SearchSystems Editorial

Reviewed and updated September 27, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. Fees and office hours are checked against the issuing agency at review time.

About this guide

An arrest in Texas produces three records in three places: a booking at the county jail, a case file with the county or district clerk once a prosecutor files charges, and an entry in the Computerized Criminal History system kept by the Department of Public Safety. The jail record shows in the sheriff's lookup the day it is made, the clerk's file is public for as long as the case exists, and the DPS conviction database is searchable by name by anyone. Knowing which of the three you are looking at answers most questions.

In this guide: What an arrest record is, What is public, The 48 hour rule, Where to look, The DPS conviction search, Expunction and nondisclosure, Mugshot websites, Arrests by county and Questions.

Arrest Record, Court Record, Criminal History: Three Different Things

People use the terms interchangeably. Texas law does not, and neither do the databases.

An arrest record is the booking record created when an officer takes someone into custody: who was booked, when, by which agency and on what charge. It exists whether or not a prosecutor ever files a case. An arrest is an allegation by an officer, and many arrests end with no charge filed, a dropped charge or a lesser one.

A court record is created only when the prosecutor files a charging document. It shows the charges actually filed, every setting, the plea, the verdict or dismissal and the sentence. Misdemeanor cases sit with the county clerk and felony cases with the district clerk in the county where the case was filed, and both are public and searchable by name.

A criminal history record is the state's compilation of both, kept by the Texas Department of Public Safety in the Computerized Criminal History system, CCH. It is the record a background check pulls, it is the record an expunction order or an order of nondisclosure acts on, and it is the source of the public conviction database described below.

The three records are kept by three different bodies, the sheriff or police department, the county or district clerk and DPS, and each answers only for its own. A jail lookup does not show a dismissal, a clerk's index does not show an arrest that never reached court, and the DPS file does not show what happened in the courtroom last week until the court reports it.

What the Texas Public Information Act Makes Public

Chapter 552 of the Government Code lists categories that are public by default, and points to one exception for law enforcement records.

The Texas Public Information Act is chapter 552 of the Government Code. Section 552.022 works from a list: it names categories of information that are public information and not excepted from required disclosure unless made confidential under the chapter or other law. The first category on the list is a completed report, audit, evaluation, or investigation made of, for, or by a governmental body, except as provided by Section 552.108. The second is the name, sex, ethnicity, salary, title, and dates of employment of each employee and officer of a governmental body. So a completed police report is public by default, and the list itself names the one section that can pull it back.

That section, 552.108, is the exception a police department or prosecutor cites when it withholds a record. It is written as an exception to the general rule, which means the agency that relies on it has to fit the record inside it; a record that does not fit stays public under section 552.022. The chapter text is on the Legislature's statutes site at Government Code chapter 552.

Good to know

A request under the Public Information Act goes to the public information officer of the agency that holds the record, the sheriff's office for a jail booking and the police department for an offense report. Ask for the completed report by date and name, which is the category section 552.022 lists.

After the Arrest: Before a Magistrate Within 48 Hours

Article 15.17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure sets the clock that starts at the moment of arrest.

Article 15.17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires that in each case of arrest the person making the arrest or the person having custody of the person arrested shall without unnecessary delay, but not later than 48 hours after the person is arrested, take the person arrested or have him taken before some magistrate of the county where the accused was arrested. That appearance, called magistration in Texas, is the first court event in the life of an arrest, and it happens whether or not charges are ever filed.

The magistration record is kept by the county, and the jail lookup for that county is where the booking it belongs to is found. The article text is at Code of Criminal Procedure chapter 15.

Where Texas Arrest Records Actually Live

Sheriff jail lookups for today, county and district clerk indexes for history, the DPS conviction search for the whole state.

The fastest source for a recent arrest is the county jail lookup, run by the sheriff who operates the county jail. Every one of the 254 counties runs its own, and each county's page on this site lists the sheriff's inmate search, the county clerk and the district clerk for that county. These tools answer who is in custody now and on what charge, not who was arrested last year.

For arrests older than a few days, the source is the clerk's case index in the county where the case was filed, the county clerk for misdemeanors and the district clerk for felonies, because once a charging document is filed the case is public and stays public. An arrest that shows in a jail lookup but never appears in a clerk's index was not filed, or is still under review by the prosecutor.

For the whole state at once, the Department of Public Safety runs a public conviction search described below. It is a name search of the state repository, but it returns convictions, not every arrest.

After conviction and a state prison sentence, the record is the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Inmate Search at inmate.tdcj.texas.gov, which lists people in state custody. Federal arrests go through federal court and federal custody, and never appear in a county jail lookup unless the person was first booked locally.

The DPS Conviction Database: Public Record Drawn From the State Criminal History System

The Crime Records Division runs a name search of convictions extracted from CCH, the state repository.

The Texas Department of Public Safety keeps the state criminal history repository through its Crime Records Division, whose services are listed at dps.texas.gov/section/crime-records. Its public website at publicsite.dps.texas.gov carries the Criminal History Conviction Name Search. In DPS's own words, the Conviction Database is public record information extracted from the DPS Computerized Criminal History System, CCH.

The word conviction is the limit of the tool. What the public search returns is the conviction information extracted from CCH, so an arrest that ended in a dismissal, a case still pending or a record that has been expunged or placed under an order of nondisclosure is not what a public name search is built to show. For those, the county jail lookup and the clerk's index are the sources, and for a person's own complete record the DPS Crime Records Division is the office to ask.

A name search returns records that match the name and identifiers you enter, which means a common name can return records that belong to someone else. Check the date of birth and the county before treating a match as the person you are looking for.

Expunction and Orders of Nondisclosure: The Two Texas Routes

Chapter 55A, in force since January 1, 2025, governs expunction. Subchapter E-1 of Government Code chapter 411 governs orders of nondisclosure.

Texas has two routes and they do different things. Expunction is the order that takes an arrest off the record. It is governed by chapter 55A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Expunction of Criminal Records, whose text took effect on January 1, 2025. Subchapter A of the new chapter is titled Mandatory Expunction, and its first article, 55A.001, states that the subchapter applies to a person who has been placed under a custodial or noncustodial arrest. The chapter then sets out who is entitled to expunction and how the petition is brought. The text is at Code of Criminal Procedure chapter 55A.

An order of nondisclosure does not destroy the record. It limits who may see it. The orders are governed by subchapter E-1 of chapter 411 of the Government Code, Order of Nondisclosure of Criminal History Record Information, which opens at section 411.071 with the definitions the subchapter uses: criminal history record information, criminal justice agency and criminal justice purpose. The sections that follow set out the kinds of orders and who qualifies for each. The text is at Government Code chapter 411.

Good to know

Both orders act on the official records, the DPS file, the clerk's file and the arresting agency's file. A news story, a mugshot site or a background screener's old copy is not reached by the order on its own, which is why the chapter on mugshot websites below exists.

Booking Photos and Mugshot Websites: Business and Commerce Code Chapter 109

Texas regulates the businesses that publish criminal record information in a chapter of its own.

Chapter 109 of the Business and Commerce Code is titled Business Entities Engaged in Publication of Certain Criminal Record or Juvenile Record Information. It sits in Subtitle C, Business Operations, and opens at section 109.001 with definitions, the first of which borrows the meaning of criminal justice agency from section 411.082 of the Government Code. The chapter is the law a mugshot website answers to in Texas. The text is at Business and Commerce Code chapter 109.

The booking photo itself comes from the county jail, and the jail rosters listed on the county pages are where the photos are first published. A request to a website that republished it is a matter for chapter 109, not for the sheriff.

Arrest and Jail Records by Texas County

Every county page carries that county's sheriff jail lookup, county and district clerk case search and records offices.

Jail systems and clerk indexes are county specific. The county pages on this site list the sheriff's inmate search, the county clerk, the district clerk and the records units of the sheriff and the larger city police departments for each of Texas's 254 counties. The most populous counties are Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar, Travis, Collin, Denton, Hidalgo, El Paso and Fort Bend.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are arrest records public in Texas?

Yes as a rule. Section 552.022 of the Government Code lists categories of information that are public unless made confidential under the chapter or other law, and the first category is a completed report, audit, evaluation, or investigation made of, for, or by a governmental body, except as provided by Section 552.108. The county jail booking appears in the sheriff's jail lookup, and the clerk's case file is public once charges are filed.

How soon after an arrest must a person see a judge in Texas?

Within 48 hours. Article 15.17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires the person making the arrest or having custody to take the arrested person before a magistrate of the county where the arrest was made without unnecessary delay, but not later than 48 hours after the person is arrested.

How do I find out if someone was arrested in Texas?

For a recent arrest, search the county sheriff's jail lookup by name. For an arrest more than a few days old, search the county clerk's index for a misdemeanor or the district clerk's index for a felony in the county where it happened, since an arrest that led to charges is in the clerk's index and one that did not is not. For convictions across the whole state, run the DPS Criminal History Conviction Name Search.

What does the Texas DPS public criminal history search show?

Convictions. DPS describes its Conviction Database as public record information extracted from the DPS Computerized Criminal History System, CCH. An arrest with no conviction, a pending case or a record that has been expunged or placed under an order of nondisclosure is not what the public name search is built to return.

How do I get a Texas arrest expunged?

Under chapter 55A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Expunction of Criminal Records, whose text took effect on January 1, 2025. Subchapter A, Mandatory Expunction, applies to a person who has been placed under a custodial or noncustodial arrest, and the chapter sets out who is entitled to expunction and how the petition is brought.

What is an order of nondisclosure in Texas?

A court order that limits who may see a criminal history record without destroying it. The orders are governed by subchapter E-1 of chapter 411 of the Government Code, Order of Nondisclosure of Criminal History Record Information, which opens at section 411.071 with the definitions of criminal history record information, criminal justice agency and criminal justice purpose.

Where do I find someone serving a Texas prison sentence?

In the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Inmate Search at inmate.tdcj.texas.gov, which lists people in state custody. County jail lookups show people held locally before trial or on short sentences, not state prisoners.