Lavaca County
20,651 people, served by 8 police agencies that report to the FBI.
How a case moves here
Lavaca County follows Texas law on arrests, release, and courts. These rules are the same in every county in the state; the full set covers prosecutors, defense, and jails too.
- Who decides release first
A magistrate sets bail first, at the hearing that must follow arrest. Magistrates include judges of every level, justices of the peace, and, in some counties, appointed criminal law magistrates. In misdemeanors, a sheriff, officer, or licensed jailer may take bail, and many counties use bond schedules signed by judges.
Tex. Code Crim. Proc. arts. 17.027, 17.20 to 17.22Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 15.17- Time to see a judge
A person arrested must be taken before a magistrate without unnecessary delay and no later than 48 hours after arrest. The magistrate gives the warnings, sets bail, and can appoint a lawyer. The hearing may be held by video.
Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 15.17(a)- Money bail
Texas allows money bail. Since voters approved Proposition 3 in November 2025, a judge must deny bail for murder, aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, aggravated sexual assault, and several other felonies when the state proves flight risk or danger at a hearing, and must explain in writing any grant of bail on those charges.
Tex. Const. art. I, secs. 11 to 11dTex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 17.15- Courts
District courts try felonies. Each county has a constitutional county court, and larger counties add county courts at law; these hear Class A and B misdemeanors. Justice courts and city municipal courts hear Class C misdemeanors, which carry only a fine.
Texas Office of Court Administration, The Texas Judicial System (2025)- Judges and magistrates
Voters choose district judges in partisan elections for four-year terms, and the governor fills vacancies until the next election. County judges, county court at law judges, and justices of the peace also win partisan elections for four-year terms. Justices of the peace and most constitutional county judges need not be lawyers; most municipal judges are appointed by the city council.
Texas Office of Court Administration, The Texas Judicial System (2025), "Selection and terms"
Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. Prop 3 (2025) changed when bail must be denied, not whether money bail exists. Appointed criminal law magistrates exist only in counties with an enabling section in Gov't Code ch. 54, such as Harris, Dallas, Bexar, and Travis. Counts of public defender offices change often; check TIDC before quoting a number.
What this county does differently
Nothing county-specific yet
Cities and towns
- Yoakum5,846
- Hallettsville2,755
- Shiner2,154
- Moulton town884
Every city, village, town, and township with any of its land in Lavaca County, largest first. Population, the whole place's: Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024.
Police agencies
- Lavaca County Sheriff's OfficeSheriff or county police10,966 served
- Yoakum Police DepartmentCity police department5,865 served
- Hallettsville Police DepartmentCity police department2,747 served
- Shiner Police DepartmentCity police department2,175 served
- Moulton Police DepartmentCity police department858 served
- Lavaca County Constable: Precinct 2Other agency
- Lavaca County Constable: Precinct 3Other agency
- Lavaca County Constable: Precinct 4Other agency
Agencies: FBI NIBRS master file 2025 batch headers; names from the FBI agency list, pulled 2026-09-29. An agency that serves several counties appears on each. Population served is the FBI's figure.
Crime
The crime index
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Per 100k | Texas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 28 | 35 | 35 | 42 | 44 | 165 | 411 |
| Murder | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 6.1 | |
| Rape | 3 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 31 | 53 |
| Robbery | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 67 | |
| Aggravated assault | 24 | 23 | 23 | 31 | 37 | 124 | 285 |
| Property crime | 130 | 117 | 112 | 148 | 120 | 564 | 2,123 |
| Burglary | 36 | 28 | 31 | 31 | 30 | 140 | 303 |
| Larceny | 78 | 78 | 70 | 99 | 82 | 366 | 1,493 |
| Motor vehicle theft | 16 | 11 | 11 | 18 | 8 | 58 | 327 |
| Arson | 2 | 6 | 6 | 5 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 9.2 |
Outside the crime index
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Per 100k | Texas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All offenses outside the crime index | 265 | 292 | 341 | 318 | 370 | 1,425 | 2,904 |
| Simple assault and intimidation | 92 | 104 | 112 | 106 | 103 | 465 | 1,172 |
| Vandalism | 51 | 48 | 52 | 32 | 63 | 221 | 534 |
| Fraud | 15 | 23 | 26 | 10 | 27 | 91 | 312 |
| Drug abuse violations | 72 | 74 | 119 | 131 | 125 | 468 | 602 |
| Weapons: carrying, possessing, etc. | 7 | 9 | 13 | 19 | 18 | 59 | 109 |
| Stolen property: buying, receiving, possessing | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 17 |
| Forgery and counterfeiting | 14 | 18 | 9 | 7 | 13 | 55 | 64 |
| Embezzlement | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 8.6 | ||||
| Sex offenses (except rape and prostitution) | 7 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 26 | 27 |
| Other Group A offenses | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 26 | 48 |
Offenses agencies in Lavaca County reported to the FBI in incident detail (NIBRS), each year, the second table by the arrest class each offense falls in. Per 100k: offenses per 100,000 people the reporting agencies police, 2021 to 2025 added together, beside Texas's rate over the same years. Agencies that reported part of a year are counted with their people, as the state's rates count them. – means too few for a rate: the count is under 20.
Source: FBI NIBRS national master files, each agency's offenses and the FBI's population for it. Texas: the crime index: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, CrimeDB's chosen value per year (the state page's figures); outside it: FBI NIBRS, agencies that sent incident detail.