Work down this list. None of it costs anything.

1. Open Texas IVSS-Counties. No login is needed to search. Type a surname, plus a given name or only its opening letters.
2. Pick the matching person and note the facility listed. The state says the search covers people now in custody or under supervision.
3. Run the same name through the Sheriff's jail lookup.
4. Phone Jail Information at 361-887-2300 to be sure. Staff can confirm booking status, counts and bond.
5. Save the inmate ID number. Letters, money and phone setups each require it.

Got zero hits? Retry with a second surname, without one, or minus any hyphen or accent mark.

An empty screen isn't proof of release. Think through each of these:

• Still in booking. Prints, photos and forms can take a while. Give it some hours, then retry.
• Picked up by city officers. Those arrests sit at the City Detention Center, 3312 Leopard Street, Corpus Christi, TX 78401, until magistration. The Municipal Court answers at 361-826-2500.
• Booking number questions. Jail Identification keeps those records, 361-887-2313.
• Released already. Someone who bonds out quickly or gets a citation may be home within hours.
• Another agency's prisoner. A federal agency, ICE or a neighboring sheriff may hold them. Ask the Marshals or check the ICE locator.

Still stuck? The Sheriff's Administration office can help at 361-887-2222.

Several buildings hold people arrested here. Each has a different job.

• Main jail. The county jail, 901 Leopard St., Corpus Christi, TX 78401, is the Sheriff's central lockup, with its office open every hour of every day. Jail Information: 361-887-2300. In a June 2022 state report it was rated for 1,164 beds, with 1,128 people inside that month.
• McKinzie Jail Annex. 745 North Padre Island Drive, Corpus Christi, TX 78406, 361-289-4200. This is the Sheriff's second jail building, and the same weekend visiting schedule covers it. To learn which prisoners are housed there, call Jail Information.
• City Detention Center. 3312 Leopard Street, Corpus Christi, TX 78401. The city's Municipal Court runs it as a short holding stop for people the city police arrest, until they appear before a magistrate. For questions, phone the Municipal Court at 361-826-2500.
• Alternative Incarcerations. This Sheriff's program, running since the mid-1980s, lets low-risk inmates cut jail time by doing community work for about 168 Coastal Bend nonprofits. A small Jail Industries crew has been restoring the old courthouse since 2004. Program office: 361-289-4293.

An arrest near a county line may land the person in a nearby jail instead. Our pages for the San Patricio County Jail, Kleberg County Detention Center, Jim Wells County Jail and Aransas County Detention Center give their contacts.

Official mugshots come from the Sheriff's Office. Put a Public Information Act request in writing and send it there. Sheriff's Administration, 361-887-2222, can tell you the right mailing or email address.

• Texas law treats basic arrest facts as open records that an agency has to hand over promptly (Gov't Code 552.108(c)). Booking photos aren't mentioned there, so whether to release one is the office's call under the Act.
• Past ten business days, the agency must tell you when to expect the records.
• Chapter 109 of the state's Business and Commerce Code governs commercial mugshot sites. Removing or correcting an inaccurate or incomplete record must be free. Records cleared by expunction or a nondisclosure order may not be posted.
• ICE photos need a federal records request at ICE FOIA. Federal booking photos generally stay private. A fugitive's picture is the usual exception, released by the U.S. Marshals.

Yes. Texas IVSS-Counties sends free notices through a toll-free line and its website. It replaced Texas VINE for county jails. Registering is possible either through a free account or as a guest, online or at 866-268-8959, which answers every hour of the year.

You'll hear about a booking, a release, a new or rescheduled court event, and custody moves like an escape or a hand-off to TDCJ. Pick English or Spanish. It's confidential, and the person in jail never learns who registered.

Inside 48 hours, a magistrate meets each adult who was arrested. That judge reviews the rights, offers the chance to request appointed counsel, then fixes bail (Crim. Proc. art. 15.17). Release can come three ways: paying the whole bail in cash, hiring a bondsman for a surety bond, or signing a personal bond.

Some people stay in after bail is set. Anyone charged with a crime on the state's violent offense list can't get a personal bond (Crim. Proc. art. 17.03). Family violence cases carry a four-hour wait after bond (Crim. Proc. art. 17.291). Holds from other counties or ICE can block release too.

Jail Information, 361-887-2300, can give the dollar figure on every count. Every stage of release is spelled out on our bond page.

• Right after booking: Jail Information, 361-887-2300, lists the charges entered at booking.
• Felony cases: the District Clerk at 361-888-0450 keeps the file once it is filed. The clerk's online case search is built for parties to a case and is sometimes offline.
• Misdemeanors: the County Clerk, 361-888-0580.
• City tickets: the city court's case search lists Class C cases.

Booking counts aren't final. Once prosecutors read the offense report, they may file something different, or less. The public is entitled to the basic details of an arrest without a long wait (Gov't Code 552.108(c)).

At magistration, the judge checks whether the person wants counsel paid for by the county. Answering yes gets the request moving. Here it is made on an Affidavit of Indigence, which comes in English or Spanish. In a county this large, the court has one working day after getting the request to appoint counsel (Crim. Proc. art. 1.051).

Many cases go to the Nueces County Mental Health Public Defender's Office, 901 Leopard St., Corpus Christi, TX 78401, 361-414-6610. Created in 2022 with a state grant, it shares appointments with private lawyers on the court's list. The full county appointment plan spells out the rules. If you talk with the person, remind them to say yes when asked.

Visiting days are Saturday and Sunday at both the main jail and the McKinzie annex. Your slot is set by the prisoner's surname or housing unit.

• Saturday: maximum security 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.; names A to L 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; names M to Z 1 to 2:30 p.m.; Units 4D, 5D, 5E, 5G, 5H and 5J 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
• Sunday: maximum security 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.; names M to Z 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; names A to L 1 to 2:30 p.m.; the same units 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Rules to know before you drive over:

• Your name must already be on the inmate's visiting list, and you need a valid government photo ID.
• You can't visit if you were jailed there in the last six months.
• Kids under 17 come with an adult, one child for each adult on the list.
• No shorts, hats, sunglasses, sleeveless clothes, spandex or tight clothing, or tops that are low-cut, backless or see-through. Skirts must reach the knee.
• Bring nothing in your hands. Gum, cigarettes, lighters, food and drinks stay outside.
• Walking out ends the visit for the day.

Ask Jail Information at 361-887-2300 about video visits, and see our visitation page.

Funds on an inmate's account cover purchases inside. Before sending anything, phone Jail Information at 361-887-2300, give the inmate ID, and ask how deposits are accepted at the moment.

Our money deposit page compares the usual options and fees. For what the jail store sells, check our commissary page.

Texas design standards put a phone in every jail's booking area for detainees to use (37 TAC 259.119). For calls from housing units, ask Jail Information at 361-887-2300 how accounts are set up and paid.

The jail's mail vendor also delivers electronic messages with pictures, read on kiosks or tablets. Compare calling plans on our jail phone page. Message prices are on our inmate messaging page.

Personal letters don't go to Leopard Street. A vendor scans each one so the inmate can read it on a kiosk or tablet, then shreds the paper. Send them one of two ways:

• Online at www.JailATM.com.
• By post, addressed exactly like this:
  [Inmate Full Name, Inmate ID]
  JailATM.com - Nueces County Jail
  PO Box 16120
  Jonesboro, AR 72401

Print the full name and ID clearly on the envelope or postcard. The ID can be looked up at the same website. This rule is for personal mail only. For legal or business mail, ask Jail Information at 361-887-2300 for the right address. Texas jail standards say attorney letters get opened only while the prisoner watches, and they don't cap the number of letters a prisoner may receive. More tips are on our mail page.

The jail stores whatever was taken during booking. Before you drive over to collect anything, call Jail Information at 361-887-2300. Ask three things: whether the inmate has signed a release naming you, what ID to bring, and the hours for pickup.

Evidence is handled differently. Whatever police seized for the case stays with that agency or the prosecutor, and crime victims have a right to prompt return of their own property once it's no longer needed (Crim. Proc. art. 56A.051).

A contracted medical provider works inside the jail. More serious care happens at a local hospital system. If you know about a health condition, medicine or recent injury, tell Jail Medical at 361-887-2333. Staff may not share details without the patient's consent, but they can take your information.

For anything urgent, also call the Sheriff's Administration line at 361-887-2222. If problems go unfixed, the state Commission on Jail Standards takes complaints through its complaint page or at 512-463-5505.

Deputies in the Sheriff's Warrants and Civil Process unit serve county warrants, 361-887-2239. City warrants are searchable through the city warrant lookup. Texas DPS keeps a 10 Most Wanted fugitive list too.

To check a county warrant, phone the unit or ask the District Clerk, 901 Leopard St., Room 313, Corpus Christi, TX 78401, 361-888-0450. Clearing it means calling the court that issued it or turning yourself in there, ideally with a lawyer beside you. On city warrants, a partial payment won't lift the warrant, and paying online or by phone counts as a conviction. Each September the city court lets people resolve old warrants without being arrested.

Jail staff know the next setting for anyone in custody, so start with Jail Information at 361-887-2300. After that:

• For a felony setting, ring the District Clerk, 361-888-0450.
• Misdemeanor settings come from the County Clerk at 361-888-0580.
• City court dockets show on the city docket search.
• Free IVSS-Counties alerts warn you when a hearing is set or moved.

Anyone let go on a DA cite and release ticket appears first on a set Wednesday afternoon, twice a month, in the courthouse's Central Jury Room. Hearing types are described on our court case page.

U.S. charges brought in this area are heard in the Corpus Christi Division of the U.S. District Court, 1133 N. Shoreline Blvd., Corpus Christi, TX 78401, 361-888-3142.

• Before sentencing: the U.S. Marshals Service, 1133 North Shoreline Boulevard, Suite 109, Corpus Christi, TX 78401, 361-888-3154, keeps federal prisoners and knows where each one is held.
• Release or detention: a federal magistrate judge weighs release against jail until trial at a detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Defense: the Federal Public Defender, 500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Room 301, Corpus Christi, TX 78401, 361-888-3532, represents many people who can't pay.
• Once sentenced: the Bureau of Prisons inmate locator takes a name or register number.

1. Immigration officers send Leopard Street a detainer request on Form I-247A.
2. Honoring that paper, the jail may hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE officers pick the person up, often moving them to a detention center. The Rio Grande Processing Center, 1001 San Rio Blvd, Laredo, TX 78046, 956-718-4700, is one center run under the field office for this area.
4. Type the A-number into the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Without one, search by full name plus birth country.
5. No match? Call the Harlingen Field Office, 1717 Zoy Street, Harlingen, TX 78552, 956-389-7800, which covers this county.

Texas makes its jails comply with these detainers; showing proof of citizenship or lawful status ends one (Crim. Proc. art. 2A.060). Local governments can't restrict immigration enforcement (Gov't Code 752.053). Under a 2025 statute, each county operating a jail has a December 1, 2026 deadline to try for a 287(g) arrangement with ICE. Ask the Sheriff's Office, 361-887-2222, where that stands locally.

Sentenced felons frequently sit on Leopard Street a while before the state comes for them. State jail felony time is spent in a state jail unit. Heavier terms are served with the state prison agency, TDCJ, whose intake staff assess each person before choosing where they'll serve.

• Look people up on the TDCJ inmate search using a last name and initial, a SID number or a TDCJ number.
• Anyone not currently held in a TDCJ facility won't appear. Records refresh on business days and lag by 24 hours or more.
• Unit addresses, visiting and mail rules sit on our Texas state prisons page.

A kid's age on the offense date decides the track: 10 up to 16 means juvenile court, while 17 means the adult jail (Family Code 51.02). Officers must reach a parent promptly and give a reason (Family Code 52.02).

• Detention: the Nueces County Juvenile Detention Center, 2310 Gollihar Rd., Corpus Christi, TX 78415. It has 24 beds plus up to 16 overflow beds and also takes youth from smaller counties. Control room: 361-561-6041.
• Juvenile probation: at the Juvenile Justice Center, same address, open Monday to Thursday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday until 5 p.m., 361-855-7303.
• Residential program: the Robert N. Barnes Regional Juvenile Facility, 2310 Gollihar Rd., Corpus Christi, TX 78415, 361-561-6001. Ask probation which youth are placed there.

Kids held in detention go before a judge fast: two working days at most. Counsel gets assigned beforehand (Family Code 54.01).

The Census Bureau's July 1, 2025 estimate counts 352,992 residents. The arresting agency keeps the police report. Reach it on the non-emergency line:

• Corpus Christi Police Department, 321 John Sartain Street, Corpus Christi, TX 78401, 361-886-2600.
• Robstown Police Department, 430 E. Main Ave., Robstown, TX 78380, 361-387-3531.
• Port Aransas Police Department, 705 West Avenue A, Port Aransas, TX 78373, 361-749-6241. Records is open weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Sheriff's Patrol and Narcotics: 361-414-6800.

For an arrest in Bishop, Driscoll, Agua Dulce or Petronila, or in the Nueces parts of Aransas Pass and San Patricio, call the Sheriff's non-emergency line at 361-826-2900 to learn which agency handled it. The same line can help sort out arrests by constables, school or campus police and state troopers.