Four moves usually settle it:

1. Pull up the jail inmate lookup and enter just the surname.
2. No hit? Try alternate spellings, a hyphenated surname split in two, or each half of a double surname alone.
3. Line up each result with the age or birth year you know, since one name can fit two different people.
4. Jot down any booking number or charge shown, then phone 806-935-4145 to confirm before driving to Bliss Avenue.

A backup search lives at Texas IVSS-Counties, the statewide registry of people "currently in custody or under supervision," as the site puts it. Its records are only as fresh as each jail's own reports, so the jail desk's word wins.

An empty search screen has several innocent explanations:

• Still in intake. Fingerprints, photos and an inventory of pockets all come before a name shows up.
• Already out. A bondsman or relative may have bonded them out, or a magistrate may have signed a personal bond.
• Held across a county line. A stop in Potter or Hutchinson territory means that county's jail.
• In federal or ICE hands. Federal deputy marshals or ICE agents may have taken custody instead.
• Under 17. Juvenile cases run on a separate track, away from adult listings.
• A typo or alias. Retry with nicknames, middle names or any surname from an earlier marriage.

The jail can clear it up at 806-935-4145. Outside office hours, try Sheriff's dispatch at 806-935-2151.

This county has just the single adult jail on Bliss Avenue. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards listed its capacity as 62 in June 2022. An August 2022 commission report counted 11 local prisoners boarded in other jails, without saying which ones. A full house can mean a temporary bed elsewhere, so ask the Sheriff's Office at 806-935-4145 where the person is held tonight.

When the arrest happens in a neighboring county, booking usually happens there too:

• Potter County Detention Center, 13100 NE 29th Ave, Amarillo, TX 79111, 806-335-4100
• Hutchinson County Jail, 500 North Main, Stinnett, TX 79083, 806-878-4012

Mugshots taken at the Bliss Avenue booking desk belong to the Sheriff's Office. Basic facts about an arrest are open records under Gov't Code 552.108(c). A photo request goes in writing to 700 S. Bliss Ave., Dumas, TX 79029. Phone 806-935-4145 first and ask how the office prefers to receive it.

Commercial mugshot sites play by special Texas rules (Bus. and Com. Code ch. 109). Any site billing $150 or more to pull a record down must, without charge, fix or erase one that is wrong or incomplete. Nor may such a site carry an expunged record, or one hidden by an order of nondisclosure.

• A photo in ICE's files has to be sought with a FOIA request to the agency.
• Federal booking pictures are mostly withheld, but the Marshals Service may share one when it needs help catching a fugitive.
• The DPS Texas 10 Most Wanted roster pictures each fugitive it names.

Texas runs a free custody notice service, Texas IVSS-Counties. Its features:

• Look up a person by whole or partial name. Notices can be set up with an account or without one.
• Notices fire on booking, release, a new or moved court setting, and transfers, a TDCJ move included.
• No fee, and registrations stay private: nobody tells the inmate.
• Live help in English and Spanish around the clock at 866-268-8959.

Coverage of any one person hinges on what the local jail sends the system. For a same-day answer, the jail desk at 806-935-4145 is quicker.

Texas gives a magistrate 48 hours from arrest to see the person, explain their rights and set bail (art. 15.17). In Texas, justices of the peace double as magistrates. This county has two, seated in Dumas and in Sunray. Three forms are common: a personal bond, which trades payment for a signed promise to return; every dollar paid in cash; or surety from a licensed bonding company.

Under art. 17.03, a magistrate cannot grant a personal bond on the violent crimes that statute lists. Since November 2025, prosecutors may also seek outright denial of bail for the gravest violent and sex offenses (Tex. Const. art. I, sec. 11d). Posting bond does not always mean walking out, either. A parole warrant, a hold from another county or an immigration detainer can still block release.

The jail at 806-935-4145 can give the bond on each charge and explain where to pay it. Our bail page goes through the process in order.

The jail will read booking charges over the phone at 806-935-4145. Once a prosecutor files, the formal charge sits with a clerk at the courthouse, 715 S. Dumas Ave., Dumas, TX 79029:

• For felonies: District Clerk, Room 109, 806-935-4218
• For Class A and B misdemeanors: County Clerk, Room 107, 806-935-2009

Misdemeanor records can also be searched through the County Clerk's online records portal. Across Texas, re:SearchTX posts filed indictments and informations to anyone who creates a free account.

Grade drives the stakes. Class C brings a fine only, capped at $500. A Class B conviction carries a jail ceiling of 180 days. For Class A the ceiling rises to a year. State jail felonies begin at 180 days, and the felony ranges climb from there (Penal Code ch. 12).

Ask for one in front of the magistrate. Under art. 15.17, that magistrate must assist with the paperwork and send the request along inside 24 hours. Counties under 250,000 people, like this one, get three working days from the request's arrival to appoint counsel (art. 1.051(c)).

A relative can start that paperwork on the online application of the Panhandle Area Public Defender. That office works out of 900 S. Polk, Suite 206, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-242-3415.

Families may retain private counsel whenever they like. A retained lawyer can also challenge the bond amount and check for holds.

Visiting days, the sign-up method and ID rules come from the jail itself, 806-935-4145. State jail standards guarantee a minimum everywhere in Texas:

• Two visits each week per inmate, no shorter than 20 minutes apiece.
• At least one offered visiting period falling on a weeknight or weekend.
• Posted rules on who may come, children of inmates included. Minors may have to arrive with a parent or guardian.
• A veterans service officer may see a verified veteran free of charge.

Some Texas counties have moved visits to video screens, at home or in a lobby, so ask what this jail uses. More advice sits on our visitation page.

Funds on the account pay for commissary orders, from snacks to toothpaste. Call 806-935-4145 before sending anything. Find out the accepted deposit options, the fees, and which name and booking number must ride along with the payment.

Never tuck bills into a letter. Common deposit routes are on our inmate money page. What a jail store tends to sell is on our commissary page.

Texas standards put a phone within reach of people in booking, which is why a first call often comes early. Later calls and any electronic messages go through the jail's own setup.

For account setup and rates, ask the jail at 806-935-4145. Our phone guide and messaging guide give background on how inmate calling and messaging tend to work.

Line one: the person's full legal name. Below it: 700 S. Bliss Ave., Dumas, TX 79029. Before mailing, check with the jail at 806-935-4145 on whether a booking number is needed and which items it turns away.

Texas standards protect a few basics:

• No limit on the number of letters going either way.
• Attorney letters are opened with the inmate watching, solely in a search for contraband.
• An inmate without funds receives paper, envelopes and postage for at least three letters weekly.

Keep cash out of letters. Our mail page lists more rules of thumb.

Belongings taken at intake stay boxed until release. Some jails let a relative pick them up early with the inmate's signed permission. Ask the jail at 806-935-4145 whether this one does and what paperwork it wants.

Bring photo ID. Ask, too, how any account balance comes back when they leave.

Phone the jail at 806-935-4145 without waiting, and pass along any prescriptions, conditions or suicide risk you know of. When the jail has reason to believe someone has a mental illness, Texas law gives it 12 hours to notify a magistrate (art. 16.22).

Every Texas jail must spell out its grievance procedure in the inmate handbook and post it where inmates gather. Still stuck after that? Texas's jail inspectors, the Commission on Jail Standards, accept reports on their online complaint page or by phone, 512-463-5505.

For a warrant check, ring the Sheriff's Office first at 806-935-4145, since deputies serve papers all over the county. Within city limits, the Dumas Police Department serves them as well: 124 E. 7th Street, Dumas, TX 79029, 806-935-3998. Statewide, the most-hunted names sit on a DPS roster called Texas 10 Most Wanted. Courthouse records help too. Ask the District Clerk, Room 109, 715 S. Dumas Ave., Dumas, TX 79029, 806-935-4218. Anyone with an open warrant should get a defense lawyer's advice first. Through counsel, a planned self-surrender can be set up, or the court behind the warrant can be asked for a fresh setting.

The clerk holding the file has the calendar:

• Felony settings: District Clerk, 806-935-4218
• Misdemeanor settings: County Clerk, 806-935-2009
• Traffic and other Class C cases: Justice of the Peace Precinct 1, 119 W. 5th Street, Dumas, TX 79029, 806-935-3920, or Precinct 2, 116 E 5th Street, Sunray, TX 79086, 806-948-5362

Both clerks keep offices at 715 S. Dumas Ave., Dumas, TX 79029. re:SearchTX shows filings but not hearing settings, so phone the clerk. Our court page follows a Moore case from magistrate to verdict.

Federal prosecutions from this corner of the Panhandle go before the U.S. District Court's Amarillo Division, 205 SE 5th Avenue, Room 133, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-468-3800.

1. Pretrial freedom hinges on a detention hearing before a U.S. magistrate judge (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Before trial, custody and the choice of jail belong to the U.S. Marshals. Their Amarillo office: 205 SE 5th Street, Unit 214, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-324-2350.
3. People who can't afford counsel get the Federal Public Defender: 600 S. Tyler Street, Suite 2300, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-324-2370.
4. Post-sentencing, the BOP inmate locator should list them, though anyone still pretrial may be absent.

Immigration holds follow a set pattern:

1. The hold starts when ICE sends the jail Form I-247A.
2. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), custody can continue up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.
3. A Texas jail has to honor the detainer. Only proof of lawful status gets the person out of it (art. 2A.060). Under a 2017 statute, no city or county may adopt rules that get in the way of federal immigration work (Gov't Code 752.053).
4. Next comes S.B. 8 (2025). It tells each Texas county with a jail to pursue 287(g) participation, with December 1, 2026 as the cutoff. Ask where this county stands at the Sheriff's Office, 806-935-4145.
5. ICE's Dallas Field Office handles North Texas: 8101 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75247, 972-367-2200.
6. Run the ICE Online Detainee Locator using an A-number with country of birth, or by first and last name plus country of birth. With no result, ICE directs families to the field office.

After a state sentence, the person stays on Bliss Avenue until TDCJ collects them, first for intake and then for an assigned unit.

• The TDCJ inmate search works from a surname, a TDCJ ID or a state SID number. It lists only people TDCJ holds right now, and it trails real time by at least a day.
• For a deeper look at state custody, open our Texas state prisons page.

Youths aged 10 through 16 fall under juvenile court, while a 17-year-old is treated as an adult and goes to the county jail (Fam. Code 51.02). Whoever takes a child into custody has to let a parent know promptly, reason included (Fam. Code 52.02).

Detention triggers a fast juvenile court hearing, inside two working days, and the child has appointed counsel there (Fam. Code 54.01). Amarillo's Youth Center of the High Plains, 9300 S. Georgia Street, Amarillo, TX 79118, 806-468-5708, is the closest center on the state registry and accepts youth from other Panhandle departments by contract. The Sheriff's Office, 806-935-4145, can say where a particular child went.

About 21,891 residents live here, going by a Census estimate dated July 1, 2025. The two agencies below are the ones on record:

• Sheriff's Office, 700 S. Bliss Ave., Dumas, TX 79029, 806-935-4145, dispatch 806-935-2151. Its deputies work the whole county.
• Dumas Police Department, 124 E. 7th Street, Dumas, TX 79029, 806-935-3998. It patrols the city.

For an arrest in Cactus, Sunray or open country, the Sheriff's Office can name the arresting agency. Texas troopers patrol the highways and arrest people too, and the jail knows which officer brought someone in.