SearchSystems Editorial

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.

About this guide

Dallas County, Texas, has about 2.7 million residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Dallas County Sheriff's Office, 24 city agencies and 20 campus, state or 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 Dallas 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: Dallas County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Dallas County

The Dallas County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Dallas County. It reported 271 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.

Arrests inside 24 of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported, the largest twelve first; the rest are named in the cities section below:

  • Dallas, 1,326,087 residents: 22,576 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Irving, 258,060 residents: 4,910 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Garland, 250,431 residents: 7,648 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Grand Prairie, 207,331 residents: 4,351 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Mesquite, 150,140 residents: 5,843 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Richardson, 118,221 residents: 3,419 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Rowlett, 68,123 residents: 1,579 arrests reported for 2025.
  • DeSoto, 56,711 residents: 964 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Cedar Hill, 49,618 residents: 740 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Coppell, 41,785 residents: 369 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Lancaster, 40,780 residents: 456 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Duncanville, 39,203 residents: 408 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 Ovilla Police Department, the Ferris Police Department, the Lewisville Police Department and two more are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Dallas County, so their arrests are not broken out for Dallas County here.

The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Dallas County: the University of Texas at Southwestern Medical School, the University of Texas at Dallas, Baylor Health Care System, Southern Methodist University and three more (campus police); the Dallas County Constable's Precincts 5, 3, 2, 4 and 1, the Dallas County Hospital District, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the Dallas Independent School District and five more (other).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Dallas County

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.

  • Dallas: 22,576 for 2025, 20,249 for 2024, 19,266 for 2023, 21,190 for 2022, 23,595 for 2021 and 23,029 for 2020.
  • Garland: 7,648 for 2025, 6,863 for 2024, 6,725 for 2023, 6,802 for 2022, 6,410 for 2021 and 4,958 for 2020.
  • Mesquite: 5,843 for 2025, 5,273 for 2024, 6,096 for 2023, 5,230 for 2022, 3,907 for 2021 and 3,905 for 2020.
  • Irving: 4,910 for 2025, 5,305 for 2024, 4,832 for 2023, 4,981 for 2022, 4,881 for 2021 and 4,652 for 2020.
  • Grand Prairie: 4,351 for 2025, 4,461 for 2024, 4,092 for 2023, 3,918 for 2022, 3,826 for 2021 and 3,246 for 2020.
  • Richardson: 3,419 for 2025, 3,053 for 2024, 3,056 for 2023, 3,264 for 2022, 3,923 for 2021 and 3,637 for 2020.
  • Rowlett: 1,579 for 2025, 1,504 for 2024, 1,288 for 2023, 966 for 2022, 955 for 2021 and 808 for 2020.
  • DeSoto: 964 for 2025, 846 for 2024, 704 for 2023, 628 for 2022, 487 for 2021 and 597 for 2020.
  • Cedar Hill: 740 for 2025, 835 for 2024, 853 for 2023, 717 for 2022, 818 for 2021 and 734 for 2020.
  • Addison: 607 for 2025, 591 for 2024, 802 for 2023, 918 for 2022, 979 for 2021 and 794 for 2020.
  • Farmers Branch: 575 for 2025, 600 for 2024, 579 for 2023, 657 for 2022, 735 for 2021 and 637 for 2020.
  • Lancaster: 456 for 2025, 530 for 2024, 643 for 2023, 845 for 2022, 791 for 2021 and 547 for 2020.

Together, the 24 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 56,729 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 56,729 in 2025 against 52,927 in 2024, up 7.2 percent.

Through August 2026, the 21 agencies with every month so far on file reported 38,396 arrests, against 37,481 in the same months of 2025.

Dallas County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (8 months) and is left out of the totals.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Dallas County Are Held

A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dallas 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 7,110 people on an average day, up from about 5,240 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 7,364 beds, and it is running at 97 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.

SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Dallas County Sheriff's Office at dallascounty.org/departments/sheriff/inmate-information (page title: Inmate Information | Sheriff Department), phone (214) 749-8641, 133 N. Riverfront Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75207, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.

That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.

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 Dallas County

An arrest in Dallas County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Dallas County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at dallascounty.org/government/district-attorney, phone (214) 653-3600).

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 Dallas 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 Dallas County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (214) 749-8641.
  • An arrest in Dallas, Irving, Garland, Grand Prairie, Mesquite, Richardson or another of the cities listed above: 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 University of Texas at Southwestern Medical School, the University of Texas at Dallas or the Dallas County Constable's Precincts 5, 3, 2, 4 and 1: the records office of the agency involved.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (214) 653-3600, handles discovery for pending cases.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at dallascounty.org (page title: County Clerk | Central Records Division | Records Request).
  • Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.

Cities in Dallas County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the 24 cities in Dallas County: the twelve named above and Farmers Branch, Sachse, Balch Springs, University Park, Seagoville, Glenn Heights, Addison, Sunnyvale, Highland Park, Hutchins, Wilmer and Cockrell Hill.

Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Dallas County District Court.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Dallas County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:

Frequently Asked Questions

How many arrests are made in Dallas County each year?

Dallas reported 22,576 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 24 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 56,729 between them.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dallas County?

Look on the custody page of the Dallas County Sheriff's Office at dallascounty.org, or call (214) 749-8641. It covers people booked into the county jail.

Where are people arrested in Dallas County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Dallas County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Dallas 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 Dallas County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Dallas 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 dallascounty.org.

Is this the official Dallas 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.