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.
Hidalgo County, Texas, has about 915,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office, 20 city agencies and ten 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 Hidalgo 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: Hidalgo County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hidalgo County
The Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hidalgo County. It reported 7,026 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year.
Arrests inside 20 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:
- McAllen, 148,782 residents: 5,027 arrests reported for 2025.
- Edinburg, 108,733 residents: 2,851 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mission, 88,574 residents: 1,187 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pharr, 81,142 residents: 875 arrests reported for 2025.
- Weslaco, 43,864 residents: 1,744 arrests reported for 2025.
- San Juan, 37,341 residents: 494 arrests reported for 2025.
- Alton, 22,907 residents: 285 arrests reported for 2025.
- Alamo, 20,694 residents: 852 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mercedes, 17,535 residents: 339 arrests reported for 2025.
- Donna, 16,876 residents: 547 arrests reported for 2025.
- Palmview, 16,030 residents: 344 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hidalgo, 15,164 residents: 183 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 these agencies in Hidalgo County: the South Texas Independent School District, the Hidalgo County Constable's Precincts 4, 1 and 5, the Edinburg Independent School District, the McAllen Independent School District and two more (other); South Texas College and the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Hidalgo 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.
- McAllen: 5,027 for 2025, 5,407 for 2024, 5,408 for 2023, 4,955 for 2022, 4,289 for 2021 and 6,032 for 2020.
- Edinburg: 2,851 for 2025, 2,947 for 2024, 2,519 for 2023, 2,400 for 2022, 1,686 for 2021 and 2,581 for 2020.
- Weslaco: 1,744 for 2025, 2,024 for 2024, 1,918 for 2023, 1,606 for 2022, 1,479 for 2021 and 2,054 for 2020.
- Mission: 1,187 for 2025, 1,276 for 2024, 1,397 for 2023, 1,650 for 2022 and 4,819 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Pharr: 875 for 2025, 813 for 2024, 1,053 for 2023, 737 for 2022, 750 for 2021 and 1,168 for 2020.
- Alamo: 852 for 2025, 863 for 2024, 748 for 2023, 631 for 2022, 616 for 2021 and 565 for 2020.
- Donna: 547 for 2025, 460 for 2024, 355 for 2023, 265 for 2022, 351 for 2021 and 381 for 2020.
- San Juan: 494 for 2025, 440 for 2024, 265 for 2022, 332 for 2020 and 398 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
- Palmview: 344 for 2025, 264 for 2024, 256 for 2022, 316 for 2021, 269 for 2020 and 360 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Mercedes: 339 for 2025, 353 for 2024, 502 for 2023, 563 for 2022, 486 for 2021 and 712 for 2020.
- Alton: 285 for 2025, 353 for 2024, 408 for 2023, 327 for 2021 and 470 for 2020; 2022 is missing months.
- Hidalgo: 183 for 2025, 179 for 2024, 147 for 2023, 132 for 2022, 130 for 2021 and 198 for 2020.
Together, the 18 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 15,072 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 15,072 in 2025 against 15,830 in 2024, down 4.8 percent.
Through July 2026, the 15 agencies with every month so far on file reported 8,934 arrests, against 8,592 in the same months of 2025.
Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office, La Joya and Progreso reported only part of 2025 (11 months, 11 months and 7 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hidalgo County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Hidalgo 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 1,150 people on an average day, up from about 1,060 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 1,432 beds, and it is running at 80 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 Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office at hidalgocounty.us/3007/Detention (page title: Detention | Hidalgo County, TX), Monday from (8:00 am - 14:00 pm, 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 Hidalgo County
An arrest in Hidalgo County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Hidalgo County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at hidalgocounty.us/1477/Civil-and-Criminal-Case-Search); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at hidalgocounty.us/m/directory/department?did=87, phone (956) 292-7600).
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 Hidalgo 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 Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, Pharr, Weslaco, San Juan 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 South Texas Independent School District, the Hidalgo County Constable's Precincts 4, 1 and 5 or the Edinburg 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, (956) 292-7600, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Hidalgo County District Court, through the court records page at hidalgocounty.us.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at hidalgocounty.us (page title: How to request Public Information | Hidalgo County, TX).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Hidalgo County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 20 of the 22 cities in Hidalgo County: the twelve named above and Penitas, Elsa, Progreso, La Joya, Sullivan City, La Villa, Edcouch and Palmhurst. Granjeno and Progreso Lakes 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 Hidalgo County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Hidalgo 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 Hidalgo County each year?
McAllen reported 5,027 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 18 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 15,072 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hidalgo County?
Ask the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hidalgocounty.us/3007/Detention.
Where are people arrested in Hidalgo County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hidalgo 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 Hidalgo County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hidalgo 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 hidalgocounty.us.
Is this the official Hidalgo 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.