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.
Dawson County, Texas, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Dawson County Sheriff's Office and one city agency. 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 Dawson 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: Dawson County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Dawson County
The Dawson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Dawson County. It reported 7 arrests for 2025.
One city in Dawson County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Lamesa, 8,108 residents: 142 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 O'Donnell Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Dawson County, so its arrests are not broken out for Dawson County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Dawson 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.
- Lamesa: 142 for 2025, 188 for 2024, 100 for 2023, 210 for 2022, 363 for 2020 and 442 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Dawson County Sheriff's Office: 7 for 2025, 8 for 2024, 14 for 2023, 16 for 2022, 7 for 2021 and 15 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 149 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 149 in 2025 against 196 in 2024, down 24 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 48 arrests, against 97 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dawson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dawson 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 37 people on an average day, down from about 39 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 54 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 Dawson County Sheriff's Office at co.dawson.tx.us/page/dawsonSheriff (page title: Dawson County, Texas), phone 806-872-7560, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Dawson County
For Dawson County the place to look is the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.dawson.tx.us/page/dawson.district.attorney, phone 806-872-2259).
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 Dawson 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 Dawson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 806-872-7560.
- An arrest in Lamesa: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 806-872-2259, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Dawson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Dawson County: Lamesa. Ackerly and Los Ybanez have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Dawson County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Dawson County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Lamesa (8,108)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dawson County each year?
Lamesa reported 142 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 149 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dawson County?
Ask the Dawson County Sheriff's Office at 806-872-7560; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.dawson.tx.us/page/dawsonSheriff.
Where are people arrested in Dawson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Dawson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Dawson 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 Dawson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Dawson 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.
Is this the official Dawson 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.