Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 25, 2026.
Alton, Texas, in Hidalgo County, has about 23,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the District Attorney files charges, a case in the Hidalgo County District Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Alton public records, Hidalgo County arrest records, Texas arrest records and Texas inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Alton
The FBI lists Alton with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Alton Police Department. It reported 285 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 7,026 arrests for 2023.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Hidalgo County: the South Texas Independent School District, the Hidalgo County Constable's Precincts 4, 1 and 5, the Edinburg Independent School District, the McAllen Independent School District and two more (other); South Texas College and the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley (campus police).
How Many Arrests Alton Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Alton: 285 for 2025, 353 for 2024, 408 for 2023, 327 for 2021 and 470 for 2020; 2022 is missing months.
Alton's 285 arrests in 2025 were down 19 percent from 353 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Alton reported 166 arrests, against 171 in the same months of 2025.
Across Hidalgo County, the 18 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 15,072 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Alton Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Alton is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 1,150 people on an average day, up from about 1,060 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 1,432 beds, and it is running at 80 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office at hidalgocounty.us/3007/Detention (page title: Detention | Hidalgo County, TX), Monday from (8:00 am - 14:00 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, whose inmate locator is at inmate.tdcj.texas.gov/InmateSearch/start.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Alton
Whether someone was arrested in Alton, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Hidalgo County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at hidalgocounty.us/1477/Civil-and-Criminal-Case-Search); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at hidalgocounty.us/m/directory/department?did=87, phone (956) 292-7600).
Texas is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Conviction Database search lets anyone look up convictions and deferred adjudications by name, for $3 a search, through the Texas Department of Public Safety. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Alton
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the Texas Public Information Act the agency must answer within 10 business days, and it may charge the copy rates set by the Attorney General, plus labor for large requests.
- An arrest by the Alton police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at alton-tx.gov/departments/police (page title: City of Alton | A city on the grow.), phone (956) 432-0700, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (956) 292-7600, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Hidalgo County District Court, through the court records page at hidalgocounty.us.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at hidalgocounty.us (page title: How to request Public Information | Hidalgo County, TX).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
The Hidalgo County guide covers every agency in the county: Hidalgo County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Alton each year?
Alton reported 285 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Alton?
Ask the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hidalgocounty.us/3007/Detention.
Where are people arrested in Alton booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Alton?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Texas Department of Public Safety: the Conviction Database search lets anyone look up convictions and deferred adjudications by name, for $3. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Texas Public Information Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Alton?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Alton police for its own arrests, the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Texas Public Information Act the answer is due within 10 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at hidalgocounty.us.
Is this the official Alton website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.