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 September 30, 2026.
Runnels County, Texas, has about 9,800 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Runnels County Sheriff's Office and three city 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 Runnels 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: Runnels County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Runnels County
The Runnels County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Runnels County. It reported 2 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Runnels County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Ballinger, 3,530 residents: 6 arrests reported for 2025.
- Winters, 2,281 residents: 18 arrests reported for 2025.
- Miles, 934 residents: 0 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Runnels 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.
- Winters: 18 for 2025, 8 for 2024, 14 for 2023, 24 for 2022, 21 for 2021 and 31 for 2020.
- Ballinger: 6 for 2025, 2 for 2024, 3 for 2023, 14 for 2022, 11 for 2021 and 12 for 2020.
- Runnels County Sheriff's Office: 2 for 2025, 3 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 0 for 2022, 3 for 2021 and 5 for 2020.
- Miles: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 1 for 2022 and 0 for 2021.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 26 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 26 in 2025 against 13 in 2024.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 13 arrests, against 5 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Runnels County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Runnels 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 21 people on an average day, down from about 30 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 87 beds, and it is running at 24 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 Runnels County Sheriff's Office at runnelscounty.org/page/runnels.Sheriff (page title: County Sheriff | Runnels County), phone 325-365-2121, 612 Strong Avenue Ballinger, TX 76821, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Runnels County
An arrest in Runnels County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Runnels County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at runnelscounty.org/page/runnels.County.Clerk, phone 325-365-2720); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at runnelscounty.org/page/runnels.District.Attorney, phone 325-653-1912).
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 Runnels 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 Runnels County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 325-365-2121.
- An arrest in Ballinger, Winters or Miles: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 325-653-1912, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Runnels County District Court, through the court records page at runnelscounty.org/page/runnels.County.Clerk, phone 325-365-2720.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Runnels County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Runnels County: Ballinger, Winters and Miles.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Runnels County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Runnels County each year?
Winters reported 18 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 26 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Runnels County?
Ask the Runnels County Sheriff's Office at 325-365-2121; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at runnelscounty.org/page/runnels.Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Runnels County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Runnels County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Runnels 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 Runnels County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Runnels 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 Runnels 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.