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.
Deaf Smith County, Texas, has about 18,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Deaf Smith County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and one other 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 Deaf Smith 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: Deaf Smith County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Deaf Smith County
The Deaf Smith County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Deaf Smith County. It reported 26 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Deaf Smith County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Hereford, 14,860 residents: 351 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 one more agency in Deaf Smith County: the Deaf Smith County Constable (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Deaf Smith 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.
- Hereford: 351 for 2025, 299 for 2024, 240 for 2023, 282 for 2022, 276 for 2021 and 394 for 2020.
- Deaf Smith County Sheriff's Office: 26 for 2025, 61 for 2024, 60 for 2023, 44 for 2022, 62 for 2021 and 52 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 377 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 377 in 2025 against 360 in 2024, up 4.7 percent.
Through March 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 80 arrests, against 87 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Deaf Smith County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Deaf Smith 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 86 people on an average day, up from about 73 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 196 beds, and it is running at 44 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 Deaf Smith County Sheriff's Office at dscso.org (page title: Deaf Smith County Sheriff's Office), 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 Deaf Smith County
For Deaf Smith County the place to look is the case index of the Deaf Smith County District Court, kept by the District Clerk for district court cases and the County Clerk for county court cases, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at idocket.com/PRO/announcements/PressReleaseEmeraldDeafSmtihCC.htm (page title: deaf smith county court records accessible online), belongs to a lower court, not to the Deaf Smith County District Court.
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 Deaf Smith County
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 Deaf Smith County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Hereford: 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 Deaf Smith County Constable: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Deaf Smith County District Court it is kept by the District Clerk for district court cases and the County Clerk for county court cases. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at idocket.com, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Deaf Smith County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Hereford, the one city in Deaf Smith County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Deaf Smith County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Deaf Smith County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Hereford (14,860)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Deaf Smith County each year?
Hereford reported 351 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 377 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Deaf Smith County?
Ask the Deaf Smith County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at dscso.org.
Where are people arrested in Deaf Smith County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Deaf Smith County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Deaf Smith 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 Deaf Smith County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Deaf Smith 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 Deaf Smith 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.