Criminal Investigations

Supervisor – Cpt. Tony Bilbay

Overview

The Parker County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division (CID) is responsible for the follow up investigation of all classes of offenses, sex offender registration and compliance, call in and walk in complaints during and after business hours and generally providing investigative assistance to other law enforcement agencies in this and surrounding counties.

The Parker County Sheriff’s Office assigns cases to Investigators who specialize in certain types of crime. Also assigned to CID are Deputies who  take walk in complaints and telephone calls from the general public. As a rule, once a report of a crime is taken by the Patrol Division, the report is forwarded to the Records Division. The report is then filed, both on paper and electronically, and forwarded to CID for review and investigation. The report, or case, is investigated to the fullest extent possible by the Investigator assigned. Once the Investigator gathers enough evidence in the case to prove to a jury that the defendant committed the crime “beyond a reasonable doubt,” a warrant is requested through a local magistrate and the defendant is arrested. Once arrested, the defendant is arraigned before a magistrate (the defendant goes before a judge who reads the defendant his rights, tells him what he is accused of and sets a bond amount on him) and can then bond out. Bond amounts vary due to the type of crime accused, criminal history, risk of flight to avoid prosecution, and other factors. Once the defendant has been arrested, the Investigator files the case with the appropriate Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. For misdemeanor crimes, cases are filed with the Parker County Attorney’s Office, and for felony crimes, the case is filed with the Parker County District Attorney’s Office.  Investigators work outside of the office most of the time and during the course of their investigation gather information from a myriad of sources. These include, getting subpoenas for phone, business, medical, and/or financial records, tracking down witnesses, victims and suspects. Investigators may also obtain search warrants, conduct photo line ups, and utilize polygraph tests in their investigation. Investigators work every type of case, from a misdemeanor assault to murder, traffic offenses to drug smuggling operations, sexual assault, child abuse, death investigations, thefts, burglaries, criminal mischief and just about every other type of crime.