Kendall County Criminal Court Cases
Kendall County criminal court cases are divided by jurisdiction. The 451st and 498th Judicial District Courts can hear felonies. The Kendall County District Clerk keeps those felony files in Suite 201 of the courthouse at 201 East San Antonio Avenue in Boerne. Misdemeanor case questions go to the County Clerk in Suite 127. Four justice courts keep the matters assigned to their statutory dockets, while Boerne and Fair Oaks Ranch municipal courts keep their own fine-only city cases. The court page for the 498th Judicial District Court confirms that felony inquiries belong with the District Clerk and misdemeanor inquiries with the County Clerk.
The clerk is the custodian of the filed case, even when another agency made the arrest. A Kendall County court file begins when a complaint, information, or indictment reaches the proper court. It then gathers docket events, motions, hearings, court orders, plea entries, the charge-by-charge disposition, and any sentence. The sheriff's booking file remains a separate custody record. That distinction matters because the charge received at booking may be changed, rejected, or refiled before judgment.
Choosing Kendall County's Criminal Case Clerk
Start with the level of the filed charge, not just the agency name on an arrest entry. A felony in Kendall County routes to the District Clerk, whether the arrest began with the sheriff, Boerne Police, Fair Oaks Ranch Police, a constable, or Texas DPS. A Class A or B misdemeanor routes to the County Clerk. A fine-only city citation usually remains with the city municipal court, and a justice-court matter stays with the relevant precinct. Fair Oaks Ranch spans three counties, so the city name by itself does not prove that Kendall County holds the case.
The Boerne Municipal Court service page shows the local court channel used for Boerne matters.
Its separate service path helps keep a city citation from being sent to the Kendall County District Clerk by mistake.
The courthouse clerks share the same street address but not the same records role. The District Clerk can be reached at 830-249-9343 and has public-counter hours from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. The County Clerk's published extension is 231. Court coordinator extensions are for scheduling, not a substitute for a record request.
Searching Kendall County Case Records
A Kendall County criminal case search works best when the request names the party, cause number, approximate year, and exact document sought. The District Clerk has a web record-search form for felony files and archive work. If a case number is unknown, call the clerk because the published form displays it as required. Ask for the judgment or charge-level disposition when the final result matters. A docket label can be brief, while the signed document states the court's actual action.
- Identify whether the filed matter is a felony, misdemeanor, city citation, or justice-court case, then choose the matching Kendall County clerk.
- Search or submit the official clerk form using the party name, cause number when known, and the estimated filing year.
- Review each charge, event, and status separately. A single cause can contain more than one charge with different outcomes.
- Request the filed charging instrument, signed judgment, and sentence or dismissal order rather than relying only on the docket caption.
- Ask for a certified copy when proof from the Kendall County clerk is needed, and confirm the current copy charge before ordering.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Format or Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Party Name(s) | Text | Yes | Defendant or other party name |
| Case Number | Text | Shown as required | Call the clerk if genuinely unknown |
| Estimated Date(s) or Year | Text | Yes | Key detail for an archive search |
| Requesting Information Regarding | Text | Yes | Name the felony record, order, judgment, copy, or case status |
| Requestor's Name | Text | Yes | Contact identity |
| Requestor's Email | Yes | Must be confirmed in a second field | |
| Requestor's Phone Number | Telephone | Yes | Used for questions about the request |
| Email Copy | Checkbox | Optional | Sends a confirmation copy |
Older Kendall County Criminal Court Searches
When a Kendall County felony case predates 2010, the District Clerk publishes an archive-search charge of $5 per person plus $5 per decade. Give the narrowest likely time span. A full legal name, alternate spelling, estimated year, and known cause number help the clerk distinguish an archive request from open-ended research. The office is required to produce existing records, not create an account of what happened or answer a legal question. For a broad records request outside the case-file process, Kendall County instructs requestors to send it to the department head who maintains the document.
The county's public-information request instructions explain that routing rule, and its request form provides the general submission fields.
The page is useful for finding the proper custodian, but the clerk's own case-copy process remains the direct route for a filed judgment or docket.
Ask about plain and certified copies before paying. The research did not locate a current official criminal-copy price for all documents, so no single amount should be assumed. District Clerk credit-card transactions require identification, and cards are not accepted by telephone.
Inside a Kendall County Case File
A Kendall County case file is organized around a cause number and court. It can show the State of Texas and defendant as parties, assigned attorneys, filed charges, court settings, bond entries, orders, plea, outcome, and sentence. The charging instrument is crucial because it identifies what the prosecutor actually filed. The judgment or dismissal order is more reliable than an early arrest label when the reader needs the final result.
| Cause Number and Court | Identifies the Kendall County court, case type, status, filing date, and assigned judge. |
|---|---|
| Charging Document | Shows the complaint, information, or indictment and the filed statute and offense grade. |
| Docket Entries | Lists filings, settings, motions, plea events, warrants or capias entries, orders, and closure. |
| Hearing Details | May show the date, time, hearing type, courtroom, and judge. |
| Disposition and Judgment | Records the result for each charge, such as conviction, dismissal, acquittal, or deferred adjudication. |
| Sentence and Financial Entries | May state custody, community supervision, fine, costs, restitution, and payment entries that are public. |
Document access varies. A public index entry does not guarantee that every filing can be downloaded. The clerk may need to produce a copy, apply lawful redactions, or withhold a sealed document.
Kendall County Criminal Court Terms
Texas court terms can look alike while describing very different results. Read each Kendall County charge and its signed disposition. A dismissal ends prosecution on that charge without a conviction, while an acquittal is a not-guilty outcome. Deferred adjudication postpones a finding of guilt while court conditions are completed; it is not the same as a dismissal and may still be reported under Texas law.
- Indictment
- A felony charging instrument returned as a true bill by a grand jury.
- Information
- A prosecutor-filed charging instrument commonly used for a misdemeanor.
- Disposition
- The status or result that resolves a charge, including conviction, dismissal, or acquittal.
- Deferred adjudication
- A court defers a guilt finding while the person completes ordered conditions.
- Community supervision
- The Texas term commonly used for probation supervision ordered in a case.
Note: A Kendall County cause may have several charges, so one closed label should never be treated as every charge's result.
How a Criminal Case Moves
After an arrest, the prosecutor decides what charge to file, if any. A felony filing goes to a Kendall County district court, while a misdemeanor goes through the county misdemeanor court and clerk. Arraignment addresses the accusation and plea. Pretrial work can include discovery, motions, bond issues, and settings. The case may resolve through a plea or trial, followed by a charge-level disposition and any sentence. Each stage can create a new docket entry, but the event date is not itself proof of a final outcome.
Case flow: Charges Filed → Arraignment → Pretrial → Plea or Trial → Disposition → Sentencing
Kendall County now has two district courts, the 451st and 498th. New court capacity can change calendar assignment, but it does not change the custodian. The District Clerk still holds the felony file. A reader who sees either district number should use the same clerk channel, then rely on the assigned court for scheduling information. The baseline felony and misdemeanor grades come from Texas Penal Code Chapter 12, although enhancements and offense-specific laws can alter a range.
Kendall County Criminal Case Counsel
A person with a pending Kendall County criminal case who cannot afford counsel can use the county's official indigent-defense process. Pretrial Services and Indigent Defense is located at 37131 I-10 West, Suite 102, Boerne. The director line is 830-388-7751, and the indigent-defense coordinator is reached at 830-264-5975. The office screens applications and links the Affidavit of Indigence. The clerk can provide a file, but clerk staff do not decide eligibility and cannot give legal advice.
The Criminal District Attorney, in courthouse Suite 306, is the prosecutor and keeps a separate designated public-information channel at CDAPIR@co.kendall.tx.us. Sending a request to that address does not require the office to create research or answer questions. It is used for existing prosecution-office records that are subject to release, while filed pleadings and judgments remain with the clerk.
Kendall County Municipal Criminal Cases
City cases should not be folded into the Kendall County district search. Boerne Municipal Court handles its limited city docket, and Fair Oaks Ranch offers a separate vendor search for eligible citation accounts. Fair Oaks Ranch crosses Kendall, Bexar, and Comal counties, so confirm the issuing court and county rather than inferring the file location from the city alone.
The official Fair Oaks Ranch court search illustrates this separate citation channel.
A missing vendor result does not prove that no warrant, citation, or county case exists. Check the court shown on the original notice and contact its clerk.
Justice-court records are also separate. Kendall County has four justice precincts, each with its own docket. A fine-only offense or capias tied to a justice court should be checked with that precinct, not treated as a felony clerk case. Federal prosecutions from Kendall County belong to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, and their public dockets are searched through PACER rather than a county clerk.
Case Record Access & Restrictions
Many adult Kendall County criminal court records can be inspected, but access is not absolute. Juvenile material, victim-identifying data, sealed records, expunged records, and information made confidential by statute can be withheld or redacted. Texas Government Code Chapter 552 governs executive-branch public information, but ordinary court case records are governed by common law, statutes, and court rules rather than treated as a routine agency request. Texas Rule of Judicial Administration 12 concerns administrative judicial records, not a substitute system for case-file access.
If a Kendall County case is absent from a public view, ask the right clerk whether the cause exists and whether access is restricted. Do not assume the case was erased. Online display can lag, old files can require a manual search, and sealed documents will not appear merely because the rest of the docket is public.
When Kendall County Court Records Differ
The Texas DPS public criminal-history product and a Kendall County clerk file answer different questions. The court file documents one prosecution from filing through disposition. DPS displays reported public conviction and deferred-adjudication data across Texas, subject to state dissemination rules. A Kendall County dismissal can appear in the clerk's file without appearing in the public conviction product. A reporting delay or missing disposition can also leave the state entry behind the court's signed result.
The DPS Crime Records secure account page is the entry point for the state account.
That statewide tool supplements the Kendall County file; it does not replace the District Clerk, County Clerk, or municipal clerk.
When the records disagree, obtain a certified disposition from the Kendall County clerk. Review the identity-linked DPS record for your own history, identify the arrest cycle at issue, and use the DPS challenge or correction process with supporting documents. The reporting agency or clerk may need to fix its source submission. DPS cannot create a disposition that the court has not reported.