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 October 4, 2026.
Brenham, Texas, in Washington County, has about 20,000 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 Washington 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: Brenham public records, Washington County arrest records, Texas arrest records and Texas inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Brenham
The FBI lists Brenham with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Brenham Police Department. It reported 338 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 Washington County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 286 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Washington County: Blinn College's Main Campus (campus police); the Washington County Constable's Precincts 1, 3, 4 and 2 (other).
How Many Arrests Brenham 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.
- Brenham: 338 for 2025, 531 for 2024, 595 for 2023, 462 for 2022, 467 for 2021 and 402 for 2020.
Brenham's 338 arrests in 2025 were down 36 percent from 531 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Brenham reported 220 arrests, against 239 in the same months of 2025.
Across Washington County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 624 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Brenham Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Brenham and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 88 people on an average day, up from about 84 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 177 beds, and it is running at 50 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 Washington County Sheriff's Office at co.washington.tx.us/page/washington.sheriff (page title: Washington County, Texas), phone (979) 277-6251, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Brenham
An arrest in Brenham can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Washington County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.washington.tx.us/page/washington.CriminalCourt, phone (979) 277-6200); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.washington.tx.us/page/washington.district.attorney, phone (979) 277-6247).
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 Brenham
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Brenham police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityofbrenham.org/city_government/departments/police_department/rep... (page title: Police Report Forms | City of Brenham, Texas), phone 979-337-7337, 1800 Longwood Dr., Brenham, TX 77833, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Washington County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (979) 277-6251.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (979) 277-6247, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Washington County District Court, through the court records page at co.washington.tx.us, phone (979) 277-6200.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
The Washington County guide covers every agency in the county: Washington County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Brenham each year?
Brenham reported 338 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Brenham?
Ask the Washington County Sheriff's Office at (979) 277-6251; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.washington.tx.us/page/washington.sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Brenham booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Washington County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Brenham?
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 Brenham?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Brenham police for its own arrests, the Washington County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Texas Public Information Act the answer is due within 10 business days.
Is this the official Brenham 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.