DWI Bail Bonds in San Marcos: DWI and DUI Bonds for Hays County

Bobcat Bail Bonds writes DWI bail bonds in San Marcos and across Hays County, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Once a magistrate sets bail, we can post a surety bond at the Hays County Jail so your family member does not have to wait out the case in custody. Se habla español.

Need help right now? Call (737) 414-0422. Open 24 hours, 7 days a week. Se habla español.

Who posts DWI bail bonds in San Marcos?

Bobcat Bail Bonds posts DWI bail bonds in San Marcos and the rest of Hays County, and we answer the phone 24 hours a day. After a magistrate sets bail, we write a surety bond for the full amount and post it at the Hays County Jail. Your family pays our fee instead of the whole bail.

A DWI arrest often happens late at night, and the call to family comes even later. You do not need to know the legal terms to call us. Tell us who was arrested and where, and we will tell you what happens next and what we need from you.

If you want the full picture of the process first, from the stop to the first court date, read our guide on DWI bail in Hays County. This page is about the bond itself: what changes it, what can come with it and how we post it.

DWI or DUI: which bond does your family member need?

The bond is the same either way. Texas law calls the adult charge driving while intoxicated, or DWI. Many people say “DUI” for the same thing, so search for whichever word you know and you will end up in the same place.

When “DUI” is the right word

In Texas, DUI is the name of a separate offense for a minor. It is illegal for a driver under 21 to drive with any detectable amount of alcohol in their system, even below the level that counts as intoxicated. For a first offense, that is a Class C misdemeanor under the Alcoholic Beverage Code.

A driver under 21 can still be charged with DWI if the officer believes they were intoxicated. The charge on the booking record is what matters for the bond, so ask the jail or check the record before you call, and we will work from that.

What changes bail on a DWI charge?

The level of the charge changes bail more than anything else. A first DWI is a misdemeanor; some DWI charges are felonies. Texas has no fixed bail amount for any of them. The magistrate sets bail for each person, so we never quote a “usual” DWI bail figure.

The charge levels

These are the DWI charges we see most, from the least serious up:

• First DWI. A Class B misdemeanor in most cases. It rises to a Class A misdemeanor if a test result of 0.15 or more is shown at trial.
• Second DWI. A Class A misdemeanor when the person has one earlier conviction for an intoxication offense.
• Third DWI. A third-degree felony when the person has two earlier intoxication convictions.
• DWI with a child passenger. A state jail felony when a passenger was younger than 15.
• Intoxication assault. A third-degree felony when someone else suffered serious bodily injury because the driver was intoxicated.

Our DWI bail in Hays County guide has the full table with the punishment range for each level. Which level applies in a particular case, and what it means for the outcome, is a legal question a bail bond company cannot answer.

What else the magistrate weighs

Texas law gives the magistrate a list of things to consider when setting bail. It includes the nature of the offense, the safety of the community and any victim, the person’s criminal history, past failures to appear in court, and the person’s ability to make bail. A felony DWI with an injury and a first DWI with no accident are very different cases, and bail can reflect that.

Bond conditions a magistrate can order in a DWI case

Bail is not just an amount. A magistrate can attach conditions to the bond, and breaking one can get the bond revoked and send the person back to jail. Read the conditions on the bond paperwork carefully, and keep a copy where the whole family can find it.

Ignition interlock under Article 17.441

For some DWI charges, Texas law tells the magistrate to order an ignition interlock as a condition of release. That applies to a repeat DWI, DWI with a child passenger, intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter, among others. The only way around it is a finding by the magistrate that an interlock would not be in the best interest of justice.

When an interlock is ordered, three things follow:

• The device goes on the person’s own vehicle or the one they drive most.
• It has to be installed before the 30th day after release, and the defendant pays for it.
• While the condition is in place, the person may not drive any vehicle that does not have one.

That last point catches families out. Borrowing a relative’s car while the interlock is on the other one is a bond violation.

Other conditions you may see

For a first DWI, an interlock is not required by that statute, but the magistrate can still set conditions. In Hays County, the pretrial officers at Judicial Services supervise people on bond and work with several alcohol monitoring devices: ignition interlocks, portable alcohol monitors that take breath samples, and ankle devices that detect alcohol through the skin. Standard conditions in their guide include reporting after release, staying arrest-free and not using alcohol or drugs.

Judicial Services says bond conditions can only be removed by a court order. If a condition seems impossible to meet, that is a question for the court, not for us.

The license hearing deadline is a separate clock

A DWI arrest usually starts a driver’s license suspension process with the Texas Department of Public Safety, and it has a 15-day deadline to request a hearing. That deadline has nothing to do with bail, and posting a bond does not pause it.

We mention it here because families focused on getting someone out of jail often miss it. The dates, the suspension periods and how the process works are explained in our guide to DWI bail and the 15-day license deadline. Whether to request a hearing is a legal question.

How Bobcat posts a DWI bond in Hays County

People arrested for DWI in San Marcos are generally booked into the Hays County Jail on Uhland Road. Texas law says they must see a magistrate no later than 48 hours after the arrest, and Hays County holds those hearings every day of the year. Here is how the bond works with us once that happens.

Step by step

This is the order things usually go in:

1. You call us or start online. Call (737) 414-0422 at any hour, or fill in the short form on our start a bail bond online page and we will call you back.
2. We confirm the details. We look up the booking, the charge and the bail amount if it has been set. If you are not sure where the person is held, our Hays County Jail inmate search guide shows how to look them up.
3. You sign and pay. The co-signer signs the bond agreement with us and pays the fee. Bail bond fees are set case by case, and qualified applicants may be eligible for payment plans.
4. We post the bond. We post a surety bond with the jail for the full bail amount.
5. The jail releases the person. The Hays County Jail processes bonds in the order it receives them and says it cannot give a specific release time, so we do not promise one either.

In Hays County, a bail bond company must be licensed by the Hays County Bail Bond Board to write bonds, and Bobcat is licensed by the Hays County Bail Bond Board. The jail’s own staff may not recommend a bondsman, so the family picks one.

What to have ready when you call

A few details make the call shorter:

• The person’s full legal name and date of birth
• Where they are held, and the booking number if you have it
• The charge and the bail amount, if bail has been set
• Your photo ID, if you will be the co-signer

If you are thinking about signing for someone, read what co-signing a bail bond means first. It explains the promise you make and what happens if a court date is missed.

Paying for the bond

We take credit and debit cards, Zelle and Venmo. A payment plan can spread the fee out for qualified applicants. For more on how bond fees and bail amounts work in this county, see what a bail bond costs in Hays County.

After release: keeping the bond in good standing

Once the person is out, the job is to keep every promise on the bond. That means going to every court date and following every condition. Most first and second DWI charges are misdemeanors, and the Hays County Courts at Law hear Class A and B misdemeanor cases. Write the court dates down, and tell us at once if anything changes, such as a new phone number or address.

If the person misses court, the court can declare the bond forfeited and enter a judgment against the defendant and the sureties. If you think a date may be missed, call us before it happens. For a wider look at how bonds work here, read how bail bonds work in Hays County.

DWI is not the only charge we bond. If the arrest came with other charges, we also post felony bail bonds in San Marcos and misdemeanor bail bonds, and we serve towns across the county, from Kyle to Dripping Springs.

Talk to us now

Someone answers at (737) 414-0422 day and night, in English or Spanish. Our owner has years of experience as a bail bond agent and runner, and we will tell you straight what we can do. You can also contact Bobcat Bail Bonds by message. We do not write immigration bonds.

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.