Arrested in Kaufman County - What to Expect

If you or a loved one have been arrested in Kaufman County it is important to understand the process and what to expect. At Guest and Gray, we have decades of experience defending clients in Kaufman County and understand the local system here better than any other criminal defense firm.

The largest jail in Kaufman County is the Sheriff’s office in Kaufman. Most bails in Kaufman County are set there. Until 2019 all bails at the Kaufman Sheriff’s office were set by the local JP judges, usually between 8-10 AM. However, recently two magistrate judges were hired to set bail and so those times may change.

Forney also has a city jail that can set bail and arraign defendants, but usually only for arrests by Forney PD, or in the Forney city limits. Those bails aren’t set at the same time every day. When we have a client with a warrant in Forney we usually call and ask what time the city judges will be available to set the bond.

Kaufman has a pre-trial release office that enforces bond conditions. If you make bail then you must be familiar with what conditions are attached to your bail. For example, in many DWI cases, you will be required to install an interlock device. In family violence cases you may be ordered to stay away from your home, or from the complaining witness. If you don’t comply with these bond conditions then your bond may be revoked.

The first step in getting a criminal case filed in Kaufman County is for the case to arrive in intake. Law enforcement will forward their investigation and case files to the District Attorney’s office. When it arrives at the DA’s office it goes to intake, where the case is assigned a prosecutor. Misdemeanor cases can be filed at any time after they are assigned to a prosecutor. Felony case have to go before the grand jury. It can take weeks or months for a case to be filed. Longer if evidence has to be lab tested (blood/drugs/DNA etc).

Once your case is filed or indicted you will get your first court date. First court settings in Kaufman County are routinely boring. Your first court date is not a trial setting, you are not going to testify, nothing important usually happens at a first setting. The most common discussion at the first setting is when we ask for discovery from the State. It can take a few court settings just to get all the evidence from the DA’s office, and to get the initial plea offer. Misdemeanor cases usually take 6 months to a year to finalize. Felony cases can take even longer, especially if they are set for trial. The longer your case takes the better usually. So be patient. One thing that sucks about having a case in Kaufman County is our judges require defendants to appear at each setting. It’s a giant time waste most of the time, and you will end up missing a lot of work just to hang out in the hallway of the courthouse.

Guest and Gray is the largest and highest-rated criminal defense team in Kaufman County. If you have a pending criminal case call our team today and schedule a consultation.