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 4, 2026.
Washington County, Texas, has about 38,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Washington County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and five 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 Washington 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: Washington County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Washington County
The Washington County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Washington County. It reported 286 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Washington County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Brenham, 19,728 residents: 338 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 these agencies in Washington County: Blinn College's Main Campus (campus police); the Washington County Constable's Precincts 1, 3, 4 and 2 (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Washington 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.
- Brenham: 338 for 2025, 531 for 2024, 595 for 2023, 462 for 2022, 467 for 2021 and 402 for 2020.
- Washington County Sheriff's Office: 286 for 2025, 179 for 2024, 170 for 2023, 155 for 2022, 208 for 2021 and 230 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 624 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 624 in 2025 against 710 in 2024, down 12 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 323 arrests, against 448 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Washington County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Washington 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 88 people on an average day, up from about 84 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 177 beds, and it is running at 50 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 Washington County Sheriff's Office at co.washington.tx.us/page/washington.sheriff (page title: Washington County, Texas), phone (979) 277-6251, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Washington County
An arrest in Washington County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Washington County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.washington.tx.us/page/washington.CriminalCourt, phone (979) 277-6200); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.washington.tx.us/page/washington.district.attorney, phone (979) 277-6247).
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 Washington 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 Washington County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (979) 277-6251.
- An arrest in Brenham: 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 Blinn College's Main Campus or the Washington County Constable's Precincts 1, 3, 4 and 2: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (979) 277-6247, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Washington County District Court, through the court records page at co.washington.tx.us, phone (979) 277-6200.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Washington County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Washington County: Brenham. Burton has 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 Washington County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Washington County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Brenham (19,728)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Washington County each year?
Brenham reported 338 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 624 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Washington County?
Ask the Washington County Sheriff's Office at (979) 277-6251; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.washington.tx.us/page/washington.sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Washington County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Washington County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Washington 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 Washington County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Washington 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 Washington 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.