1. Open the jail lookup linked at the top of this page. Type just the last name, since a short entry catches typos.
2. Run the same name through IVSS-Counties. It's free and open all day and night.
3. Jot down the booking number, each charge and any bond listed. Deposits, letters and bondsmen all ask for them.
4. Still no match? Ring the jail at 806-366-5551. Give the jailer the exact legal name plus a birthday.

Jailers can say whether someone is in custody. Some details, like health or safety matters, may stay private.

A missing name usually comes down to one of these:

• Intake isn't done. Prints, photos and forms are handled first, and the list catches up afterward.
• They've already left. A person who posted bond won't be listed. Neither will someone sent home on a fine-only charge with a written date to appear.
• The arrest was elsewhere. A stop just past the county line means a different jail.
• Another agency has them. State prison, federal marshals and immigration custody each run separate searches, covered further down.
• The record uses another spelling. Swap in a middle name or nickname, or split a hyphenated surname in two.

Jail staff at 806-366-5551 can settle it quickly.

State records list one county jail here and no second building. Anyone booked after a local arrest should be in Stratford. If they aren't, the arrest may have happened in a nearby county. The 69th Judicial District also serves Dallam, Hartley and Moore counties, and their prisoners go to:

• Dallam-Hartley County Jail in Dalhart, for Dallam and Hartley arrests. Its jail line is 806-244-2541. The Dallam County Sheriff's Office sits at 501 Denver Avenue, Dalhart, TX 79022.
• Moore County Jail in Dumas, run by that county's sheriff at 700 S. Bliss Ave., Dumas, TX 79029, 806-935-4145.

Teens are taken to juvenile detention, not an adult jail. To learn whether someone was transferred, phone 806-366-5551.

Booking photos come from the Sheriff's Office. Write a letter asking for the photo and cite the Texas Public Information Act. The section on these photos is Government Code 552.108(c). Address the letter to the office's box, P.O. Box 526, Stratford, TX 79084. You can phone 806-366-5551 first to ask how it handles requests.

A Texas law also reaches sites that post mugshots and charge $150 or more to take one down. Those sites must fix, free of charge, any record shown to be inaccurate or incomplete, or take it off. Those same sites are barred from showing an expunged record, or one a nondisclosure order covers (Bus. & Com. Code ch. 109). The law doesn't outlaw every removal fee.

The state's IVSS-Counties program offers custody alerts for county jails at no charge, and registering is confidential. Register through its website, ivss-counties.tdcj.texas.gov, or dial 866-268-8959. Callers can use English or Spanish at any hour.

Before you rely on it, check with the Sheriff's Office at 806-366-5551 that this jail's bookings show up there. For someone already moved to state prison, use the TDCJ search covered below.

Within 48 hours, a magistrate reviews the arrest, in person or on video, explains the person's rights, then decides on bail (CCP art. 15.17). After that, release can happen in one of three ways:

• Cash bond. Someone deposits the full sum with the court.
• Surety bond. A licensed bondsman backs the amount in return for a fee.
• Personal bond. Release on a signed promise to return. Some violent charges don't qualify.

Bail on this case won't lift a hold from somewhere else, for instance an ICE detainer or a parole warrant. Family violence cases can add a four-hour hold after bond when more violence seems likely. Jail staff at 806-366-5551 can give the bond amount. Our bail page covers each step.

Jail staff at 806-366-5551 can usually list each charge and its bond. The charge is also read out at the magistrate hearing.

Once a case is filed, re:SearchTX, the state's court records site, shows charges and judgments. It's free once you register. A grand jury decides whether to indict on a felony, while a misdemeanor is filed by information. For a felony, the 69th District Court office can help at 806-935-2700.

During that first hearing, the magistrate explains the steps for asking for appointed counsel and assists with the paperwork. Within 24 hours, the request must reach whoever appoints lawyers. Because this county is small, the deadline for naming one is the third working day's close (CCP arts. 15.17, 1.051).

• Panhandle Area Managed Assigned Counsel arranges appointments for the county from the Santa Fe Building, 900 S. Polk, Suite 206, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-242-3415.
• After appointment, a first contact attempt by the lawyer should happen no later than the next working day.

If no lawyer has called, family can phone that office with the person's name and charge.

Phone 806-366-5551 before the trip. Ask about the visiting schedule, what to wear, what ID to bring and whether kids can come. Under state jail standards, every county jail must offer:

• Two noncontact visits weekly, minimum, each running 20 minutes or more.
• One of those slots set on an evening or a weekend.

Certain jails are exempt from in-person visits and use video (Government Code 511.009). General visiting tips are on our visitation page.

Funds on an inmate account buy store items such as snacks and soap, and can help pay for calls. Phone the jail at 806-366-5551 to learn how deposits work here, whether there's a fee and what details to include. Don't put cash in an envelope.

Read more on our inmate money page, and see what's sold on the commissary page.

You can't phone in to an inmate. They make outgoing calls, often paid through a prepaid account that family opens. Ask jail staff at 806-366-5551 which phone company the jail uses and if tablets or e-messaging are available.

Our jail calls page and inmate email page explain how those systems usually run.

Before writing, phone 806-366-5551 for the correct mailing address and the rules on photos and paper. Every envelope needs the inmate's full name, plus the booking number. State jail standards promise two basics:

• Letters aren't capped. An inmate can write and receive any number of them.
• An attorney's letters get opened in the inmate's presence, never outside it.

Mail that breaks a jail rule may be sent back. See our mail page for more.

At booking, the jail logs clothing, wallets, phones and keys. Those things normally go back to the person on release. If someone else needs to collect property sooner, phone 806-366-5551 to learn what written permission is required and when to come.

Bring ID with a photo. Evidence items remain with the case until a judge or prosecutor clears their return.

Phone the jail at 806-366-5551 about any urgent issue, like a needed medicine, a serious allergy or a fresh injury. Staff may not discuss health details with you, but they should pass the warning on.

• Possible mental illness noticed by jailers triggers a duty under CCP art. 16.22: the magistrate hears about it within 12 hours.
• Problems left unfixed can go to the state regulator, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. Call 512-463-5505. Its inbox, info@tcjs.state.tx.us, takes complaints too. Paper complaints addressed to the commission's box, P.O. Box 12985, Austin, TX 78711, also work.

Deputies from the Sheriff's Office serve most warrants here, though Stratford police and DPS troopers can also arrest on one. Wondering if one is pending? Call the Sheriff's Office at 806-366-5551, or check with whichever court signed it. DPS keeps Texas 10 Most Wanted listings for the state's most-sought fugitives.

Clearing a warrant is best done with a lawyer's help. A lawyer can schedule a voluntary surrender with the issuing judge, who may also grant a bond or reschedule the case. Felony cases are handled by the 69th District Court. Its office is at 715 S. Dumas Avenue, Room 302, Dumas, TX 79029, 806-935-2700.

The jail lookup won't show hearing dates. Instead:

• Felony: call the 69th District Court office at 806-935-2700 with the name or cause number.
• Misdemeanor or ticket: phone the Sheriff's Office at 806-366-5551 and ask which clerk to call.

Our criminal court guide explains which court hears what and what happens at each hearing.

Amarillo is where federal cases from this corner of the Panhandle go, to the Northern District of Texas courthouse at 205 SE 5th Avenue, Room 133, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-468-3800. A detention hearing early on settles whether pretrial release is allowed (18 U.S.C. 3142).

• Before sentencing, the U.S. Marshals are responsible for the person. Call their Amarillo office at 205 SE 5th Street, Unit 214, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-324-2350, to learn the housing location.
• Once sentenced, search the Bureau of Prisons locator.

ICE's detainer form is the I-247A. Once one is lodged, the person can be kept up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)). Texas makes jails comply, with one exception: proof that the person is lawfully present (CCP art. 2A.060). Cities and counties here have also been forbidden, by a 2017 law in Government Code 752.053, from adopting any policy that restricts immigration enforcement.

Then came S.B. 8 in 2025. Any Texas county that keeps a jail must, under that law, sign on to the federal 287(g) program by December 1, 2026. Whether this county has done so is a question for the Sheriff's Office, 806-366-5551.

• After a transfer to ICE, try the ICE Online Detainee Locator.
• No result? Call the ICE Dallas Field Office, which covers North Texas: 8101 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75247, 972-367-2200.

Someone sentenced to prison stays in the county jail until TDCJ comes for them. They pass through intake, then move to a unit suited to them. After that, the TDCJ inmate search will show them.

JailExchange's Texas state prisons page covers the prisons, visiting and mail.

Texas juvenile court takes cases where the youth was between 10 and 16 at the offense. Per Family Code 51.02, adult court takes anyone who was 17. Under 52.02, a parent gets notice promptly. Family Code 54.01 sets the timing for a held youth. A lawyer comes first. The detention hearing must then happen within two working days.

No detention center for youths in this county appears on the TJJD registry, so a held youth would go elsewhere. Ask the Sheriff's Office at 806-366-5551 where, and for juvenile probation's number. The Texas Juvenile Justice Department regulates youth detention statewide from 1711 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin, TX 78701, 512-490-7130.

Jail staff can name the arresting agency. Three kinds of officers work here:

• County Sheriff. Deputies handle patrol countywide, and jailers work under the same office. Write to P.O. Box 526, Stratford, TX 79084, or call 806-366-5551.
• Stratford Police Department. This is the city's own force. Call the Sheriff's Office to get the department's number.
• DPS troopers. These state officers patrol the highways and may book arrests into the county jail.

For an arrest in another town, ask the Sheriff's Office which department was involved.