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 1, 2026.
Wharton County, Texas, has about 42,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Wharton County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and four 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 Wharton 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: Wharton County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Wharton County
The Wharton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Wharton County. It reported 395 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- El Campo, 12,176 residents: 522 arrests reported for 2025.
- Wharton, 8,755 residents: 339 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 Wharton County: the Wharton County Constable's Precincts 1, 3 and 4 and the Wharton Independent School District (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Wharton 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.
- El Campo: 522 for 2025, 605 for 2024, 895 for 2023, 914 for 2022, 797 for 2021 and 789 for 2020.
- Wharton County Sheriff's Office: 395 for 2025, 453 for 2024, 493 for 2023, 498 for 2022, 400 for 2021 and 326 for 2020.
- Wharton: 339 for 2025, 361 for 2024, 298 for 2023, 422 for 2022, 296 for 2021 and 268 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,256 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,256 in 2025 against 1,419 in 2024, down 11 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 730 arrests, against 776 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Wharton County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Wharton 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 140 people on an average day, up from about 130 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 168 beds, and it is running at 83 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 Wharton County Sheriff's Office at co.wharton.tx.us/page/wharton.Sheriff (page title: Wharton County, Texas), phone 979-532-1550, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 1, 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 Wharton County
Whether someone was arrested in Wharton County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Wharton County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.wharton.tx.us/page/wharton.district.clerk, phone (979) 532-5542); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.wharton.tx.us/page/wharton.district.attorney, phone (979) 532-8051).
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 Wharton 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 Wharton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 979-532-1550.
- An arrest in El Campo or Wharton: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Wharton County Constable's Precincts 1, 3 and 4 or the Wharton 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, (979) 532-8051, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Wharton County District Court, through the court records page at co.wharton.tx.us/page/wharton.district.clerk, phone (979) 532-5542.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Wharton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Wharton County: El Campo and Wharton. East Bernard 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 Wharton County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Wharton County each year?
El Campo reported 522 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,256 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Wharton County?
Ask the Wharton County Sheriff's Office at 979-532-1550; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.wharton.tx.us/page/wharton.Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Wharton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Wharton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Wharton 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 Wharton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Wharton 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 Wharton 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.