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.
Shelby County, Texas, has about 24,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, two 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 Shelby 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: Shelby County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Shelby County
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Shelby County. It reported 594 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists two cities in Shelby County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Center, 5,231 residents: 217 arrests reported for 2024.
- Tenaha, 1,002 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.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Shelby County: the Center Independent School District (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Shelby 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.
- Shelby County Sheriff's Office: 594 for 2024, 289 for 2023, 217 for 2022, 181 for 2021, 151 for 2020 and 369 for 2019.
- Center: 217 for 2024, 249 for 2023, 233 for 2022, 288 for 2021 and 290 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Tenaha: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 0 for 2022, 2 for 2021 and 10 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 811 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 217 in 2024 against 249 in 2023, down 13 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Shelby County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Shelby 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 53 people on an average day, up from about 53 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 66 beds, and it is running at 80 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Shelby County
An arrest in Shelby County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Shelby County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.shelby.tx.us/page/shelby.County.Clerk, phone 936-598-6361); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.shelby.tx.us/page/shelby.District.Attorney, phone 936-598-2489).
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 Shelby 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 Shelby County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Center or Tenaha: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Center 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, 936-598-2489, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Shelby County District Court, through the court records page at co.shelby.tx.us/page/shelby.County.Clerk, phone 936-598-6361.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Shelby County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the five cities in Shelby County: Center and Tenaha. Timpson, Joaquin and Huxley 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 Shelby County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Shelby County each year?
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office reported 594 arrests to the FBI for 2024, and the three agencies with every month of 2024 on file reported 811 between them.
Where are people arrested in Shelby County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Shelby 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 Shelby County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Shelby 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 Shelby 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.