1. Pull up Texas IVSS-Counties or the official jail search.
2. Choose Pecos if the site wants a county, then key in the surname.
3. Dozens of hits? Narrow them with a given name or birth date.
4. Jot down whatever status and booking or ID number appear. That number makes calls, deposits and letters faster.
5. Coming up empty? Ring the jail at 432-336-3521 and ask for Booking.

Listings change hour by hour as people arrive and leave. Misspellings cause many misses, so try a nickname, a hyphenated form, or either part of a double surname.

Four common reasons:

• Paperwork in progress. Fingerprinting, photos and intake forms come before a listing. Wait a few hours.
• A city arrest. Fort Stockton police at 432-336-4600 can say where their arrestee went.
• Already released. A quick bond can free someone the same day. Officers may also hand out a citation for most Class C offenses rather than jail anyone (Code Crim. Pro. art. 14.06).
• Transferred. Another county, a federal hold, ICE or TDCJ could have the person. Later answers explain each.

Booking staff, 432-336-3521, can sort it out.

Almost everyone arrested here stays at the Pecos County Jail, 1774 N. Hwy 285, Fort Stockton, TX 79735, 432-336-3521. Staff can confirm tonight's location.

Small jails sometimes run out of beds and send people next door. In August 2022, a state report showed 22 people from this county in other jails, with no host county named. Neighboring jails within a few hours' drive:

• Ward County Jail, 415 E. Monahans Parkway, Monahans, TX 79756, 432-943-6703
• Crane County Jail, 464 NW Truck Route, Crane, TX 79731, 432-558-3571
• Upton County Jail, 1106 North Grand Street, Rankin, TX 79778, 432-693-2422
• Crockett County Jail, 121 S. Hwy 163, Ozona, TX 76943, 325-392-2661
• Brewster County Jail, 307 W. Sul Ross Ave, Alpine, TX 79830, 432-837-6200 (ask for the jail)

Mugshots, the photos snapped at booking, are best obtained by writing to the Sheriff's Office and citing the Texas Public Information Act (Gov. Code sec. 552.108(c)). Post the letter to Post Office Box 1647, Fort Stockton, TX 79735, or phone 432-336-3521 to find out how the office prefers to get requests. Include the person's name and the date of arrest.

An ICE photo means filing through ICE's FOIA records page. Booking pictures from federal agencies seldom go public, yet the U.S. Marshals Service could release one when, say, a fugitive is being hunted.

A Texas rule applies to mugshot sites whose removal fee is $150 or more. Such a site has to correct or pull down a false or partial record without charging. It also can't show any record a court has expunged or ordered kept private by nondisclosure (Bus. & Com. Code ch. 109).

It will. Texas IVSS-Counties sends free, confidential word when someone's custody status changes, a release or transfer for instance. Enroll online or by calling 866-268-8959, at any hour, in Spanish or English.

Every relative who wants updates should enroll separately. Victims of the crime rely on this service too, and the prosecutor can describe any other notices.

A magistrate looks at the case within 48 hours of the arrest and either sets money bail or grants a personal bond (Code Crim. Pro. art. 15.17). Money bail is paid in full in cash, or a licensed bondsman posts a surety bond and keeps a fee. With a personal bond, a signed promise to appear stands in for cash, and the judge may attach conditions such as an order to avoid the alleged victim.

Since the November 2025 constitutional amendment, judges can deny bail in some violent cases after a hearing (Texas Constitution, art. I, sec. 11d). For the amount and accepted payment, phone 432-336-3521. Each step of release has its own section on our bail and release page, and statewide law is summed up on our Texas bail rules page.

Over the phone, booking staff at 432-336-3521 can often read out charges and bond amounts. Once prosecutors file, the case belongs to a clerk:

• Felony files: the District Clerk, whose office sits at 400 S. Nelson Street, Fort Stockton, TX 79735, 432-336-3503
• Misdemeanor files (Class A or B): the County Clerk, in Suite 3 at 200 S. Nelson Street, Fort Stockton, TX 79735, 432-336-7555

Free registration on re:SearchTX opens filed complaints, indictments and judgments. For older convictions reported to the state, the paid DPS conviction name search is the tool.

Expect the magistrate to raise the subject of a free lawyer at that first hearing. A yes starts a sworn form about money: income, debts, savings. Lawyers from a rotating court list then take the case.

People in public housing, or drawing SSI, TANF, SNAP or Medicaid, are presumed to qualify. So are people whose earnings don't top 150 percent of the poverty guideline, if assets are modest. Here the rule gives the court three working days, after it gets the request, to appoint one (Code Crim. Pro. art. 1.051).

Capital murder cases get a specialist office, the regional capital defender. Call 806-696-3740. Its mailing address is Post Office Box 2097, Lubbock, TX 79408. Anyone can read the county's appointment plans on the state's indigent defense website.

Texas jails must allow every inmate two or more noncontact visits per week. Each visit runs at least 20 minutes, and evenings or weekends must get at least one. Some jails swap in-person visits for video (Gov. Code sec. 511.009).

Phone 432-336-3521 before making the drive to check times, required ID, clothing rules, and whether visits use a lobby screen or a home device. Bring photo ID, since phones and bags usually stay in the vehicle. Our visiting page adds more.

Money on account covers commissary items like chips, soap and stamps, plus phone time. Ask the jail, 432-336-3521, which company takes deposits, whether a lobby kiosk accepts cash or cards, and the fee per deposit. Give the person's full name and booking number so the funds post to the right account.

General steps are on our sending money page, and what can be bought is on our commissary page.

Outgoing jail calls run through a contracted phone company and are billed collect or to a prepaid account. Incoming calls to an inmate generally aren't possible. Ask 432-336-3521 which company the jail uses, then open an account with it before the first call.

Many jails add tablets for messages or video chats. Our jail calls page and messaging page explain the usual setups. Treat every call and message as overheard, and don't discuss the case.

Confirm the rules by phone, 432-336-3521, before mailing. Mail for the Sheriff's Office goes to Post Office Box 1647, Fort Stockton, TX 79735. On the envelope, print the person's full name, a booking number if known, and your return address.

Texas sets no ceiling on letters received. A lawyer's letter may be opened only while the inmate watches. Leave out staples, glue, perfume and cash. Our jail mail page covers the usual rules.

Items seized at booking, wallet, phone, keys and clothing among them, are listed and kept in storage. Someone still in custody can usually sign a form so a relative can pick things up. Phone 432-336-3521 to set a pickup time, and bring photo ID.

At release, stored items normally go back to the owner. Ask about court clothes too, since many jails let family drop off a plain outfit for trial.

Phone 432-336-3521 and ask for the shift supervisor. Describe the condition, list each prescription and dose, and name the prescribing doctor. The jail's medical staff decide what treatment and medicines are given.

Relatives can't order a hospital visit, but they can keep calling and log each call. If a serious need seems ignored, report it to the state's jail standards agency, TCJS, through its complaint form or at 512-463-5505.

Countywide, Sheriff's deputies serve warrants; reach them at 432-336-3521. Inside the city, Fort Stockton officers serve them from 1710 N. Front St., Fort Stockton, TX 79735, 432-336-4600. Each constable covers a precinct: Pct. 1 at 1507 N. Kansas Street, Fort Stockton, TX 79735, 432-290-1726; the Iraan constable at P.O. Box 1083, Iraan, TX 79744, 432-639-2251; and the Sheffield constable at P.O. Box 276, Sheffield, TX 79781, 432-836-4349. A phone call to any of these offices can confirm whether a warrant is active. DPS ranks the state's most dangerous fugitives; see its Texas 10 Most Wanted roster. Hiring or requesting a lawyer is the usual first move to clear a warrant. The lawyer can schedule a surrender with the signing judge's court, or bring up bond with that judge. Felony warrants go through the District Clerk's office at 400 S. Nelson Street, Fort Stockton, TX 79735, 432-336-3503.

The calendar lives with whichever clerk has the case. Felonies: the District Clerk, 432-336-3503. Jailable misdemeanors go to the County Clerk, 432-336-7555. Tickets: the precinct's justice court or the city court.

A defense lawyer receives notice of every setting and can share it. Every local courtroom, with its address, appears on our court page.

Federal prosecutions from around here are heard in the Western District's Pecos Division. It sits in the town of Pecos at 410 South Cedar, Pecos, TX 79772, 432-445-4228. Pretrial custody or conditional release is the choice a federal judge makes at the detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).

Pretrial, the U.S. Marshals keep federal prisoners, frequently in rented county jail beds. Ask the Marshals desk, 410 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772, 432-445-5495, where the person sits. A sentenced federal prisoner moves into Bureau of Prisons custody; check its federal inmate locator.

1. Detainer. ICE sends a Form I-247A request. That lets jailers keep someone up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
2. Texas rules. A Texas jail must comply unless papers establish citizenship or lawful presence in the United States (Code Crim. Pro. art. 2A.060). Since a 2017 law, Texas towns and counties are barred from rules that hold back immigration enforcement (Gov. Code sec. 752.053).
3. 287(g). Per S.B. 8 (2025), every jail-operating county must have its 287(g) agreement with ICE completed and signed by December 1, 2026. For local progress, phone the Sheriff's Office at 432-336-3521.
4. Transfer. Once ICE arrives, the person is driven to an immigration detention facility, sometimes far from West Texas.
5. Search. Look the person up in the ICE Online Detainee Locator. An A-number works best; failing that, a full name plus birth country.

Following a felony sentence, TDCJ, the Texas prison system, eventually collects the person from the county jail. First comes intake, where staff weigh security risk and needs, then assignment to a fitting unit.

TDCJ's inmate lookup accepts a name, SID number or TDCJ number. Rules for visits, letters and deposits differ by unit, and our Texas state prisons page sorts them out.

In Texas, juvenile court takes kids who were 10 or older, but still short of 17, on the offense date. Turning 17 makes someone an adult in criminal law, so the county jail may hold them (Fam. Code sec. 51.02). Younger children stay in a juvenile detention center, away from adult inmates. Within two working days a detention hearing must be held, and a lawyer must be appointed first (Fam. Code sec. 54.01).

Juvenile Probation can say which center has the child: 1692 E. Interstate 10, Fort Stockton, TX 79735, 432-336-7534. The Texas Juvenile Justice Department keeps the statewide registry of detention centers. Its office is at 1711 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin, TX 78701, 512-490-7130.

Use this rundown to work out which agency made the arrest:

• Sheriff's Office, county patrol and the jail: 1774 N. Hwy 285, Fort Stockton, TX 79735, 432-336-3521
• Fort Stockton Police Department: 1710 N. Front St., Fort Stockton, TX 79735, office line 432-336-4600
• Iraan: City Hall, P.O. Box 457, Iraan, TX 79744, 432-639-2301, can say who handles police calls in town
• Imperial and Sheffield: Sheriff's deputies patrol both, and Sheffield also has a constable
• Constables: Pct. 1, 1507 N. Kansas Street, Fort Stockton, TX 79735, 432-290-1726; Pct. 3 (Iraan), P.O. Box 1083, Iraan, TX 79744, 432-639-2251; Pct. 6 (Sheffield), P.O. Box 276, Sheffield, TX 79781, 432-836-4349
• State troopers with Texas DPS work Interstate 10 and other state roads. When a trooper made the arrest, the jail's booking desk can confirm whether the person came in.