Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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 on September 23, 2026.
Bastrop County, Texas, has about 115,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Bastrop County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies and four other agencies. An arrest 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 Bastrop County District Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Bastrop County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Bastrop County
The Bastrop County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Bastrop County. It reported 875 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Bastrop County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Bastrop, 12,720 residents: 658 arrests reported for 2025.
- Elgin, 12,438 residents: 306 arrests reported for 2025.
- Smithville, 4,335 residents: 132 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Bastrop County: the Bastrop County Constable's Precincts 4, 1 and 2 and the Bastrop Independent School District (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Bastrop County
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.
- Bastrop County Sheriff's Office: 875 for 2025, 788 for 2024, 751 for 2023, 952 for 2022, 1,995 for 2020 and 2,134 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Bastrop: 658 for 2025, 468 for 2024, 441 for 2023, 367 for 2022, 319 for 2021 and 257 for 2020.
- Elgin: 306 for 2025, 335 for 2024, 310 for 2023, 148 for 2022, 137 for 2021 and 82 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Smithville: 132 for 2025, 182 for 2024, 129 for 2023, 161 for 2022, 114 for 2021 and 90 for 2020.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,971 arrests that year. The three of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,313 in 2025 against 1,305 in 2024, up 0.6 percent.
Through May 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 470 arrests, against 428 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bastrop County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Bastrop County 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 260 people on an average day, down from about 280 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 372 beds, and it is running at 69 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 Bastrop County Sheriff's Office at bastropcounty.gov/page/lec.faq (page title: Jail Frequently Asked Questions | Sheriff's Office | Bastrop County), phone (512) 549-5100, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Texas Department of Criminal Justice lists its inmates at inmate.tdcj.texas.gov/InmateSearch/start.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Bastrop County
For Bastrop County the place to look is the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at bastropcounty.gov/page/da.attorney, phone (512) 581-7125).
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 Bastrop County
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 Bastrop County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (512) 549-5100.
- An arrest in Bastrop, Elgin or Smithville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the Bastrop County Constable's Precincts 4, 1 and 2 or the Bastrop Independent School District: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (512) 581-7125, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at bastropcounty.gov/page/co.public_information (page title: Public Information Requests | Bastrop County).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Bastrop County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Bastrop County: Bastrop, Elgin and Smithville.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Bastrop County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Bastrop County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Elgin (12,438)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Bastrop County each year?
The Bastrop County Sheriff's Office reported 875 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,971 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Bastrop County?
Ask the Bastrop County Sheriff's Office at (512) 549-5100; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at bastropcounty.gov/page/lec.faq.
Where are people arrested in Bastrop County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Bastrop County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Bastrop County?
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 Bastrop County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Bastrop County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Texas Public Information Act the answer is due within 10 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at bastropcounty.gov/page/co.public_information.
Is this the official Bastrop County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.