The Houston County Inmate Population
The Houston County inmate population is split between two very different custody systems. The local count begins at Houston County Sheriff's Office, which operates Houston County Jail in Crockett and publishes the current inmate list. That jail population covers recent arrests, people waiting on bond or first appearance, local sentenced inmates, warrants, holds, and transfer-ready cases. It can also include federal inmates counted in a separate reporting category when Houston County submits data to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.
The second correctional population in Houston County is the J. Dale Wainwright Unit in Lovelady. Wainwright is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison, not a county jail. It holds male sentenced prisoners in TDCJ custody and does not use the county roster. This difference matters because a person can be booked into Houston County Jail after arrest, leave the county roster after sentencing, and later appear through the TDCJ Inmate Search. The county roster is best for current local custody. The state locator is best for sentenced state prison custody.
Houston County Inmate Population Statistics
The strongest population source for Houston County Jail is the Texas Commission on Jail Standards population reports. TCJS current workbooks are first-of-month reports submitted by county jail facilities. They are not annual booking totals. For June 1, 2026, the TCJS population workbook listed Houston County Jail with 144 rated beds and 131 people in total jail population. The separate incarceration-rate workbook listed an average daily population of 90, a county population figure of 22,197, and an incarceration rate of 4.05.
| Measure | Figure | Source / date |
|---|---|---|
| Rated / bed capacity | 144 | TCJS PopRptCurrent.xlsx, June 1, 2026 |
| Total jail population | 131 | TCJS PopRptCurrent.xlsx, June 1, 2026 |
| Percent of capacity | 91.0% | TCJS PopRptCurrent.xlsx, June 1, 2026 |
| Average daily population | 90 | TCJS IncarcerationRateCurrent.xlsx, June 1, 2026 |
| Countywide population used by TCJS | 22,197 | TCJS rate workbook, June 1, 2026 |
| State prison capacity in county | 2,464 | TDCJ Wainwright Unit profile |
Houston County Jail Population Trends
Houston County Jail stayed below rated capacity through the extracted 2025 and 2026 TCJS reports, then moved close to full use by June 2026. The first-of-month count rose from 105 on April 1, 2026 to 131 on June 1, 2026. The ADP figure in the rate workbook moved more slowly, from 86 on January 1, 2026 to 90 on June 1, 2026. Those two measures should not be treated as the same number. The population workbook is a point-in-time count. The rate workbook reports ADP for the incarceration-rate calculation.
| Date | Total jail population | Capacity | Percent capacity | ADP / rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-09-01 | 115 | 144 | 79.9% | ADP 88; rate 3.96 |
| 2025-10-01 | 101 | 144 | 70.1% | ADP 86; rate 3.87 |
| 2025-11-01 | 120 | 144 | 83.3% | ADP 85; rate 3.83 |
| 2026-01-01 | 121 | 144 | 84.0% | ADP 86; rate 3.87 |
| 2026-03-01 | 114 | 144 | 79.2% | ADP 88; rate 3.96 |
| 2026-06-01 | 131 | 144 | 91.0% | ADP 90; rate 4.05 |
Who Is Counted in Houston County Jail
The June 1, 2026 TCJS row gives a partial custody breakdown for Houston County Jail. It reported 48 local male pretrial felons and 10 local female pretrial felons. It also reported 9 local male pretrial Class A or B misdemeanants and 0 local female pretrial Class A or B misdemeanants in the extracted fields. The same row included 29 male federal inmates. The workbook includes other custody columns, but only the extracted values should be used unless the workbook is reopened and checked field by field.
- Local felony pretrial inmates are people held on felony accusations before final disposition.
- Class A and B misdemeanor pretrial inmates are held on higher misdemeanor cases rather than fine-only matters.
- Federal inmates may be physically housed in the county jail but remain part of a federal custody channel.
- TDCJ prisoners at Wainwright are not counted inside the county jail's 144-bed capacity.
Houston County Jail Capacity
Houston County Jail had 144 rated beds in the TCJS June 1, 2026 current population report. The same report listed 131 people, which is 91.0 percent of capacity. That is a high use level, but the research did not locate an official Houston County press release, jail construction plan, consent decree, closure announcement, or recent official litigation source tied to crowding. The best supported way to describe conditions is narrow: Houston County Jail was near rated capacity on the June 2026 TCJS point-in-time report, and the recent rise came from official monthly reporting rather than a news narrative.
Houston County Jail Records Laws
Texas law supplies the public-record and jail-standards framework behind the Houston County inmate population. The sheriff's page gives an open-records path for Public Information Act requests to the Houston County Sheriff's Office, and state law defines the request process and exceptions. TCJS is the state jail standards agency, which is why its workbooks are the core source for capacity and population figures. Bail, magistration, expunction, and commercial publication rules belong to separate Texas statutes and should be read in context.
Key statutes:
Texas Government Code Chapter 552 is the Texas Public Information Act for sheriff, jail, DA, and court-adjacent records unless an exception applies.
Texas Government Code Chapter 511 governs the Texas Commission on Jail Standards and county jail oversight.
Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 15 covers magistration after arrest, including warnings, counsel rights, and bail questions.
Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 17 defines bail and rules for setting release security.
Search the Houston County Inmate List
The official Houston County Inmate List is the current roster for people visible in county jail custody. It is free and does not require a login. The roster appears on a county page and loads public cards from an eForce data feed. Each card can show a mugshot, name, booking number, inmate number, status, block or location label, arrest date, charge level, charge description, and bond amount. The page also shows a last-updated line from a metadata feed.
- Open the official Houston County Inmate List from the county site.
- Wait for the last-updated line and inmate cards to load.
- Type a surname, first name, booking number, or inmate number in the single search box.
- Use the sort menu for name, booking number, arrest date, or bond amount when many cards appear.
- If no result appears, call the sheriff's office, send an open-records request, check IVSS, or use TDCJ, BOP, or ICE locators based on the custody type.
The Houston County jail inmate records page gives a fuller roster walkthrough when the search box does not return the person right away.
Houston County Roster Search Fields
The Houston County roster uses one broad search field instead of separate first-name, last-name, birth-date, facility, or released-inmate filters. That makes broad spelling attempts useful. Start with a last name. Add a first name only if the roster shows too many matches. A booking number or inmate number can be better when the name is common or spelled in more than one way.
| Field label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search by Name, Booking Number, Inmate Number | Text input | Optional / unspecified | Single box searches first, middle, and last name plus booking and inmate numbers. |
| Sort by | Dropdown | Optional | Blank Sort by, Name, Booking Number, Arrest Date, and Bond Amount. |
The roster screenshot in the county capture shows the official search layout. The source is the Houston County current inmate roster.
The search box, sort menu, mugshot cards, booking numbers, and bond lines in that capture match the field inventory documented in the research file.
What Houston County Inmate Records Show
A Houston County inmate card is a booking record, not a complete criminal-history report. It reflects the jail's current public data for a person in custody. Names can repeat, charges can be amended later, and a bond line may not mean the person can leave at once. The booking number, inmate number, arrest date, and charge lines should be compared before any record is treated as a match.
| Field | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Mugshot image | Booking photo when available, with a default image if no photo is in the feed. |
| Name | First, middle, and last name on the roster card. |
| Booking Number | Numeric booking identifier shown in the card heading. |
| Inmate Number | Separate numeric person or inmate identifier. |
| Status | Custody status. Live samples showed IN-CUSTODY. |
| Location | Public block or location label, such as f-1, e-2, or hold-2. |
| Bond Information | Charge description, level, and bond amount per charge. |
Houston County Jail vs TDCJ
Houston County Jail and J. Dale Wainwright Unit are often confused because both are correctional facilities in the same county. They serve different stages of custody. The county jail is the arrest and local detention point. Wainwright is a TDCJ prison for sentenced male prisoners. A Houston County inmate search should follow the person's case stage: current local arrest and bond questions go to the county roster, while sentenced prison placement goes to TDCJ.
| Houston County Jail | J. Dale Wainwright Unit | |
|---|---|---|
| Custody type | Pretrial, local sentence, warrants, holds, transfer-ready inmates, and federal category inmates | Male sentenced TDCJ prisoners |
| Operator | Houston County Sheriff's Office | Texas Department of Criminal Justice |
| Lookup channel | Houston County Inmate List | TDCJ statewide inmate locator |
| Main record | Booking card with charges, bond, status, mugshot, and location | State profile with location, offense, and projected release information |
State and Federal Inmate Search
When the Houston County roster does not show a person, the next step depends on custody type. The TDCJ inmate information page says location and general information may be obtained online, by email, or by telephone. The TDCJ online search accepts name, TDCJ number, SID number, gender, and race. Federal sentenced inmates are searched through the BOP Inmate Locator. Immigration detention is searched through the ICE Online Detainee Locator System. Houston County did not have a verified ICE center or BOP prison in the research, but federal and immigration holds can still affect release.
- Detainer or hold
- Another agency's claim that may stop release after local bond is handled.
- TDCJ
- Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the state prison system for sentenced prisoners.
- IVSS
- Texas victim-notification system linked by Houston County for custody status changes.
- Federal custody
- BOP or U.S. Marshals custody, separate from the county jail roster.
Houston County Detention Facilities
Only two facility pages are supported by the Houston County facility map. The primary local jail comes first because it is the county inmate population hub. Wainwright follows because it is a state prison in Lovelady, not a sheriff-operated jail or local booking site.
- Houston County Jail holds adult local custody, including pretrial detainees, local sentenced inmates, warrant and hold cases, federal category inmates, and people awaiting transfer.
- J. Dale Wainwright Unit holds male sentenced TDCJ prisoners in G1-G4, Security Detention, and Transient custody levels.
Houston County Inmate Population FAQ
How large is the Houston County inmate population?
TCJS listed 131 people in Houston County Jail on June 1, 2026, against 144 rated beds. The rate workbook listed ADP of 90 for the same report date. Wainwright Unit is separate state prison custody with 2,464 capacity.
Where is the current Houston County jail roster?
The current roster is the official Houston County Inmate List. It is linked from the sheriff page, has no login requirement, and searches by name, booking number, or inmate number.
Does Houston County show mugshots?
Yes. The current inmate roster displays booking photos when available. The Houston County jail mugshots page explains photo access, missing photos, public-record requests, and expunction-related limits.
What if the person was sentenced?
Use TDCJ for sentenced Texas prisoners. Wainwright Unit in Lovelady is a state prison, so the county roster is not the correct locator after state transfer.
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