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 9, 2026.
Madison County, Texas, has about 14,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Madison County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and three 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 Madison 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: Madison County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Madison County
The Madison County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Madison County. It reported 116 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Madison County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Madisonville, 4,642 residents: 147 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 Normangee Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Madison County, so its arrests are not broken out for Madison County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Madison County: the Madisonville Independent School District, Madison County Constable at Precinct 3 & 4 and Madison County Constable at Precinct 1 & 2 (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Madison 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.
- Madisonville: 147 for 2025, 88 for 2024, 70 for 2023, 142 for 2021, 141 for 2020 and 152 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Madison County Sheriff's Office: 116 for 2025, 186 for 2024, 147 for 2023, 121 for 2022, 109 for 2021 and 76 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 263 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 263 in 2025 against 274 in 2024, down 4 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 185 arrests, against 171 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Madison County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Madison 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 40 people on an average day, down from about 40 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 51 beds, and it is running at 78 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 Madison County Sheriff's Office at co.madison.tx.us/page/madison.sheriff (page title: Madison County, Texas), phone 936-348-2755, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 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 Madison County
For Madison County the place to look is the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.madison.tx.us/page/madison.District.Attorney, phone 936-348-7049).
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 Madison 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 Madison County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 936-348-2755.
- An arrest in Madisonville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Madisonville Independent School District, Madison County Constable at Precinct 3 & 4 or Madison County Constable at Precinct 1 & 2: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 936-348-7049, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
The other Madison County guides go further: police reports and property records.
Cities in Madison County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Madison County: Madisonville. Midway has 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 Madison County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Madison County each year?
Madisonville reported 147 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 263 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Madison County?
Ask the Madison County Sheriff's Office at 936-348-2755; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.madison.tx.us/page/madison.sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Madison County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Madison County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Madison 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 Madison County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Madison 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 Madison 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.