1. Type a surname into the official jail search. No hit? Drop a letter or two and retry.
2. Run the same name through Texas IVSS-Counties, which covers people "currently in custody or under supervision" in Texas county jails.
3. Copy down whatever shows: booking number, charge, bond.
4. Nothing yet? Dial Broadway at 806-995-3326, request Booking, and read off the legal name with the birth date.

Web listings may lag a few hours behind Broadway's own records, so a quick phone call settles any doubt.

A few common reasons:

• Booking still underway. Prints, photos and forms all take time. Try once more after a few hours.
• A city arrest. Phone the Tulia Police Department at 806-995-3555 and ask where officers took the person.
• Already out. A bondsman, a relative's cash or a personal bond from the magistrate could have freed them.
• Transferred. Another county may have collected the person on its warrant. Federal agents or TDCJ are other possibilities.
• Name trouble. Try a maiden surname, a middle name or a nickname as well.

Broadway's jailers can sort out each of these. Phone 806-995-3326 and ask for Records.

Swisher has one county jail, the lockup at 136 East Broadway, Tulia, TX 79088, 806-995-3326. A 2022 state count rated it for 27 beds. City police list no lockup of their own, so after a city arrest, ask the police at 806-995-3555 where the person was booked.

Arrested just past the Swisher line? Try these neighbor jails:

• Castro County Jail, 900 E. Bedford Street, Dimmitt, TX 79027, 806-647-3311
• Hale County Jail, 1900 S. Columbia, Plainview, TX 79072, 806-293-5377
• Randall County Jail, 9100 S. Georgia St, Amarillo, TX 79118, 806-468-5752

Federal, immigration and state prison searches are further down this page.

Mugshots, or booking photos, are requested from the Sheriff's Office in writing as public records. Mail the request to 136 East Broadway, Tulia, TX 79088, or use the office email, so@swisher-tx.org. Under Texas law, the bare facts of an arrest are public right away (Gov't Code 552.108(c)). When ten business days pass without an answer, the office owes you a date for one. Questions go to 806-995-3326.

Some mugshot websites demand $150 or more to pull a record. Texas's Business and Commerce Code ch. 109 says such sites must correct an inaccurate Swisher booking listing, or take it down, without charging anything. They must also leave alone any record that a court expunged or sealed. An ICE photo takes a request to ICE's FOIA office. Federal arrest photos stay private as a rule, though the Marshals can publish one when hunting a fugitive.

Texas IVSS-Counties now does the job VINE used to do for county custody alerts. If an older page still sends you to VINE, go to IVSS-Counties instead.

• Search the IVSS-Counties site for the person's name.
• Choose phone, text or email alerts; an account is optional.
• Expect word on booking, release, a move to TDCJ and court setting changes.
• Signing up is free and confidential, and the inmate never learns who registered.
• Phone help, day or night, English or Spanish: 866-268-8959.

Within 48 hours, a magistrate reads the charge, explains rights and settles bail (Code Crim. Proc. art. 15.17). Broadway lets a person out on full cash, on a bondsman's surety, or on their own signed personal bond. Listed violent offenses can't get a personal bond. Proposition 3, passed in 2025, lets a judge deny bail entirely on certain violent charges after a hearing.

Broadway at 806-995-3326 can give the bond figure and accepted payments. Our Swisher bail page walks through each step.

• Booking charges: ask Broadway at 806-995-3326.
• Filed charges: the combined County and District Clerk, 119 S Maxwell Ave, Tulia, TX 79088, 806-995-3294.
• Case number and charging papers: a free account on re:SearchTX.

The booking sheet's charge can change later. After review, the County Attorney can raise it, lower it or swap it. That office sits at 119 South Maxwell, Tulia, TX 79088, 806-995-3505.

Tell the magistrate that money for a lawyer isn't there, and sign the request. Swisher's appointing judge must pick a lawyer by the third working day after that form comes in, because far fewer than 250,000 people live there (Code Crim. Proc. art. 1.051).

Two regional public defender offices are tied to the county:

• Caprock, working out of Texas Tech in Lubbock: 3311 18th St., Lubbock, TX 79409, 806-742-4312
• High Plains, which works from Plainview: 806-598-6886

Heard nothing from a lawyer after several days? Ask the Maxwell clerk at 806-995-3294 who got the appointment.

Texas rules guarantee a Broadway inmate a minimum of two noncontact visits weekly. Each runs 20 minutes or more, and one has to fall on an evening or a weekend (TCJS visitation plan). The law lets some jails replace in-person visits with video.

Before driving to Broadway, phone 806-995-3326. Find out the visit schedule, the approval process, the ID rules and the policy on kids. General advice lives on our visitation page.

An inmate account covers store items, toiletries and phone minutes. Phone Broadway at 806-995-3326 and ask which deposit options exist and what fees apply. Don't mail loose cash.

Deposit basics are on our inmate money guide. What the jail store sells is covered on our commissary rundown.

Texas jail design rules call for a booking-area phone, which is how first calls get made soon after arrest. For calls after that, Broadway at 806-995-3326 can explain billing and account setup.

The Sheriff's Office lists so@swisher-tx.org for general questions. That address isn't for writing to inmates. Two general explainers help here: our inmate messaging guide and, for calls, our jail phone guide.

Line one: the inmate's complete name. Then:

Swisher County Jail
136 East Broadway, Tulia, TX 79088

Ask Broadway if their booking number should go on the envelope as well. State rules set no cap on letters in or out. Mail from an attorney is opened at Broadway only while the inmate looks on (TCJS correspondence plan). Skip cash, stickers and tape. More pointers are on our jail mail guide.

Broadway logs and bags whatever the person carried in. It all goes back at release. To collect something early, call 806-995-3326. Ask if Broadway wants the inmate's signature on a release first, and what ID to bring.

Anything seized as evidence follows the case instead. The County Attorney's office at 806-995-3505 handles those questions.

Phone Broadway at 806-995-3326 to report a health problem, a prescription or an allergy. Privacy rules limit what staff share back, but they can relay your information. Signs of mental illness in a Broadway inmate start a 12-hour clock for jailers to alert a magistrate (art. 16.22).

Unhappy with medical care? The state's jail regulator takes complaints through its online form, 512-463-5505 or info@tcjs.state.tx.us.

Swisher's Sheriff's Office handles warrants all over the county; reach it at 806-995-3326. In town, Tulia's police department also serves them, 806-995-3555. The DPS Texas 10 Most Wanted roundup names the state's most-sought fugitives. For warrants a local judge signed, the Maxwell clerk can look one up over the phone or at the counter: 119 S Maxwell Ave, Tulia, TX 79088, 806-995-3294. To deal with one, bring in a defense lawyer early. Turning yourself in at 136 East Broadway, Tulia, TX 79088, or asking the issuing judge for a fresh hearing date, are the usual paths.

Hearing dates come from the clerk at 806-995-3294. The Maxwell clerk will want the full name plus birth date. Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Thursday, with an earlier 3:00 p.m. close on Friday.

IVSS-Counties also sends word when a hearing is scheduled or moved. Our court page covers every stage that follows.

The Amarillo federal courthouse takes Swisher's federal cases: 205 SE 5th Avenue, Room 133, Amarillo, TX 79101, 806-468-3800. A federal magistrate judge decides on detention at the first appearance (18 U.S.C. 3142).

Federal defendants awaiting trial are in U.S. Marshals Service custody, often in county jail beds rented under contract. The Amarillo Marshals office, 806-324-2350, can say which one. Once a sentence starts, try the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

1. Broadway is served with an ICE hold on Form I-247A.
2. Broadway may then keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Texas obliges its jails to follow detainers (Code Crim. Proc. art. 2A.060). Showing lawful status ends that duty.
4. ICE officers then come to Broadway for the transfer. Their Panhandle cases go through the Dallas Field Office, 8101 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75247, 972-367-2200.
5. Track the person on the ICE Online Detainee Locator using an A-number, or the name with birth country.

Felony sentences lead to TDCJ intake, where the state sorts each prisoner before sending them to a unit. The TDCJ inmate search accepts an exact last name, a TDCJ number or a state ID number, and refreshes on working days. Each prison is described on our Texas prisons directory.

Texas handles youths aged 10 to 16 in juvenile court; a 17-year-old faces adult charges (Family Code 51.02). Kids aren't booked into Broadway like adults, and a parent must get prompt notice. Castro and Swisher share a juvenile board. For the youth's whereabouts and a probation contact, phone the Sheriff's Office at 806-995-3326.

Broadway's booking record names the arresting agency. Agencies working in Swisher:

• Swisher County Sheriff's Office, 136 East Broadway, Tulia, TX 79088, 806-995-3326. Home of the deputies and the county jail.
• Tulia Police Department, 201 N. Maxwell, Tulia, TX 79088, 806-995-3555.
• Kress: its city site points emergencies to 9-1-1 and links the Sheriff's Office. Kress City Hall: 308 Skipworth Ave., Kress, TX 79052, 806-684-2525.
• Happy: for an arrest there, the Sheriff's Office can tell you who responded.
• DPS: state troopers patrol Swisher highways and can arrest there too. Booking staff can confirm if one did.