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.
Zapata County, Texas, has about 14,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Zapata County Sheriff's Office 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 Zapata 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 and common questions.
Related guides: Zapata County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Zapata County
The Zapata County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Zapata County. It reported 109 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Zapata County: the Zapata County Independent School District (other).
How Many Arrests The Zapata County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Zapata County Sheriff's Office: 109 for 2025, 59 for 2024, 54 for 2023, 13 for 2022, 33 for 2021 and 1 for 2020.
The Zapata County Sheriff's Office's 109 arrests in 2025 were up 85 percent from 59 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Zapata County Sheriff's Office reported 90 arrests, against 79 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Zapata County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Zapata 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 190 people on an average day, up from about 160 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 240 beds, and it is running at 78 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 Zapata County Sheriff's Office at co.zapata.tx.us/page/zapata.sheriff (page title: Zapata County, Texas), phone 956.765.9960, 200 E. 7th Ave., Ste. 415 Zapata, TX 78076, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Zapata County
An arrest in Zapata County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Zapata County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.zapata.tx.us/page/zapata.county.clerk, phone 956.765.9915); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.zapata.tx.us/page/zapata.district.attorney, phone 956.523.4900).
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 Zapata 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 Zapata County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 956.765.9960.
- An arrest by the Zapata County 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, 956.523.4900, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Zapata County District Court, through the court records page at co.zapata.tx.us/page/zapata.county.clerk, phone 956.765.9915.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Zapata County each year?
The Zapata County Sheriff's Office reported 109 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Zapata County?
Ask the Zapata County Sheriff's Office at 956.765.9960; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.zapata.tx.us/page/zapata.sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Zapata County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Zapata County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Zapata 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 Zapata County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Zapata 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 Zapata 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.