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 between September 23, 2026 and September 28, 2026.

About this guide

Ellis County, Texas, has about 232,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Ellis County Sheriff's Office, 12 city agencies and seven 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 Ellis 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: Ellis County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Ellis County

The Ellis County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Ellis County. It reported 554 arrests for 2025.

Arrests inside 12 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:

  • Waxahachie, 48,617 residents: 816 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Midlothian, 44,104 residents: 478 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Ennis, 24,753 residents: 235 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Red Oak, 19,365 residents: 326 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Ovilla, 4,771 residents: 9 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Ferris, 4,200 residents: 18 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Palmer, 2,621 residents: 26 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Italy, 2,130 residents: 20 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Maypearl, 971 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Garrett, 878 residents: 36 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Milford, 801 residents: 19 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Alma, 421 residents: 3 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 Glenn Heights Police Department, the Cedar Hill Police Department, the Venus Police Department and two more are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Ellis County, so their arrests are not broken out for Ellis County here.

The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Ellis County: the Ennis Independent School District, the Red Oak Independent School District, the Ferris Independent School District and the Ellis County Constable's Precincts 3, 1, 4 and 2 (other).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Ellis 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.

  • Waxahachie: 816 for 2025, 1,022 for 2024, 844 for 2023, 811 for 2022, 656 for 2021 and 509 for 2020.
  • Ellis County Sheriff's Office: 554 for 2025, 553 for 2024, 583 for 2023, 463 for 2022 and 481 for 2021.
  • Midlothian: 478 for 2025, 470 for 2024, 398 for 2023, 271 for 2022, 418 for 2021 and 405 for 2020.
  • Red Oak: 326 for 2025, 269 for 2024, 320 for 2023, 333 for 2022, 224 for 2020 and 500 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Ennis: 235 for 2025, 324 for 2022, 259 for 2021, 259 for 2020 and 350 for 2019; 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
  • Garrett: 36 for 2025 and 35 for 2024.
  • Palmer: 26 for 2025, 32 for 2024, 68 for 2023, 45 for 2022, 23 for 2021 and 60 for 2020.
  • Italy: 20 for 2025, 20 for 2024, 15 for 2023, 22 for 2022 and 40 for 2021.
  • Milford: 19 for 2025, 20 for 2023 and 26 for 2022; 2024 is missing months.
  • Ferris: 18 for 2025, 21 for 2024, 15 for 2023, 34 for 2022, 22 for 2021 and 37 for 2020.
  • Ovilla: 9 for 2025, 5 for 2024, 9 for 2023, 10 for 2022, 15 for 2021 and 42 for 2020.
  • Alma: 3 for 2025, 4 for 2024 and 1 for 2023.

Together, the 13 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,541 arrests that year. The 11 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,287 in 2025 against 2,434 in 2024, down 6 percent.

Through August 2026, the 12 agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,836 arrests, against 1,719 in the same months of 2025.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Ellis County Are Held

A person kept in custody after an arrest in Ellis 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 570 people on an average day, up from about 420 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 859 beds, and it is running at 67 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 Ellis County Sheriff's Office at elliscountysheriff.com/ecso-content (page title: Ellis County Sheriff's Office), phone (972) 825-4901, 300 S. Jackson St., Waxahachie, TX 75165, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 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 Ellis County

For Ellis County the place to look is the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at elliscountytx.gov/73/County-and-District-Attorney, phone 972-825-5035).

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 Ellis 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 Ellis County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (972) 825-4901.
  • An arrest in Waxahachie, Midlothian, Ennis, Red Oak, Ovilla, Ferris 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 Ennis Independent School District, the Red Oak Independent School District or the Ferris 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, 972-825-5035, handles discovery for pending cases.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at elliscountytx.gov (page title: Open Records/Public Information Requests | Ellis County, TX Official Website).
  • Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.

Cities in Ellis County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 12 of the 15 cities in Ellis County: Waxahachie, Midlothian, Ennis, Red Oak, Ovilla, Ferris, Palmer, Italy, Maypearl, Garrett, Milford and Alma. Oak Leaf, Pecan Hill and Bardwell 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 Ellis County District Court.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Ellis 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 Ellis County each year?

Waxahachie reported 816 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 13 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,541 between them.

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

Ask the Ellis County Sheriff's Office at (972) 825-4901; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at elliscountysheriff.com/ecso-content.

Where are people arrested in Ellis County booked?

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

Are arrest records public in Ellis 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 Ellis County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Ellis 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 elliscountytx.gov.

Is this the official Ellis 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.