1. Pull up the current jail roster from the Sheriff. If you use an iPhone or Android, switch to Chrome first; the Sheriff's site warns other phone browsers may not show it right.
2. Look for the last name. Try a second spelling, too, since typos and double surnames are common.
3. Jot down whatever the entry lists, such as booking date or charge, before you phone anyone.
4. If the roster refuses to open, try a desktop computer, or ring the jail at 361-668-0341. The office keeps weekday hours of 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.

A blank result can mean several things. Booking takes time, so check again in a few hours. A person who made bond, or whose charge was dropped, may already be gone. Someone arrested on a federal case or an immigration hold may be listed by that agency instead.

When a city officer did the arrest, that department can say where the person went. Alice Police Department: 361-664-0186. For other agencies, give the Sheriff's Office, 361-668-0341, the person's legal name and birthday. Texas IVSS-Counties, the state custody-notice system, is another place to search.

The county runs one adult lockup, on Cameron Street. A state jail standards count from June 2022 put its capacity at 88, and by August 2022 a state report listed 7 of this county's prisoners as boarded in other counties that month, without naming them. If your person seems to have vanished, ask the Sheriff's Office at 361-668-0341 whether they were moved.

Nearby county jails, for an arrest made over the county line or a transfer:

• Duval County Jail, 401 E. Collins Ave, San Diego, TX 78384, dispatch 361-279-3351.
• Kleberg County Detention Center, 1500 E. King Ave., Kingsville, TX 78363, 361-595-8500, staffed 24 hours.
• Live Oak County Jail, 200 Larry R. Busby Drive, George West, TX 78022, 361-449-2271.

For immigration cases, one ICE facility in the region is the Coastal Bend Detention Center, 4909 FM 2826, Robstown, TX 78380, 361-767-3400.

Open an entry on the roster to see whether it carries mugshots, or ask the jail at 361-668-0341. Booking photo copies are a Public Information Act matter in Texas. Send a written request naming the person and arrest date to P.O. Box 1286, Alice, TX 78333, which is the Sheriff's mailing address. Basic arrest information stays public under Government Code 552.108(c).

• ICE photos: file an ICE records request online.
• Federal booking photos are rarely released. Only the U.S. Marshals ever hand them out, mostly in fugitive manhunts.
• Mugshot websites that demand $150 or more for takedowns must, without charge, correct or delete records that are wrong or partial. They can't publish records a court expunged or sealed through nondisclosure (Business and Commerce Code ch. 109).

Texas IVSS-Counties sends word when someone leaves a Texas county jail or changes location. The service costs nothing and stays confidential. Register on the IVSS-Counties site, or call 866-268-8959 any hour, in English or Spanish. Have the person's full name ready when you sign up.

An older VINE link on the Sheriff's page is out of date. IVSS-Counties replaced it.

A local justice of the peace meets each new arrestee at the jail within 48 hours, reads the charges and rights, and sets bail. Families then usually pick from three routes. They can put up the full sum in cash, pay a licensed bondsman's fee for a surety bond, or seek a personal bond, released on a signature alone. Bail is posted with the Sheriff's Office at the jail, 300 N Cameron Street, Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-0341.

Some holds keep a person in even after bond is paid: a warrant from another county, a parole violation, or an ICE detainer. Our bail page walks through amounts, payment and lowering a bond.

The roster entry may list the offense. The jail can tell you by phone, 361-668-0341. At the magistrate hearing the judge names every charge, so the person can repeat them to you on a call.

Once the case is filed, the clerk has the charging paper:

• Felonies: District Clerk, 200 N. Almond Street, Suite 207, Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-5717.
• Class A and B misdemeanors: County Clerk, 200 N. Almond Street, Suite 103, Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-5702. Its clerk page links an iDocket record search.

Statewide, free registration on re:SearchTX opens filed charges and judgments.

At the jail hearing, the magistrate asks if the person wants counsel paid by the county. If they say yes, jail staff hand them a sworn form about income and debts. That form then goes across the street to the court, and a judge picks a lawyer.

A 2024 state review found these forms here were sometimes delayed or lost. If days pass with no lawyer, call the clerk: felonies 361-668-5717, misdemeanors 361-668-5702. Ask whether the form arrived. The county files its appointment rules with the state; read them through the plan search of the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, 512-936-6994.

Before the drive to Cameron Street, call 361-668-0341 for the current visiting schedule, any sign-up step, and whether visits happen face to face or on video. Bring a photo ID.

State jail standards set the weekly minimum at two noncontact visits, 20 minutes apiece or longer, with one of the two scheduled for an evening or weekend slot. Video can stand in for in-person visits at some jails. Read more on our jail visits page.

A jail trust account lets the person buy soap, stamps, chips and call time. Ask the jail at 361-668-0341 which deposit methods it takes today, such as a lobby kiosk, online deposit or money order, and what fees apply.

Our guide to sending money explains common deposit options. Our commissary page covers what inmates can buy.

People held on Cameron Street cannot take incoming calls. They call out, often collect or through a prepaid account. To set one up, ask the jail at 361-668-0341 which phone company serves it, then open an account with that company.

Warn your loved one: jail lines are recorded, so the case stays off the phone. Lawyer calls set up through the jail are the exception. Texts and email are covered on our inmate messaging page, prepaid calling on our jail phone page.

Line one: the person's full name. Below it, the Sheriff's box:

Jim Wells County Jail, P.O. Box 1286, Alice, TX 78333

Under state jail standards, letters aren't capped by number. Envelopes from a lawyer stay sealed until the inmate is present. Before mailing pictures, paperbacks or greeting cards, check with the jail at 361-668-0341. General mail tips are on our inmate mail page.

The jail bags up a person's clothes, wallet and phone at booking and holds them. Most people get their things back when they walk out. If the person was moved to prison or another jail, ask whether a family member may collect the bag for them.

Call the jail at 361-668-0341 first. Ask when pickup is allowed, what ID to bring, and how leftover account money is refunded.

If your loved one is hurt, sick or needs daily medicine, call the jail at 361-668-0341 right away. Give the jail the illness or injury, each medicine and how much, and the prescribing doctor's name. The jail decides how care is given, so keep notes of who you spoke with.

Ask the defense lawyer to raise serious medical needs with the judge. If nothing changes, the Austin-based Texas Commission on Jail Standards reviews jail complaints, 512-463-5505.

Warrant service falls to the Sheriff's Office, 361-668-0341, to the five constables and to Alice police, 361-664-0186. Two official lists can be scanned online: the Sheriff's Most Wanted page and DPS's Texas 10 Most Wanted. Most warrants never reach either list, so phone the Sheriff's Office or the issuing court's clerk. To resolve one, see a lawyer, and then either surrender at 300 N Cameron Street, Alice, TX 78332, or let the lawyer ask for a new court date. For felonies, the District Clerk keeps the file: 200 N. Almond Street, Suite 207, Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-5717.

Felony dates come from the District Clerk, 361-668-5717. Misdemeanor dates come from the County Clerk, 361-668-5702. Class C tickets get their dates from whichever justice court issued them. Have the cause number ready if you have it.

Our court page lists every courtroom, judge's office and prosecutor's office, with each step of a case.

Federal cases begun here go to Corpus Christi, to the courthouse at 1133 N. Shoreline Blvd., Corpus Christi, TX 78401, 361-888-3142. A judge there decides custody versus release at a detention hearing, typically at or soon after the first appearance (18 U.S.C. 3142).

Pending trial, a federal prisoner is under the Marshals, who may house them in a county jail. Their office is at 1133 North Shoreline Boulevard, Suite 109, Corpus Christi, TX 78401, 361-888-3154. Once a sentence is imposed, the BOP inmate locator shows the federal prison.

1. Paperwork lands at the Cameron Street jail first: Form I-247A, the ICE request to keep the person.
2. When release day comes on the local case, the jail may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Deportation officers then take custody. The Coastal Bend Detention Center in Robstown, 361-767-3400, is one possible stop; some people go much farther.
4. Use the A-number on the ICE Online Detainee Locator. No A-number? Enter the name with the birth country.
5. The Harlingen Field Office handles this county: 1717 Zoy Street, Harlingen, TX 78552, 956-389-7800.

A Texas jail must follow the detainer under art. 2A.060. A person who can document lawful status should have the lawyer present those papers.

Got a prison or state jail sentence? The Cameron Street lockup keeps the person until TDCJ transport arrives. TDCJ sorts new arrivals at intake and then assigns a unit that fits.

The TDCJ number gives the cleanest hit on the TDCJ inmate search; a name search works too. Entries refresh each working day, a day or more behind real time. Unit profiles: our Texas state prisons section.

A child age 10 through 16 is not booked into the adult jail. Parents must be told promptly (Family Code 52.02). A judge must review any child's detention by working day two, and a lawyer is named before that (54.01). Seventeen-year-olds are booked on Cameron Street like any adult.

The Juvenile Probation Department, 900 E. First Street, Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-5708, is open weekdays 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Staff there track where each detained child is and the court calendar.

The Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate counts 38,804 residents countywide. Several agencies make arrests, and all of them book adults into the county jail.

• Sheriff's Office: patrols outside city limits, including Ben Bolt and Sandia. 300 N Cameron Street, Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-0341.
• Alice Police Department: 415 East Main Street, Alice, TX 78332, 361-664-0186.
• Orange Grove Police Department and Premont Police Department: ask the Sheriff's Office for their lines.

Constables:

• Precinct 1: 200 N. Almond St., Alice, TX 78332, 361-668-5859.
• Precinct 3: 12111 North Highway 359, Sandia, TX 78383, 361-460-1008.
• Precinct 4: 220 S. Agnes St., Premont, TX 78375, 361-460-4518.
• Precinct 5: 107 Armstrong Ave., Orange Grove, TX 78372, 361-384-2486, option 3.
• Precinct 6: 2310 Old Kingsville Road, Alice, TX 78332, 361-333-5376.

Texas DPS troopers also patrol the highways here. For the area trooper office, ask the Sheriff's Office.