Texas – A Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive was taken back into custody after authorities arrested him at a remote campsite in southeastern Oklahoma, just over a week after he was added to the state’s most wanted list.
James Lee Kirby, 49, was arrested on July 17 near Broken Bow Lake in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. Authorities said members of the U.S. Marshals Service Eastern District of Oklahoma Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force and the Joint East Texas Fugitive Task Force located Kirby after developing investigative leads. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol Tactical Team assisted with the operation, and Kirby was taken into custody without incident.
Kirby had been wanted in Bryan County, Oklahoma, since Feb. 2, 2026, after failing to appear in court on charges of first-degree rape and incest. He was also wanted in Grayson County, Texas, where authorities issued a warrant on June 2 charging him with one count of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of sexual assault.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Kirby was previously arrested in Grayson County on Nov. 5, 2024, on an aggravated sexual assault charge. He later posted bond and was released. While on pretrial release for the Oklahoma charges, officials said his GPS monitoring device stopped operating shortly before his scheduled trial, and he had remained a fugitive until his arrest.
The arrest was the result of a coordinated effort involving the Texas Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Bryan County Sheriff’s Office, and the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office.
Because the arrest did not result from a qualifying Crime Stoppers tip, officials said no Texas Crime Stoppers reward will be paid.
Texas DPS said that, so far in 2026, law enforcement agencies have arrested 49 individuals from the Texas 10 Most Wanted lists, including 35 sex offenders and eight gang members, with $61,500 in rewards paid for tips that led to arrests.
