What Do Those Letters Mean?



We know we are missing a lot of abbreviations and acronyms.  We’re working hard to get answers but have been having some difficulties.  The judicial side is not being very cooperative at this point.  We will continue to ask for the information that the public needs.  Thank you for your patience.

NOTE:  The abbreviations are put in by several different agencies (jail, D.A., courts…). There are no standard abbreviations. The employees make up their own so if you see something that looks like it’s the same, it probably is even if it’s slightly different.

Add On – A charge that is added after the initial booking

Adm – Administrative

AFIS – Automated Fingerprint Identification System

APPL – Applied

AWHC – Application for Writ of Habeas Corpus (this information is from one of our readers)

AWTG – Awaiting

B.C.A.D.C. – Bexar County Adult Detention Center

BND – Bond

CC – County Court

CCBGDLNS – County Court Bond Guidelines (does not qualify for a PR-bond due to County Court Bond Guidelines)

CCPRB – County Court P.R. Bond.  This is abbreviation is listed when an individual is already on a P.R. bond

CLR – Clear

CLSD – Closed

CMAG – Central Magistrate’s Office

CONV – Convicted

CRT – Court

CRTC – Court Residential Treatment Center

D.A.C.T. – Drug & Alcohol Facility

D.A.P.V.F. – Drug Alcohol Probation Violators Facility

DC – District Court

DCPRB – District Court P.R. Bond.  This is abbreviation is listed when an individual is already on a P.R. bond

DEF ADJ – Deferred Adjudication

Denied/SomeLetters – It means they were denied a PR bond. The letters after the slash are just the initials of the person who entered the data into the system

DKT – Court Docket

DPS – Department of Public Safety

DSMD – Dismissed

FBGDLNS – Felony Bond Guidelines. (does not qualify for a PR-bond due to Felony Bond Guidelines)

FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation

FILE – Case file. (Referring to the actual documents)

FS – Felony, State Jail

GDLNS – Guidelines

GPS – Global Positioning System

HSP – Hospital

ICE – Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ILO – Interlock Order (ignition lock for a vehicle)

IPTC – In-Prison Therapeutic Community

ISF – Intermediate Sanction Facility

JAL – Jail

LDC – Seen in the the attorney section, stands for Legal Defense Counsel. According to Avvo.com it means, “Mar 20, 2018 — Licensed Defense Counsel – basically a fancy way of saying they hired their attorney rather than having one appointed for them. “

MATCH – Mothers and their Children

MCRT – Municipal Court (I think)

MHMR – Mental Health and Mental Retardation

MIOF – Mentally Impaired Offender Facility

MTN ENT ADJ GUILT – Motion Entered Adjudicated Guilt

MTRP – Motion to Revoke Probation

NCIC – National Crime Information Center

NG – Non-Guidelines.  (PR Bonds is now allowing all misdemeanor charges to be considered for a PR bond.  The normal official guidelines have restrictions of what can be considered even for misdemeanors)

NHOI – No harmful or injurious contact (this information was a reader’s submission).

NLETS – National Law Enforcement Telecommunication System

NM – Night Magistrate

NOLO CT – Nolo Contendere ( a Latin term meaning ‘I do not wish to contend’). You may hear it said as ‘no contest,’ in other words they are not going to fight the charges.

NOT HANDLED – This comment is used when the charge is not eligible for a P.R. bond.

OTHR – Other

OTOFCO – Out of County

PAR – Parole

PATCH – Papas and their Children

PEN PK – Penitentiary Packet

PICU – Population Impact Control Unit is the meaning we got from the jail. Yes, they do monitor the population levels. However, a reader gave an additional meaning. If what you are looking at may be referring to something to do with mental health, then it could mean Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit.

POSS – Possession

PPOU – Prohibited Possession of Unregistered We are not sure about this one. No one we spoke to knew for sure, but one person thought it might be this. It was given to us by a courthouse clerk (who was very unsure).

PPOU – PER PROTECTIVE ORDER UNDER, then it usually has a judges name. This information was given by a reader, (Jason).

PR – Personal Recognizance (bond)

PR/SomeLetters – The PR is defined above, the letters after the slash are just the initials of the person who entered the data into the system

RC – Restitution Center

RCO1 & RC02 – The person has been released. RC stands for release cell. They are old designations that differentiate between the cell for males and the cell for females. Note: a person can be listed as released and still be at the jail because they are going through the releasing process.

REC – Received

REFUSEDX2 – This means they tried to interview the inmate for a P.R. bond but he refused.  In this case he refused two times.

REL – Released

RELPR – Released on a Personal Recognizance Bond

RWOB – Remanded without Bond

SAFP – Substance Abuse Felony Punishment (same as below but sometimes written this way).

SAFPF – Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facility

SATF – Substance Abuse Treatment Facility

SBIR – Surety Bond in Route

SBIH – Surety Bond in Hand

SHR OFC – Sheriff’s Office

ST MT SUPPLMNT PND – State Motion to Supplement Pending  (means they are going to add more information)

T.A.I.P. – Treatment Alternative to Incarceration Program

TCIC – Texas Crime Information Center

TDC – Texas Department of Corrections

TDCGDLNS – Texas Department of Corrections Guidelines

TDCJ – Texas Department of Criminal Justice

TLETS – Texas Law Enforcement Telecommunication System

TO REL – To be released

TO SUB – To Submit

Tresps – Trespass

TRMT BED – Treatment facility bed / spot to sleep in

TRF – Transfer

VA-IMPACT SENT MT – Veteran’s Affairs-Impact (court) Sent Motion (This has not been confirmed. It was the best guess from a county court employee but it sounds reasonable). 

VA impact statement – victims advocate impact statement- for family violence cases. (This information is from one of our readers. Thank you, Jason). 

VINE – Victim Information & Notification Everyday (It lets victims know when an inmate has been released so they can get to a safe place if they need to.)

VIP – Victim Impact Panel

561 thoughts on “What Do Those Letters Mean?

    • admin

      Louise – Motion for discovery.

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    • Christopher

      What does ment il/ int vil mean ? And it said case closed then said dismissal then created in error is it closed or not?

      • admin

        Christopher – It’s hard to tell for sure without being able to see how it’s written. Officers sometimes make mistakes when creating information in the computer. That information gets closed out and the reason of ‘created in error’ is added so someone reading it will know why it was closed. The way you write it, it almost sounds like the dismissal part was created in error. It’s hard to tell without seeing the screen. It still sounds like the case is closed but we recommend you either call the court the case was assigned to, to ask the court clerk about it or call the officers at the Front Desk at the jail. 210-335-6300

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      • admin

        LB – The charges or case was dismissed against the person. We have no idea what “other” means. It could be a lot of different things, even that the charge was put on the wrong person (clerical error).

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    • admin

      Christina – County Court Warrant.

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      • admin

        April – It sounds like one of the county courts is going to issue a warrant or already has issued a warrant.

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    • admin

      Popeye – Pre-sentencing investigation.

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      Kami – The letters after the slash are the initials of the person who entered the information into the computer.

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      • admin

        Jennifer – Thank you for this information. It’s very helpful and appreciated when our readers pass on information that others can use.

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      • admin

        Kristine – Usually NM stands for Night Magistrate and NC stands for Nolo Contendere, but a lot depends on where you are seeing those letters. Different areas use the same acronyms but with different meanings.

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    • admin

      Sadie – Yes.

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      • admin

        Tina – JN stands for judicial number. When that is closed out it means that the case is closed.

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      • admin

        Cindy – Nolo Contendere which is a way of pleading guilty without actually saying your guilty. The court reads the charges and you are saying you are not going to contest what they have charged you with. The person was given deferred adjudication which means there are some criteria he has to meet like paying a fine, doing some community service or whatever else the judge orders, for a specific period of time. Once he successfully meets that criteria the charge will be dismissed against him.

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    • Maggie

      Hello! Under the attorneys section of case details it says LDC above the lawyers name. What does LDC stand for please and thank you!

      • admin

        Maggie – Legal Defense Counsel.

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        Ian – District Court 187

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    • admin

      Ryan – Well it looks like it’s saying an application for supplement funds was submitted and is being investigated but we’re not sure what that is referring to.

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    • admin

      Terese – complaint filed with night magistrate.

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      Natalie – We need to see the rest of the comments. We think those may be the initials of the person who entered the information but need to see what else was listed to have a better idea.

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    • admin

      Popeye – Attorney claim for payment.

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      Popeye – Attorney claim forwarded to auditor. Attorney claim for payment.

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    • admin

      Gustavo – Surety bond in hand. The letters after the slash are the initials of the person who entered the information into the system.

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    • admin

      Roger – Two references. The letters after the slash are the initials of the person who entered the information into the system.

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      • Roger

        then if r e f x 2 means refuse PR Bond two times then why is it that my husband was released the same day and told that his case was being refused not a PR Bond being refused

      • admin

        Roger – Because they make up their own codes. When we called we were told it meant refused but it wouldn’t surprise me if someone else used it to mean they have received two references. Tryin to get information from the jail and the magistrate is as frustrating for us as it is for everyone else.

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      Barry – Whatever was being asked for was denied. The letters after the slash are the initials of the person who entered the information into the system.

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      • admin

        Rebekah – SAFP is a substance abuse program. The notation is saying that the defendant is in that program. The JH at the end are the initials of the person entering the information into the computer.

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      Alex – CC normally stands for County Court.

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      Yvonne – Night Magistrate.

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      Mandy – We think it means to submit for a P.R. bond. The people over there make it difficult. They each come up with their own abbreviations leaving the rest of us to try to figure out what the hell they are saying. We think the person is in the process of trying to get a P.R. bond.

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    • admin

      Melissa – Two attempts to work with him on a PR bond but he was uncooperative.

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    • admin

      Courtney – San Antonio? Sorry. Couldn’t resist. Where are you seeing those initials? It might help us figure out what they stand for.

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  1. Heather

    What does ” COMPLAINT FILED NM 140976″ mean?

    What does ” COMPLAINT REC’D CF” mean?

    What does ” NC-DEFR ADJUD TERM'” mean?

    • admin

      Heather – Complaint filed. Night magistrate number 140976. Complaint Received. Not sure about the CF. Maybe the initials of the person entering the information? Nolo Contendere – Deferred adjudication term. The last is basically a guilty plea and deferred adjudication was granted.

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      Stacey – Release. Yes.

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      Samantha – Awaiting docket appearance. District Attorney information to County Court File(?). We’re not sure of what the F means but we think it’s for file.

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  2. Teresa

    What does SBIR/SAW stand for? I know that SBIR is Surety Bond In Route but Im clueless on the SAW. Please get back to me when you can.

    • admin

      Teresa – Security bond in Route. The letters after the slash are the initials of the person who made the notation in the computer.

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    • admin

      Anthony – We think the second half means intent to violate. But we have no idea what the first half means. Do any of our readers know what the first part means?

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    • admin

      Sara – We believe that the MA is saying that it is a Class A misdemeanor. The rest is forge commercial instrument/check.

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    • admin

      Jessica – ADC stands for Adult Detention Center. That notation means he is going to be released over to the main jail side housing units.

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      Ana – District Court 187.

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    • admin

      Cami – The employees who enter that information into their computers frequently use their own abbreviations. This can make it difficult to figure out what they are trying to say. We suspect that MV stands for moving vehicle. Did the person get pulled over and it get discovered that there was a gun in the car?

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    • admin

      David – It looks like the person got one reference for a P.R. bond. When a person tries to get a P.R. bond they have to give names of people who will vouch for them. I believe they ask those people things like, how long has he lived here – to try to determine if they’ll stay or run; does he have a job – to show stability; and other things like that. I don’t know how many references they prefer to have. The initials after the slash are for the person who entered the information into the system.

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      • admin

        Dawn – They’ve made one attempt to get information from him but he was uncooperative.

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      Julie – Charge and Disposition.

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      Esperanza – The FS in the charge stands for State Jail Felony.

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      Elizabeth – We think it means affidavit of verification of incarceration in Bexar County. We’re not 100% sure of the AFF but it seems that is likely.

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      Amy – Released. The KAB is probably the initials of the person who put the information in they computer.

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      Laura – County Court Warrant.

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      Tony – Remanded without bond.

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      Meli – It stands for Affidavit of Surety to Surrender. What that means is, whoever put up the bond, wants to be released from that responsibility. They no longer want to be responsible for his bond.

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    • admin

      Samantha – CC has usually been used to mean County Court. Prob is usually used to indicate probation. If this doesn’t make sense with where you are seeing it listed we recommend you call the court to ask what it means and we would appreciate it if you would let us know in case some of our other readers need the information.

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    • admin

      Leticia – When BCSO investigates someone they create a case file where they keep all the information. That case file is eventually turned over to the D.A.s Office and is used in the prosecution of the individual. We are not sure if the notation is saying the D.A. received the file from the BCSO or if the D.A. submitted a copy of their file to someone else. Regardless, the notation means District Attorney file Received.

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    • admin

      Tc – We’re giving you Wikipedia’s definition of arraignment: “Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against the defendant. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea.”

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  3. Joseph

    What does “Out of Co” mean?
    Also it shows a time under magistrate but under “Disposition” it says pending magistration
    And then under Magistrate Release Date there’s a date and time?
    Does this mean that the person was released??

    • admin

      Joseph – It means out of county. That indicates that the charge is from a warrant that another county issued. It gets a little confusing on the release date. If the other county is allowing the person to be released from Bexar County then that could be the release date. If the county wants the person extradited (sent to them) then it could be the date the person was transferred. Central Records may not give you the information if the person is no longer there. You might try calling P.R. Bonds to see if they handled the magistration or if the person was transferred.

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      Tc – Waiting for the date when the trial is to be held.

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    • admin

      Tammy – We are not the Bexar County Jail. This is a private website that attempts to help the family and friends of people who have been arrested, to maneuver through the system. You need to call Central Records at 210-335-6201 to find out if the person you are looking for is in jail. Central Records is a 24/7 department. You will need to give them the name and date of birth of the person you are looking for.

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    • admin

      Jessica – We think it means Attorney General.

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      • Isis

        So if the comment says AG-GDLNS (Attorney General Guidelines) What does that mean exactly? Does it mean they are being appointed an attorney or what? I mean what is guidelines referring to and what is Attorney general referring to. Thank you. Also, what does it mean for the disposition to be Pending Magistration? Does that mean they have not been officially charged? I’m confused.

      • admin

        Isis- Guidelines usually refer to sentencing and releasing guidelines. It’s just the set of guidelines a person is referrencing to justify whatever action was taken. As far as Pending Magistration, we’re not sure. If someone commits a crime, then they are arrested and taken before a magistrate. The magistrate tells them what they are being charged with and what the bond will be then the person is booked. But if the person was arrested on a warrant, the bond amount is already determined. We think they still go before a judge (magristrate) but aren’t positive. If so, then that may be why the listing shows as pending magistration.

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  4. Brittney

    What does this mean.. ATY CLAIM FRWD AUD 350.00/BEHRENS. And how did an assult charge become unsealed. Why would that happen ?

    • admin

      Brittney – Attorney claim forwarded to Auditor. It means the attorney is putting in a request to be paid. That’s how attorneys who are appointed by the court are paid. On the case becoming unsealed, you have to ask either the attorney or call the court and speak to the court clerk to see what happened.

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    • admin

      Lena – We don’t know. It would help to know where you are seeing that. It could just be the initials of the person who entered the information in the computer but again, it depends on where you are seeing it.

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      Christina – GJ usually stands for Grand Jury. It sounds like it has been assigned to one.

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      Juan – That means Dismissed – Defendant Convicted on Other. This is actually a very common thing to happen when a person has multiple charges against them. The D.A. will want to convict on the most serious charge and quite often will make a deal to dismiss the lesser charges in return for a guilty plea.

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    • admin

      Kelley – We’re not sure about the “partial” part. NO CONTACT means the individual is not allowed to have any contact with the victim. PROHB POSS FIREARMS means the individual is not allowed to have a firearm in his/her possession. MA probably stands for misdemeanor A. And the 380003, we think, is the county code for the offense. If one of our readers knows what PARTIAL means, feel free to jump in. Thanks.

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  5. Karli

    What does it mean when the case status says “on call”
    The last court date was postponed due to COVID but it said “awaiting trial setting” until today.

    • admin

      Karli – That sounds to me like there is a lot of uncertainty as to when the case can go to trial. The Texas Supreme Court had stopped jury trials until September 1 but just today they issued a new emergency order saying no jury trials until October 1. I wouldn’t be surprised if that gets postponed again. If the case is just for a judge to decide, no jury, then it could very well be set up as being on an on call basis. Everything is uncertain right now.

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    • admin

      Mona – The section for Attorney of Record should have an attorney’s name after it or something that indicates one hasn’t been assigned yet. But before any of that happens a JN has to be assigned. JN stands for judicial number. It’s a unique number assigned to the case. All notes regarding what happens with in the courts on this case will be logged in under the judicial number. That includes noting what attorney was assigned. I don’t know why a JN would not have been assigned. It could be they are having a problem with their computer system but then you would think everyone would be having that problem. It could be it was put on there when a problem was happening and after the problem was fixed and the judicial number was issued, they forgot to remove the notation. I would wait a bit to see if anything changes.

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    • admin

      J – Can you please give me a sid number? Many people have asked about this same notation. You would not believe the problems I’m having trying to get an answer. Everyone section I’ve dealt with is saying they were not the ones who put it on and don’t know what it means. Though I did get one deputy who tried really hard to help me with no luck. He would be able to research better if he could look at the actual notation and see what was happening with that person. Currently, I’m thinking this may mean Mentally Ill/Intent to Certify but that is just a guess. I’m still trying to get information.

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