Texas IVSS-Counties is the free online tool that covers this county's jail. Here's how to use it:

1. Open IVSS-Counties in any browser.
2. Type the surname. A first name narrows the list. If the spelling is unclear, a few letters will do.
3. Read the matches. Only people who are in custody now, or under supervision, will appear.
4. Choose the record that fits the name and county. Alerts can be set up from that record, and an account is optional.
5. Double-check with the county jail search JE links.

Treat what you see online as a lead. Then call the Sheriff's Office at 830-505-7153 and ask for Booking to be sure.

An empty search has several common causes:

• Booking isn't done. Prints, pictures and forms take a while, and a same-day arrest may not show up yet.
• Released. They may be home already, on a paid bond or a signature bond.
• Housed in another county. A TCJS count dated August 1, 2022 found 22 of this county's prisoners in jails outside it.
• Name mix-ups. Search under both last names, a maiden name, or a common nickname.
• Age. Children through age 16 go through juvenile probation, so the adult jail won't list them.

Arrested by town police? That department knows where its officers took the person. Pearsall Police are at 911 Veterans Drive, Pearsall, TX 78061, 830-334-4169. In all other cases, the Sheriff's Office at 830-505-7153 can look it up.

Adults booked on local charges are taken to the Frio County Jail. The Sheriff's Office handles calls about it at 502 South Cedar Street, Pearsall, TX 78061, 830-505-7153. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards reports three facts about it:

• It is marked as a privately run jail. The state list does not name the company.
• A June 2022 state report gave it room for 266 people.
• Work on a major renovation and addition wrapped up in 2025.

Other places a person could be:

• A jail in a different county. The 2022 count above shows this happens. The Sheriff's Office can name the jail, and our site lists its phone.
• ICE custody. The Dilley Immigration Processing Center is a federal site in the county. See the ICE question below.
• A youth center. Children aren't kept in this jail. The second-to-last question explains where they go.

IVSS-Counties results come without pictures. A booking photo can be requested in writing, citing the Public Information Act, from the Sheriff's Office, 502 South Cedar Street, Pearsall, TX 78061, 830-505-7153. Basic arrest information stays public even while police investigate (Government Code 552.108(c)). The office must also give you a release date if it can't answer within ten business days.

Other mugshots you may find:

• Private mugshot websites. A site charging $150 or more for removal falls under Business and Commerce Code ch. 109. These sites may not charge to fix a record that's wrong or incomplete. Records they know were expunged, or sealed by nondisclosure, must stay off them.
• Photos taken by ICE can be asked for through the ICE FOIA page.
• Federal arrest photos generally stay private. A Marshals wanted notice for a fugitive is the main exception.
• Wanted posters. Texas DPS shows a face with every name on its Ten Most Wanted lists.

Create a notice on Texas IVSS-Counties, which succeeded VINE in 2025. There's no cost, your sign-up stays confidential, and the inmate is never told. Notices go out when a person:

• is booked in or let out,
• has a court date set or changed,
• escapes, dies, or is moved to a state prison.

The help line, 866-268-8959, never closes, and it takes calls in Spanish too. For someone already in a TDCJ unit, the Victim Services Division line is 800-848-4284.

The magistrate visit comes inside 48 hours. Charges and rights are explained, then bail is set. The common routes home are:

• Cash bond: a relative or friend deposits the full bail. If the person shows up each time they're due, the clerk refunds it when the case closes; a small fee may come out first.
• Surety bond: a bonding company stands behind the full bail in return for a premium that stays with the company.
• Personal bond: a signature replaces cash, and the person swears to come to court. Certain violent charges bar this option.

Proposition 3, approved by Texas voters in 2025, lets a judge refuse bail on some violent charges after a hearing. For the bond figure, phone the Sheriff's Office at 830-505-7153. Local details are on our bail page; JE's Texas bail laws page sums up the state rules.

Start with the Sheriff's Office. The charge is part of the basic arrest record that the Public Information Act keeps open.

Once the prosecutor files the case, the clerk's file shows the formal charge:

• Felony cases: District Clerk, mail Box 8 at the courthouse, 500 East San Antonio Street, Pearsall, TX 78061, 830-505-2996.
• Class A and B cases: County Clerk, mail Box 6 at the same courthouse, 830-505-2987.
• Anywhere in Texas: re:SearchTX, which is free with an account, lists case charges and final rulings.

The punishment range for each class and degree sits in Penal Code chapter 12.

The ask is made at the magistrate hearing, by the person arrested. They say they're too broke to hire counsel and then sign a sworn statement about income. In a county this size, the law gives three working days to make the appointment.

Four counties pool one public defender office: Atascosa, Karnes, Wilson and this one. It's the Atascosa Area Advocates Public Defender's Office, 607 W. Oaklawn, Pleasanton, TX 78064, 830-767-0060. When that office can't take a case, a private lawyer is picked from a list under the district judges' appointment rules.

Relatives can't make the request for an adult; it has to come from the person held. If several days pass in silence, phone the clerk on the case. You can also call TIDC, the state's indigent defense agency, at 512-936-6994.

State jail standards promise at least two noncontact visits each week. Each runs no less than 20 minutes, and one weekly slot must fall at night or on a weekend. Visitors under 18 may have to bring a parent, guardian or attorney along.

The jail sets its own days, hours, sign-up steps and dress code. Ask the Sheriff's Office at 830-505-7153, and also ask about video visits. Under a 2025 law, a veterans service officer may visit an inmate who served, at no charge.

Before you go, read our visitation tips.

Money on an inmate's account pays for store items such as food, stamps and soap, and it may also pay for calls. Before you send anything, call the Sheriff's Office at 830-505-7153. Ask which ways are accepted, whether a lobby kiosk is offered, and what fees apply.

Use only a method the jail gives you. For how these accounts work, see JE's deposit page and commissary page.

No one can phone an inmate directly. Calls go outward only, paid by the person called or out of a prepaid fund. A state building rule calls for a phone in the intake area, and that is often where the first call home happens (37 TAC 259.119).

The calling and tablet company changes from jail to jail. Ask the Sheriff's Office for the company's name before you set up an account. Then see our pages on jail calls and messages and email.

Texas rules are generous about mail. People in jail may send and receive as many letters, with as many pages, as they like. Envelopes from attorneys are opened only with the inmate looking on, to check for contraband. If an inmate has no money, the jail must supply what's needed to mail three or more letters weekly.

Call the Sheriff's Office at 830-505-7153 to get the correct address and learn the rules on cards, pictures and parcels. Use the inmate's full legal name, with no nicknames. A letter that breaks a rule may be returned. More help is on our mail page.

What the person had at arrest is taken at booking. To get items back before release, the person usually has to sign a form naming who can pick them up.

Call the Sheriff's Office at 830-505-7153 before you drive over. Ask when pickups happen, what ID to bring, and whether the release form is on file. Anything kept as evidence can't be released until the judge or the district attorney clears it.

If someone needs a drug, has a health problem or is in danger of self-harm, call the Sheriff's Office at 830-505-7153 right away. Give the doctor's name, the medicine and the dose, and ask that the jail's medical staff get the message.

Every Texas jail must explain its grievance steps to inmates in writing. If that fails, the state's jail standards agency takes complaints by online form or at 512-463-5505. A 2025 law also keeps people held for an emergency mental health detention, without a criminal charge, in separate housing from defendants.

Sheriff's deputies, the four constables, and the city's police and marshals serve warrants here. Ask about an active one by calling the Sheriff's Office at 830-505-7153. Pearsall Municipal Court, 214 S Ash Street, Pearsall, TX 78061, explains its alias and capias pro fine warrants on a warrant page, and each case with a warrant costs $50 more. Statewide fugitives are on DPS Texas 10 Most Wanted.

Don't wait to be picked up. A defense lawyer can schedule a walk-in with the judge whose name is on it. Ringing that court to ask about options is another route. A felony warrant goes through the District Clerk, Box 8, 500 East San Antonio Street, Pearsall, TX 78061, 830-505-2996.

Check these three:

• Felony settings show on the 81st and 218th calendar. Ask the District Clerk at 830-505-2996 to confirm.
• Class A and B settings are on the County Court docket page. The County Clerk answers at 830-505-2987.
• Class C tickets: call the JP or municipal court printed on the citation.

Once you sign up, IVSS-Counties will also tell you when a hearing gets scheduled or changed. Our court page lists every courthouse office and what happens at each stage.

Federal prosecutors bring cases from Pearsall and Dilley before the U.S. District Court in San Antonio, which runs the San Antonio Division of Texas's Western District. Find the clerk at 262 West Nueva Street, Room 1-400, San Antonio, TX 78207, 210-472-6550.

Federal magistrate judges weigh release at a detention hearing soon after arrest (18 U.S.C. 3142). Prisoners awaiting trial are the Marshals' responsibility, and many are boarded in local jails under contract. The Marshals' office is at 262 West Nueva Street, Room 2-300, San Antonio, TX 78207, 210-332-6800. Staff there can tell you the jail.

After sentencing, search the Federal Bureau of Prisons locator.

An immigration hold in a county jail generally works like this:

1. Immigration and Customs Enforcement places Form I-247A, a detainer, on the person.
2. Jail staff may then hold them up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, so ICE can pick them up (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Texas law, CCP art. 2A.060, requires jails to follow detainers unless the person proves lawful status. Under S.B. 4 of 2017 (Government Code 752.053), local policies can't limit immigration enforcement. And under S.B. 8 from 2025, every jail county must try for a 287(g) agreement; the cutoff is December 1, 2026.
4. After pickup, people may go to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, 300 El Rancho Way, Dilley, TX 78017, 830-378-6500, or elsewhere.
5. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator with the alien registration number, or with a name and birth country.

The ICE San Antonio Field Office covers this area: 3523 Crosspoint Drive, San Antonio, TX 78217, 210-564-3300.

Prison and state jail sentences are served with TDCJ, the state corrections agency. New prisoners are first screened and classified at intake. TDCJ then assigns each to a unit matched to their security level.

To find them, open the TDCJ inmate search. Type the ID (TDCJ or SID) if you have it; if not, the exact last name plus first initial. A person who hasn't left the county jail yet won't be found. Data is refreshed on workdays and is never newer than 24 hours. Our Texas prisons list has a page for each unit.

Seventeen-year-olds face adult court in Texas and can be booked into the county jail. Kids from 10 to 16 are handled in the juvenile system instead.

• Police must reach a parent quickly once they detain a child.
• Should the child stay locked up, there's a detention hearing within two working days. The court appoints counsel for the youth beforehand.
• The Frio County Juvenile Probation Office handles intake: 404 S Pecan St., Pearsall, TX 78061, 830-505-7475, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Probation officers there will know the child's location.
• The closest state-registered youth center is in Jourdanton: Atascosa County Juvenile Justice Center, 1511 Zanderson Ave., Jourdanton, TX 78026, 830-769-3900. Ask probation staff whether a child from here is there.

Dial 911 when someone is in danger. Use these numbers for everything else:

• Frio County Sheriff's Office, the countywide agency, 502 South Cedar Street, Pearsall, TX 78061, 830-505-7153.
• Pearsall Police Department, 911 Veterans Drive, Pearsall, TX 78061, 830-334-4169.
• Dilley Police Department: reach it through Dilley City Hall, 116 E. Miller, Dilley, TX 78017, 830-965-1624.
• Constable, Precinct 1, 400 S. Pecan St. Suite 102, Pearsall, TX 78061, 830-505-7748.
• Constable, Precinct 2, by phone at 830-317-1332.
• Constable, Precinct 3, same Pecan Street office as Precinct 1, 830-505-7671.
• Constable, Precinct 4, 101 N. Commerce, Dilley, TX 78017, 830-326-3284.

DPS state troopers work the main highways here, including traffic stops and crashes. For the number of the Highway Patrol office assigned here, ask the Sheriff's Office.