Reviewed and updated October 4, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. Every office link on this page was opened and checked against the office's own website at review time.
Houston is a city in Harris County, Texas, with about 2.4 million residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Its public records are split between the city and the county. The city keeps police reports, council records and its own licenses and permits; court cases, jail bookings, deeds and vital records are county or state records. This guide names the Houston offices SearchSystems verified, links to each one's own website and gives the phone number and address where the office publishes them. SearchSystems verified 2 city office pages for Houston, every one opened and checked.
In this guide: City or county, Police records, City Hall, Records requests, Other cities and Questions.
City or county record: where Houston records are kept
- Kept by the City of Houston: police reports, council and board meeting records, ordinances and the city's own licenses and permits.
- Kept by Harris County or the state: court cases, jail bookings, deeds and property values and birth and death certificates. These are not city records; they are in the Harris County public records guide under court records, jail lookups, property records and vital records.
Houston police reports and records
Incident reports, crash reports and the other records of the Houston police are requested from the department's records unit, usually in writing or through an online form. Reports on open investigations and the names of victims and juveniles are usually withheld or redacted, and some states limit crash reports to the people involved and their insurers. The page below is the one SearchSystems verified for Houston police records.
- Website: houstontx.gov/police/divisions/records/index.htm (page title: Records)
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
Jail bookings and inmate lookups are usually handled by the county, not the city police. They are in the Harris County public records guide under jail and inmate lookups.
Houston City Hall: departments, licenses and permits
Business licenses, building permits, code enforcement cases and the city's other records are kept by the department that issued them. The city's own website below lists its departments and how to reach them.
- Website: houstontx.gov/311/contact.html (page title: 3-1-1 Service Categories | About Houston 3-1-1)
- Phone: 713.837.0311
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
Public records requests to Houston
Texas public records law applies to the city government of Houston. A record that is not posted online is requested from the office that holds it: the police records unit for police reports and the department that issued a permit or license for its records. A request that names a date, an address, or a report or case number is the easiest to answer.
Other cities and towns in Harris County
SearchSystems has a guide like this one for these other cities and towns in Harris County. The Harris County public records guide covers the records the county keeps for all of them.
Houston Arrest Records
The Houston arrest records guide covers the agency that reports Houston's arrests to the FBI and the 32,587 arrests it reported for 2025. It also says where a person arrested in Houston is held, how to find out about an arrest and how to get a copy of the report.
Houston Records Guides
SearchSystems has eight more guides to Houston, each written from the city's own offices and figures: Houston warrants (who issues and serves them, where a person arrested on one is held, how to check for one), Houston inmate search (the jail page of the Harris County Sheriff's Office, the jail numbers and who books people), Houston criminal records (the court file, the Texas criminal history and the local arrest records), Houston court records (which court hears what, the case search and who keeps the files), Houston police reports (which agency holds a report and what the Texas Public Information Act requires), Houston traffic tickets (which court takes the ticket, who writes them and the driving record), Houston DUI (the DWI law, the arrest, the court case and the license case) and Houston property records (deeds, assessed values, permits and evictions).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the official Houston website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records directory, online since 1997. It links to the official Houston offices listed above, and the city's own website is houstontx.gov; SearchSystems does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.
How do I get a police report in Houston?
Request it from the Houston police records unit at houstontx.gov. Reports on open investigations and the names of victims and juveniles are usually withheld or redacted.
Where do I find court records or jail bookings for Houston?
Houston cases are heard by the courts that serve Harris County, and people arrested in Houston are usually booked into the county jail. Both are covered in the Harris County public records guide on SearchSystems.
How do I request a public record from Houston?
From the office that holds it: the police records unit for police reports and the department that issued a permit or license for its records. Texas public records law applies to city governments.