Type the name into Texas IVSS-Counties first. That free state system follows people booked into Texas county jails. This county's official jail search is worth a try as well.

To be certain, phone the Sheriff's Office at 432-345-2525. Give the deputy the person's whole name and birthday. Deputies there can tell you if the person was booked, which jail has them, and the charges listed at booking. With so few beds in Sanderson, the person might be in another county's lockup. If so, a search could list that other county instead.

A blank result doesn't prove someone went free. Records can trail a booking by hours, a name can be spelled another way, or the person may be lodged past the county line. Work through this list:

• re-run the search with just a surname, a nickname or a maiden name
• call the Sheriff's Office, 432-345-2525, and ask whether the person was moved
• try the neighbor jails named in the next answer
• if a prison sentence is possible, check the TDCJ inmate search
• on a federal case, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator
• on an immigration hold, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator

Worried they're hurt, or truly missing? Dial 911.

The Terrell County Jail is the Sheriff's jail, reached through 105 E Hackberry St, Sanderson, TX 79848, 432-345-2525. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards lists its capacity as 8. The commission's non-compliant jails list includes it too, with a comprehensive review noted for September 2026.

So ask the Sheriff's Office where a prisoner is actually kept these days. Nearby county jails that may house someone include:

• Pecos County Jail, 1774 N. Hwy 285, Fort Stockton, TX 79735, 432-336-3521
• Val Verde County Jail, 2523 Hamilton Lane, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-774-7513, which the state commission marks as privately operated
• Brewster County Jail, 307 W. Sul Ross Ave., Alpine, TX 79830, 432-837-5541
• Crockett County Jail, 121 Highway 163 South, Ozona, TX 76943, 325-392-2661

Mugshots, the photos taken at booking, are records kept by the Sheriff's Office. Ask for one through the Public Information Act. Write the request out and deliver or mail it to the Sheriff at 105 E Hackberry St, Sanderson, TX 79848. The state's request form makes that easier. Under GC 552.108(c), basic arrest details, such as who was arrested and for what, are public. An office that wants to hold back a record must usually seek an Attorney General ruling and tell the requester.

• Business and Commerce Code chapter 109 covers websites that post mugshots and want $150 or more to remove one. They must fix wrong records for free and can't post records that were expunged or sealed.
• If ICE took the photo, an ICE FOIA request is how to seek it.
• Photos from federal bookings are normally kept private. The U.S. Marshals Service may still release one now and then, say for a fugitive.

Yes. Sign up on Texas IVSS-Counties, or phone 866-268-8959, to hear when someone's custody changes, whether by release or by transfer. No fee is charged, your details stay private, and it works any hour, in Spanish as well as English. Victims who want court dates as well can ask the prosecutor handling the case.

A magistrate decides bail and any conditions inside the first 48 hours. After that, a relative or friend can post it with cash, go through a licensed bondsman, or the magistrate may allow a personal bond with no money up front. Call the Sheriff's Office at 432-345-2525 to learn the bond figure, the place to pay it and the kinds of payment accepted.

Paying bond won't free someone who has a hold from another county, a probation officer, the U.S. Marshals or ICE. Every step after that sits in our bail and release guide.

Deputies at 432-345-2525 can read you the charges written at booking. A prosecutor files the formal charges later, and they can change. Each level goes to its own court at the county courthouse:

• felony: the 63rd or 83rd District Court, through the District Clerk at 432-345-2391
• Class A or B misdemeanor: County Court, via the main courthouse line at 432-345-2421
• Class C fine-only offense: the Justice of the Peace at 432-345-2341

Our court guide explains the road from first hearing to sentence.

A prisoner without money for counsel can request appointed help. The magistrate covers that process at the first hearing. The county's plans route each case to Alpine's Far West Texas Regional Public Defender's Office unless a judge has good cause to choose another lawyer. Its office is at 203 North 7th St., Alpine, TX 79830, and the number is 432-837-4120.

In a county of this size, the appointing judge has a three-working-day deadline once the request comes in (CCP 1.051(c)). Relatives can also bring in a privately paid defense lawyer instead.

Under the state's jail standards, every prisoner gets a minimum of two visiting periods weekly without physical contact, lasting at least 20 minutes apiece. The schedule has to put one of those visits in the evening or on Saturday or Sunday. Gov't Code 511.009 decides which jails may drop in-person visiting. A veteran may also get extra visits that don't count toward the minimum.

Days, times and visitor rules are set locally, so phone the Sheriff's Office at 432-345-2525 before the trip. Ask about the schedule, ID, the dress code, and what a minor needs to visit. Our jail visiting page has general tips.

Call the Sheriff's Office at 432-345-2525 and ask how deposits work for anyone in its custody. Questions worth asking:

• Is cash or a money order accepted at the courthouse?
• Does an outside company take deposits online or by phone?
• What fees and limits apply?
• What can the account pay for, like snacks, hygiene items or phone time?

Housed in a different county? Then that jail's deposit rules are the ones to follow. For the general picture, read our guide to inmate deposits, then the commissary guide.

Under 37 TAC 259.119, the booking area of a Texas jail must have a phone that detainees can use. After booking, calls run on whatever system the jail uses. Ask the Sheriff's Office at 432-345-2525 how calls are set up, how to fund a calling account, and how a defense lawyer can schedule a private call. Our jail phone page covers the basics.

Get the right mailing address from the Sheriff's Office at 432-345-2525 before writing, and write the prisoner's complete name on the front. Texas standards don't cap how many letters a prisoner sends or gets. An empty account doesn't stop the writing, since a broke prisoner is still owed stamps and paper for three letters, at minimum, every week. Lawyer letters may be opened only while the prisoner looks on, and the search is limited to contraband. Any single item that breaks a jail rule can be turned away.

Ask about photos, books and packages before mailing them. Common rules are on our jail mail page, and electronic messaging, where offered, is on our inmate email page.

Wallets, keys, phones and anything else taken at booking go into jail storage. The person may be able to sign a release letting someone else collect them. Items kept as evidence stay with the case. Call 432-345-2525 before you drive over, and bring a photo ID. After a move to another county's jail, ask whether the property traveled too.

Tell the Sheriff's Office at 432-345-2525 about any medicine, illness or disability. Ask how to get prescriptions or a doctor's note to the jail. In an emergency, dial 911.

Mental health gets special handling. If jailers hear credible reports that someone shows signs of mental illness, or of an intellectual disability, they must alert the magistrate before 12 hours pass (CCP 16.22). An expert then interviews the person and writes a report. Jails must also tell prisoners how to file a complaint inside. Families with concerns may contact the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. Reach that regulator through an online complaint page or by phone at 512-463-5505.

Warrants issued here are kept and served by the Sheriff's Office, 105 E Hackberry St, Sanderson, TX 79848. Ring 432-345-2525 to ask whether one exists in a certain name. Clerks can answer for their own courts: the District Clerk at 432-345-2391 on felonies, and the Justice Court at 432-345-2341 on traffic and other Class C cases. The DPS Texas 10 Most Wanted pages profile the state's top fugitives. Anyone with a warrant should talk with a defense lawyer before doing anything else. With counsel, a surrender can be arranged ahead of time, or bond requested, so a surprise arrest is less likely.

Court calendars belong to the clerks. Felony case? Ask the District Clerk at 432-345-2391. Misdemeanor? Go through the main courthouse line at 432-345-2421. Ticket? Try the Justice Court at 432-345-2341. The defense lawyer will know too.

The statewide re:SearchTX site shows filings to registered users, but it doesn't list hearing dates.

Someone awaiting a federal trial in Del Rio stays in U.S. Marshals Service custody. Marshals may place that person in any county jail they contract with. The Marshals' Del Rio office is at 111 East Broadway, Room 159, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-703-2075.

The federal clerk, at 111 East Broadway, Room L100, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-703-2054, can share case details. After sentencing, follow the person with the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

A detainer is paperwork, Form I-247A, that ICE lodges with whatever jail has the person. With it, the jail may keep someone up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, so ICE agents can arrive (8 CFR 287.7(d)). CCP 2A.060 obliges Texas jails to go along, except for a person with papers showing citizenship or lawful immigration status. S.B. 4, passed in 2017, created GC 752.053, which keeps local governments from blocking immigration enforcement.

Then there's S.B. 8, a 2025 statute. Its deadline is December 1, 2026, by which Terrell and other counties running jails must have sent ICE a 287(g) application. Call the Sheriff's Office, 432-345-2525, to hear Terrell's progress and which ICE office lodged this hold. Once ICE takes custody, look the person up with the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

A sentenced felon waits in county custody for TDCJ to come. Then they go to a TDCJ intake unit and later to a regular unit. Lookups on the TDCJ inmate search work with an SID or a TDCJ number. Surnames work too, as long as a first initial rides along. Anyone still sitting in a county lockup isn't listed there. Updates happen on working days, and the information is at least 24 hours old.

For addresses, visiting and mail at each unit, use our Texas prisons page.

Juvenile cases follow their own rules under the Texas Family Code. No state-registered juvenile detention center operates inside the county. For a child who must be held, one option in the region is the Val Verde County Juvenile Detention Center, 200 Griner, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-774-7553.

FC 52.02 requires officers to notify a parent without delay. FC 54.01 puts a detention hearing on the calendar within two working days. Kinney, Terrell and Val Verde share a juvenile board. To learn where a child was taken, or to reach the juvenile probation office, call the Sheriff's Office at 432-345-2525.

The county has no incorporated city, so no city police department exists. The Sheriff's Office patrols the whole county and makes arrests from 105 E Hackberry St, Sanderson, TX 79848, 432-345-2525.

• Constable: a Constable serves the county too, and the courthouse main line can connect you, 432-345-2421.
• State troopers: for anything involving DPS, the Texas Department of Public Safety, use its contact page.
• Emergencies: dial 911.