First, it's important that every arrest in Anderson county is different.  No two are exactly the same.  From different law enforcement officers, different charges, different circumstances, and even the time of day; all these are factors that determine what happens to you when you, or a loved one, are taken into custody in Palestine, Elkhart, or anywhere within Anderson county.

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If the Police come to your home, for example, they will probably come in a force sufficient enough for a shock and awe arrest.  The police state that it is for their protection as you are more likely to be armed and dangerous in your home.  The arrestees however, have a different experience.  "I was literally just relaxing and getting ready wind down my day." Says an Anco client. "All of a sudden there were huge banging on my door.  I couldn't hear what they were saying but as I got closer to the door I could see the police lights.  I thought something had happened to my family, but instead the moment I opened the door I was grabbed and dragged to the ground with half a dozen guns pointed at me."  With neighbors, passerby's, and drivers watching, you are left there lying on the ground on your stomach while they secure your home before putting you in the back of a car.

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With a warrant in Palestine you will then be taken downtown where the information on your warrant will be read to you.  Make no mistakes, you are in the custody of the Palestine Police Department of Anderson County and there is nothing that can be said by you to change or better this situation.  

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Afterwards, you are then transported from the Palestine police department to the Anderson county jail a few miles east of the PPD.  The Palestine jail facility is at 1200 E Lacy St, Palestine, TX 75801. In most cases, you will be brought around the back of the Anderson County Jail and will enter a secure gate and door.  Once the doors have been secured, you will be escorted from the back of the vehicle and brought through a set of doors into booking.  

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Booking is where everyone makes their first stop within the Anderson County jail itself.  In the large cement room there are many doors.  The door you come through, and then doors around the outside of the 70 foot by 60 foot area.  Many of these are doors with windows next to them for observation.  In the center is a large processing desk and you will be escorted to the yellow line to stand and wait while badged personnel transfer your information and go through the process of exchanging custody from whichever police department to the county jail.  You will be fingerprinted, photographed, and allowed to make a single phone call collect.  More at the discretion of the staff, so best to not be disrespectful to the Anderson County Jail Officers who will determine your immediate decisions for you.

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In this, all of your property on you will seized and put in a property bag to be placed in the property room.  Keep in mind that these items are placed in a room with hundreds of other inmates properties, so best to wash your items as soon as possible, if not burn them and start over. To the left of the door of the property room you will a large chart with a list of all of the inmates you are now in jail with.  To the left of that is a painting with the Texan flag on it and the first metal bars you will see in the jail.  These are the bars to the exit, as well as several different sections of the jail, the rec room, the visitors area, and where you will meet with your attorney if the opportunity arrives.

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In Anderson County, you are then changed into what is lovingly called a turtle suit and you can see why.  It is a velcro lined one piece designed to keep inmates safer in a stressful environment.  This is the description we got from one of our clients we bailed out.  "If you are lucky, the velcro works, but I wasn't lucky.  The I only had one piece of working velcro and there were just pieces missing.  I had to hold it constantly to keep from showing my everything to everyone because you don't get to even keep your underwear.  They give you this thing, watch you get undressed into it, and hand you a pair of slippers that are the only things you are wearing when you are here."

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As a part of your processing you will be given a health screening.  This involves a overworked, underpaid and unappreciated medical staff member of the Anderson County incarceration team going through a verbal and physical process.  They will ask you a series of questions that pertain to your physical, emotional, and mental health.  They will take your temperature and your blood pressure before denying you or clearing you for admittance.  If they deny you, you will either have to wait and try again, or you will be taken to a local hospital to be treated and/or cleared. 

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When making their first phone call, it will often be to a family or friends.  If you are lucky, the person on the other end of that phone will have already called Anderson County's best bail bonds company, Anco Bail Bonds.  There is a liklihood that Anco will already know your bond, have walked through terms with the other party, and will have arranged for you to be released before you even got this far.  This does not mean you are walking out right away, odds are you will still have to stand in front of a magistrate who will be on site, or through a teleconference during normal business hours.  But as soon as you are able, Anco's bail bonding service will have you out.

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In the meantime, you will be placed in a tank with a single toilet and sink, and a raised slab of cement to sit on.  Yes, this is stressful, especially for people incarcerated for the first time.  The only solace that you have at a time like this is that your loved ones are already making the necessary steps to get your life back on track before you have to go into isolation, segregation, or a mutli-inmate cell known as a tank.

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If you want to know what happens if you are not bailed or bonded out at this point, click here:  <<Coming Soon>>

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