The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, TDCJ, runs the Inmate Information Search, which takes a last name, first name, TDCJ number, SID number, gender and race and needs, at the least, a last name with the first initial of the first name, or the TDCJ number, or the SID, the state identification number; a name search matches the last name exactly. Only inmates currently incarcerated in a TDCJ facility are included, the site is updated on working days only and its information is at least 24 hours old, and the department tells relatives to call the unit before going to pick someone up. The result gives the location, the offenses and the projected release date; questions go to classify@tdcj.texas.gov and technical trouble to webadmin@tdcj.texas.gov, and the department's Inmate Information page also takes requests by email and telephone and has a page for those who cannot find a person in TDCJ.
The second lookup is IVSS, the Integrated Victim Services System of the Victim Services Division, a free automated service with information and notification 24 hours a day on offenders in TDCJ custody or on parole or mandatory supervision. Its offender search takes a name, a SID number or the current TDCJ number, with an asterisk for a partial match, such as Rich* or *123*, a separate search by previous TDCJ numbers, and a View Details link that opens the record and the subscription for notifications on that offender; every registration is confidential. A person held in a county jail before trial or on a county sentence is the sheriff's record, found through the Texas county pages.
- Search: the Inmate Information Search for anyone now in a TDCJ facility, by name, TDCJ number or SID, and IVSS for status and notifications on prisoners and parolees; after hours, status comes from IVSS or a message at (800) 848-4284 returned the next business day.
- Visits: three steps at the department's visitation site, an account, its approval and a scheduled visit; in person plus one 60 minute video visit a month, $10 through Securus or free at a tablet kiosk; one in person visit per weekend; the Unit Visitation Schedule shows each unit's days, hours and visit types.
- Calls and mail: calls only to numbers registered at texasprisonphone.com with the inmate's TDCJ number, collect, prepaid or from the inmate's Securus debit account, 5 a.m. to midnight, 30 minutes each; personal mail to the Digital Mail Processing Center, PO Box 660400, Dallas, TX 75266-0400, scanned in color to the inmate's tablet.
- Money: from people on the inmate's approved visitor or telephone list, by money order payable to Inmate Trust Fund for Offender Name and Number at PO Box 60, Huntsville, TX 77342-0060, by a free monthly bank debit, or online through Access Corrections, America's Cash Express, eCommDirect, JPay or Touch Payment System.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Texas's own systems: the TDCJ Inmate Information Search, the TDCJ Integrated Victim Services System, IVSS, the IVSS Offender Search, the IVSS frequently asked questions, the TDCJ Inmate Information page, the TDCJ Visitation page, the TDCJ Unit Visitation Schedule, the TDCJ Unit Directory, the TDCJ Contact Inmates page, the TDCJ Inmate Technology Services page, the TDCJ Commissary and Trust Fund page, the TDCJ Inmate Book Policy, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
The units
The Unit Directory lists every unit by region with its two letter code, its operator, the gender it holds, its type, its city and its county, with directions to each: the Correctional Institutions Division runs most of them, and a unit's type may be prison, state jail, pre-release, intermediate sanction facility, substance abuse felony punishment facility or geriatric facility, with a few private multi-use facilities run by contractors.
The listing opens with Allred at Iowa Park in Wichita County, Bartlett in Williamson County, the Baten intermediate sanction facility at Pampa, the Bell pre-release unit at Cleveland, Beto and Coffield at Tennessee Colony in Anderson County, Boyd at Teague, Bradshaw at Henderson, Bridgeport, Briscoe at Dilley, Byrd, Ellis, Estelle and Goree at Huntsville, Clemens at Brazoria, Clements at Amarillo, Cole at Bonham, Connally at Kenedy, Cotulla, Dalby at Post, Dalhart, Daniel at Snyder, Diboll and the Duncan geriatric facility in Angelina County, Dominguez at San Antonio, the privately run East Texas Treatment Facility at Henderson, Estes at Venus, Ferguson at Midway, Formby at Plainview, Fort Stockton, Garza East and Garza West at Beeville, Gist at Beaumont, Glossbrenner at San Diego, Goodman at Jasper, Gurney at Palestine, Hamilton at Bryan and Havins at Brownwood, and the women's units Coleman at Lockhart, Crain at Gatesville, Halbert at Burnet and Henley at Dayton. The department's address is PO Box 99, Huntsville, Texas 77342-0099, (936) 295-6371.
Visiting: the account, the schedule and the rules
The visitation page sets three steps: create an account at the department's visitation site, wait for its approval, and schedule the visit. TDCJ offers in person and video visitation, and beyond in person visits an inmate is allowed one 60 minute video visit per month, through Securus at $10 a visit or through tablet kiosks at no cost; the Unit Visitation Schedule shows the types of visitation and the dates and times at each unit, most of them Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with some units adding weekday afternoons for video.
Before traveling, a visitor confirms the unit of assignment and the inmate's visitation privileges in the Inmate Search, checks the schedule for a cancellation, since an inmate cannot attend a cancelled visit, and verifies with the unit that the name is on the approved list. Every visitor 18 and older shows a current official government ID with a current physical address, with a birth certificate, pictured credit card or other official ID as backup, and a child 17 or younger may be asked for a birth certificate, DPS ID or student ID.
Vehicles on TDCJ property are subject to search, must be locked with windows up, and may carry no garden tools, clothes or anything else in a truck bed that could serve as a weapon or aid an escape. The dress code asks for conservative clothing: sandals and open toe shoes are fine, tight, revealing or see through clothing is not, sleeveless tops must cover the shoulders, shorts and skirts stop no more than three inches above the middle of the knee except for children about 10 and younger, and offensive pictures or language are out, with the duty warden deciding.
A visitor may bring a small wallet, a clear plastic bag or change purse, $35 in coins or a credit or debit card for the vending machines, and for an infant three diapers, wipes and two bottles in a clear bag; food, purses, diaper bags, cameras, strollers, toys, photographs, paper money, medication except prescriptions approved case by case, tobacco, lighters, cell phones and every electronic device stay out, and alcohol, drugs, weapons and escape tools are barred from the property, with a licensed handgun allowed only locked in a vehicle as the page describes.
Each inmate is allowed one visit per weekend, so the people on a visitors list coordinate so that a later arrival is not turned away; a visit ends and a visitor comes off the list for improper conduct, with a written appeal to the Director's Review Committee, PO Box 99, Huntsville, TX 77342, within 14 days of the notice.
Calls: registered numbers, 30 minutes, 5 a.m. to midnight
An inmate can call only a telephone number that has been registered, at texasprisonphone.com or by phone at (866) 806-7804, with the inmate's TDCJ number, which the Inmate Search or the department's lines at (936) 295-6371 and (800) 535-0283, answered weekdays from 8 to 4, supply. Calls are collect, Friends and Family Prepaid from an account the number's owner funds, or paid from the Inmate Telephone Prepaid Debit Account, the Securus debit account the inmate or the family funds.
Phones run from 5 a.m. to midnight unless conditions change it, every call is limited to 30 minutes with a warning a minute before disconnection, inmates have unlimited minutes a month, every call except to the attorney of record is monitored and recorded, and calls go only to home landlines and post paid or prepaid cell phones, never to internet services, 800 numbers, businesses, pay phones or international numbers. The registrant's name must match the telephone listing or bill, and registering means confirming that you own the number, allow the inmate to call it, are at least 18, and will not forward calls, make three way calls or use a speakerphone, since eligible inmates may speak only to adults on the approved calling list; a victim who does or does not want calls writes to the Victim Services Division, 8712 Shoal Creek Blvd., Suite 265, Austin, TX 78757, (800) 848-4284.
The Inmate Technology Services office, which also runs e-messaging, tablets and Securus video visitation, takes calls Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. since February 2, 2026 and email at offenderphones@tdcj.texas.gov; remote Securus video visits of 60 minutes at $10, one a month, run at 13 units, Clements, Connally, Crain, Garza West, Hutchins State Jail, Jester III, McConnell, Michael, Montford, Sanchez, Stiles, Travis State Jail and Wynne, with Securus at (877) 578-3658, and complaints about any vendor go in writing to the Inmate Technology Services Contract Manager, PO Box 4016, Huntsville, TX 77342-4016.
Mail: the Dallas digital center
Inmates receive incoming mail on their tablets. Personal mail from family, friends and businesses, greeting cards and photos go to the Digital Mail Processing Center, addressed to Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the inmate's full first and last name and TDCJ number, PO Box 660400, Dallas, TX 75266-0400, where they are sorted, scanned in color and uploaded to the inmate's secure tablet to keep; an inmate without a tablet receives printed copies.
Legal mail, special mail, media correspondence and business correspondence from organizations and agencies go to the unit, documents that need the inmate's signature go to the unit law library, surveys go through the Research and Development Department, and books, magazines, packages and subscriptions from verified vendors or publishers go to the unit. The book policy changed on April 1, 2026 after contraband was found in hard covers, bindings and soaked pages: TDCJ accepts only softback books in new condition, hardbacks and used books go only through the Windham School District's donation process, a book donated by a volunteer organization to one person may be mailed to the unit if softback and new, and the department is building a registration portal for senders of books and magazines.
Money: the Inmate Trust Fund and eCommDirect
Only a person on the inmate's approved visitor list or telephone list can deposit to the Inmate Trust Fund or buy items through eCommDirect. By mail, a money order or cashier's check payable to Inmate Trust Fund for Offender Name and Number goes with the deposit slip to Inmate Trust Fund, PO Box 60, Huntsville, TX 77342-0060, never to the unit. A free monthly account debit takes a set amount from a personal checking account around the 5th of each month and credits it around the 10th, set up with an authorization form and a voided check to Inmate Trust Fund, PO Box 629, Huntsville, Texas 77342-0629, with changes received three to five business days before the 5th.
Online deposits run through the five approved vendors, Access Corrections, America's Cash Express, eCommDirect provided by Texas.gov, JPay and Touch Payment System. A single deposit of $500 or more, and insurance, payroll, estate and similar checks, are held 14 days; the fund pays no interest, staff confirm receipt of a deposit but discuss balances only with the inmate, who gets a monthly statement, and any balance is paid out at release.
Each unit commissary carries more than 700 items, and eCommDirect lets family and friends buy up to 100 top selling items for an eligible inmate, up to $70 in each of the first three quarters and $95 in October through December, with a $3.75 fee per transaction and delivery in about five business days; eligibility depends on custody level, no commissary restriction, a commissary on the unit, and a first full quarter after arrival, and the department answers at (936) 438-8990 on the page and (936) 437-8990 in its questions, or ecommdirect@tdcj.texas.gov.
IVSS: notifications and the victim's rights
Through IVSS a victim, family member, witness or concerned citizen creates an account and registers for notifications of changes in an offender's status, such as release, on anyone in TDCJ custody or on parole or mandatory supervision, and can search status information at any time; the preferences for calls, emails and texts are set on the My Dashboard page, a reply of Unsubscribe, Cancel or Stop to a text cancels the text registration, and Resume to 737-309-4877 restores it.
Earlier registrations with the Victim Services Division were migrated into IVSS with a letter or email, while someone registered with VINE whose offender moved into TDCJ custody creates a portal account and registers again. The division answers at (800) 848-4284 and victim.svc@tdcj.texas.gov, the Board of Pardons and Paroles Victim Liaison at (512) 406-5347, and the FAQ sets out the Crime Victims' Rights in the Code of Criminal Procedure Articles 56A.001, 56A.051 and 56A.052 and Article I, Section 30 of the Texas Constitution, the Victim Impact Statement, and the definition of a victim and close relative in Government Code Section 508.117 for the right to meet with the Board.
Reading a Texas result
A hit in the Inmate Information Search means the person was in a TDCJ unit as of the last working day, with the location, offenses and projected release date; a miss means a county jail, parole, release or a transfer the search has not caught up with, and IVSS carries the parolees. The unit sets the visiting schedule, the TDCJ number unlocks the phone registration, the Dallas mail center and the trust fund, and the visitors list and telephone list decide who may deposit at all.
Questions about finding an inmate in Texas
Related Texas records
The TDCJ search is one of the Texas records this site covers: the Texas arrest records guide explains what a booking makes public, the court records guide covers the district and county clerks, the sex offender registry guide covers the DPS registry, and the Texas county pages list each sheriff and jail.