The roster link on the Sheriff's Detention Bureau page leads into a public access portal built by Tyler Technologies. It also holds court records, so take it slow:

1. Open the Inmate Roster from any phone or computer.
2. Should the portal show several search choices, go with whichever mentions jail or inmates.
3. Enter the surname alone. Only if the list runs long, add a given name.
4. Open the record that matches the person's name and age.
5. Jot down anything that looks like a booking or SO Number, plus the charges and bond amounts you see.

Can't tell whether a record is the right person? Booking settles it in one call, 940-766-8170. Keep a birth date and the full legal name close by when you dial.

Don't panic over zero results. Run down this list, most frequent cause on top:

• Still in book-in. Prints, photos, property and a health screening all happen before a record goes live. Check again after a few hours.
• Spelled another way. Try fewer letters, both halves of a double surname, a name from before marriage, or "William" in place of "Bill."
• Already out. A quick bond or a magistrate's release can clear someone the same day.
• Handed to another agency. Federal marshals, ICE or TDCJ may have picked the person up. See the answers on those further down.
• Under 17. Youth records stay out of the adult roster. See the juvenile answer below.
• Picked up by a town's officers. Phone that police department and ask which building the person went to. Their numbers sit at the bottom of this page.

Still stuck? Phone the Sheriff's Office at 940-766-8170. Its front office keeps weekday hours, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

For grown-ups, nearly every arrest ends at one address: the Law Enforcement Center, home of the Detention Center, 2815 Central E Fwy, Wichita Falls, TX 76302, 940-766-8170. The Sheriff's Detention Bureau runs it. Finished in 2021, the 188,000-square-foot building has its own infirmary, kitchen, book-in area and visitors center.

• Federal prisoners. The same jail houses some people for federal agencies. A state report from June 2022 counted 11 federal inmates there.
• Youths. Kids aged 10 to 16 are held apart from adults, in a 32-bed youth detention building called the Arthur R. Tipps Juvenile Justice Center, 940-766-8225.
• Another county. A person wanted elsewhere may be moved to that county's jail. Booking can tell you where they went.

People search for mugshots to confirm an arrest or see a loved one's face. Whether the Sheriff's roster displays booking photos is something Booking can tell you, 940-766-8170. To get a copy of a photo, use the Texas Public Information Act:

1. Write a short request to the Sheriff's Office. Say who was arrested, on what day, and that you'd like the booking photo.
2. Send it to the Sheriff at 2815 Central E Fwy, Wichita Falls, TX 76302, or ask the front office how it takes requests.
3. Gov't Code 552.108(c) makes the core facts of an arrest public, and they're due promptly. The office will say whether a photo is part of what it releases.

Found mugshots on a private website that charges for removal? Texas law makes such a site fix or pull a wrong or incomplete record for free. It also bars the site from posting records it knows are sealed or expunged (Business and Commerce Code chapter 109). ICE releases its own photos only on a FOIA request, made through the ICE FOIA page. Federal booking photos mostly stay unreleased, though a Marshals Service fugitive notice can include one.

It will. Texas uses IVSS-Counties, a custody notice service run through TDCJ. Part of a name is enough to search it, and it shows people who are jailed or on supervision. Enrolling for notices is open to everyone, account or no account.

The help line, 866-268-8959, answers around the clock in English or Spanish. Alerts work for anyone, not only crime victims, so a parent or partner can enroll too.

A magistrate must see each arrested person inside 48 hours. Locally, most of these hearings fall to Justices of the Peace, and the jail may connect by video. The magistrate reads the rights, asks about a lawyer and sets bail and conditions. Three kinds of bond are common:

• Cash. Anyone can pay the whole figure. It is refunded after the case if no court date is missed.
• Bondsman. A licensed agent covers the bond, and you pay the agent a fee that stays with them. The county's Bail Bond Board licenses them.
• Personal. Release on a signed pledge to appear, no deposit needed. Certain violent charges make it unavailable.

Since November 2025, judges can refuse bail outright on some violent charges after a hearing. A hold from probation, ICE or another county can block release even once bail is posted. Phone the jail to learn which window accepts the bond and how it may be paid. Our bail page spells out each step in order, and JE's statewide bail rules page covers Texas law in general.

Three places, fastest first:

1. Booking, 940-766-8170. Get every count read to you, and find out which are felonies, which are Class A or B, and which are fine-only Class C.
2. The roster. Open the person's record from the Inmate Roster and read whatever charge lines it shows.
3. The clerks. After a prosecutor files, felony papers go to the District Clerk, 940-766-8100, and misdemeanor papers go to the County Clerk, 940-766-8195. Texas also has re:SearchTX, a free-to-join records site that shows filed charging papers.

Charges often change between arrest and filing. The prosecutor may add, drop or lower a count, so check again before each hearing.

The county's plan for appointed counsel gives the Public Defender's Office first pick of new cases. That office is at 600 Scott St., Suite 204, Wichita Falls, TX 76301, 940-766-8199.

• At magistration. Saying "yes, I want a lawyer" here is the quickest path. The forms are handed out on the spot, and jail staff can help fill them in.
• Later, from a cell. Ask any jail officer for the application.
• Later, while free. Apply through the Court Administrator's office. The District Clerk line, 940-766-8100, can connect you.

The forms reach the Court Administrator within 24 hours. Then the plan allows up to three working days to appoint someone. Receiving SNAP, Medicaid, TANF, SSI or housing aid counts as proof of need. So does household income at or below the federal poverty guideline.

Visits in person take place at the visitors center inside the building. The weekday depends on who you're seeing:

• Monday: every woman in custody
• Tuesday: men with last names A through G
• Wednesday: men, H through O
• Thursday: men, P through Z
• Friday: the Special Housing Unit and Medical

Visits run 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Sign up between 12:15 and 12:45 p.m. for the afternoon or 5:15 and 5:45 p.m. for the evening. Miss that window and there's no visit that day.

• Visitors must be 17 or older, on the person's approved list, and carry a state or military photo ID. School IDs don't count.
• Each visit lasts 20 minutes, one visitor at a time. A visitor may see the same person up to twice a week, and each inmate gets up to two visitors weekly.
• Bring only your ID and car keys. A phone in the lobby or visiting room ends the visit and can get you banned. No food, drinks or smoking.
• Wear a shirt and shoes. Tank tops, halters, see-through tops and short shorts or skirts are turned away.
• Children 16 and under need an adult, one child per adult. A baby who can't walk yet doesn't count.
• Anyone released from this jail waits 90 days before visiting.

Free on-site video booths at the same building need no visitor list. Book them online or at the booth, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., holidays excepted. At-home video calls are booked on the vendor site the Sheriff links from the Visit an Inmate page. More visiting tips sit on our visitation page.

Snacks, hygiene items and phone time come out of this account. Four ways to fund it:

1. Lobby kiosk at the Law Enforcement Center. Cash, debit and credit cards work. Visit staff will not take money.
2. Online through Access Corrections, the deposit service the Sheriff's FAQ names.
3. By mail. Send a money order or cashier's check made out with the inmate's name and SO Number to PO Box 8466, Wichita Falls, TX 76301.
4. Mailed or dropped off at the Law Enforcement Center, marked "Attention: Finance Officer," with the inmate's name and SO Number, 2815 Central Freeway East, Wichita Falls, TX 76302.

Never mail cash or a personal check. A money order tucked into a letter gets deposited, but the letter itself comes back to you. For other options, see our money page.

Nobody can phone into a cell, yet the person inside may dial out. Lots of cell carriers refuse collect calls, so open an Advance Pay account first at 877-650-4249. Funds you add there pay for calls to your number.

The jail hands out tablets. Letters arrive on them after scanning. The same screens carry emails, messages and video chats paid for on the vendor site that the Sheriff's Contact an Inmate page points to. Assume every call and message is recorded and read. Never talk about the case. Our phone page has more.

Three kinds of mail, two addresses. Every piece needs the inmate's first and last name, the SO Number and your full return address, or it's rejected.

• Personal letters and photos travel to Maryland for scanning. Address them to the Detention Center, then the inmate's name and SO Number, then PO Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131.
• Books must ship straight from the publisher. Label them with the inmate's name and SO Number, PO Box 8466, Wichita Falls, TX 76301. Bookstores and wholesalers are refused.
• Legal mail uses that same Box 8466 address and must be plainly marked as legal mail.

A letter can hold at most 10 photos, each 8x10 or smaller, and no Polaroids. Cards must be 8x10 or smaller, flat and plain: no tri-folds, padding, glitter, glue or sound chips. Also refused: stickers, staples, paper clips, crayon or marker writing, blank paper or stamps, clippings, photocopies, home-printed pages and anything drawn on the envelope. Our mail page has tips on getting letters through.

Clothes, wallets and phones taken at book-in stay in jail storage. Getting them out depends on timing:

• While the person is still in holding, they may sign a release so a chosen person can take the property. Once moved to a housing unit, items generally stay put until release.
• If the person is sent to another jail or prison, the property waits 30 days. After that it is destroyed.
• Begin any pickup on the Sheriff's Property Retrieval Notification page, or call 940-766-8170.

Leftover account money is handled apart from belongings. It is paid out weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., holidays aside, at the Sheriff's main office on the courthouse's first floor. Only whoever the person put down on their "Released Inmate Money Instruction Sheet" can pick it up, and they must show a government ID with a photo.

The Detention Center has its own infirmary, so routine care happens inside. Call the jail at 940-766-8170 to report a health need. Name the condition, any medicines and the prescribing doctor.

• Mental health. Jailers who learn that someone in custody may be mentally ill or intellectually disabled owe a magistrate notice within 12 hours. An expert interview follows on the magistrate's order (CCP art. 16.22).
• Inside complaints. Texas jails must tell inmates how to file a grievance, in a handbook and on posted notices.
• Outside complaints. File with the state's jail inspectors, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, using its complaint form, or phone 512-463-5505.

Three groups serve arrest warrants locally: Sheriff's deputies, the four precinct constables and city police. To ask about one, phone the Sheriff at 940-766-8170 or email the Warrants Division, all_so_warrants@co.wichita.tx.us. The county seat's Municipal Court page has a Check For Warrants tool for city cases. For the state's top fugitives, see the DPS fugitive list. The safe way through: a defense attorney first, and after that a planned surrender to whichever court issued it. That court can also reset the case by phone. Felony warrants run through the District Clerk, 940-766-8100. Misdemeanor warrants run through the County Clerk, 940-766-8195.

Hearing dates come from the clerks, by phone:

• Felonies: District Clerk, 940-766-8100.
• Class A and B misdemeanors: County Clerk, 940-766-8195.
• Tickets written inside the largest city: see its Municipal Court web page.

Clerks look cases up by name and birth date, and a cause number speeds it up. The defense lawyer also gets every new setting, so ask them too. Our court page explains each stage, from the 48-hour hearing to sentencing.

U.S. charges filed here fall under the Northern District of Texas. Its local division meets at 1000 Lamar Street, 2nd Floor, Wichita Falls, TX 76301, and only on court days. The clerk's office is in Fort Worth, 817-850-6600.

1. Expect a detention hearing within days of arrest, where the judge picks release or jail until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. While the case is open, someone held for federal court may sit in the county jail on Central Freeway, which takes federal prisoners. Check the roster or call Booking.
3. The U.S. Marshals Service handles federal prisoners here. Its office: 1000 Lamar Street, Room 218, Wichita Falls, TX 76307-3016, 940-723-8662.
4. After sentencing, the person moves into the Bureau of Prisons. Track them with the BOP inmate locator.

1. The detainer. Paperwork arrives first: ICE's Form I-247A, addressed to the Central Freeway jail.
2. The hold. The jail may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)), so ICE can arrive.
3. The handoff. ICE officers come to Central Freeway for the transfer. This region is covered by ICE's Dallas Field Office, 8101 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75247, 972-367-2200.
4. The search. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator. An A-number works best on the locator. Lacking it, try the complete name plus native country.

State law shapes this too. A 2017 Texas law requires county jails to honor ICE detainers. A 2025 law adds a duty for jail-running sheriffs: seek a so-called 287(g) partnership with ICE. To ask whether this county has one, call the Sheriff's Office at 940-766-8170.

After a felony sentence, TDCJ takes the person off the county's hands. Everyone starts at an intake unit for tests and a security rating. Later comes a long-term prison or state jail, picked to match risk and needs. The move can take weeks.

• The TDCJ inmate lookup wants a surname with a first initial. Have a SID or a TDCJ number instead? Either one searches too. Names appear only after arrival, and updates come on working days.
• Our Texas prison listings cover each unit's address and visiting basics.

No. Juvenile law in Texas covers kids aged 10 to 16. At 17, a person goes to the adult jail and adult court.

• Officers must bring a child without delay to an approved juvenile processing office or detention center, and they must let a parent know. Inside the processing office, a parent or the child's lawyer may be present.
• The county holds detained youths at its own Arthur R. Tipps Juvenile Justice Center, 940-766-8225. Call there to learn about visits.
• Expect a judge's detention review by the second working day, or sooner for Friday and Saturday arrests. Counsel is assigned ahead of it.
• The county's Juvenile Probation Department runs the case. Juvenile records stay private and won't appear on the adult roster.

Roughly 129,555 people live here, by the July 1, 2025 Census Bureau estimate. Several agencies make arrests here, and all bring adults to the Detention Center. To ask about an arrest report, call the agency that made it:

• Wichita Falls Police Department Records and Front Desk, 610 Holliday Street, Wichita Falls, TX 76301, 940-761-7792.
• Burkburnett Police Department, 501 Sheppard Road, Burkburnett, TX 76354, 940-569-2263.
• Iowa Park Police Department, mailing address PO Box 190, Iowa Park, TX 76367, 940-592-2181.
• Electra Police Department: for its number, try the Sheriff's line below.
• Midwestern State University Police, for campus arrests: use the MSU Texas police contact page.
• Constables, Precincts 1 to 4: reach them through the Sheriff's Office.
• Texas DPS troopers: highway arrests. Ask the Sheriff's Office which trooper office covers the case.
• The Sheriff's Office itself, for Lakeside City, Pleasant Valley, Cashion Community and the rural areas: 2815 Central E Fwy, Wichita Falls, TX 76302, 940-766-8170.