1. Open the official jail inmate search.
2. Enter just the surname. Pile on a first name only when dozens of rows appear.
3. Pick the right person by age or booking date, since common surnames repeat.
4. Copy any booking number onto paper. Bondsmen, jailers and attorneys will want it.
5. No hit? Try spelling variants, a maiden name, or just the first three letters.

IVSS-Counties accepts partial names too. It spans many Texas counties. That helps when you can't tell which county made the arrest.

Fresh arrests take a while to show. Booking involves fingerprints, a photo, a records check and a property count, and someone may wait hours on a bench before the computer lists them. Give it until the next morning before assuming anything.

• Phone the jail at 936-873-6439. Ask whether the person was booked and when.
• After hours, the Sheriff's dispatch desk answers around the clock at 936-873-2151.
• Arrested in Navasota? Ask the Navasota Police Department, 936-825-6475, if the arrest paperwork is finished and the ride to Anderson has happened.
• Records questions go to the Sheriff's records unit, 936-873-6442, open weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

One catch: the jail won't share where someone went after a transfer. If a person vanishes from the list without coming home, the TDCJ, federal and ICE sections of this page cover where people get moved, or a lawyer can track them down.

Only one adult lockup exists countywide, the Sheriff's jail at 382 FM 149 West in Anderson, phone 936-873-6439. It opened in December 1998 and holds up to 111 people. Men and women, misdemeanor and felony, people awaiting trial and people sentenced to TDCJ who are waiting for transport all sleep under that roof. A nurse works on staff, and the jail has passed 29 state inspections in a row as of October 2024. Ask the Navasota Police Department whether a short stay at its station happens before transport.

Arrests made outside Grimes go to that other county's sheriff. Bordering jails, by distance-ish order:

• Brazos County Detention Center, 1835 Sandy Point Road, Bryan, TX 77807, 979-361-4800
• Walker County Jail, 717 FM 2821 Rd W, Huntsville, TX 77320, 936-435-2412
• Montgomery County Jail, 1 Criminal Justice Dr., Conroe, TX 77301, 936-760-5800
• Madison County Jail, 2005 E. Main Street, Madisonville, TX 77864, 936-348-2755
• Washington County Jail, 1206 Old Independence Rd., Brenham, TX 77833, Sheriff's Office 979-277-6251
• Waller County Jail, 100 Sheriff R. Glenn Smith Drive, Hempstead, TX 77445, Sheriff's Office 979-826-8282

People hunting for mugshots should know the jail search is meant for custody details, so don't count on finding a picture there. Wanting the actual booking photo? Mail or hand the Sheriff's Office, 382 FM 149 West, Anderson, TX 77830, a letter asking for it as public information. Basic arrest information is public in Texas. The agency has to respond quickly or seek an Attorney General ruling (Government Code 552.108). News outlets follow that path too.

• Commercial mugshot sites can't bill you to correct a wrong or partial entry. They also can't run expunged or sealed ones. That's Texas business law, chapter 109.
• For a photo snapped in immigration custody, the route is an ICE records request form.
• Federal arrest pictures generally remain sealed, except when the Marshals share a face of someone on the run.

Sure. In 2025, Texas swapped its older alert service for IVSS-Counties. Look up your person at ivss-counties.tdcj.texas.gov and choose notifications; an account is optional. Prefer talking? Operators at 866-268-8959 work 24/7, Spanish included.

Once someone is sentenced to state prison, TDCJ handles notices instead. Call TDCJ Victim Services at 800-848-4284.

A magistrate meets every arrested person inside 48 hours, reads the rights, asks whether a free lawyer is wanted and sets bond. Then a family has three usual choices:

• Cash bond: pay the full sum at the jail. Payee line: "Grimes County Sheriff's Office," on a money order or cashier's check. Bring photo ID. Personal checks won't work.
• Surety bond: written by a bonding company that the county's bail bond board has approved.
• Personal bond: a signed promise, allowed by the judge on some charges.

Even with bond paid, the door opens only after a statewide and national warrant check comes back clear. Our bail and release page digs deeper into amounts, holds and refunds.

The jail search lists them, and booking staff at 936-873-6439 can read them out. Basic facts about an arrest, the offense included, count as public information in Texas. Once a case is filed, go to the court records:

• Felonies sit with the District Clerk, 270 FM 149 W., Anderson, TX 77830, 936-873-4433, plus an online records search.
• Jailable misdemeanor files belong to the County Clerk, 936-873-4410.
• Statewide, re:SearchTX shows many filings after a free sign-up.

At the magistrate hearing, the person says yes to wanting appointed counsel and fills out a Financial Assessment Form. Jailers help with the paperwork. The county pays private lawyers to take these cases under one plan for its felony and misdemeanor courts, last changed October 30, 2025.

• Who qualifies: low-income households, roughly 150% of poverty level or less, plus people drawing public aid.
• Timing: once the request arrives, an appointment follows within three business days.
• A jailed client must get a lawyer visit inside five days of appointment.
• Capital murder defendants facing death get a regional capital defender office.

Out of jail and still waiting? Ask the District Clerk at 936-873-4433 where the request stands.

Every visit needs an appointment, booked through 936-873-6437. The Sheriff picks the visiting days and hours. Each inmate gets two 20-minute visits, and at one time a single adult plus one child may come in. Inmates name up to five people on a visitor list.

• Bring a valid state ID to check in.
• Leave phones, purses and cameras locked in your car.
• Nothing gets handed over: no items, no money.
• Dress plainly. Men wear a shirt and long pants. Shorts, tank tops, sheer fabric and bare midriffs are refused, and shoes are a must.

Ask about video options when you call. More tips sit on our visitation page.

Deposits travel by post. Buy a money order or cashier's check, write "Inmate Trust Fund" as payee instead of your person's name, and address the envelope to the jail, 382 FM 149 West, Anderson, TX 77830. Put the inmate's name elsewhere on the check, and fill in your own name, street address and phone in the sender section. Don't tuck a letter inside that envelope.

For kiosk or app deposits, ask the jail at 936-873-6439 what's available. Deposit basics fill our inmate money page, while our commissary page explains buying snacks and soap inside.

Inmates place outgoing calls; families can't ring a cell. Jail staff won't relay messages either, except in an emergency they can verify. To learn which phone, tablet or messaging company serves the Anderson jail, call 936-873-6439, then set up an account with that vendor.

General how-tos for those accounts sit on our inmate calls page and our inmate messaging page.

Letters arrive by post only, addressed to Grimes County Jail, 382 FM 149 West, Anderson, TX 77830. Walk-in drop-offs aren't taken. Personal items beyond letters are refused. Reading material, whether paperbacks, newspapers or magazines, has to come directly from a publisher or online store, and hardcovers bounce. State standards set no ceiling on letters received, and envelopes from lawyers wait to be unsealed with the inmate looking on.

Our inmate mail page shows how to address envelopes.

Jailers inventory pocket contents and clothing when someone is booked, then keep it all for release day. Need the car keys now? Ask the jail at 936-873-6439 if your person may authorize a pickup by signing for it, and which ID you'll need. Anything police seized as evidence is a separate matter, best handled through a lawyer.

Releases can run late. Each one waits on a statewide and national warrant check, and after a case ends the jail must hold the signed court papers before anyone walks out.

A nurse works at the jail. Prescription medicine comes in only when that nurse approves it, so contact the nurse first through the jail line, 936-873-6439, before bringing any. Mention allergies, recent surgery or mental health needs.

If care seems poor, the state agency over county jails, TCJS, accepts complaints and inquiries and answers at 512-463-5505.

Sheriff's deputies (936-873-2151), the constables and Navasota police (936-825-6475) all serve warrants. Records sit with the Communications Division, and a check works only face to face: go yourself, about your own name, carrying a state ID or driver's license, to 382 FM 149 West, Anderson, TX 77830. Phone checks aren't done. DPS keeps a statewide fugitive list, Texas 10 Most Wanted.

A lawyer can also confirm one by checking with the court. Clearing it means walking in, lawyer alongside, to the judge who issued it. Calling the issuing court may also win a new date. For a felony, reach the District Clerk, 270 FM 149 W., Anderson, TX 77830, 936-873-4433.

Each court's coordinator sets the calendar. Felony settings are scheduled by staff for the 12th and 506th District Courts, whom the District Clerk can connect you with at 936-873-4433. Lesser cases and youth cases get scheduled by the County Court at Law's own coordinator, 936-873-4472. IVSS-Counties sends court-event notices as well.

Our court guide explains each step, from magistrate to sentence.

Houston handles federal arrests from here. The Southern District of Texas sits at the Bob Casey United States Courthouse, 515 Rusk Avenue, Houston, TX 77002, clerk 713-250-5500.

1. Within days, the government and defense argue over pretrial release at a detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Anyone kept is in U.S. Marshals custody, 515 Rusk Avenue, Room 10002, Houston, TX 77002, 713-718-4800. Ask the Marshals which jail is holding them.
3. Following sentencing, the BOP inmate locator lists the prison by name or register number.

1. Paperwork lands in Anderson first: a detainer on Form I-247A.
2. Anderson jailers may then hold your loved one up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)), giving ICE time to pick them up.
3. State law since 2017 tells Texas jails to comply with those detainers (art. 2A.060; Government Code 752.053). Another statute, passed in 2025, makes every jail-running sheriff pursue a 287(g) pact with ICE, deadline December 1, 2026. Local status? Ask the Sheriff's Office.
4. The closest ICE detention site is the Montgomery Processing Center, 806 Hilbig Road, Conroe, TX 77301, 936-521-4900.
5. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator. The Houston Field Office, 126 Northpoint Drive, Houston, TX 77060, answers at 281-774-4816.

Sentenced to state time? Your loved one sits in Anderson until a TDCJ bus comes. Intake and classification happen first, and only then does the state choose a permanent unit.

• Try the TDCJ inmate search using a surname with a first initial, a SID, or the TDCJ number. Newcomers can take a day or longer to show.
• Our Texas state prisons page lists every unit with contact details.

Seventeen counts as adult in Texas courtrooms, so a 17-year-old gets booked like anyone else. Younger kids, from 10 through 16, get held in juvenile detention, apart from grown-ups. No youth detention building operates inside this county, so a detained child is driven to one somewhere else.

Juvenile Probation, 936-873-3921, can say which facility took the child and the hearing date. The County Court at Law serves as the juvenile court.

The arresting agency's name usually appears with the charge. Local agencies and phones:

• Sheriff's Office: 24-hour line 936-873-2151. Deputies cover rural roads plus towns lacking a police department.
• Navasota Police Department: 936-825-6475.
• Anderson, Bedias, Iola and Todd Mission: call the Sheriff's line above to find out which agency covers each town.
• Constable, Precinct 1 (Iola): mail goes to P.O. Box 450, Iola, TX 77861, 936-394-6100.
• Constable, Precinct 2: P.O. Box 677, Anderson, TX 77830, 936-873-6409.
• Constables, Precincts 3 and 4: 205 Veterans Memorial Drive, Navasota, TX 77868, 936-873-3914.
• Texas DPS Highway Patrol: the local office handles crash reports at 979-836-1975.