1. Pull up the county's official jail search.
2. Enter the surname exactly as a driver's license would show it. Long list? Narrow it with a first name.
3. Open the matching entry and jot down what it gives you, such as a booking number or charge.
4. Nothing yet? Try Texas IVSS-Counties, a free state system covering Texas county jails.
5. Still stuck? Dial 361-526-1698 and ask for Booking. Staff there can tell you whether the person sits in this jail.

• Booking is still underway. Fingerprints, photos and paperwork come first, so look again later or ask Booking at 361-526-1698.
• A spelling slip. Search under a second surname, a former last name, or the name minus its hyphen.
• They already left. Perhaps a bond was posted. Perhaps a different county, federal marshals or ICE took custody. Each of those has its own search below.
• A town officer made the stop. The arresting department can say where the person went. Phone numbers are in the last answer.
• The person is 16 or younger. Children don't go to the adult jail. Read the answer about kids under 17.

Records questions about an arrest go to the Sheriff's Office at 361-526-2352.

Adults booked on this county's charges are housed on Mesquite Street, phone 361-526-1698. Was the arrest made in a neighboring county, or does a neighbor hold its own warrant? Then try these:

• North, toward Victoria: Victoria County Jail, 101 N. Glass Street, Victoria, TX 77901, 361-575-0651.
• Northwest, in Goliad: Goliad County Jail, 700 E. End St., Goliad, TX 77963, 361-645-3451.
• West, in Beeville: Bee County Jail, 1509 Galloway Dr, Beeville, TX 78102, 361-362-3221.
• Southwest, in Sinton: San Patricio County Jail, 300 North Rachal, Sinton, TX 78387, 361-364-9630.
• South, in Rockport: Aransas County Detention Center, 811 E. Concho, Rockport, TX 78382, 361-790-0168.
• East, across the bay in Port Lavaca: Calhoun County Adult Detention Center, 302 W. Live Oak, Port Lavaca, TX 77979, 361-553-4475.

The Sheriff's Office holds booking photos. Families wanting mugshots can send the Sheriff a written open-records request. Texas handles these under its Public Information Act, and Gov't Code 552.108(c) speaks to booking photos. Mail yours to the Sheriff, P.O. Box 1022, Refugio, TX 78377, or phone 361-526-2352 to ask how the office prefers it.

• Texas Business and Commerce Code chapter 109 governs mugshot websites that charge $150 or more for takedowns. If one of their records is inaccurate or incomplete, they must correct it or remove it without charging. Expunged records, and records sealed by an order of nondisclosure, can't be posted at all.
• Want an ICE booking photo? Submit a request on ICE's FOIA page.
• Photos from federal arrests rarely become public. The U.S. Marshals Service occasionally publishes one during a fugitive hunt.

Sign up with Texas IVSS-Counties. It took over from VINE, even though the Sheriff's page still refers to VINE.

• Online sign-up works anytime, and so does the phone line, 866-268-8959.
• Operators speak English and Spanish.
• There is no fee, and nobody else learns that you registered.

Once someone reaches state prison, the TDCJ inmate search becomes the place to check where they are.

Within 48 hours, a magistrate warns each arrested adult of their rights, then fixes bail under art. 15.17. Three routes lead out: pay the full amount in cash, pay a licensed bondsman to sign as surety, or get a personal bond requiring no money down (arts. 17.02, 17.03).

Personal bonds are barred for certain violent charges. A November 2025 amendment also lets judges refuse bail for a short list of grave crimes, after a hearing. Paying bond won't open the door if ICE has filed a detainer, parole officials want the person back, or another county has a warrant. Booking, 361-526-1698, can quote the amount owed, and our bail page covers every step from here.

Booking at 361-526-1698 can read off each charge and the bail attached to it. Once a case is filed, the paper trail moves to the courthouse at 808 Commerce St, Refugio, TX 78377:

• Felony indictments sit with the District Clerk, 361-526-2721.
• Class A and B settings appear on the county court dockets page.
• re:SearchTX shows filed charging papers once you register, which is free.

How serious is it? A Class C carries only a fine. Class B allows jail for 180 days at most, Class A for a year at most, and a felony anywhere from state jail time to life (Penal Code chapter 12).

The request for a free lawyer happens in front of the magistrate. That official walks your relative through the form, then sends it on to whoever appoints counsel within 24 hours (art. 15.17).

• With a population below 250,000, the county gets three working days from the form's arrival to appoint counsel (art. 1.051).
• Appointed work in this county may go to the Crossroads Regional Public Defender's Office, 203 N. Liberty St., Victoria, TX 77901, 361-582-5885.
• After the appointment, counsel has until the following working day ends to make a reasonable effort to contact the client (art. 26.04).

Families may hire a private lawyer instead, any time.

Before driving over, call 361-526-1698 to learn the schedule, how to sign up and the dress code. State jail standards guarantee at least this much:

• a minimum of two visits a week, held without physical contact;
• no visit shorter than 20 minutes;
• one or more slotted on a weekend or in the evening.

Government Code 511.009 exempts some jails from in-person visits. Video visits, at home on a computer or on a lobby kiosk, are common in Texas, so ask about them. Our jail visitation page has general tips.

Account money pays for commissary snacks, soap and similar items, and sometimes phone time. Call 361-526-1698 to ask which deposit options the jail accepts, such as a kiosk, a money order, a phone payment or an online service, and what each one costs. Know the person's full name and booking number before you pay.

See our inmate deposit page for a comparison of common deposit services, and our commissary page for what's sold.

Calls only go one way: from the person inside, outward. Most jails use a prepaid or collect account run by a phone vendor. Ask the jail at 361-526-1698 which vendor this jail uses and whether tablets, texts or email are part of it.

Calls and messages are likely recorded and read, so keep the case out of them. To set up accounts, start with our jail phone page. Texts and email get their own explainer on our inmate messaging page.

The jail's own mailing address is:

Refugio County Jail
P.O. Box 1025
Refugio, TX 78377

Call 361-526-1698 before you send anything. Ask whether personal mail uses this box, what ID number goes under the name, and whether postcards, photos or books have limits. Under Texas jail standards, letters have no numeric limit. Staff can't open legal mail unless the inmate is right there. More guidance sits on our inmate mail page.

Items taken at booking are inventoried and stored until release. Ask Booking at 361-526-1698 whether your relative can sign a form letting family pick things up. Bring photo ID.

Was a car towed during the arrest? The Sheriff posts a vehicle impound form and an affidavit of right of possession or control. Call the Sheriff's Office at 361-526-2352 before heading to the lot.

Call the jail at 361-526-1698 right away. Describe the injury or illness and list any medicines, doses and doctors so staff can check. If a jailer suspects mental illness, the magistrate has to hear about it within 12 hours (art. 16.22).

Worried that care is slow or unsafe? Use the jail's official complaint form. State-level complaints belong with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, 512-463-5505 or info@tcjs.state.tx.us. For a real emergency, dial 911.

Warrants outside town limits are served by Sheriff's deputies, and those inside a town by its police. Call the Sheriff's Office at 361-526-2352 and ask whether any warrant is on file. The state's highest-priority fugitives are featured on the Texas 10 Most Wanted page. Courts confirm their own warrants by phone or in person, and for felony warrants, call the District Clerk, 808 Commerce St, Refugio, TX 78377, 361-526-2721. To clear one, bring in a defense lawyer first. Next, arrange surrender at the jail, 361-526-1698, or have the lawyer seek a bond or a fresh setting from the issuing court.

• District court (felonies): call the District Clerk, 361-526-2721, or open the 2026 district court docket.
• County Court (Class A and B misdemeanors): check its dockets page.
• Justice courts (Class C): Precinct 1 is in Room 111, 361-526-4877, and Precinct 2 is in Room 103, 361-526-1635.

Every one of those courts meets at 808 Commerce St, Refugio, TX 78377. Skipping a date can trigger a new warrant and forfeit the bond, so keep a written list. For how a case moves, see our court page.

1. The court. Federal charges filed here belong to the Victoria Division, Southern District of Texas. The clerk works out of Room 406, Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Building, 312 S. Main, Victoria, TX 77901, 361-788-5000.
2. The detention hearing. A federal judge then weighs release against pretrial custody (18 U.S.C. 3142).
3. Custody while the case runs. Pretrial, the Marshals Service is the custodian, and a county jail like Mesquite Street may hold the person for them. The U.S. Marshals' Victoria office: 312 South Main Street, Room 326, Victoria, TX 77902, 361-578-4932.
4. After sentencing. Federal prison time is run by the Bureau of Prisons. Search its BOP locator by name.

1. To start, the Mesquite Street jail gets an immigration detainer, written up on ICE Form I-247A.
2. Mesquite Street staff may then hold your relative up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE then takes custody and may send the person to a processing center elsewhere in Texas or out of state.
4. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Got an A-number? Use it. Otherwise fill in name, date of birth and country of birth.
5. Still no luck? Call the ICE field office in Houston, 126 Northpoint Drive, Houston, TX 77060, 281-774-4816, or the one in San Antonio, 3523 Crosspoint Drive, San Antonio, TX 78217, 210-564-3300, and ask which office handles this county.

Under art. 2A.060, a Texas jail honors detainers unless the person shows lawful status. Local governments can't put limits on immigration enforcement under Government Code 752.053. Separately, Senate Bill 8 (2025) puts a 287(g) duty on each sheriff with a jail: seek such an agreement with ICE by December 1, 2026.

Sentenced people stay put in the county jail until TDCJ arranges transfer to intake. Staff there sort each person by risk and needs before assigning a permanent unit.

1. Open the TDCJ inmate search.
2. Enter the person's name.
3. Note the unit listed for them, then look that unit up below.

For unit addresses and details, open our Texas state prisons page.

Texas treats offenders aged 10 through 16 as children, with cases in juvenile court (Family Code 51.02). Detention for them happens at a juvenile facility, apart from adults. Officers must contact a parent promptly (52.02). Held children receive a lawyer. A detention hearing follows, two working days at most after custody starts (54.01).

Seventeen-year-olds are adults under Texas criminal law, so they go to the county jail like anyone older. No center on the state's juvenile detention registry is located inside this county. Counties with a contract can send youth to the Victoria Regional Juvenile Justice Center, 97 Foster Field Dr., Victoria, TX 77904, 361-575-0399. The Sheriff's Office, 361-526-2352, can tell you where a child went.

The arrest paperwork or citation names the agency. Every adult they book ends up at the same county jail.

• Sheriff's Office: main line 361-526-2352, patrol dispatch 361-526-2351, mailing address P.O. Box 1022, Refugio, TX 78377. Deputies cover the countryside. Callers from Austwell or Tivoli can reach dispatch to learn who answered their call.
• Refugio Police Department and Woodsboro Police Department: each town runs its own force. Sheriff's dispatch can give you the department's number.
• Bayside Police Department: details are on the town's police department page, or ask Sheriff's dispatch.
• Constables: start at the county's constable page, or ask dispatch.
• State troopers: Highway Patrol officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety work state roads in the county. Ask dispatch if a trooper handled the arrest.