Texas Fugitive Facing Rape and Sexual Assault Charges Added to State's Most Wanted List

A Dangerous Fugitive on the Run

The Texas Department of Public Safety has added James Lee Kirby to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List. The 49-year-old from Sherman, Texas, is accused of serious violent sex crimes spanning two states — and authorities say he deliberately cut off his GPS monitor and vanished just before he was due in court.

Kirby has been wanted out of Bryan County, Oklahoma, since February 2, 2026, for failure to appear, resulting from prior charges of first-degree rape and incest. On June 2, 2026, another warrant was issued out of Grayson County, Texas, for his arrest for one count of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of sexual assault. That's a total of four active warrants across two states — and a criminal history that dates back years.

A Pattern of Alleged Crimes and Failed Oversight

Kirby was arrested on November 5, 2024, in Grayson County for aggravated sexual assault. Several weeks later, he posted bond and was released from jail. That release would prove consequential. Despite facing first-degree rape and incest charges in Oklahoma, he was allowed to remain free on pre-trial release — monitored only by a GPS device.

In early 2026, while Kirby was on pre-trial release for the first-degree rape and incest charges out of Oklahoma, his GPS monitoring device stopped operating right before the trial date, and he has been missing ever since. Whether the device malfunctioned or was deliberately disabled, the result is the same: a man accused of repeated violent sexual offenses is now unaccounted for and considered dangerous.

What Kirby Looks Like — and Why He's Considered Dangerous

Kirby is described as 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighing between 250 and 300 pounds. He has a tattoo of an animal skull with the words "SIZE MATTERS" on his upper right arm and a tattoo of an animal in scope crosshairs on his upper left arm, along with other tattoos on his lower right arm, lower left arm, right hand/thumb and lower left leg. Those markings make him relatively distinctive in a crowd.

Kirby is reported to be an avid hunter with access to firearms. He has ties to both Sherman, Texas, and Cartwright, Oklahoma. Authorities have not confirmed his exact whereabouts, but those two communities — straddling the Texas-Oklahoma border — are the most likely areas where he may surface.

A Reward and a Call for Public Help

Texas Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $7,500 for information leading to his arrest. All tips are guaranteed to be anonymous. Tipsters must submit information through one of three methods to be eligible for cash rewards: by calling 1-800-252-TIPS (8477), submitting a web tip through the DPS website, or submitting a Facebook tip through the "SUBMIT A TIP" link.

So far in 2026, DPS and other agencies have arrested 45 Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders and Criminal Illegal Immigrants, including 33 sex offenders and eight gang members — with $61,500 in rewards being paid for tips that yielded arrests. That track record shows the program works — and that public tips are often what close the gap between a fugitive and a pair of handcuffs. With Kirby now officially on the list, law enforcement is counting on someone, somewhere, to recognize him and make the call.