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The Ultimate Guide Onman behind jail bars.jpeg Accessing Texas Arrest Records!

In my opinion, when you set out to find Texas arrest records or even criminal court records, you get greeted by a mixed bag of responses and information. To under stand if your search for arrest warrants will get you the required information and what to expect from such an inquiry, you first need to know how criminal records are handled and treated in the state.  

Are you allowed to access TX arrest records?

I would like nothing better than to give you a straight answer for that. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. I am going to restate what the TX Department of Public Safety says on the matter. As per the Texas Public Information Act, criminal records are considered to be public information only if the matter has ended in a conviction or deferred adjudication.Let me simplify that for you, you will only be able to access the arrest report on your subject if he/she:  

  • Has been convicted of the offense.
  • Has accepted to plead guilty or no contest, and hence the judge has considered a dismissal if the defendant agrees to meet the conditions of the deferred disposition.
  • Was given probation before or after the verdict.

 

If the subject was acquitted or if the arrest was returned due to an error or if the matter is still in the trial stages, you will not get access to the arrest records in such cases, at least not from the Texas Department of Public Safety (TX DPS).  

Is there any other way to know about arrests in Texas?

Actually, there is! And in just a bit,I am going to show you how to find Texas arrest reports for free. But before that, let me clarify acommon misconception about arrests.As far as criminal detentions go, these can be put into three categories: a -person behind jail bars.jpe

    • When an accused is detained upon arrest.
    • When the detainee is held back in the county jail because bail has not been granted/posted.
    • When the accused is convicted and sent to an incarceration facility to serve his/her sentence.

 

Each of these occurrences, results in a separate record, and an arrest log from Texas may not always reflect all three of these.  

Who should you approach for information on recent arrests in Texas?

Unfortunately, there is no state wide database that can tapped into for an arrest inquiry. However, if you do want to access TX arrest mugshots, I recommend that you start your search on the website of the local sheriff’s office.  

The law enforcement agency is in charge of making arrests with and without warrants.Moreover, the sheriff’s office also oversees the operations of the county jail.So, whether it is an arrest inquiry or jail records that interest you, take a look at the website of the sheriffs’department for them. It goes without saying that information won’t always be delivered on a platter. I will explain this by giving you a few examples here:  

  • Abilene jail records: The website of the local sheriff’s office does not offer access to the jail docket. So, visiting the county jail is your only option. However, you may get to learn about at least a few recent arrests through their press release page on http://press.abilenepolice.org/.
  • Montgomery County arrest log: The jail docket is offered on http://jailroster.mctx.org/ and the entries can be sorted by date or by last name.Some of the arrests listed go back to 2016 but since the database is updated every day, you can also find information on recent arrests.  
  • Austin arrest report: The Sheriff’s Department of Austin offers even less by way of information on arrest records online.Unless your subject is in their most wanted list, which can be found at https://austincountyso.org/wanted.htm,the only option would be to visit the agency office in person.
  • Dallas arrest inquiry: You will find a jail lookup tool on the website of the Dallas Sheriff’s Department at https://www.dallascounty.org/jaillookup/search.jsp. You can use prisoner information, booking number or case number as your search criteria.
  • Houston arrest log: Although the local sheriff’s office does not offer its jail docket online, you can access the arrest inquiry tool of HoustonPD at http://mycity.houstontx.gov/jails/.As long as you have the name or the arrest number of the accused, you will be able to use this service to know if your subject is currently being held in a City of Houston Jail.
  • Johnson arrest log: Although you won’t get a list of all Johnson County, Texas arrests 2018, you can find out if your subject recently spent time in the localjail by using the tool at http://jcportal.johnsoncountytx.org/jail/.
  • Polk arrest inquiry: The arrest search tool offered by the law enforcement agency of Polk County allows you to find detainees by using their name, the charge against them or days since arrest as the search criteria. The facility is offered at http://inmates.polkcountyso.net/dcn/.

 

Is there a way to access Texas jail records for free?

The sources listed above will only get you details on recent arrests and the jail docket from certain areas. However, there is a central repository that can be accessed for prisoner information. Offered by the TX Department of Criminal Justice, this facility allows you to look for information on currently in car crated inmates as well as those out on parole. The tool can be accessed at https://offender.tdcj.texas.gov/OffenderSearch/search.action  

Although you won’t find offender jail mugshots through this facility, they offer all other information such as the full name of the convict, date of birth, parole eligibility and release dates as well the offense history.  

Texas Arrest warrants

If you had a rough time conducting a jail lookup for TX County jails,wait till you try searching for arrest warrants. First, let me tell you why a warrant search is considerably harder than looking for details on recent arrests.  

Why is it hard to get access to a TX arrest warrant list?

Once a person is booked, the only way to get out of jail is by procuring bail. So, there is little harm in releasing information about when and why the person was detained. Similarly, if an arrest warrant is served,the police will have little to worry about.

a person arrested hand cuffed.jpegAlthough you won’t be told if the arrest was effected through a warrant or not, the fact that a person was taken into custody will reflect in the arrest report. In contrast, outstanding warrants are a different ball game. Let me tell you how:

  • The prevalence of active warrants in the system means that the accused has yet to be taken into custody. So, the obvious conclusion is that if this individual were to find out about his imminent arrest, he may skip town.
  • The Texas arrest warrant’s template contains a lot of information about the crime, the victim and even the probable cause/evidence. Needless to say, law enforcement agencies don’t want regular folks and/or the alleged perpetrator to have access to this data.
  • There is always the risk that some swashbuckler may attempt a citizen’s arrest and end up hurting himself/herself. This is one of the reasons why the police are wary of providing their arrest warrants list online. When they do offer access to their warrant database, there is always a warning that asks citizens to not attempt arrests on their own.

 

So,is there no way to do a Texas arrest warrants search for free?

Well, I am going to be honest with you here. You can get access to a warrants list online as long as you are willing to make do with limited information. Chances are that such a warrant database will not include information on arrest warrants issued in case of Class A and B misdemeanors and felonies.  

Usually, the offerings of the warrant division in such cases only include details on bench warrants. These are orders issued for arrests when a person fails to show up in court or does not obey a judicial order, case in point would be warrants for child support. Bench warrants are issued by the judiciary with no involvement of the police.  

Before initiating your warrant lookup, it is important to understand the difference between warrants and tickets. Yes, the nonpayment of traffic and other ordinance related fines will result in the issue of a warrant.  

But a citation, as it is known, is not an order for arrest to begin with. As long as you pay your dues, you won’t be taken into custody. In fact, such fines can be paid online or at the local courthouse.Here is a list of some of the law enforcement agencies that allow you to conduct such a warrant check.  

  • The warrant list for Palestine City can be accessed at http://www.cityofpalestinetx.com/default.aspx?name=mc.warrants. Click on the “active warrants” link to get to the PDF file. You will notice that although this is the warrant list for 2018 and earlier years, the entries are all related to driving and traffic related offenses.

 

How are arrest warrants issued in criminal matters different from bench warrants?

handcuff suspect sitting.jpegTexas arrest warrants requirements have to be fulfilled when seeking a detention order from the court for serious crimes. Active warrants are sought by the police, but it is the magistrate who has to be convinced of the occurrence of the crime and the involvement of the accused to get him to grant the warrant.

Because the police have to approach the judiciary for active warrants, three parties get involved in the process, and as such, all three offices maintain a warrant records database. These are:

  • The local sheriff’s department
  • The magistrate’s court
  • The clerk of court’s office

 

Furthermore, information on the issue of all arrest warrants connected with Class B misdemeanors and above has to be sent to the Texas Department of Public Safety. This is the agency that maintains the central repository of not just arrest warrants but criminal records in general; more on this in the last section of this article.  Some of the agencies that will allow you tolaunch such a warrantsinquiry include:  

  • The County Sheriff’s Officeof Orange, TX, is one of the very few agencies in the state that has made itscomplete warrant databaseavailable online.You can initiate the arrestwarrants search for free and discreetly by using the tool at http://www.co.orange.tx.us/Felony_Warrants.html.

 

Wherecan I find the warrantroundup list for 2018?

Let me explain what a warrant roundup is to you, and after that, I amsure I won’t have to answer that question. If you think a warrant roundup merelyinvolves the collection of activewarrants from all counties of Texas, you could not be more wrong.  

A warrantroundup typically involves multiple law enforcement agencies and itliterally means rounding up people who have outstanding warrants against them but have managedto evade arrest. The police take decisive action and instead of waiting forsuspects to be found, they launch an active manhunt, so to speak.  

The idea is to enforce the maximum number of arrest warrants possiblein a specific period of time, usually a few days. Information about a warrant roundup is seldomreleased even to the press. Since most law enforcement agencies are reluctantto offer even general warrantinformation, what are your chances to get access to the warrant roundup list?  

Texas Court Records

I feel that of all public information,Texas court records,including criminal courtdockets are the easiest to find. I know many would argue that even ifyou were to access the caserecords for a criminal matter, the information offered is hardlycomprehensive. So, let me start by discussing the details that you can get froma criminal case search.  

What can you expect to find in TX court dockets?

As long as the judicial records pertain to a criminalmatter that resulted in a conviction, you will get to know all the meaty bits,including the type of offense, verdict and sentencing and incarcerationdetails.  

You may not get information on the arrest warrants issued inthe matter or even the arrestreport of the convict. But, this data would make little difference onceyou know for a fact that the subject of your inquiry was convicted of acriminal offense.  

On the plus side, you will also beable to access Texas courtrecords for civil cases. Now, depending on the purpose of your case lookup, thisinformation sure can come in handy when creating the profile of an individual.So, without further ado, let us talk about how you can access Texas state courts publicrecords.  

Who should you approach for judicial records?

Normally, when you want access to the court cases database, you’dprobably head to the courthouse where a particular matter was heard.Unfortunately, this approach seldom works. Let me put it this way- The folks atthe court are too busy handling hearings to help you with the case lookup. Also, evenif they do consider assisting you in your case search, at best, you will only get to knowabout the matters handled by that particular branch of the state judiciary.  

Instead, head over to the clerk of court’s office.Think of this agency as the courtrecords keeper. The courtclerk not only maintains information on the cases heard by differentjudicial entities but also receives and transfers case related information toother agencies.  

For instance, they offer informationon bench warrantsto the policed and send judicialrecords of cases that involve serious criminal offenses to the TX DPS.The best part is that often the Clerk of Court of a particular county will offer the facilityfor court records lookupin addition to the Odyssey Texasstate courts public records system. Let us look at a few examples here:  

  • You can find court records for Harris County at https://www.hcdistrictclerk.com/Edocs/Public/search.aspx.You will have to register to access the case information database. But the docket search service isoffered for free. Case information isavailable for civil and criminal cases.
  • You can access the Bexar County court recordsonline courtesy of a joint effort on the part of the County Clerk andthe District Clerk. Like for Harris County, this facility too can be used forcivil as well as criminalcourt records. The tool can be found at https://apps.bexar.org/Search/,and you can look for courtdockets by name or by case number.
  • A similar effort was undertaken by theCounty Clerk and the District Clerk of Dallas County. You can do a name search for court records or initiatethe inquiry by using the case number. The tool allows you to access informationon felony and misdemeanor cases and you can search by name or the case number. The facility isoffered at https://www.dallascounty.org/criminalBackgroundSearch/.For family court recordsand information on civil cases, you can use the search tool at https://courtsportal.dallascounty.org/DALLASPROD/Home/Dashboard/29.
  • For Travis County, you will find court dockets online at https://www.traviscountytx.gov/district-clerk/online-case-information.This is one of the very few judicialrecords search tool that allows you to look for information on criminalcases, including indictment and arrest warrant hearings. Unfortunately, theactual data offered is extremely limited and does not include information onthe charges and arrests. Simply put, you will only be able to find out if awarrant or indictment hearing is currently underway against the defendant.
  • Criminalcourt dockets for Polk County can beaccessed at http://www.polkcountytx.net/cas/cgicas103dp.html.You can search by nameand narrow the results if the know about the district court that heard/is hearing the. This tooloffers access to information on criminal as well as civil cases. You can use itto get information on the crime, the hearing/case status, name of the defendantand the attorneys.

 

Does Texas offer a courts openaccess facility for case lookup?

Yes, the state judiciary does offeraccess to information on courtcases that qualifies as public records through the Odyssey court records and casemanagement system. The courtconnect program allows you to access case records from the entire judicial network ofthe state. So, there is a lot of information up for grabs, as long as you havethe time to scour through it. However, the courts that are covered differ fromone county to another. For instance:  

 

If you are looking for the case records from the Texas Court of Appeals or the TXSupreme Court, use the facility at http://www.search.txcourts.gov/CaseSearch.aspx?coa=coa05.This is not a name search,so you will need the case number and other information about the matter toinitiate the inquiry.  

TexasCriminal records

I bet at least some of you are wondering why aseparate section on criminalrecords when that is exactly what we have discussed thus far. Well a criminal background checkis different from an arrestreport search, a criminalwarrant lookup and even a criminal court records inquiry.  

Think of this as a comprehensive report that contains just about every bit of information relating to a criminal act that the subject was involved in. So, a criminal background check will get you information on all active warrants, old and recent arrests,convictions, time served, parole, release and more.  Now, this begs the question- if a criminal check can get you all of that data,  

Why did we talk about Texas arrest records, warrants and court dockets?

Well, how much and what information you get throughyour criminal recordssearch in TX will depend on the purpose of your inquiry as well as onthe search criteria that you are willing to use. Also, a criminal history searchis not free. Let meexplain this further…  

If you remember, at the very beginning of thisarticle, I told you that criminalrecords are available for public consumption only if the informationpertains to a case that has resulted in a conviction. That rule applies to criminal history searchesas well although there are some exceptions and we are going to talk about thosein just a bit. But first, I am going to answer the all-important question-  

Whatis the easiest way to access publiccriminal records?

A criminalsearch by name,of course! And this is offered by an agency that I briefly discussed above- TheTexas Department of Public Safety. The good news is that these guys are verypertinent when it comes to the criminal history records they offer.  

So, you only get details on Class A and Bmisdemeanors and felonies and not on cases that merely resulted in a slap onthe wrist. On the downside, they do not guarantee the accuracy of the resultsof their name based criminalcheck. In fact, they have made it very clear that often informationabout people with the same name gets clubbed together. That said, let me tellyou how to get such an inquiry under way.  

  • Visit the page at https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/DpsWebsite/CriminalHistory/
  • You will need to sign up. Click on the link on top of the page that reads“new user signup”.
  • Purchase credits for the search, which cost $3.5/credit if you are payingby credit card and $3/credit if you pay by check.
  • For each search, you will pay one credit.
  • Make sure that you spell the subject’s name correctly. Also, offer asmuch information as you can about the subject, such as the middle name/initialsand birth date that will help to weed out inaccurate information.
  • Once you click on the search button, one credit will be deducted fromyour account, even if the search returns a response of “no results found”.
  • If you end up typing the wrong name or if you want to search with otherpossible spelling of the name, you will have to pay one credit/inquiry; it doesnot matter if you are looking for information on the same subject as yourearlier searches.

 

You can also request this information by mail. Fillthe form at https://www.dps.texas.gov/internetforms/Forms/CR-42.pdfand send it to the address listed in it. This option is more expensive at$10/search but the results are the same as you would get through an online criminal check.  

Some counties do offer a way to conduct an online criminal backgroundsearch for free.But the information offered will be limited to that specific area. For example,you can do a criminalcheck in Harris County by using the tool at https://www.hcdistrictclerk.com/Edocs/Public/search.aspx.  

Can I conduct a personal criminal background search?

Of course, you can. In fact, this is the inquirythat will get you the maximum amount of information quite simply because nobodycan stop you from glancing at your own criminal past, if any. In reality, apersonal criminal recordssearch is not just used for the purpose of employment but to also findout possible instances of identity theft. There are two ways to launch apersonal TX criminal check:  

1. You can opt to search by name and pay $3.5 for the inquiry. Theprocedure is the same as listed above.  

2. You can get a fingerprint based criminal records searchdone. The results are 100% accurate but the process is more expensive and timeconsuming. This is what you will have to do:

  • Schedule an appointment for electronic fingerprinting by visiting https://uenroll.identogo.com/workflows/11HRZF.Alternatively, you can call on 1888-467-2080. In both cases, you will haveoffer personal information including date of birth, home address, physicalidentifier information and more.
  • Take a government issued photo ID along when going for the fingerprintingappointment.
  • You will be charged $10 for the fingerprinting and $15 for the criminal history report.All other forms of payment are accepted except for cash and personal checks.
  • Your fingerprints will be captured electronically, and you will be givena receipt. You can track the status of your inquiry by logging on to thewebsite mentioned above and using the information in the receipt.
  • This fingerprint based criminalrecords check can also be used for employment screening.
  • You can find more information on the procedure athttps://www.dps.texas.gov/internetforms/Forms/CR-68.pdf.

 

What if you find errors in the report of your TX criminal court records?

The Department of Public Safety does offer a way to correct inaccuracies. You will need to fill out the error resolution form at http://www.dps.texas.gov/administration/crime_records/pages/erForm.pdf.If the inaccuracies pertain to arrest reports, you will need a written notification from thearresting agency, confirming that an error has indeed been made.  

Similarly,for disposition related errors or inaccuracies in a criminal court docket, you will need to geta written notification from the court of jurisdiction or the Clerk of Court’s office.You can get in touch with the TX DPS Error Resolution Unit by writing to themat error.resolution@dps.texas.gov.

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