Harris County Jail

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The Harris County Jail is located at 1200 Baker Street in Houston, TX and is a medium security county jail operated by the Harris County Sheriff’s Department.

This page will tell you all the information about anything you might need to know about the Harris County Jail, such as how to find out who’s in jail at the Harris County Jail, the jail’s phone number and address, intake procedures, how to find Harris County court records, and everything else.

Top 10 Searches for Harris County Jail

1. Harris County Jail Information
2. Harris County Jail Inmate Search
3. Harris County Inmate Search in Houston, TX
4. Harris County Jail Visitation Rules
5. Harris County Jail Visitation Hours
6. Discount Harris County Jail Inmate Calls
7. How to Send Inmate Care Packages to Harris County Jail
8. What is Inmate Commissary?
9. How to Send Money to an Inmate at Harris County Jail
10. How to Search Harris County Arrest Records

Introduction

The goal of this guide is to give information and tips that you’ll need to make the process easier. If you have a question, please feel free to ask it, and any tips or comments that would be beneficial to other people in the same situation would be welcome.

Harris County Jail Inmate Search

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Who’s In Jail

The Harris County Jail Inmate Locator is an online list of people who have been arrested, including custody status, and visiting schedule. Also, you can find the same information for anyone booked or released within the past 24 hours. Jail inmates are listed alphabetically by their last name. You can get their inmate information quicker if you enter the arrestee’s first and last name, date of birth, or inmate ID.

Harris County Jail Policies and Procedures

Intake Procedures

The jail intake process at the Harris County Jail is made up of the following steps:

You will be placed in a holding cell. If the jail is really busy, you may not be processed immediately.

First, you will have to answer a bunch of questions, such as what is your full legal name, your address, birthdate and an emergency contact person, and you will also be asked about your medical and mental history. Next, You will be given an inmate ID and you will be fingerprinted. Then, Any property you have will be taken away from you and will be stored until you are released.

You will get to make a telephone call so you can call a family member, friend, or loved-on.

If you are expected to be released shortly, you might get to keep wearing street clothes, if not you will be issued a jail jumpsuit.

Discharge Procedures

When you pay your bail, you will get discharged from jail. Getting discharged will take from 30 minutes to quite a few hours. In other words the faster you post bail, the sooner you will get discharged from jail. Also, how fast you get released might depend on whether you’ve been given a bond amount or if the judge still needs to decide on the bail amount. For minor offenses, you will be booked and then released on your recognizance without having to pay bail. When you have served out your jail sentence and have a release date, expect to get released that morning.

Harris County Jail Visitation

In order to have visitors, inmates must list each visitor’s full name to the Harris County Jail in advance of any visit. Your visitor’s names will be put into the visitors log as an approved visitor. Each and every visitor has to provide identification. Visitors showing up late or that is not an approved visitor will not be allowed to attend visitation.

Visitation procedures can change, so it would be wise to call the official Harris County Jail at (713) 755-7955 before you go to the jail to visit.

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Visitation Rules

Before you can visit someone at the Harris County Jail you must have your name on the inmate’s visitation list.

Be sure to bring your valid driver’s license or government issued ID when you go to visitation because you will not be allowed to enter without it.

No mobile phones are allowed at Harris County Jail, and you will be searched before you can visit. No personal belongings. Persons currently on must obtain the permission of both their individual supervising officer and the superintendent prior to a visit. Such visitation is not going to be approved.

If a visitor is under the age of 18 is related to the inmate, they must be accompanied by an adult family member or guardian to include a member of the inmate’s extended family. If a visitor is younger than 18 years of age and is not a family member of the inmate, this visitor must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Sending Mail to Inmates

This is what you need to know about sending letters, photos, postcards, greeting cards and even magazines to an inmate at the Harris County Jail. Incoming and outgoing inmate mail at the Harris County Jail is always searched and inspected for contraband that might threaten the security, safety or well-being of the facility, its staff, and inmates. Inmates can only receive metered, unstamped, plain white postcards no larger than 4″ x 6″ as mail. The writing on the postcard has to be in pencil or blue or black ink. If it has a stamp on it, it will get returned. If you write in green ink, then it will get returned. If you send any other kind of mail will be returned to the sender. If there is no return address on it, then the unauthorized mail will be stored in the inmate’s locker until the inmate gets release.

Do not include any of these things in the mail that you send to an inmate: any kind of threat to jail order, any description of the manufacture of weapons, bombs, incendiary devices, or tools for escape; do not encourage or advocate any kind of violence, hate speech, or racial or ethnic supremacy. Inmates are not allowed to write to other inmates.

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Sending Other Things to an Inmate

There are strict procedures that you must follow to send anything to an inmate at the Harris County Jail. This includes sending money for to spend in the commissary, sending regular mail or photos, sending money for phone calls, and even postcards.

This page covers everthing you need to know about the Harris County Jail to help you follow these procedures and guidelines. If you have questions, or there is something that you were looking for, but did not find, please contact us using the contact link in the site menu.

Public Records

Warrant Inquiry

If you believe you have a warrant out for your arrest, you can check court records online or call the court. This requires a first and last name. You can also go to the local jail and ask them. You should be clear that if there is an arrest warrant out for you, they will take you into custody immediately.

Arrest Record Search

If you know a person’s name, and possibly an arrest date, contact the Harris County jail, either by phone, in person, or check online. Arrest records are a matter of public record and these records are freely available.

Court Records

Court Records are public records. Court Records include a case file that includes a docket and any of the documents filed in your court case. You can access the court records via the internet service ‘Public Access to Court Electronic Records’, or at Clerk of Court in the county where the case was filed.

Criminal Records

Every state maintains a record of people’s criminal past. These databases are linked together so you can track criminal histories from another state. Go to courthouse and check in person, or you can check online. You must know which county the crime occured in, and in the event that the crime was in a different state entirely, you may have to pay for a more intensive search.

When you look up a person’s crminal records you can get a listing of all the arrests, charges, or convictions for any crimes they may have committed, which could include DUI or DWI, drug Possession of drug trafficking, kidnapping, sexual offenses including rape, assault, violent crimes including assault, battery and murder, or theft.

Money & Commissary

The rules for sending funds to people in jail might change, so be sure to review the Harris County Jail site before you send funds to an inmate.

How To Send Money to an Inmate at Harris County Jail

You will have your own ‘bank account’ while in jail. This money is used to purchase items from the Commissary. Family and friends can deposit money into this account for you, and any money you earn while in prison will also be deposited into your account. Outside money can be paid in to your account via a money order, cash or check. If someone sends a check or money order, make sure that they write your inmate ID on it. The maximum amount you are allowed in your account is $290 per month.

Guidelines For Sending Money To An Inmate

Before you send any money you should find out what online money transfer companies the jail your inmate is incarcerated in uses. The exact method that the Harris County Jail uses changes frequently, so it is best to call them at (713) 755-7955 to get the current payment method.

You may be required to be on the inmate’s visitation list in order to send them money, and be aware that they may have a limit on how much you deposit at one time, like $200-300 at a time, or a limit on how much money may be in the inmate’s account at one time.

Some of the money transfer firms being used by various facilities include JPay, MoneyGram, AccessCorrections, OffenderConnect, Touchpayonline, JailATM, WU, smartdeposit, and tigercommissary.

If an inmate has fines or are required to pay restitution then they will be subject to garnishment of their commissary/trust account. If the inmate has a garnishment, then money to pay them will be taken from the inmate’s bank account. In some cases it may be a percentage or the entire amount of the obligation, but the actual percentage depends on the circumstances. We recommend that inmates talk to the counselor at their facility and try to find out. You can also try to make an arrangement so that only a percentage of your commissary funds are taken, instead of all your funds take at one time.

Commissary

The commissary is the Harris County Jail store. An inmate can purchase several different things here, like toiletries, snacks and writing supplies. Bear in mind that you will most likely need to use the commissary on a daily basis, and any infractions will cause you to lose commissary privileges.

The Commissary will sell a selection of different products that the inmate can purchase if they have enough money in their commissary account. These items include clothes, shoes, small snacks and other food items, in addition to hygiene products like soap, shampoo, and disposable razors for shaving. The commissary also sells other things like books and magazines, televisions and radios, playing cards, headphones, MP3 players, and electronic tablets. They also sell everything need to write home to family, friends, and loved ones: paper, envelopes, and stamps. If an inmate is indigent and cannot afford paper and stamps, the jail will provide these things to an inmate who has not had any money in their commissary account for at least 30 days.

Phone Calls & Phone Usage Policy

The only phone calls that Harris County Jail inmates are allowed to make are with a pre-paid phone card or account, or are collect calls . These phone calls are generally pricier than phone calls made outside of jail. Inmates are able to make phone calls, with restrictions on when you can make phone calls, how long you can talk, and how often you can make calls, but bear in mind that a long line can form at the phones, because everyone wants to use the phone, too. If you are under any sort of disciplinary procedure, phone calls could be reduced or totally denied.

The Harris County Jail phone number is: (713) 755-7955

How To Save Money on Inmate Calls

Correctional facility phone service companies have a monopoly at each facility that they operate, which means that they they control the prices. The profits these phone service providers make from all of the inmate phone calls are split with the facility, so there is no incentive for the jail or the counselors at the facility to show inmates or their family how to save money on inmate phone calls at the Harris County Jail. The rates are posted and there are at least two types of prices based on where the inmate is calling. The following three things will determine how much an inmate phone call will cost: Where you are located; Where your inmate is located, What type of phone number you have.

For example, if your inmate is in federal prison, if you get a new local number then this will decrease your inmate’s phone call rate from $.21 per minute to only $.06 per minute.

For state prisons and local jails finding out how to lower your inmates phone charges is more difficult. ArrestedResources.com is an expert in keeping up with all of the changes that affect your inmate’s calling rate and in most cases is able to offer you an inmate calling number that will save you significantly on inmate phone calls. There are some prisons or jails where we won’t be able to save you money on your inmate calls, and in these cases we will not offer you an inmate calling number. In these cases, the facility has set their phone rates so high that nobody can save you money.

For more detailed information on how to save on inmate calls at Harris County Jail, click the link below.

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