1. Open Texas IVSS-Counties. Searching is open to anyone, account or not.
2. Type a last name. Add the first name only if you're sure of it. Fragments work too, handy with hyphens, accents or two surnames.
3. Match the record by age and county, then read its custody status and holding agency.
4. Tap the notification option so a release or transfer reaches your phone.
5. Cross-check with the county jail inmate search.
6. Stuck? Ring 830-774-7513, day or night, and ask for the jail.

Copy down any booking or case number. Clerks, lawyers and bondsmen all want it.

Most blank searches trace back to something ordinary:

• Booking isn't done. Fresh arrivals sit in a receiving area with holding cells until paperwork catches up.
• Spelling. Shorten the surname, swap in a maiden name or try just the second last name.
• Federal arrest. Border Patrol, DEA or other federal agents book people for the U.S. Marshals or ICE, not the county. The federal and ICE answers below cover those.
• Gone already. A bond, a transfer on another county's warrant or a trip to TDCJ can clear the name fast.
• Different county. Arrested in Kinney, Edwards or another neighbor? That county books them.

For a straight yes or no about FM 2523, phone the Sheriff's Office, 830-774-7513.

All local custody clusters on FM 2523 north of town:

• County jail unit in the Val Verde Correctional Facility (GEO also calls it the Val Verde County Detention Facility), 253 FM 2523 Hamilton Lane, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-778-0096. A 2020 audit labels it Housing Unit 6, for local men, women and youthful offenders, each group separated by sight and sound. TCJS rated the county jail at 193 beds in 2022.
• Federal wings of the same complex. GEO runs them for the U.S. Marshals, and that 2020 audit named ICE and the Bureau of Prisons among the agencies housed too.
• Sheriff's Office, beside the complex at 295 FM 2523 Hamilton Road, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-774-7513. Deputies bring arrestees into Unit 6 through a sally port linking the two buildings.

Picked up just outside Val Verde? Check the neighbors:

• Edwards County Detention Center, 404 West Austin Street, Rocksprings, TX 78880, 830-683-4104
• Kinney County Sheriff's Office, 109 North Street, Brackettville, TX 78832, 830-563-2788
• Terrell County Jail, Sheriff's Office, 105 E Hackberry St, Sanderson, TX 79848, 432-345-2525
• Sutton County Jail, 401 E. Oak Street, Sonora, TX 76950, 325-387-2288
• Crockett County Jail, 121 S. Hwy 163, Ozona, TX 76943, 325-392-2661

Mugshots are what many families type first, yet here a booking photo is something you ask the Sheriff for in writing. Texas keeps basic arrest facts open to anyone (GC 552.108(c)), so here is how a photo request on FM 2523 usually goes:

1. Write a short letter asking for the photo. Cite the Public Information Act. Postal or walk-in delivery both reach the Sheriff's Office, 295 FM 2523 Hamilton Road, Del Rio, TX 78840. Email to soinfo@valverdecounty.texas.gov works too.
2. List the full name, the arrest day and "booking photo."
3. Within ten business days the office should release it, give a date, or say it asked the Attorney General for a ruling.

Under Bus. & Com. Code ch. 109, some mugshot sites charge $150 or more to take a photo down. Those sites must fix or pull a wrong record for free. They also can't post anything sealed by expunction or a nondisclosure order. Immigration booking photos are a separate matter; those come out of a FOIA request to ICE and nowhere else. On the federal side, booking photos mostly stay sealed; the Marshals may release one for a wanted fugitive.

Texas IVSS-Counties can ping you at booking, at release, on a move into TDCJ, and whenever a court event is added or moved. Registering is optional; requests work either way.

• No cost, and the prisoner never learns who signed up.
• Phone help, English or Spanish, at 866-268-8959, every hour of every day.
• Got a new phone number or inbox? Change it in IVSS so no alert goes astray.

VINE has been retired in Texas, so IVSS-Counties is the service to use now.

Inside 48 hours a magistrate explains the rights, hands over a free-lawyer form and sets bail. Three doors out: full cash, a bondsman's guarantee, or a signature-only personal bond. A list of violent charges shuts the third door. Since 2025, murder and other listed crimes also open the possibility of a no-bail hearing, if the prosecutor requests one.

The Sheriff's Office accepts bail alongside running the jail. At 830-774-7513, ask the figure, the bond kind, which payments work and whether an ICE detainer or outside warrant also applies. Each step, fee and refund is broken down on our bail and bond page. We keep statewide rules on a separate Texas bail laws page as well.

• Jail. The Sheriff's Office, 830-774-7513, can give basic arrest details. Spell the name and give the birthday.
• Clerks. Once prosecutors file, felony charges sit with the District Clerk, 830-774-7539; Class A and B charges sit with the County Clerk, 830-774-7564.
• Online. Filed charges show on re:SearchTX after a free registration.

What gets written at booking isn't final. Prosecutors choose what to file, and in felony cases a grand jury votes on the indictment.

At that first hearing, the magistrate asks about a free lawyer and walks through the form. Val Verde's plan sends those cases to the public defender unless good cause calls for another lawyer, and the appointment is due within three working days.

Public defense for the county is run from Alpine: Far West Texas Regional Public Defender, 203 North 7th St., Alpine, TX 79830, 432-837-4120. Heard nothing in a few days? For a misdemeanor, ring the County Court at Law on 830-774-7575. For a felony, ring the District Clerk on 830-774-7538.

Texas jail standards guarantee at least a pair of visits per week, 20 minutes apiece or longer, behind glass or by video. At least one must be offered in the evening or on a Saturday or Sunday. Kids generally need a parent or guardian with them.

Visiting days, sign-up and ID rules for the county unit come from the jail itself. Phone 830-774-7513 before heading out, and carry a photo ID. More on our visitation page.

Money on the books goes to store orders, such as soap, stamps and snacks, and often to phone time. Ask the Sheriff's Office at 830-774-7513 which deposit methods the jail uses today, how much a week is allowed and what each method costs.

Don't mail bills. Deposit methods are on our money page; the store list is on our commissary page.

State jail rules put a phone in each booking area, so that first call tends to come early, often during intake. Later calls go through the jail's own phone vendor, typically prepaid or collect. Some jails add tablets or messaging.

For what the county unit offers and the prices, phone 830-774-7513. For setup, see our phone page plus our inmate email page. Assume someone at GEO may hear any call. Case talk belongs with the lawyer only.

Letters aren't rationed in Texas jails; prisoners may write and receive as many as they like. Staff can open regular envelopes to look for contraband. Attorney mail gets opened only while the prisoner watches.

First get the right mailing address and ID number from the Sheriff's Office, 830-774-7513, and ask about rules on photos and cards. Always include your return address. The format is on our inmate mail page.

Personal items get bagged at booking and stored until release, when they go home with the owner. While still inside, a prisoner can sometimes release certain items to family.

To arrange a pickup, call the Sheriff's Office at 830-774-7513, or call GEO's front desk, 830-778-0096. Carry photo ID plus the owner's signed permission. Anything seized as evidence waits until the court or prosecutor lets it go.

GEO's county contract makes it responsible for health care, food and laundry at the complex. Know about a condition or medicine? Tell the Sheriff's Office at 830-774-7513 and ask them to pass it to medical staff, with drug names, doses and the prescribing doctor.

Where mental illness is suspected, jail staff have 12 hours to notify the magistrate (CCP 16.22). Still unresolved? TCJS, the state jail regulator, accepts complaints by web form, at 512-463-5505, or info@tcjs.state.tx.us.

In Val Verde, warrants go out with deputies of the Sheriff's Office, 830-774-7513, with the Precinct 1 to 4 constables and with city officers. DPS keeps a Texas 10 Most Wanted roster for the whole state. Checking one name? Call the Sheriff's Office, or the clerk for the court that probably issued it. Having a lawyer arrange a scheduled surrender or new date beats being picked up at a traffic stop. Felony clerk: 100 E. Broadway, 1st Floor, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-774-7539. Misdemeanor clerk: 400 Pecan Street, 1st Floor, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-774-7564.

Each clerk sets and tracks dates for its own cases. Felonies: District Clerk, 830-774-7539. Class A or B: County Clerk, 830-774-7564. Fine-only tickets: whichever JP precinct the citation names, at 309 Mills Street, 2nd Floor, Del Rio, TX 78840.

IVSS-Counties will also notify you about new or changed hearings. To see how each type of case unfolds, with courthouses and penalties, read our court page.

Federal prosecutions here run through the U.S. District Court, 111 East Broadway, Room L100, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-703-2054. A federal magistrate judge decides on release and may hold a detention hearing at the prosecutor's request (18 U.S.C. 3142).

Before trial the Marshals Service controls custody, using the GEO complex on FM 2523 among its contracted sites. Its local office: 111 East Broadway, Room 159, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-703-2075. Defense comes from the Federal Public Defender, 2205 Veterans Boulevard, Suite A-2, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-703-2040. Once a federal judge hands down a sentence, the next stop is the BOP inmate locator. Enter a name, or a register number if you have one.

ICE starts by filing Form I-247A, a detainer, with the county unit. That lets the jail hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, so ICE can collect them (8 CFR 287.7(d)). Texas jails are legally bound to honor detainers (CCP 2A.060; GC 752.053). On top of that, a 2025 statute (S.B. 8) fixed December 1, 2026 as the cutoff for jail counties, Val Verde among them, to pursue 287(g) status with ICE. Where Val Verde sits on that, the Sheriff's Office can say.

Once ICE has custody, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator. An A-number gives the surest hit. If you don't have one, enter the exact name with birth date and native country. Still blank? Phone a field office. The closest one to Del Rio sits in San Antonio: 3523 Crosspoint Drive, San Antonio, TX 78217, 210-564-3300.

A felony sentence means a wait in the county unit until TDCJ sends transport. Intake staff classify each new arrival and choose a unit matching the sentence and needs. State jail sentences are served at state jail facilities.

For someone sent on to state prison, the TDCJ inmate search wants a TDCJ number, or a surname with a first initial. It covers current TDCJ prisoners only, with updates each working day. Each unit is described on our Texas prison guide.

Kids whose age was anywhere from 10 up through 16 when the alleged act took place land in juvenile court; at 17, Texas books them as adults (FC 51.02). A detained youth stays at the juvenile detention center, 830-774-7553, and never in the adult unit. That number can give the street address and visiting steps.

Officers owe parents prompt notice (FC 52.02). Holding a youth longer takes a judge's ruling, due by the second working day; for weekend-eve intakes on Fridays and Saturdays, the first working day. Counsel is appointed first, so no youth faces that ruling alone (FC 54.01). Juvenile files are confidential and stay out of adult lookups.

The arresting agency is on the booking record. Agencies working here:

• Sheriff's Office: countywide patrol, busiest outside city limits. 295 FM 2523 Hamilton Road, Del Rio, TX 78840, 830-774-7513, staffed 24 hours.
• Del Rio Police Department: handles calls inside the city. The Sheriff's Office can put you through.
• Constables for Precincts 1, 2, 3 and 4: carry warrants and civil papers. Get each one's number from the Sheriff's Office.
• Texas DPS troopers: highway patrol. Ask the Sheriff's Office whether DPS made the arrest.
• Federal officers: their arrests go to federal court, with the person held for the U.S. Marshals.