Smith County Jail

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The Smith County Jail is located at 106 East Elm Street in Tyler, TX and is a medium security county jail operated by the Smith County Sheriff’s Department.

This guide tells you all the information about everything a person needs to know about the Smith County Jail, like how to find an inmate at the Smith County Jail, the jail’s address and phone number, booking and intake procedures, how to find your court records, and much more.

Top 10 Searches for Smith County Jail

1. Smith County Jail Information
2. Smith County Jail Inmate Search
3. Smith County Inmate Search in Tyler, TX
4. What Are the Visitation Rules for Smith County Jail
5. What Are the Visitation Hours for Smith County Jail
6. How To Save Money on Inmate Calls at Smith County Jail
7. How to Send Inmate Care Packages to Smith County Jail
8. What is Inmate Commissary?
9. How to Send Money to an Inmate at Smith County Jail
10. How to Search Smith County Arrest Records

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to offer information and tips you need to make getting locked up a lot easier. If you have a specific question, feel free to ask it in the comment section below, and any tips or comments that might be beneficial to others is appreciated.

Smith County Jail Inmate Search

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Who’s In Jail

The Smith County Jail Inmate Locator is an online list of people who were arrested and are now in jail, including custody status, and times the inmate can have visitors. You can get the same information for anyone processed or discharged in the past 24 hours. Prisoners are shown in alphabetical order by last name. You can locate the information more quickly if you’ve got your friend or family member’s full name, birth date, or inmate ID Number.

Smith County Jail Policies and Procedures

Intake Procedures

The jail intake procedure at the Smith County Jail takes you through the following steps:

You will be placed in a holding cell. When the jail is busy, you will have to wait, sometimes for many hours, before you get processed.

You will have to answer a number of questions, such as what is your full legal name, your address, date of birth and an emergency contact, and they’ll also ask about your medical and psychological history. Next, you’ll be given an inmate ID number and you will get fingerprinted. Then, any personal property you have will get taken away from you and stored until you are discharged.

You will get to use the phone to contact a member of your family, friend, or somebody else who can help you get out.

If you think you will get released quickly, they will let you wear your street clothes, if not you you will have to wear a jail uniform.

Discharge Procedures

When you post bail, you will get released from jail. Getting discharged takes from 15 minutes to quite a few hours. In other words the faster you can pay your bail, the sooner you can get out of jail. How quickly you get discharged depends on whether you’ve got a cash bond amount or if the magistrate has to figure out how much your bail will be. For minor charges, you will simply be booked and then released on your recognizance without having to pay bail. When you have served out your jail sentence and are given a release date, you should plan to be released anywhere between the hours of 9am and 12pm.

Smith County Jail Visitation

To have visitors, you must provide the name and date of birth of each visitor to the Smith County Jail in advance of any visit. Your visitor’s names will be put in the visitors log for the requesting inmate. Each and every visitor will have to provide a photo ID when visiting. Anyone that arrives for visitation late or that is not an approved visitor will not be allowed to visit the inmate.

Visitation procedures at Smith County Jail frequently change, so you should call the jail at (903) 590-2800 before you go.

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Visitation Rules

In order to visit an inmate at the Smith County Jail you have to be on this person’s visitation list.

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

No mobile phones at Smith County Jail, and you will be searched. Personal belongings are not allowed. Anyone parole, probation, or other corrections supervision must obtain the permission of both their individual supervising officer and the superintendent before visiting. This kind of visitation is not approved.

If the visitor is younger than 18 years of age and is a family member of the inmate, they will have to 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, the minor visitor must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Sending Mail to Inmates

This is what you need to know in order to send letters, photos, postcards, greeting cards and magazines to an inmate at the Smith County Jail. Incoming and outgoing inmate mail at the Smith 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 Smith 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 Smith 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 think you might have an outstanding warrant, you can check arrest warrants inquiry online or you are able to call the jail. You have to have their first and last name. You can also go to the local jail and inquire at the information desk. You should be clear that there is an outstanding warrant for your arrest, they will take you into custody immediately.

Arrest Record Search

If you know a person’s name, and possibly an arrest date, contact the Smith County jail, on the phone, in person, or look online. Arrest records are a matter of public record and this information is freely available.

Court Records

Court Records are considered public records, so they are accessible to anyone who requests them. They include a court case file containing a docket and all of the documents and filings filed in the court case. You are able to access the court records on the internet, or at the Smith County Clerk of Court in the county where the case was filed.

Criminal Records

Each state maintains records of someone’s criminal past. These state databases are linked together and you can track criminal convictions from another state. Go to county courthouse and check in person, or you can check online. You must know which county the crime occured in, and if it was in a different state entirely, you might have to pay for a more complete search.

When you look up a person’s crminal records you are able to find out if someone has been arrested, charged, or convicted for crimes, which include, drug Possession of drug trafficking, kidnapping, sexual offenses including rape, assault, violent crimes including assault, battery and murder, or theft, breaking and entering.

Money & Commissary

The rules for sending money to Smith County Jail inmates is likely to change, so be sure to double check the Smith County Jail site before send money to someone in jail there.

How To Send Money to an Inmate at Smith 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 Smith County Jail uses changes frequently, so it is best to call them at (903) 590-2800 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 Smith County Jail store. An inmate can purchase a number of things here, such as personal items, food, and things for writing. Keep in mind that you will probably need to use the commissary every day, and any infractions will get that privilege taken away from you.

The Commissary will sell a selection of different products that the inmate can purchase if they have sufficient funds in their trust account. These items include clothes, shoes, small snacks and other food items, in addition to personal 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

All phone calls from the Smith County Jail are collect calls or through a pre-paid phone account . Phone calls made in jail are generally more expensive than phone calls made at home. There are certain restrictions about how often you can use the phone, but bear in mind that a long line can form at the phones, because everyone wants to use the phone, too. If you break the jail rules, your ability to use the phone could be reduced or eliminated altogether.

Phone Number: (903) 590-2800

How To Save Money on Inmate Calls

Correctional facility phone service providers have exclusive contracts at each facility that they operate the phone services for, which means that they they control the prices. The profits these phone service providers make off of all of the phone calls that inmates make are shared 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 Smith County Jail. The prices are posted and there are at least two different prices based on where the inmate is calling. These 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 figuring out how to lower your inmates phone charges can be more difficult. ArrestedResources.com keeps up to date with all of the changes that affect your inmate’s rate and in most cases is able to offer you an inmate calling number that will save you a lot of money on inmate phone calls. There are some circumstances where we will not be able to save you any money, and in these cases we will not offer you an inmate calling number. In these cases, the facility has set their phone rates in a way that nobody will be able to save you money.

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

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