About 1,389,670 people live in the county, according to a July 2025 Census Bureau estimate, so the jail list is long. A 2022 state jail report counted room for 2,914 people. These steps keep the search simple:

1. Visit the Sheriff's inmate lookup.
2. Type the family name and first name. No match? Drop a letter or two and search again.
3. Compare the birth date, since many people share common names.
4. Copy the booking number, also called the Jail ID number. It is seven digits long.
5. Read each charge and the bond set on it.

People booked in the last few hours can lag behind. For anything the record leaves out, call the general jail line at 512-854-9889.

When the search turns up nothing, think about these causes:

• Still in booking. A fresh arrest may not be listed right away. Check again later.
• Already out. A relative might have paid the bond already, or a judge okayed a personal bond.
• Different spelling. Search under both family names, a hyphenated form or the legal first name.
• Arrested elsewhere. An arrest across the county line goes to that county's jail. For example, the Williamson County Jail is at 306 West 4th Street, Georgetown, TX 78626, 512-943-1365.
• Federal or immigration custody. Separate federal and ICE lookups apply.
• Under 17. Youths go to the juvenile center, not the adult jail.

Still stuck? Call jail information at 512-854-4180 and spell out the name and birthday. Central Records, at 512-854-9749, handles record requests.

Both adult jails belong to the Sheriff's Office. In each, men and women are kept in high, medium and low security housing.

• Central Booking Facility, part of the downtown jail, 500 W. 10th St., Austin, TX 78701, 512-854-4180. Every person arrested in the county is booked here, whichever agency made the arrest. It also holds people while their case moves.
• Correctional Complex, 3614 Bill Price Rd., Del Valle, TX 78617, same phone. Its Visitation Center serves both jails, and its Finance Building takes deposits.
• Gardner-Betts Juvenile Justice Center, 2515 S. Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78704, for youths 10 to 16. Juvenile Probation: 512-854-7000.

City police here bring the people they arrest to Central Booking too. To learn which building someone is in today, ask jail information. A second jail line, 512-854-9889, can help as well.

The Sheriff's lookup is built for names, booking numbers, charges and bonds. Want an actual booking photo, a mugshot? Mail or deliver a written Public Information Act request addressed to the Sheriff's Office (Gov't Code 552.108). State law makes agencies hand over basic arrest information without delay. Central Records can explain how to file, 512-854-9749.

Some private websites post mugshots and then ask for money to take them down. Chapter 109 of the Business and Commerce Code reaches sites asking $150 or more to delete a photo. Those operators must fix an inaccurate or partial entry, or take it down, at no charge. They also can't publish a record a court expunged or closed with an order of nondisclosure (sections 109.004 and 109.005). The law does not ban every removal fee.

To ask for an ICE photo, file a request at ICE's FOIA page. Most federal booking photos are never released. One exception: the U.S. Marshals can publish a photo when they are hunting a fugitive.

To get them, sign up with Texas IVSS-Counties, the free state notice service that replaced the old VINE system in 2025. You can also call 866-268-8959 any time, in English or Spanish.

• Search by full or partial name.
• Pick how you want to be told. Registering doesn't require making an account.
• Notices go out for booking, release, a move to TDCJ and new or changed court dates.
• Your sign-up stays confidential from the prisoner.

Rechecking the Sheriff's custody search now and then also shows whether the person is still listed.

A judge sees each person at Counsel at First Appearance, called CAFA, within 48 hours of arrest. It happens at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center, 509 W. 11th St., Austin, TX 78701. The judge reads the person their rights, offers a court-appointed lawyer and sets bond.

• Cash bond: every dollar of the bond in exact bills, a bank cashier's check or a money order. Pay it at the jail where the person stays, or at the Sheriff's Bonding Office in the same downtown building.
• Surety bond: through an approved bonding company, which charges a fee.
• Personal bond: no money up front. Only Pretrial Services or a lawyer can ask for one, and a judge decides. Pretrial Services: 512-854-9381.

Holds for ICE, parole or another county can keep someone in after bond. Our bail guide walks through every step, and the jail at 512-854-4180 can tell you where to pay today.

Charges and their bond amounts show on the person's entry in the Find an Inmate search. The jail can read it to you at 512-854-4180.

For court papers:

• Felonies: District Clerk, Criminal Division, 501 W. 11th Street, Austin, TX 78701 (Room 2.300), 512-854-9420.
• Class A and B misdemeanors: County Clerk, 5501 Airport Boulevard, Austin, TX 78751, 512-854-9188, or its online records search.
• Statewide: re:SearchTX, with a free account, shows filed charges and judgments.

A charge at booking can change. Prosecutors may file a different or lesser charge later, so check the court record as the case goes on.

At CAFA, anyone on a charge that could mean jail time has a defense lawyer at their side. Pretrial Services then collects pay and household facts, and the judge uses them to rule on a free lawyer.

• Public Defender's Office, 1010 Lavaca St., Austin, TX 78701, 512-854-5100.
• Capital Area Private Defender Service, 507 West 11th St., Austin, TX 78701, 512-774-4208, which oversees appointed private lawyers.

Lawyers can reach a client in jail by leaving a message at 512-854-4666. They give the booking number, full name and birth date, and staff tell the client to call. Lawyer calls are free, local, 20 minutes long and not recorded.

All visits for both jails take place at the Visitation Center at the Correctional Complex, 3614 Bill Price Rd., Del Valle, TX 78617. Visits are non-contact, either face to face or on an onsite video screen.

• Days: Tuesday through Saturday, closed on county holidays.
• Face to face: 8:00 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. and 4:00 to 8:30 p.m.
• Onsite video: 8:05 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. and 4:00 to 8:30 p.m.
• Limit: two visits a week, of either kind.
• Booking: schedule face-to-face visits at least 24 hours ahead with the county's scheduling service. Video visits can also be set at the kiosk there. Scheduling help: 855-208-7349.

Show up 30 minutes early, because check-in closes 10 minutes before the visit and late arrivals are turned away. Up to two visitors may come, or three with children under 12. Anyone 17 or older needs a government photo ID, and kids under 17 must come with a parent or guardian. A strict dress code bars things like see-through or strapless tops, sleepwear and short shorts. Questions: 512-854-4666. Our visitation page lists general tips.

Money goes into the Inmate Trust Fund. There are three ways to send it:

1. In person at the Finance Building, #230, Correctional Complex, 3614 Bill Price Rd., Del Valle, TX 78617, weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Use a cashier's check or money order, and write "Inmate Trust Fund" on the payee line. No fee is charged, and cards and personal checks are refused.
2. By mail to Inmate Trust Fund, P.O. Box 1368, Del Valle, TX 78617. Write the person's full name, booking number and birth date, plus your name and return address. Each money order must be $100 or less.
3. Through Western Union, which the Sheriff's page points to. Use the 7-digit booking number joined to the last name with no space, such as 1234567Smith, and the code city TCSOITF TX. Cards work there, fees apply and funds post the next business day. Western Union: 800-325-6000.

Trust Fund questions: 512-854-5319. Gift packages from the approved package service run up to $100 a week per person, arrive 10 to 14 days after processing and are ordered at 800-546-6283. Read the details on our money page and commissary page.

Outgoing calls are made on dayroom phones during morning, afternoon and evening hours. Each call can last up to 20 minutes. Calls can't be transferred, forwarded or turned into conference calls.

• Collect calls: the person you call pays. A collect call to a cell phone lasts up to 15 minutes and costs $9.99 to accept.
• Prepaid account: set one up with the phone provider and choose a spending limit.
• Phone cards: $10 and $20 cards are sold through commissary.
• Blocking calls: contact the phone provider at 800-844-6591.

Inmates also have wireless tablets. Families can stay in touch by setting up an account in the Travis County Tablet Services app. Deaf and hard-of-hearing inmates can use a free video relay kiosk in their housing unit. For more, open our phone page or the messaging page.

Mail goes straight to the building where the person lives, so check the search first. Put the full name, date of birth and Jail ID or booking number on the envelope, plus your return address.

• Downtown: Travis County Jail, 500 W. 10th St., Austin, TX 78701
• Del Valle: Travis County Correctional Complex, 3614 Bill Price Rd., Del Valle, TX 78617

Paperbacks, magazines and newspapers are allowed only when a publisher or distribution warehouse mails them directly. A person may keep two books and two magazines at once, and extras go back to the publisher. Never send money in a letter to these addresses; use the Trust Fund box instead. See our mail page for tips.

Jail staff hold onto phones, wallets and other items taken during booking. Call jail information at 512-854-4180 and ask for Property. Have the booking number handy and ask what ID you need.

Picking up for another person? Their signed permission may be required, so check before you drive out. Leftover Trust Fund money is a separate question for the Trust Fund office, 512-854-5319.

Phone jail information at 512-854-4180, request the medical unit and read off the booking number. Ask how to pass along a concern, a medication need or a doctor's name.

Texas law adds a mental health step. When a jail has reason to think a person may have a mental illness or intellectual disability, it has 12 hours to notify a magistrate, and an expert review may follow (CCP art. 16.22).

Each jail must tell inmates how to file a complaint. If a concern isn't fixed, contact the Texas Commission on Jail Standards at 512-463-5505.

The Sheriff's deputies, five county constables and city police serve warrants. For the Sheriff's Central Warrants unit, call 512-854-9751. Check online with the county warrant search, and see the Texas 10 Most Wanted fugitives. Constable Precinct 2 takes some warrant payments at 512-854-4515. To clear a warrant, report with a lawyer to the judge's court that issued it. Calling that court's clerk for a hearing slot works too. Misdemeanor warrants come from the County Clerk, 5501 Airport Boulevard, Austin, TX 78751, 512-854-9188.

Court dates are printed on release papers. You can also search:

• The county's criminal docket search for district and county courts.
• The County Clerk's misdemeanor docket search.

Criminal Court Administration answers at 512-854-9244. Courts meet at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center, 509 W. 11th St., Austin, TX 78701. For how a case moves from there, see our court page.

Federal charges go to the Western District of Texas courthouse, 501 West Fifth Street, Suite 1100, Austin, TX 78701, clerk 512-916-5896.

• Whether they can await trial at home is argued before a federal judge (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Ask the U.S. Marshals Service which jail is housing the person before trial: 501 West 5th Street, Suite 3300, Austin, TX 78701, 512-916-5393.
• The Federal Public Defender is at 504 Lavaca Street, Suite 960, Austin, TX 78701, 512-916-5025.
• After sentencing, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator. The nearest federal prison is FCI Bastrop, 1341 Highway 95 North, Bastrop, TX 78602, 512-321-3903.

1. ICE lodges a Form I-247A detainer on the person.
2. With that form, staff may hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Under CCP art. 2A.060, Texas jails follow detainers, and only proof of legal status ends one. A 2017 statute, Gov't Code 752.053, goes further and blocks local limits on immigration work.
4. A 2025 law, S.B. 8, set December 1, 2026 as the date for jail-running sheriffs to request 287(g) status. For this county's answer, phone the Sheriff's Office at 512-854-9770.
5. Once ICE has the person, search the ICE Online Detainee Locator using the person's full name, birth country and A-number or birthday.

If the locator shows nothing, call ICE's San Antonio Field Office, 3523 Crosspoint Drive, San Antonio, TX 78217, 210-564-3300.

Prison and state jail terms are run by TDCJ, the state prison system. After sentencing, people stay in county custody until TDCJ sends for them. Staff at an intake unit assess each one before a long-term assignment.

• The TDCJ inmate search wants an exact surname plus a first initial, or a state ID number. Only people currently inside a TDCJ unit appear, and the data is a day old or more.
• Unit addresses and visiting basics are on JailExchange's Texas prison directory.

Youths ages 10 to 16 go to the Gardner-Betts Juvenile Justice Center, 2515 S. Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78704, not the adult jail. A 17-year-old is booked as an adult (Family Code 51.02).

• Family Code 52.02 says police must quickly let a parent know.
• A judge decides on detention within two working days of pickup, or within one when the pickup lands on a Friday or Saturday. The youth has a lawyer by then (Family Code 54.01).
• Youths don't show up in the adult search. Call Juvenile Probation at 512-854-7000.

Whichever agency made the arrest, the person is booked at Central Booking. Call the agency itself for reports or questions about the arrest.

Sheriff's Office (patrols outside city limits, plus small towns that rely on deputies):

• Central Command, 5555 Airport Blvd., Austin, TX 78751, 512-854-9770
• East Command, 7811 Burleson Manor Rd., Manor, TX 78653, 512-854-9721
• West Command, 3800 Hudson Bend Rd., Austin, TX 78732, 512-854-9728
• Non-emergency crime reports: 512-974-0845

City police:

• Austin Police Department, 715 E. Eighth St., Austin, TX 78701, 512-974-5000; city non-emergency line 3-1-1 or 512-974-2000
• Lakeway Police Department, 1941 Lohmans Crossing Rd, Lakeway, TX 78734, 512-261-2800
• Manor Police Department, 402 W Parsons Street, Manor, TX 78653, 512-272-8177
• Lago Vista Police Department, 5901 Municipal Complex Way, Lago Vista, TX 78645, 512-267-7141

Constables:

• Pct. 1, 4717 Heflin Lane, Suite 127, Austin, TX 78721, 512-854-7510
• Pct. 2, 10409 Burnet Rd., Suite 150, Austin, TX 78758, 512-854-9697
• Pct. 3, 8656 B West Highway 71, Suite 132, Austin, TX 78735, 512-854-2107
• Pct. 4, 4011 McKinney Falls Parkway, Suite 1100, Austin, TX 78744, 512-854-9488
• Pct. 5, 1003 Guadalupe St., Austin, TX 78701, 512-854-9100

For an arrest in another town, or by a state trooper or campus officer, call jail information at 512-854-4180. Staff can look up who brought the person in.