the paperwork and money posted, whether a cash bond paid in full or a surety bond posted by a bondsman for a fee. People use the words interchangeably, but bail is the requirement and the bond is the mechanism.
What does "magistration" mean?
Magistration (an Article 15.17 hearing) is a defendant's first appearance before a magistrate after arrest, where the charges and rights are read and the bond amount is set. Texas law requires it without unnecessary delay and no later than 48 hours after arrest — which is why a bond amount often doesn't appear in the inmate search until magistration is done.
What is "money on the books"?
It means depositing funds into an inmate's commissary account so they can buy snacks, hygiene items, and phone or tablet time. DFW jails use vendors like Access Corrections, so you deposit online, through an app, by phone, or at a lobby kiosk — the jail itself does not take cash, checks, or money orders by mail.
Is a capias the same as a warrant?
A capias is a type of arrest warrant. It orders that a person be taken into custody and brought to court, often after a failure to appear or to pay a fine (a capias pro fine). In everyday terms it works just like a bench warrant. See the bench-warrant entry above for how to check for and clear one.
What's the difference between a district court and a county court at law?
In Texas, district courts hear felony criminal cases and their files are kept by the District Clerk. County courts at law hear Class A and Class B misdemeanors and their files are kept by the County Clerk. Which court has a case depends on the level of the charge, so the same county runs both.
What is an SO number and why do I need it?
An SO number is the Sheriff's Office booking ID assigned to a person when they enter the jail. You use it to look someone up in the inmate search, to address mail correctly, and to deposit money on their books. Having it makes every step faster and reduces the chance a deposit or piece of mail gets rejected.
Still confused — and a loved one is in jail?
If someone you care about was arrested anywhere in the DFW area, L&L Law Group can explain exactly what's happening and what to do next — free and confidential.