Assault Bail Bonds in San Marcos: How Bail Works for an Assault Charge in Hays County

Assault bail bonds in San Marcos start with a Hays County magistrate, who sets bail and any conditions for release. The level of the assault charge, from a Class C misdemeanor to a felony aggravated assault, shapes both. Bobcat Bail Bonds can post a surety bond once bail is set, 24 hours a day.

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How do assault bail bonds in San Marcos work?

After an assault arrest in San Marcos, the person is generally booked into the Hays County Jail and taken before a magistrate within 48 hours. The magistrate sets bail and any conditions of release. Once bail is set, a licensed bail bond company like Bobcat Bail Bonds can post a surety bond for the full amount.

That is the short version. The longer version depends on one thing more than any other: which level of assault the person is charged with. In Texas, “assault” covers everything from a threat or an unwanted shove to a felony with a weapon. The level shapes how much bail is set, which kinds of bond are allowed, and which conditions come with release.

Below, we walk through the charge levels, how the level affects bail, the conditions a magistrate can attach, and what you need to have ready when you call.

Assault charge levels in Texas

Texas assault law sits in Chapter 22 of the Penal Code. Section 22.01 covers assault, and Section 22.02 covers aggravated assault.

Assault under Section 22.01

Section 22.01 describes three ways to commit assault:

• causing bodily injury to another person, intentionally, knowingly or recklessly
• intentionally or knowingly threatening another person with imminent bodily injury
• intentionally or knowingly causing physical contact the person knows, or should reasonably believe, the other will find offensive or provocative

The level of the charge depends on which of those it is, and who the other person is.

The Penal Code lists several people for whom bodily-injury assault becomes a third-degree felony. The list includes a public servant lawfully discharging an official duty, a security officer, emergency services personnel, hospital personnel on hospital property, a process server, a utility worker on the job, and a person the actor knows is pregnant. Offensive or provocative contact can also move above Class C in listed cases, for example when it is against an elderly or disabled person.

Aggravated assault under Section 22.02

An assault becomes aggravated assault when the person causes serious bodily injury, or uses or exhibits a deadly weapon during the assault. Aggravated assault is a second-degree felony. It becomes a first-degree felony in listed situations, such as an aggravated assault against a public servant doing an official duty. A first-degree felony carries 5 to 99 years or life in prison and a fine up to $10,000.

Assault on a family member, household member or dating partner

Assault against a family member, a member of the household or a dating partner has its own rules in Section 22.01, including felony levels based on a past conviction or on choking or blocking someone’s breathing. These cases are also handled under the state’s family violence rules. We cover them on a separate page: family violence bail bonds in San Marcos.

What level a particular arrest will be charged at, and what it means for the case, is a legal question a bail bond company cannot answer.

How the charge level changes bail and bond conditions

Texas has no set bail amount for an assault. The magistrate decides case by case, and Article 17.15 of the Code of Criminal Procedure tells the magistrate what to weigh. Several of those factors bear directly on assault cases.

The magistrate considers, among other things:

• the nature of the offense and its circumstances, including whether it is an offense involving violence, or violence directed at a peace officer
• the future safety of the alleged victim, law enforcement and the community
• the person’s criminal history, including family violence, other pending charges and past failures to appear in court
• the person’s ability to make bail
• that bail should be enough to give reasonable assurance the person will appear, but must not be used as an instrument of oppression

Personal bonds and “offenses involving violence”

Texas law defines a list of “offenses involving violence.” Aggravated assault is on it. So is bodily-injury assault in two cases: when it is a second-degree felony, such as an assault on a peace officer or judge, and when it is a felony involving family violence.

That list matters in three ways. A person charged with an offense involving violence generally may not be released on a personal bond, which is a signed promise to appear without posting money. The magistrate must weigh the violence when setting bail. And a sheriff, officer or jailer may not set the bail amount for that person; they can only take bail in the amount set by a magistrate or court.

A misdemeanor assault is not on that list, though other rules can still bar a personal bond, for example when the person was already out on bail for an offense involving violence. Otherwise a personal bond may be possible, but it is the magistrate’s decision. In Hays County, pretrial officers at Judicial Services interview people in custody at the jail and make a release recommendation to the magistrate, and the magistrate decides.

When a personal bond is not granted, the choices are a cash bond for the full amount, or a surety bond posted by a bail bond company. Our guide on how bail bonds work in Hays County explains all three kinds of bond side by side.

Bond conditions that can come with an assault charge

Getting out on bond means agreeing to conditions. Some apply to almost everyone, and some are added because of the charge or the facts of the case.

Hays County Judicial Services lists standard conditions for people under its pretrial supervision:

• report to Judicial Services after release
• stay arrest-free
• abstain from alcohol and drugs, and submit to drug testing
• pay any fees the court assesses
• tell the pretrial officer about a change of address, phone number or job

The judge decides any added conditions. Texas law also lets a magistrate require home confinement with electronic monitoring as a condition of release on bond. Hays County’s electronic monitoring unit supervises high-risk defendants the courts order onto GPS ankle or wrist devices.

Following the conditions

Conditions are part of the bond. If the magistrate finds that a monitoring condition was broken, the law allows the bond to be revoked and the person arrested again. The county says bond conditions can only be removed by court order, so a condition stays in place until a judge changes it.

Missing a court date is just as serious. The bond paperwork lists when and where to appear. Keep it somewhere safe.

What to have ready when you call about an assault bond

You do not need everything on this list to start. Bring what you have, and we can work out the rest together.

These details help us move without delay:

• the person’s full legal name and date of birth
• where they are held (for an arrest in San Marcos, usually the Hays County Jail at 1307 Uhland Road)
• the charge, if you know it, and whether it is listed as a misdemeanor or felony
• the bail amount, if it has been set
• the name and phone number of the person who will sign for the bond
• how you plan to pay: we take credit and debit cards, Zelle and Venmo

If you are not sure where the person is or whether bail has been set, our Hays County Jail inmate search guide shows how to look them up. The jail’s bond information line is 512-393-7807.

How Bobcat Bail Bonds posts an assault bond

Bobcat Bail Bonds is based in San Marcos and works across Hays County. Our owner has years of experience as a bail bond agent and runner. Someone picks up at any hour, every day of the week, in English or Spanish.

Here is how it works with us, step by step.

1. You call or start online. Call (737) 414-0422, or start on our online bail bond application. The form asks for optional case details only, never ID or account numbers.

2. We check the case. We confirm the charge, the bail amount and any conditions the magistrate set, and we tell you plainly what the bond will require.

3. The paperwork is signed. The person who signs takes on responsibility for the defendant showing up in court. Read our page on co-signing a bail bond before you agree.

4. You pay the fee. Bail bond fees are set case by case, and qualified applicants may be eligible for payment plans. Our guide on what a bail bond costs in Hays County explains how the fee differs from the bail amount.

5. We post the bond at the jail. The Hays County Jail processes bonds in the order they are received, and it cannot give a specific release time. Nobody can honestly promise one.

6. We stay in touch. Call us with any question about the bond for as long as it is open.

What a bail bond company can and cannot do in an assault case

Our part is the bond: once a magistrate sets bail on the assault charge, we post it and walk you through every promise the paperwork contains.

A bail bond company cannot give legal advice, cannot predict the outcome of a case, and cannot get a charge reduced or a condition removed. Under Texas law, it also may not recommend or suggest a lawyer or law firm to a bond client. Questions about the charge itself are legal questions a bail bond company cannot answer.

If someone you care about was arrested for assault in San Marcos, Kyle, Buda or anywhere else in Hays County, call us at (737) 414-0422, or contact Bobcat Bail Bonds. If the arrest came from a warrant, see our page on warrant bail bonds in San Marcos.

This page is general information, not legal advice, and it may not fit your situation. Bail law and local procedures change; the sources below show where each fact came from. Bobcat Bail Bonds is a bail bond company, not a law firm. We cannot give legal advice and we do not recommend lawyers.