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.
Medina County, Texas, has about 56,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Medina County Sheriff's Office, five 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 Medina 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: Medina County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Medina County
The Medina County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Medina County. It reported 302 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside five 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:
- Hondo, 8,969 residents: 188 arrests reported for 2025.
- Devine, 4,622 residents: 268 arrests reported for 2025.
- Castroville, 3,201 residents: 113 arrests reported for 2025.
- Natalia, 1,356 residents: 8 arrests reported for 2025.
- LaCoste, 1,222 residents.
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 San Antonio Police Department and the Lytle Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Medina County, so their arrests are not broken out for Medina County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Medina County: the Medina Valley Independent School District (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Medina 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.
- Medina County Sheriff's Office: 302 for 2025, 376 for 2024, 324 for 2023, 354 for 2022, 236 for 2021 and 294 for 2020.
- Devine: 268 for 2025, 158 for 2024, 153 for 2023, 209 for 2022, 173 for 2021 and 133 for 2020.
- Hondo: 188 for 2025, 202 for 2024, 223 for 2023, 227 for 2022, 328 for 2021 and 317 for 2020.
- Castroville: 113 for 2025, 83 for 2024, 36 for 2023, 34 for 2022, 46 for 2021 and 52 for 2020.
- Natalia: 8 for 2025, 11 for 2024, 26 for 2023, 8 for 2022, 16 for 2021 and 22 for 2020.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 879 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 879 in 2025 against 830 in 2024, up 5.9 percent.
Through July 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 384 arrests, against 522 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Medina County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Medina 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 140 people on an average day, up from about 71 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 193 beds, and it is running at 74 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 Medina County Sheriff's Office at medinatx.gov/page/Sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Medina County TX), phone 830-741-6150, Monday thru Friday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 1, 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 Medina County
An arrest in Medina County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Medina County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at medina.tx.publicsearch.us); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at medinatx.gov/page/district.attorney, phone (830) 741-6187).
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 Medina 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 Medina County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 830-741-6150.
- An arrest in Hondo, Devine, Castroville, Natalia or LaCoste: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Medina Valley 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, (830) 741-6187, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Medina County District Court, through the court records page at medina.tx.publicsearch.us.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
The other Medina County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, police reports and property records.
Cities in Medina County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the five cities in Medina County: Hondo, Devine, Castroville, Natalia and LaCoste.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Medina County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Medina County each year?
The Medina County Sheriff's Office reported 302 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 879 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Medina County?
Ask the Medina County Sheriff's Office at 830-741-6150; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at medinatx.gov/page/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Medina County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Medina County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Medina 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 Medina County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Medina 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 Medina 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.