The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has a tool that is useful for everyone who is looking for information about the inmate that is located in Texas. This one is safe and convenient. Not only that, it is believed to be accurate, there is no guarantee from the State of Texas, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, its Board or employees that it is accurate, complete or on time. As explained by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the website is updated on working days only and the information is at least 24 hours old.
If your loved one is incarcerated in one of the prisons, jails, or detention centers in Texas and you want to find out where they are housed, you can use this tool. Follow the following guide to be able to find your loved one:
- The first thing that you need to do is to go to the official website of Texas Department of Criminal Justice at https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/index.html.
- When you are on the front page, find the Inmate Information button located under the big banner and click it.
- On the new page, choose Online Inmate Search to be taken to the Inmate Information Search.
- On the Inmate Information Search page, you will have to enter a few information about your loved one, such as last name, first name, TDCJ number, SID number, gender, and race. Actually, you do not have to enter everything. If you want for the search to succeed, the minimum input required is either the last name and at least the first initial of the first name, the TDCJ number, or the Sid (state identification) number. For those who provide names, the system will look for the exact match of the last name you provide.
- After providing the information, lastly, press the Search button and you will be presented with the information about your loved one.
Take note that only inmates who are currently incarcerated in a TDCJ facility are included in the online search. If you find a hard time with the search, you are suggested to send an email to webadmin@tdcj.texas.gov. Make sure to explain the issues that you are currently facing as clear as possible so that they will be able to help you as soon as possible.
Apparently, using the search tool is not the only way to look for inmate information. Aside from that, there are some other ones. One of the most popular is sending requests by telephone. If you want to try this method, there are a few numbers that you can call, depending on your need. Check out all the numbers below:
- (844) 512-0461: This one is the Board of Pardons and Paroles status line. Call this number if you want to find out the inmate parole review status line (prior to being voted by the BPP to be released).
- (512) 406-5202: This one is the Parole Division status line in Austin. Call the number if you want to find out the inmate parole release status line (after being voted by the BPP to be released). Keep in mind that to call this number you will have to get TDCJ or SID# or date of birth of the inmate. If you have no idea about the TDCJ or SID number of the inmate, it is a must for you to provide the exact date of birth of the inmate.
- (936) 295-6371, or (800) 535-0283: These numbers are the numbers of inmate location or general information line. The first one is for Huntsville.
Before dialing any number mentioned above, check out the watch first. According to the official website of Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the offices mentioned above are open from 8 AM to 5 PM from Monday to Friday. Please only make a call at the suggested time so that you will be able to get a response.
If you are a passive person and not the kind of person who is confident when talking to someone, you may want to consider sending requests by email. This service is 100% so you do not have to worry about getting charged. On top of that, the private information, including photographs and Social Security Number of the inmates are safe and will not be published to the public.
The information that is available includes (please be specific what you want to know in the email) TDCJ number, inmate location, offense of conviction, incarceration history (offense, county and court of conviction of offenses for which the inmate was incarcerated previously), current incarceration (offense, county and court of conviction), and projected release date.
For the projected release date, it is determined by the offense date and the nature of the offense. Every offense that was committed before September 1, 1996, that are by law eligible for mandatory supervision, will be released on their projected release date if they are not paroled. As for the ones that were committed on September 1, 1996 or after, that are by law eligible for mandatory supervision, will be released at the discretion of the BPP. As for the inmates that are not approved for release by the BPP, or that are not eligible for mandatory supervision, it is stated that the projected release date will be their discharge date. If the information about the projected release date is not enough and you need more, it is better for you to go to https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/definitions/index.html#Projected.
In the email, you will have to include the full name of the inmate and 7-digit TDCJ number. In case you have no idea about the TDCJ number, you can provide the exact date of birth instead. If you also do not know about the exact date of birth, then provide the approximate age and county of conviction. Do not forget to also include the name of the inmate in the subject line of the email. After making sure about everything, it is time for you to send the email to pia@tdcj.texas.gov.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
