Dallas County Warrants

Which courts issue warrants in Dallas County

Dallas County is one of the busiest criminal jurisdictions in Texas, and the court that issued your warrant depends entirely on the level of the charge. Fine-only Class C citations come from the city municipal courts and the ten JP places; Class A and B misdemeanors come from the eleven county criminal courts; and felonies come from the seventeen district-level criminal courts. The Dallas County Sheriff serves all of them and runs the jail.

One detail trips up almost everyone the first time: Dallas does not name its misdemeanor benches “County Court at Law” the way neighboring counties do. Here they are called County Criminal Courts, numbered 1 through 11, and they sit alongside the felony courts inside the Frank Crowley complex. So your search for the right court starts with one question — was the offense a ticket, a jailable misdemeanor, or a felony — and the answer routes you to a specific clerk and a specific counter. The four tables below name every Dallas County court that can issue a warrant, with the presiding judge for each, and the clerks and Sheriff block that follows tells you where the file is stored and who does the arresting.

Bail in every one of these courts is set under the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 17, while fine-only Class C procedure follows Chapter 45. Find the court named on your paperwork in the tables below, or browse the sitewide Courts & Counties directory.

Dallas County Criminal District Courts 17 courts · felony

Seventeen district-level benches try felonies in Dallas County: the seven numbered Criminal District Courts and ten numbered Judicial District Courts that carry felony dockets. All of them sit in the Frank Crowley Courts Building, all of them file through the District Clerk, and an arrest on any of their warrants ends the same way — booking next door at Lew Sterrett. The court number printed on your indictment or notice is what points you to the right row.

Here is the part that saves you time: across all seventeen courts, the path from warrant to release is identical, so it is worth describing the path once and then letting the table do the rest. A felony warrant is served by the Sheriff; on arrest or surrender you are booked into the Lew Sterrett Justice Center, 111 W. Commerce St., Dallas, TX 75202, immediately next to the courthouse; and a magistrate sets or reviews your bond under Chapter 17. Where these courts genuinely differ is in the judge presiding and the specialty docket each runs — Dallas operates its diversion programs (DIVERT for felony drug cases, AIM, ATLAS, STAC, and the Veterans Treatment Court) as tracks layered onto these felony benches rather than as separate courthouses. The table gives you the judge and the docket; the rest of the mechanics you will find under how to clear.

Every felony case across these seventeen courts is filed and tracked through the Dallas County District Clerk inside Frank Crowley, so one clerk’s office — and the county’s Odyssey-backed online record search — covers all of them. To pin down a felony case number, setting, or bond amount, work from that single records desk rather than calling each courtroom. Note: 2026 is an election year and several of these benches were contested in the March primary, so verify the sitting judge against the Dallas County elected-officials roster before relying on a name here.

Dallas County Criminal Courts 11 trial courts + 2 appellate · Class A/B

Dallas County’s misdemeanor benches are called County Criminal Courts, numbered 1 through 11 — this is the county’s naming convention, not a County Court at Law setup. They try Class A and B misdemeanors (most DWI, theft, and assault-misdemeanor cases) and issue the bench and alias warrants those cases generate, all filed with the Dallas County Clerk. Two additional benches, the Courts of Criminal Appeals No. 1 and No. 2, sit at this level but hear appeals rather than try cases.

If your warrant is for a misdemeanor that can carry jail time, expect it to have come from one of the eleven numbered County Criminal Courts. The release mechanics match the felony side — Sheriff service, booking at Lew Sterrett, bond set under Chapter 17 — so that path is not repeated court-by-court below; you will find it under how to clear. Records for all eleven are held by the single Dallas County Clerk, whose misdemeanor office sits on the second floor of Frank Crowley across from the District Clerk. The two Courts of Criminal Appeals are included at the bottom of the table because Dallas residents often see them named on appellate paperwork — if a Class C conviction from a JP or municipal court is on appeal, it is heard here, but the warrant in your hand still originated at the trial court that wrote it.

Because all of the misdemeanor courts feed into one Dallas County Clerk, a single records office plus the county’s online case search covers every Class A and B warrant above — you will not need a different lookup for each court.

Dallas County Justice of the Peace Courts 5 precincts × 2 places · Class C

Dallas County splits its justice courts into five precincts, each with two places (Place 1 and Place 2), for ten JP benches in total. They handle Class C, fine-only matters filed at the county level and issue a capias pro fine warrant when a fine or court cost goes unpaid after judgment. Unlike the criminal courts clustered at Frank Crowley, the JP courts are spread across the county by precinct, so the office that holds your case depends on which precinct and place are printed on the citation.

A JP warrant is fine-only, which changes how you clear it: instead of posting a jail-release bond, you satisfy the balance, arrange a payment plan, or ask for an ability-to-pay hearing under Chapter 45. That mechanism is identical across all ten places and is laid out under how to clear. The variable is purely geographic — which precinct branch your case sits in and which judge presides. The table below lists each precinct-and-place pairing with its judge; the county does not publish a single consolidated address-and-phone list for every JP branch, so confirm the exact branch counter and direct line printed on the citation against the county’s JP-courts directory before you drive out.

Each JP place keeps its own counter and case lookup, so confirm a JP warrant with the precinct and place named on your citation, then clear it with the fine-only path under how to clear a Dallas County warrant.

Municipal courts in Dallas County city courts · Class C

Most Dallas County residents who get a warrant get it from a city, not the county. Every incorporated city in the county runs its own municipal court for Class C traffic and ordinance citations, and those courts issue alias and capias pro fine warrants of their own — entirely separate from the Frank Crowley system. The City of Dallas Municipal Court alone moves an enormous citation volume. The city where the ticket was written, not the county courthouse, is the office that holds and clears that warrant.

City warrants run on the same fine-only logic as the JP courts: most are alias warrants (a missed setting before judgment) or capias pro fine warrants (an unpaid fine after judgment), and you clear them by resolving the case, paying, setting up a plan, or requesting an ability-to-pay hearing under Chapter 45 — the route detailed under how to clear a Dallas County warrant. Because each city keeps its own court, judge, and case lookup, start with the dedicated page for the city named on your ticket. We have full warrant pages for these Dallas County cities:

Dozens of other Dallas County cities and towns run municipal courts too. If your citation came from one of these, it is the city — not the county — that holds the warrant:

• Carrollton (also Denton/Collin)
• Rowlett (also Rockwall)
• Lancaster
• Cedar Hill
• Duncanville
• Balch Springs
• Farmers Branch
• University Park
• Highland Park (town)
• Coppell (also Denton)
• Seagoville
• Sachse (also Collin)
• Wilmer
• Hutchins
• Glenn Heights (also Ellis)
• Cockrell Hill
• Addison (town)
• Sunnyvale (town)
• Combine (also Kaufman)
• Ovilla (also Ellis)

Dallas County clerks & Sheriff

Two clerks split the Dallas County case files by level, and the Sheriff handles enforcement and the jail. The District Clerk keeps felony (district court) records, the County Clerk keeps misdemeanor (county criminal court) records on the second floor of Frank Crowley, and the Dallas County Sheriff serves warrants and operates the Lew Sterrett jail. The county’s online record search reaches both criminal levels.

Dallas County District Clerk (felony records)

The Dallas County District Clerk — Hon. Felicia Pitre, in the Frank Crowley Courts Building, 133 N. Riverfront Blvd., Dallas, TX 75207, is the custodian of felony court records. Felony case data is available online back to 1975, with document images for most cases filed after 2009 (the felony Odyssey system went live May 1, 2023). Felony records desk: (214) 653-5950.

Dallas County Clerk (Class A / B misdemeanor records)

The Dallas County Clerk — Hon. John F. Warren is the custodian of misdemeanor and county-criminal-court records, with an office on the second floor of the Frank Crowley Courts Building, across from the District Clerk. Misdemeanor records: (214) 653-5767 or (214) 653-5762.

Dallas County Sheriff (enforcement)

The Dallas County Sheriff — Marian Brown serves and enforces warrants countywide; the Sheriff’s administration sits at the Frank Crowley / Lew Sterrett complex, 133 N. Riverfront Blvd., Dallas, TX 75207. Confirm a current warrant-division or records direct line before relying on it.

Lew Sterrett Justice Center (booking)

If you are arrested or surrender on a county-level (misdemeanor or felony) warrant, booking is at the Dallas County Jail — Lew Sterrett Justice Center, 111 W. Commerce St., Dallas, TX 75202, immediately next to Frank Crowley. The complex includes the North Tower, West Tower, and the Suzanne Lee Kays Detention Center. Inmate information is commonly reached at (214) 761-9025, with (214) 653-3504 also cited for main booking. City (municipal) and JP Class C warrants are typically handled at the issuing city court or city jail, not at Lew Sterrett.

How to check for a Dallas County warrant

Dallas County has no single public “active warrant” database, so checking takes a little routing. Use the county’s online record search for felony and misdemeanor cases, contact the issuing city court for a ticket, and — because walking into a counter can trigger an arrest — consider having a lawyer confirm the warrant quietly first.

The county’s entry point is the Dallas County Online Record Search (the Odyssey-backed Judicial Search at dallascounty.org), which reaches criminal, civil, probate, and county cases. Because that search returns case records rather than a live warrant list, an outstanding warrant is usually confirmed through the case file, the District or County Clerk, the Sheriff’s warrant division, or the relevant JP or municipal court. For a city ticket, go straight to that city’s municipal court — each keeps its own lookup. The catch is the one Dallas defendants run into every day: a public search can miss a warrant, and showing up in person to ask can end in handcuffs, so the lowest-risk route is to have a defense lawyer verify it on your behalf. Our guide on how to find out if you have a warrant walks through each option in order.

How to clear a Dallas County warrant

Clearing a Dallas County warrant comes down to four moves: pin down the issuing court, confirm the charge and bond, pick a path with a lawyer, and then appear with the bond posted or the matter resolved. Done through counsel, the difference is often a planned same-day surrender at Lew Sterrett instead of a roadside arrest.

1. Pin down which Dallas County court issued the warrant. Sort it into one of four buckets — city municipal court, JP place, county criminal court, or criminal district court — because that bucket sets the procedure and the clerk you deal with.
2. Confirm the charge, the bond, and whether a hold is attached. Check the underlying case or citation, the bond amount, and whether a detainer or hold would block an ordinary bond at Lew Sterrett.
3. Pick your path with a lawyer: post a bond for a court setting, file a motion to recall, or pay or contest the fine — the right move depends on the warrant type and why it issued.
4. Appear on the set date with the bond or resolution in hand. Show up at the correct Dallas County court with the bond posted or the case resolved so the judge recalls the warrant and the matter moves forward.

For the complete walk-through, see how to lift a warrant, and weigh your options in bond vs. surrender.

How a lawyer helps in Dallas County

In a county this size, a defense lawyer’s real value is navigation: confirming the warrant, naming the issuing court, arranging a walk-through bond at Lew Sterrett where one is available, filing a motion to recall, and standing with you at Frank Crowley to resolve the underlying case. The aim is to turn an unplanned arrest into a scheduled, controlled appearance.

L and L Law Group is a Frisco criminal-defense firm led by Co-Founding Partners Reggie London and Njeri London, and the firm appears on warrant matters throughout Dallas County — the criminal district and county criminal courts at Frank Crowley, the ten JP places, and the city municipal courts in Dallas, Garland, Irving, Mesquite, and beyond. When you are ready, the firm can verify the warrant, estimate the likely bond, line up release ahead of time at Lew Sterrett, and appear with you at the courthouse. Learn more about the L&L Law Group team, or read about this resource.

Related

Dallas County warrant FAQ

This page is general legal information about Texas law, not legal advice for your specific situation. Judge assignments, court contacts, and procedures change — verify current details with the relevant Dallas County court or a licensed Texas attorney. Last reviewed June 22, 2026.