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 30, 2026 and October 1, 2026.
Panola County, Texas, has about 23,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Panola County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and three 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 Panola 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: Panola County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Panola County
The Panola County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Panola County. It reported 174 arrests for 2025.
One city in Panola County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Carthage, 6,653 residents: 126 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 Tatum Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Panola County, so its arrests are not broken out for Panola County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Panola County: Panola College (campus police); Panola County Constable at Precinct 2 & 3 and Panola County Constable at Precinct 1 & 4 (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Panola 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.
- Panola County Sheriff's Office: 174 for 2025, 223 for 2024, 161 for 2022, 162 for 2021, 489 for 2020 and 775 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Carthage: 126 for 2025, 143 for 2024, 163 for 2023, 174 for 2022, 180 for 2021 and 205 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 300 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 300 in 2025 against 366 in 2024, down 18 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 170 arrests, against 214 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Panola County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Panola 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 74 people on an average day, up from about 39 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 160 beds, and it is running at 46 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 Panola County Sheriff's Office at co.panola.tx.us/1204/Sheriffs-Office (page title: Sheriff's Office | Panola County, TX), phone 903-693-0333, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Panola County
An arrest in Panola County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Panola County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.panola.tx.us/page/panola.District.Clerk, phone 903-693-0306); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.panola.tx.us/1205/District-Attorney, phone 903-693-0310).
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 Panola 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 Panola County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 903-693-0333.
- An arrest in Carthage: 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 Panola College, Panola County Constable at Precinct 2 & 3 or Panola County Constable at Precinct 1 & 4: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 903-693-0310, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Panola County District Court, through the court records page at co.panola.tx.us/page/panola.District.Clerk, phone 903-693-0306.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Panola County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Panola County: Carthage. Beckville and Gary City 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 Panola County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Panola County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Carthage (6,653)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Panola County each year?
The Panola County Sheriff's Office reported 174 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 300 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Panola County?
Ask the Panola County Sheriff's Office at 903-693-0333; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.panola.tx.us/1204/Sheriffs-Office.
Where are people arrested in Panola County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Panola County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Panola 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 Panola County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Panola 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 Panola 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.