The Sheriff's custody link leads to a state tool rather than a local list. Five quick moves:

1. Go to Texas IVSS-Counties from a laptop or phone.
2. Fill in the family name and first name the way a Hondo deputy would likely have spelled them. No luck? Try Bob for Robert, a surname from before marriage, or just Garza from Garza-Lopez.
3. Match the age or date of birth, when the result lists one, against what you know.
4. Prefer a voice? The system's phone line, 866-268-8959, never closes.
5. Confirm through the 8th Street desk, 830-741-6058. Jot down the SO number. Letters will not reach the person without it.

We also link the official jail search for this county; give it a try. For cases filed in court, use the clerks' portal described in the charges answer.

A blank screen can fool you. Before you assume a release, run down this list:

• Still in booking. Fingerprinting, photos and forms eat up hours, so the record often trails the arrest.
• Spelling trouble. A hyphen, an accent mark or a double surname can hide a match. Type only the opening letters.
• Gone home. Release can come quickly once a magistrate grants a personal bond or a relative pays bail.
• Somewhere else. An out-of-county warrant, a federal charge or a hospital bed may keep the person away from 8th Street.

Desk staff at 830-741-6058 know who passed through booking. Weekdays 8 to 5, the Records unit can be reached through the Sheriff's main office, 801 Avenue Y, Hondo, TX 78861, 830-741-6150. Suspect a state prison move or a federal case? Jump to those answers.

For grown-ups, yes. The Sheriff operates a single jail, the Medina County Jail, 2319 8th Street, Hondo, TX 78861, 830-741-6058. Its rated size, per the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, is 96 beds.

Overflow happens. A state tally from August 2022 found 32 local prisoners sleeping in out-of-county jails, without naming those jails. So ask the desk two things: has your person been shipped out, and what number should you ring next.

Two groups follow other paths. Youths younger than 17 are never placed in the adult lockup. People wanted by federal agents or ICE can be moved by the U.S. Marshals or by immigration officers. Each has its own answer lower on this page.

Families hunting for mugshots can put a written request to the Sheriff, citing the Texas Public Information Act. A short letter works: the full name, the date of arrest, and a line saying you want the booking photo. Address it to the Sheriff's Office, 801 Avenue Y, Hondo, TX 78861, or ring 830-741-6150 and ask how the office takes these requests.

Records must come out promptly. If ten business days pass, the office must give you a release date. To keep something back, it generally needs an Attorney General ruling and must tell you it asked. Basic arrest facts must be released, though the statute is silent on booking photos as such (see Gov't Code ch. 552).

Commercial mugshot websites play by a separate law. A site asking $150 or more to delete an entry must correct errors and gaps in it for free. Records wiped by an expunction, or hidden by a nondisclosure order, may not appear there at all (see Bus. & Com. Code ch. 109). Photos snapped by immigration officers come only through ICE's FOIA request form. Photos from federal bookings are seldom shared, though the U.S. Marshals can publish one when chasing an escaped or missing defendant.

Rather than checking every hour, let Texas IVSS-Counties call you. Enroll on the IVSS-Counties site, or dial 866-268-8959. You'll hear about:

• a new booking or a release;
• a hearing that gets scheduled or moved;
• an escape, or a death in custody;
• a custody change such as a transfer to TDCJ.

There is no charge. Spanish works as well as English, and registration stays private: the jailed person never learns who enrolled. Management shifted on September 1, 2026, when the governor's office replaced the Attorney General as the agency in charge.

After any arrest here, the person meets a magistrate within two days, on a video screen or face to face. That hearing brings the legal warnings, a request for a lawyer if needed, and a ruling on bail. Bond usually takes one of three shapes:

• Cash. You put up every dollar yourself. Show up to each hearing and it can be returned when the case closes.
• Bondsman. A licensed surety company backs the full sum. You pay it a fee, and the fee never comes back.
• Personal bond. The person signs, promising to appear, and no cash is due when they leave.

Posting bond does not always open the door at once. Family violence charges carry a four-hour wait after bond (see CCP art. 17.291). A hold from another county, or an ICE detainer, can block release too. Ring 830-741-6058 for the dollar figure and where it gets paid, then work through our bail page.

Call the jail's booking staff at 830-741-6058. They can read off each count, how serious it is, and the bond attached.

Once prosecutors file, the case shows on the clerks' court records portal, which reaches back to 1990. The paper files sit with two clerks in the Avenue M annex:

• Felony files: District Clerk, 1300 Avenue M, Room 201, Hondo, TX 78861, 830-741-6070. Hours run Monday through Thursday 8 to 5 and Friday 8 to 1.
• Misdemeanor files: County Clerk, 1300 Avenue M, Room 163, Hondo, TX 78861, 830-741-6040, weekdays 8 to 4:30. A name search costs $5, and nobody there will confirm a record over the phone.

Charges can grow, shrink or vanish after booking. The Criminal District Attorney decides, on felonies and misdemeanors alike: 1403 Avenue N, Hondo, TX 78861, 830-741-6187.

Speak up at the magistrate hearing. There, the person must be told how to ask for an appointed attorney and be helped with the paperwork (see CCP art. 15.17). If the magistrate has no power to appoint, the forms are sent on in 24 hours or less. For counties under 250,000 people, an attorney has to be in place within three working days after that (see CCP art. 1.051).

Where to turn when money is short:

• Indigent Defense and Pre-Trial Services, 781 Avenue Y, Hondo, TX 78861, 830-741-6024. The office's Affidavit of Indigence covers pay, debts and who depends on the person.
• Hill Country Regional Public Defender's Office, 550 Earl Garrett St., Kerrville, TX 78028, 830-315-2788.

A judge may weigh the ability to post bail only as it shows finances. Once ruled unable to pay a lawyer, a defendant keeps that status through the case unless finances truly change (see CCP art. 26.04).

Phone 830-741-6058 before you drive to 8th Street. Find out the open days and times, how a name gets added to the approved list, which ID works, and whether a video visit can be done from your home or from the jail lobby. Rules change, so ask again before each trip.

State jail rules set the floor. Two or more noncontact visits are owed to each prisoner every week, and a visit can't be cut below 20 minutes, and the weekly hours must reach into an evening or a weekend. How visitors get picked, kids included, is spelled out in the jail's own plan; a minor might need an adult guardian present. Any veteran in custody can also talk with a veterans service officer, free, and those meetings don't use up the two (see Gov't Code 511.009).

For a first-timer's checklist, open our visitation page.

A Jail Commissary Clerk works for the Sheriff's Office and runs the jail store. Ask the desk at 830-741-6058 how deposits work here: in the lobby, online or by phone, and what fee rides on each one.

Funds on the account buy store items: chips, shampoo, writing paper, stamps. Hang on to each receipt in case a payment goes astray. Our guide to sending funds and our commissary page fill in the general picture.

Texas building rules require a phone for detainees inside the intake area. After booking, ask the desk at 830-741-6058 how to fund a calling account and what each minute costs.

Typed notes, documents and pictures can go in electronically too. Open an account with the messaging company the Sheriff's page links to, and send to the person by name. Electronic photos have no cap, unlike paper mail. We explain jail phone accounts on our calls page and e-messages on our messaging page.

Personal letters travel to a scanning center far off in East Texas, which then delivers a digital copy. Write the person's full name and SO number, then PO Box 591, Longview, TX 75606.

• Include who it is from, with your address, on every envelope.
• Stick to letter-size paper, 8.5 by 11 inches or less, and five pages per letter.
• The scanner reads one side only. Ink on a back side bounces the letter to you.
• Limit photos to one per mailing. Tuck in two and the whole letter returns.
• After scanning, originals are neither passed along nor mailed back.

Books, magazines, newspapers, legal papers and medical records are refused at the Longview box. Those must reach the building where the person sleeps. Ring 830-741-6058 first and ask which to use: 2319 8th Street, Hondo, TX 78861, or the Sheriff's Office at 801 Avenue Y, Hondo, TX 78861, 830-741-6150. Staff may not open an attorney's letter unless the prisoner is present. Our mail page has more.

Whatever was taken at booking is stored for the person. To collect it early on their behalf, ring 830-741-6058. Ask about release hours for property and whether a signed form must name you as the pickup person. Carry a photo ID.

On that same call, ask how a leftover account balance gets refunded when the person walks out.

Anything seized as evidence stays tied to the case. The Criminal District Attorney's Office, 1403 Avenue N, Hondo, TX 78861, 830-741-6187, can tell you when it might come back.

Report any health issue fast by calling 830-741-6058. Share the condition, the medicines and amounts, and how to reach the doctor. If the reply worries you, ask for a supervisor.

Paper medical records go to the building where the person stays, not to Longview. Someone placed in emergency mental health custody and housed in a jail must be kept away from people facing criminal charges (see Health and Safety Code 573.001).

Texas jails owe prisoners clear steps for filing a complaint. When a problem drags on, relatives may use the state jail commission's complaint form or call 512-463-5505. For a true emergency, dial 911.

Ask the Sheriff's Warrant and Extradition Clerks, 801 Avenue Y, Hondo, TX 78861, 830-741-6150, open weekdays 8 to 5. Deputies, town police and the four precinct constables carry out warrants here. For the state's most dangerous fugitives, see the DPS Ten Most Wanted list. A felony warrant can also be checked against the file by the District Clerk, 1300 Avenue M, Room 201, Hondo, TX 78861, 830-741-6070. Clearing one starts with a lawyer. Have your lawyer schedule the surrender with whichever court issued it, or ask that bench for a bond or a later date.

Settings show up on the clerks' public access portal, next to the case files. Look up a name or a case number.

• Misdemeanors: Room 248's July to December 2026 criminal docket. The County Court at Law is at 1300 Avenue M, Room 248, Hondo, TX 78861, 830-741-6060, weekdays 8 to 5 with a noon to 1 lunch break.
• Felonies: ask the District Clerk at 830-741-6070.
• Reminders: IVSS-Counties alerts flag new or changed settings.

The defense attorney should pass along every date as well. Courts, case stages and courtroom basics are on our court page.

U.S. charges from Hondo, Castroville or Devine land in the federal courthouse in San Antonio (Western District of Texas). File questions go to the U.S. District Clerk, 262 West Nueva Street, Room 1-400, San Antonio, TX 78207, 210-472-6550.

At a detention hearing near the start, a U.S. magistrate judge weighs release on conditions against custody until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142). While the case is open, custody rests with the U.S. Marshals. They choose the jail, which can be a county jail under contract. Their San Antonio office: 262 West Nueva Street, Room 2-300, San Antonio, TX 78207, 210-332-6800.

A prison sentence moves the person to Bureau of Prisons custody. From that point the Bureau's own locator takes over the job of naming the prison, searchable by name or register number.

Steps a family can expect:

1. A detainer from ICE, Form I-247A, reaches the 8th Street desk.
2. On that paper, the person can be kept up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Federal immigration officers pick up the person and transport them to a detention center for immigration cases. ICE's San Antonio Field Office: 3523 Crosspoint Drive, San Antonio, TX 78217, 210-564-3300.
4. After the handoff, search the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

Under Texas law, a jail holding someone must follow the detainer. Showing U.S. citizenship or legal presence ends the hold (see CCP art. 2A.060). Local rules that hamper immigration enforcement are banned (see Gov't Code 752.053). A 2025 measure further requires that every Texas county operating a lockup ask ICE for a 287(g) contract, filing a first request no later than December 1, 2026. For advice on the person's own case, hire an immigration lawyer.

Following a state jail or prison sentence, the wait on 8th Street lasts until TDCJ (the state's prison system) has a bed. First stop is an intake unit for screening and tests. Based on what staff learn there, TDCJ picks the unit where the sentence gets served.

• The TDCJ inmate search needs the surname spelled exactly, plus a first initial. Have a TDCJ number or SID? Either one replaces the name.
• Only people who have arrived in a TDCJ unit appear. Records run a day or more behind and refresh on workdays.
• For unit addresses and basics, visit our Texas state prisons page.

Texas juvenile court handles conduct between a 10th and a 17th birthday. A 17-year-old faces adult court (see Family Code § 51.02). Kids never go into the adult jail. Instead, officers bring them to an office set aside for processing juveniles, a detention site for youths, or a medical facility (see Family Code § 52.02).

• Parents or guardians are owed a prompt call explaining what happened and why.
• During processing, a child may have a parent, guardian or attorney in the room (see Family Code § 52.025).
• For a child still held, a detention hearing comes within two business days, with a lawyer appointed (see Family Code § 54.01).

The Texas juvenile facility registry names no center within the county line, so a child could be driven elsewhere. To find out where, call Room 248, the County Court at Law, 1300 Avenue M, Hondo, TX 78861, 830-741-6060, or the Sheriff's Office, 830-741-6150.

Sheriff's Office, 801 Avenue Y, Hondo, TX 78861. Deputies cover land outside the city limits. Round-the-clock dispatch: 830-741-6153. Front office, weekdays 8 to 5: 830-741-6150.

Town police

• Hondo Police Department, 1030 Avenue Y, Hondo, TX 78861, 830-426-5353.
• Castroville Police Department, 411 London St, Castroville, TX 78009, 830-931-2222; office hours weekdays 8 to 5.
• Devine, Natalia, Lytle and LaCoste: ring Sheriff's dispatch, listed above, to be routed to the agency that covers that town.

Constables

• Precinct 1: 1100 16th Street, Hondo, TX 78861, 830-741-6051.
• Precinct 2: 8366 FM 471 S, Suite 108, Castroville, TX 78009, 830-931-4021.
• Precinct 3: 1100 16th Street, Hondo, TX 78861, 830-741-6030.
• Precinct 4: 317 State Highway 132 N, Devine, TX 78016, 830-665-8005.

State troopers with DPS work the highways here as well. After a trooper arrest, the 8th Street desk, 830-741-6058, can confirm whether the person was booked.