Try these in order. Each takes only a few minutes.

1. Open Texas IVSS-Counties and enter the person's name. A partial name works too, so try a shorter spelling or a maiden name if nothing comes back.
2. A match means the system has the person in custody or under supervision. Note which agency it names.
3. For a sure answer, ring the jail at 979-567-4343 and ask for Booking. Know their legal name and birth date before you dial.
4. Ask staff for the BCID number. That is the jail's own ID for each person in custody, and the Sheriff's Office asks for it before taking a card payment toward a cash bond.

Bookings take a little while to process, so a person brought in an hour ago may not show up yet. Calling again later in the day is normal.

Blank results happen for ordinary reasons:

• Still in booking. Paperwork, fingerprints and the property count come first. Check again in a few hours.
• Already out. Someone released on a ticket or a quick bond may be home before you search.
• A different agency. City police in Caldwell, sheriff's deputies, constables and DPS troopers all make arrests here. The Sheriff's Office at 979-567-4343 can tell you whether the person passed through its intake.
• Wanted elsewhere. An out-of-county warrant can send the person to that county's jail.

Old felony records sit with the District Clerk, 205 E. Fox, Suite 2001, Caldwell, TX 77836, 979-567-2336.

For adults charged here, the Highway 21 building is the place. A 2022 state jail report listed its capacity as 96. People can still end up elsewhere:

• Kids 16 and younger are sent to juvenile detention instead; the teen answer below names one center nearby.
• Someone with an out-of-county warrant may be picked up by that county.
• Federal prisoners and ICE detainees follow their own rules, covered further down.

When in doubt, the jail's staff can say where the person was sent.

Want the booking photo? Put the request in writing, cite the Texas Public Information Act, and mail it to the Sheriff's Office, 1334 Highway 21 E, Caldwell, TX 77836. Government Code §552.108(c) generally keeps basic arrest information open, though the office decides what it releases while a case is pending. Calling 979-567-4343 first can tell you where to send the letter.

Found the photo on a private mugshot website? Texas regulates those sites (Bus. & Com. Code ch. 109). A site whose takedown price is $150 or higher has to repair or remove, free, any entry that's wrong or missing facts. Expunged cases and those under a nondisclosure order are banned from such sites.

Want a photo ICE took? Request it on the agency's FOIA records request page. Other federal mugshots generally aren't released; a fugitive's photo from the U.S. Marshals Service is the usual exception.

Yes, the state will. Sign up on Texas IVSS-Counties; an account is optional. It notifies you automatically when the person is booked, released, moved to TDCJ or given a new court setting. It costs nothing, and nobody tells the inmate that you enrolled. Prefer to talk to a person? The help line, 866-268-8959, takes calls 24/7/365, in Spanish as well as English.

Seeing VINE on the Sheriff's jail page? That name is outdated; IVSS-Counties took its place, so register there.

Inside the first 48 hours, the person sees a magistrate, hears their rights and learns the bail amount. There are then three exits:

• Full cash. Family or friends put up every dollar. That money returns, less any fee, once the case closes and no court date was skipped.
• Bondsman. A licensed surety pledges the full amount; whatever fee you pay is theirs to keep.
• Signature only. This is a personal bond, and no money changes hands. Many violent charges make it unavailable.

Card payments toward a full cash bond go through the county's card vendor; call 979-567-4343 first for the BCID number. Watch for holds, too: ICE, a parole officer or a different county can keep the person jailed even with bail paid. Step-by-step help sits on our bail page; for statewide law, see our Texas bail laws page.

Booking staff at the jail can read off the charges listed at intake. Those are the arrest charges, and prosecutors may later change them.

• Felony. The District Clerk keeps indictments: 979-567-2336, weekdays 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.
• Jailable misdemeanor (Class A or B). Files belong to the County Clerk, reached through the courthouse switchboard, 979-567-2333.
• Ticket. The citation names the justice or city court handling it.

Once a case has been filed, the state's free re:SearchTX portal can show charges and outcomes after you register.

Ask the magistrate right at the first hearing. That request starts the paperwork, and the plan the county shares with Bastrop, Lee and Washington counties sets these steps (appointment plan):

1. The sworn financial form reaches the appointing judge within 24 hours.
2. Missed it? The form can still be turned in later, either to the District Clerk or to the coordinator who schedules the district courts.
3. A lawyer from the contract group or the rotating list is named within three working days.

Capital murder defendants get a specialist capital defense office in Lubbock, 806-696-3740. A state commission keeps watch over appointed counsel everywhere in Texas: the Texas Indigent Defense Commission. Call 512-936-6994 or visit 209 West 14th Street, Room 202, Austin, TX 78701.

In-person visits run on Thursdays and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. These rules apply:

• Book the slot at least 24 hours early on the video-visit provider's app. The inmate has to accept, and the visitor needs approval.
• A visitor may see one inmate per visiting day, for a single 20-minute visit each session.
• Bring a current state photo ID, driver's license or passport. Anyone 16 or older needs one.
• Children under 16 come only with an adult, and only if they are the inmate's own dependents.
• Car keys and ID are all you may carry in. Leave phones, bags, wallets, food and drinks in the car.
• Arrive before 1 p.m.; late visitors aren't let in.
• Anyone released from a jail or TDCJ within the past 180 days can't visit.
• Dress modestly and wear shoes.

Our visitation page covers video visits and app setup in more detail.

Since January 1, 2022, the jail has refused money orders, so skip the post office. Funds for snacks and supplies are added online at the commissary company's website, which the jail's web page links. You'll pick Texas, then the county, then the person's name.

For a walk-through on deposits, see our inmate money page. What the person can buy is explained on our commissary page. Questions about a missing deposit go to the jail at 979-567-4343.

Phone time can be loaded online through the same company that runs video visits, or the inmate can buy it from commissary.

Ask the jail at 979-567-4343 about call hours and whether tablet messaging is offered. Our jail phone page explains prepaid accounts and setup.

Address the envelope this way:

• Inmate's full legal name, plus the BCID number if you know it
• Burleson County Jail
• 1334 State Highway 21 East, Caldwell, TX 77836

State jail standards let inmates receive as many letters as people send. Legal letters get unsealed only with the inmate standing there. Rules on photos, books and paper vary, so call 979-567-4343 before sending anything but a plain letter. Our inmate mail page lists common do's and don'ts.

At intake, staff list every item the person carried and lock it up for safekeeping. Need car keys or a phone back before release? Call 979-567-4343 and ask four things: which items can be handed over, whether the inmate must sign for them, what hours pickup happens, and which ID to bring.

One more question for that call: how leftover commissary funds get returned at release.

Call the jail without delay at 979-567-4343. Say what the condition is, name any medicines and give the doctor's name and number. Staff can explain how prescriptions are handled. The Sheriff's Office also lists a Mental Health Unit, and under CCP art. 16.22, a jail has 12 hours to report a suspected mental illness to a magistrate.

If you believe care is being denied, the state inspector of county jails can step in. Use the Texas Commission on Jail Standards' complaint page, or call 512-463-5505.

Sheriff's deputies carry out most county warrants. Ask whether one is active at 979-567-4343. Constables handle justice court papers; their contacts are on the county constables page. Inside city limits, Caldwell police may serve them (Caldwell public safety page). For statewide fugitives, check the DPS Texas 10 Most Wanted page.

Ready to clear one? Phone the issuing court, or go there in person with an attorney. On a justice court fine warrant, paying the fine recalls it the same day the payment posts. For a felony warrant, the District Clerk at 205 E. Fox, Suite 2001, Caldwell, TX 77836, 979-567-2336, can help.

The clerk for the case level knows the setting. Felony: District Clerk, 979-567-2336. Misdemeanor: the County Clerk, reached through 979-567-2333. Ticket: the court named on the paper itself. After that first call, keep the cause number handy; every later question goes faster with it.

IVSS-Counties can also send notices about upcoming court events. For how each court works, read our court page.

Any federal case out of Caldwell or Somerville travels to Austin, where the Western District of Texas sits. The clerk: 501 West Fifth Street, Suite 1100, Austin, TX 78701, 512-916-5896.

1. At a detention hearing under 18 U.S.C. 3142, a magistrate judge picks between supervised release and jail until trial.
2. Until the case ends, the Marshals choose the jail. Ask their Austin office: 501 West 5th Street, Suite 3300, Austin, TX 78701, 512-916-5393.
3. Can't afford counsel? Austin's Federal Public Defender office: 504 Lavaca Street, Suite 960, Austin, TX 78701, 512-916-5025.
4. Once sentenced, Bureau of Prisons custody begins; find the person's facility on the BOP inmate locator.

1. Step one is paperwork: ICE delivers its detainer request, Form I-247A, to the Highway 21 jail.
2. Federal rule 8 CFR 287.7(d) then allows a hold of up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.
3. Texas gives the jail no discretion. CCP art. 2A.060 orders the jail to go along, and only proof of lawful status stops it. And under Gov't Code §752.053 (2017), local governments may not put limits on immigration enforcement.
4. Then the handoff: ICE agents arrive in Caldwell, take custody and haul the person off to whichever detention site ICE picks.
5. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator: enter the person's A-number, or try their name together with their country of birth.

A separate 2025 Texas law gives each county that operates a jail a December 1, 2026 deadline to enroll in ICE's 287(g) program. How far along is this county? The Sheriff's Office (979-567-4343) knows. ICE field offices: San Antonio, 3523 Crosspoint Drive, San Antonio, TX 78217, 210-564-3300; Houston, 126 Northpoint Drive, Houston, TX 77060, 281-774-4816.

Once sentenced to prison, the person remains at the Highway 21 jail until TDCJ arranges the move to an intake center. Staff there sort out security level, health and programs before assigning a permanent unit. A state jail felony breaks that pattern, since those sentences run in a state jail instead.

• The TDCJ inmate search reveals the unit. A name works; a TDCJ number is more exact.
• Each unit's mailing address and visiting rules: see our Texas state prisons page.

Texas draws the adult line at 17, which puts a 17-year-old in the Highway 21 jail with grown-ups. A 10- to 16-year-old (age counted on the offense date) is a child under Family Code §51.02 and goes to juvenile detention. Since no such center operates inside the county, call the Sheriff's Office at 979-567-4343 to learn where the child went. Bryan's R. J. Holmgreen Juvenile Justice Center (979-361-1831) is one registered center close by.

Expect a call: Family Code §52.02 makes officers inform a parent promptly. Detention review timing under Family Code §54.01: the judge's deadline is working day two for most pickups. A child taken in over a Friday or Saturday gets the faster track: working day one. A lawyer gets assigned to the child beforehand. The state agency that registers juvenile centers: Texas Juvenile Justice Department, 1711 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin, TX 78701, 512-490-7130.

Jail staff can look up which agency did the booking. Law enforcement here includes:

• Sheriff's Office. Deputies patrol the county and staff the jail; 1334 Highway 21 E, Caldwell, TX 77836, 979-567-4343.
• Caldwell Police Department. Works inside the city of Caldwell. Read more on the city's public safety page, or ask the Sheriff's Office for help reaching the department.
• Somerville and Snook. If the arrest happened in one of those towns, the Sheriff's Office knows which agency took the call.
• Constables. Each precinct's constable serves papers and warrants; see the county constables page.
• Texas DPS troopers. State troopers patrol highways such as 21 and 36. Deputies can help you reach the right trooper office.