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.
Sterling County, Texas, has about 1,400 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Sterling County Sheriff's Office. 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 Sterling 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: Sterling County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Sterling County
The Sterling County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Sterling County. It reported 19 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests The Sterling County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Sterling County Sheriff's Office: 19 for 2025, 28 for 2024, 36 for 2023, 49 for 2022, 45 for 2021 and 30 for 2020.
Through August 2026, Sterling County Sheriff's Office reported 21 arrests, against 12 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Sterling County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Sterling 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.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 0 people, down from about 3 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 5 beds, and it ran at 63 percent of it that year. 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 Sterling County
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 Sterling 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 Sterling County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Sterling County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Sterling County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Sterling County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Sterling County each year?
The Sterling County Sheriff's Office reported 19 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Sterling County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sterling County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Sterling 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 Sterling County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Sterling 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 Sterling 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.