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 October 3, 2026.
Hamilton County, Texas, has about 8,600 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies 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 Hamilton 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: Hamilton County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hamilton County
The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hamilton County. It reported 56 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Hamilton County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Hamilton, 3,005 residents: 89 arrests reported for 2023.
- Hico, 1,476 residents: 16 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 Hamilton County: the Jonesboro Independent School District (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Hamilton 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.
- Hamilton County Sheriff's Office: 56 for 2025, 18 for 2024, 8 for 2023, 19 for 2022, 18 for 2021 and 5 for 2020.
- Hico: 16 for 2025, 3 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 0 for 2022 and 0 for 2021.
- Hamilton: 89 for 2023, 72 for 2022, 57 for 2021, 84 for 2020 and 120 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 72 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 72 in 2025 against 21 in 2024.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hamilton County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Hamilton County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2016 the jail held about 14 people. Its rated capacity in 2016 was 24 beds, and it ran at 59 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office at hamiltoncountytx.gov/page/hamilton.sheriff (page title: Hamilton County, Texas), phone 254-386-8120, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 3, 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 Hamilton County
Whether someone was arrested in Hamilton County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Hamilton County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at hamiltoncountytx.gov/page/hamilton.coclerk, phone 254-386-1203); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at hamiltoncountytx.gov/page/hamilton.dattorney, phone 254-435-2994).
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 Hamilton 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 Hamilton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 254-386-8120.
- An arrest in Hamilton or Hico: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Jonesboro 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, 254-435-2994, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Hamilton County District Court, through the court records page at hamiltoncountytx.gov/page/hamilton.coclerk, phone 254-386-1203.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Hamilton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Hamilton County: Hamilton and Hico.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Hamilton County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hamilton County each year?
The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office reported 56 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 72 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hamilton County?
Ask the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office at 254-386-8120; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hamiltoncountytx.gov/page/hamilton.sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Hamilton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hamilton 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 Hamilton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hamilton 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 Hamilton 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.