Acquire Free Harris County Arrest Records & Mugshots (Texas)

Access free Harris County arrest records today. This step-by-step resource provides the tools and instructions to do so successfully. You can search arrest records to find information about a neighbor, friend, or colleague or just to satisfy a curiosity.

Arrest records contain mugshots and information on why charges were brought against a person and whether they are currently incarcerated. Details of arrests are made available to the public through Texas’ Public Information Act.

Before conducting your search, it’s important to have an overview of what you need to perform a successful lookup. Use the guidance and links throughout this streamlined article to conveniently obtain arrest records in Harris County, Texas.

This resource was written by Attorney Robert Bailey Jr, who holds a Juris Doctorate from Widener University School of Law.

How To Find Recent Harris County Arrest Records & Mugshots at No Cost

If you want to access arrest information for free in Harris County, you can conduct a search with the sheriff’s office’s online inmate search tool.¹

You can use this tool to search for inmates with their social security number, state identifying number or their name. If you conduct a name search, you can also include their date of birth if you have this person’s information.

The results page will provide the name, identifying number and date of birth for all records that match the search criteria you entered. To view the complete online inmate arrest record, you can click on the offender’s name.

The online arrest record will contain the specific jail they are located in with a link to the address. You can also view their booking date and when they are scheduled for release, if applicable.

Below this summary information, there will be additional details for every specific charge that was brought against the person. This information will include a description of the charge and the associated case number.

You can also see the court responsible for handling their criminal case and the next hearing date. You can also view whether a person has a bond and its amount. Finally, if there are any fines due you can view that here as well.

You can also conduct an offense inquiry with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.² To use this tool, you will need to know the law enforcement offense or incident number. Alternatively, you can select the case type and then enter the cause number.

Another option for accessing arrest information in Harris County is to submit a public records request to the Sheriff’s Office.³ Submitting an online record request through this portal will also allow you to be able to track the progress of receiving the information you requested.

For additional arrest records information, you can contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office by phone at 713-755-5300 for any incarcerated person information. You can also call their information line at 346-286-1600.

Another option is to contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office by email at [email protected] or by talking to someone at their office located at the address below:

Harris County Sheriff’s Office
1200 Baker St.
Houston, Texas 77002

There are also several different jails, both in Harris County and those they outsource to. You can contact these jails to see if they have any additional information you were not able to find using the tools and resources already mentioned earlier in this article.

While there are multiple options at the county level, you may also have a need to search with a specific city police department within Harris County. There are two significant reasons why you may want to search at the city level.

First, you may need a detailed police report that is only available to the arresting agency. Second, you may need the information immediately, and the arrest record is not yet available at the county level.

While searching at the city level can vary from one department to the next, the information below will detail how to obtain arrest information in Houston, the county’s largest city.

One option is to submit a public information request to the Houston Police Department. You can use this option to request an arrest record, mugshot, jail booking blotter and more.

One way to do this is to submit an online record request to the Houston Police Department.⁵ By using this option, you will be able to check on the progress of your record request.

Alternatively, you can submit a typed or written request. When doing this, make sure you provide as much information as possible for the arrest or inmate record to be located. You can send it via email to [email protected] or by mail to the address below:

Houston Police Department
Edward A. Thomas Bldg.
Office of Legal Services
1200 Travis St., 10th Fl.
Houston, Texas 77002

If you have any additional questions about submitting a request, you can contact the Open Records Unit by phone at 713-308-9178. You can also talk to someone in person at the address above.

A last option to consider is finding arrest information through certain third-party search services such as VINELink. Regardless of how you access this information, this type of data is made available to all citizens through Texas’ Public Information Act.

However, arrest records only provide a limited amount of information. To find out how a matter was ultimately resolved, you will need to access a person’s complete criminal record. The next section will outline the steps for searching criminal record information in Harris County.

How To Acquire Prior Arrest & Criminal Information in Harris County Texas

Arrest records sometimes lead to individuals seeking out additional information. They may want to find out if a person was found guilty of the crime or the amount of time they were sentenced.

When that is the case, you can search prior arrests and criminal records with the Clerk’s Online Search Tool.⁶ While this is a free tool, you will have to create an account before you use it.

You can use this search tool to access criminal records by the case number or defendant’s name. You can keep your search generic or add other parameters to conduct a more specific search.

For instance, you can select a particular offense type or a specific criminal court in Harris County. You can also set a filing date range for when the criminal case was filed and the case or defendant status.

There are also additional options to filter for specific defendants. To do so, click on the “additional defendant filtering” option. From there, you can select to search for aliases, age ranges, race, and gender.

Once you complete your search, the results page will provide you with all matching criminal cases. For each matching criminal case, you can view the case number, caption (with the person’s name), file date and assigned court. You can also see the type of criminal case, current status (e.g., incarcerated), and disposition (e.g., guilty).

To view more detailed information, click on the case caption. The complete online criminal record is broken down into several different sections and includes the following:

Summary: Here, you can view additional descriptive information about the defendant, the next court date (if applicable) and information on the current presiding judge.

Appeals: If there are any appeals in the case, you can find them here.

Bonds: This section will contain details on any bonds for the defendant, including the type and amount.

Bookings: In this section, you can view the arrest information, including when they were arrested and the law enforcement agency involved. This section will also provide you with warrant and incarceration information.

Criminal History: Here, you will find a list (with hyperlinks) of all of the defendant’s criminal cases, along with a brief description and the disposition of the case.

Witness: This section will contain any witness records.

Parties: You can find information about the judge and any attorneys involved in the case in this section.

Restitution: If the defendant was ordered to pay any restitution, you can find it in this section.

You can also request criminal records from the court responsible for adjudicating a criminal case in Harris County. You can submit an online request with the Harris County District Clerk for all felony matters.⁷ For additional options, you can contact the District Clerk by phone at 832-927-5800 or in person at the address below:

Harris County District Clerk
201 Caroline St., Ste. 420
Houston, Texas 77002

For misdemeanor cases, you can contact the Harris County Criminal Court at Law by phone at 713-755-5000 or by going to the address below:

Harris County Criminal Courts at Law
1201 Franklin St.
Houston, Texas 77002

In some cities, you may be able to access certain criminal record information from local government agencies, such as a municipal court. The largest city in Harris County is Houston. You can submit an online records request with the Houston Municipal Court for criminal case information.

For additional options, contact the Houston Municipal Court at one of their several different locations.

You can also search for criminal and arrest records with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) Inmate Search Tool.⁸ This is a statewide search tool that allows you to access a person’s offense history and sentencing information.

There are two options for searching for criminal records. First, if you have the person’s state or TDCJ number, you can search with that. If not, you can conduct a search by name, and if you want, you can also include the person’s race or gender.

The summary information will include all matching inmates, their assigned number, unit of assignment, race and gender. You can then click on an inmate’s name to view their complete online record. On this page, you can view sentencing information, including when they are scheduled for release or parole eligibility.

There is also a separate section that details the person’s offense history. The offense history will contain a brief description of all crimes when they occurred, and the specific county. For each charge, you can also view when they were sentenced and for how long.

If you have questions related to accessing this information, you can reach out to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice using the below contact information:

Austin Location
209 W. 14th St. 
Austin, Texas 78701

512-463-9988

Huntsville Location
861-B 1-45 N
Huntsville, Texas 77320

936-295-6371

You are now well-informed on how to access arrest information and prior charges. The next section provides practical information on how you can post bail for a person who was arrested in Harris County.

How Do I Post Bail for an Arrest Executed in Harris County?

If a person was recently arrested in Harris County, they may have the opportunity to post bail while their innocence or guilt is being determined. To post bail in Harris County, you have a couple of options. The first option is to independently post bail for the person without the assistance of a third-party.

When you choose this option, you will have to determine how you want to post the bail. You can provide cash or check if you have sufficient funds. If not, you may be required to place your home or some other piece of valuable property as collateral for the bail amount.

If the person who is bailed out returns for their required court hearings, you will receive all of your money back, or the collateral will be released. However, if the person does not show, you run the risk of losing all that money or possibly having to forfeit your home.

Because of these risks, many people choose to help someone get out of jail by using a bondsman to post their bail (referred to as a surety bond). Using a bondsman is much less risky as they post the bail and assume the risk if the defendant does not attend their future court hearings.

However, you will be required to pay fees for these services, which can be costly depending on how high the bail is set. A bail bondsman will typically charge a non-refundable fee of approximately 10% of the bail amount.

Ultimately, you will have to make the decision as to what option works best in your situation when contemplating posting someone’s bail. Posting bail by yourself carries a higher risk; however, using a bail bondsman can result in costly fees.

For people arrested in Harris County, you can post bail with the Sheriff’s Office at the address below:⁹

Harris County Sheriff’s Office
700 N. San Jacinto St.
Houston, Texas 77002

Arrest and criminal records can be valuable tools in various situations.

You are now prepared to conduct a search of Harris County arrest records and prior criminal cases; you can also use this information to locate a person and assist them with posting bail.