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 2024. 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 30, 2026.
Crystal City, Texas, in Zavala County, has about 6,000 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 Zavala 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: Crystal City public records, Zavala County arrest records, Texas arrest records and Texas inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Crystal City
The FBI lists Crystal City with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Crystal City Police Department. It reported 32 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year. 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 Zavala County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 263 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Crystal City Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Crystal City: 32 for 2024, 39 for 2023, 28 for 2020 and 55 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Across Zavala County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 305 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Crystal City Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Crystal City 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 55 people on an average day, up from about 40 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 66 beds, and it is running at 83 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 Zavala County Sheriff's Office at co.zavala.tx.us/page/Sheriff (page title: Zavala County), phone 830-374-3615, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Crystal City
For Crystal City the place to look is the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.zavala.tx.us/page/District%20Attorney, phone 830-773-9268).
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 Crystal City
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 Crystal City police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at crystalcitytx.org/page/police (page title: Crystal City, Texas), phone (830)374-2381, 101 E. Dimmit St. Crystal City, TX 78839, Mon - Fri: 8am - 5pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Zavala County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 830-374-3615.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 830-773-9268, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
The Zavala County guide covers every agency in the county: Zavala County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Crystal City each year?
Crystal City reported 32 arrests to the FBI for 2024, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Crystal City?
Ask the Zavala County Sheriff's Office at 830-374-3615; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.zavala.tx.us/page/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Crystal City booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Zavala County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Crystal City?
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 Crystal City?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Crystal City police for its own arrests, the Zavala 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 Crystal City 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.