Refugio County Inmate Population Snapshot
The Refugio County inmate population is centered on one local detention facility: the Refugio County Jail. The official county jail page identifies that jail as the county facility under the Sheriff's Office menu, while the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, or TCJS, reports it as an operating Texas county jail. No separate Refugio County city jail, regional detention center, state prison, Bureau of Prisons facility, or ICE detention center was located in the official source set.
TCJS reported 42 people in the Refugio County Jail on June 1, 2026, against a rated capacity of 60 beds. That is a first-day-of-month jail population count, not a full-month total. The same research file notes that Refugio County uses the local jail for recent arrests, pretrial felony and misdemeanor holds, bench warrants, parole or blue-warrant holds, state-transfer cases, contract counts, and housed-elsewhere counts. Once a person is sentenced and transferred to a Texas prison, the right search path changes to the statewide TDCJ locator.
Refugio County Inmate Population Statistics
The most useful population source is the Texas Commission on Jail Standards population reports. Refugio County does not publish an annual booking report, average length of stay report, or jail demographic dashboard on its county pages. TCJS still gives a public snapshot of the jail count, capacity, average daily population used for the incarceration-rate report, and custody categories.
| Measure | Figure | Source and Date |
|---|---|---|
| Rated jail capacity | 60 beds | TCJS County Jail Population Report, June 1, 2026 |
| Total jail population | 42 | TCJS County Jail Population Report, June 1, 2026 |
| Percent of capacity | 70% | TCJS County Jail Population Report, June 1, 2026 |
| Countywide population for rate | 6,739 | TCJS Incarceration Rate Report, June 1, 2026 |
| Average daily population for rate | 32 | TCJS Incarceration Rate Report, June 1, 2026 |
| Incarceration rate | 4.75 | TCJS Incarceration Rate Report, June 1, 2026 |
The TCJS report hub is the source shown in this screenshot. It is the statewide place to check current county jail population, incarceration rate, and related Texas jail reports before relying on a single older number.
For Refugio County, that statewide report matters because the county jail page gives contact details but not its own public population dashboard.
Refugio County Inmate Population Trends
Recent TCJS incarceration-rate rows show a small jail population that changes month to month. The research file gives selected recent values from January 2024 through June 2026. Refugio County's reported ADP for the rate file moved from the upper 30s and low 40s in 2024 and 2025 down to the low 30s in early 2026. That does not mean every daily count was low. The TCJS current population report separately listed 42 people in jail on June 1, 2026.
| Month | Countywide Population | ADP | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 1, 2024 | 6,666 | 39 | 5.85 |
| Jun. 1, 2024 | 6,666 | 37 | 5.55 |
| Jan. 1, 2025 | 6,666 | 41 | 6.15 |
| Jun. 1, 2025 | 6,666 | 42 | 6.30 |
| Jan. 1, 2026 | 6,739 | 34 | 5.05 |
| Jun. 1, 2026 | 6,739 | 32 | 4.75 |
Capacity stayed at 60 beds in the extracted TCJS rows from September 2022 through June 2026. The current June 2026 snapshot is below capacity, but the research file also notes first-day totals such as 51 in September 2022, 51 in July 2025, and 48 in April 2026. Small counties can show large percentage swings from a modest change in bookings, warrants, transfers, or contract inmates.
Who Is in Refugio County Jail
TCJS categories show why a jail count is not just one kind of custody. The June 1, 2026 Refugio County row included local male pretrial Class A/B misdemeanants, local male bench-warrant inmates, local male and female pretrial felons, contract inmates, a housed-elsewhere inmate, local male state-transfer or related TDCJ categories, and local male others. No male or female federal inmates were reported in the federal columns for that report date.
- Pretrial detainees: people held before case disposition or before bond conditions are met.
- Bench-warrant inmates: people held on court-issued warrants, often tied to missed court or noncompliance.
- Contract inmates: people held under contract for another county or agency, as reported to TCJS.
- Housed elsewhere: Refugio detainees physically held outside the county jail.
- TDCJ-ready or sentenced: people whose Texas prison transfer status may change the lookup path.
Refugio County Jail Population Laws
Texas law explains both why jail data exists and why some details may still be withheld. Texas Government Code Chapter 552, the Texas Public Information Act, is the main open-records law for county records. Texas Local Government Code Chapter 351 makes the sheriff the keeper of the county jail. Texas Government Code Chapter 511 creates and empowers TCJS, the state agency that oversees county jail standards.
Key access point: Refugio County does not post a local roster. For current custody, use the jail booking line and VINELink first, then use a written Public Information Act request for existing records that are not online.
County jail standards are statewide. The TCJS non-compliant jails page is the current official list to check if a county jail is out of compliance with minimum jail standards. The research pass did not identify an official Refugio jail consent decree, closure, or current overcrowding claim. The June 2026 TCJS snapshot was below rated capacity.
Texas jail oversight also explains why Refugio County inmate population figures should be read as reported categories, not as a live roster. TCJS minimum standards cover classification, health services, supervision, sanitation, food service, grievances, recreation, work assignments, and compliance. Those rules do not create a public inmate profile for each person. They give the state a jail-standards framework and give the public a way to compare reported county jail capacity and population data across Texas.
Search Refugio County Inmate Custody
Refugio County's official pages do not provide a sheriff-hosted online roster with booking profiles. That makes the search path different from larger Texas counties. Start with the county jail page, call the booking-information extension, then use the custody-notification and statewide locator systems that match the person's custody stage.
- Open the official Refugio County Jail page to confirm the jail contact and mailing details.
- Call 361-526-1698 and select extension 1 for booking information. Have the person's full name, date of birth, and approximate arrest date.
- Use VINELink, which the sheriff page links for custody status and notifications.
- If the person has been sentenced to Texas prison, search the TDCJ Inmate Search.
- If the case is federal or immigration-related, check the BOP inmate locator or ICE Online Detainee Locator System.
The Refugio County Sheriff's Office page names Sheriff Matthew Tuttle and links VINELink for offender custody status. The screenshot below shows that official sheriff page rather than a third-party jail roster.
That official link supports using VINELink as part of the local Refugio County custody workflow when no county roster appears online.
Refugio County Inmate Search Fields
The county has no local roster form to inventory, so the search fields come from the fallback systems. VINELink fields can vary by state and agency. TDCJ, BOP, and ICE each serve a different custody type, and a person may not appear in one system until the transfer or agency custody is complete.
| System | Fields or Method | Use It For |
|---|---|---|
| Refugio County Jail phone | Name, date of birth, arrest date, arresting agency if known | Recent local bookings and jail status |
| VINELink | Dynamic person search and notification registration | Custody status alerts linked by the sheriff |
| TDCJ | Last name, first name, TDCJ number, or SID number | Sentenced Texas prisoners |
| BOP | Name, age, race, sex, or federal number search | Federal inmates from 1982 to present |
| ICE ODLS | A-number plus country of birth, or full biographical search | Adult ICE custody and some CBP holds over 48 hours |
Refugio County Inmate Record Details
Because no official Refugio County online roster profile was located, the county site does not publicly show a booking number, mugshot, housing unit, charges, or bond fields in a searchable inmate profile. Those details may still exist in jail records. The correct wording is to ask the jail or request existing records, not to say those fields are posted online.
The same record can also split across agencies. The jail may know intake date, release date, property, housing, and bond status. The clerk may know filed charges, cause numbers, docket settings, and court costs. TDCJ may know a prison number or unit only after sentence and transfer. A careful Refugio County inmate search keeps those roles separate so a missing online jail profile is not mistaken for proof that no arrest, transfer, or court case exists.
| Record Detail | Refugio County Public Status |
|---|---|
| Booking sheet | May be requested for a specific arrest through the jail or PIA process. |
| Charges | Ask booking staff for custody charges, then verify filed charges with the clerk or docket. |
| Bond | Call the jail to confirm whether bond is set, who accepts it, and whether any hold exists. |
| Booking photo | No official public gallery was located; request a specific existing photo if releasable. |
| Release status | Use jail booking, VINELink, or records requests for release and transfer questions. |
County Jail vs State Prison
Refugio County jail custody and TDCJ prison custody are separate systems. A person arrested in Refugio County may begin at the county jail. If later sentenced to state prison or a state-jail term, the person can move out of local custody and into TDCJ intake. At that point, the county jail line may no longer be the best source for location details.
| Question | Refugio County Jail | TDCJ State Prison |
|---|---|---|
| Who is covered? | Recent arrests, pretrial detainees, short local holds, warrants, and transfer-ready inmates | Sentenced Texas prisoners after transfer |
| Who runs it? | Refugio County Sheriff's Office | Texas Department of Criminal Justice |
| Where to search? | Jail phone, VINELink, and written PIA requests | TDCJ Inmate Search and IVSS notification tools |
| What can change? | Booking, bond, release, or transfer status | Unit location, sentence status, parole, and release information |
Refugio County Detention Facilities
The Facility Map resolves to one local detention page. No official source located a separate Refugio County city jail, regional jail, work-release center, state prison, BOP prison, or ICE detention facility inside the county. People arrested by county deputies or local police should generally be expected to move through the county jail unless another agency transfers or holds them.
- Refugio County Jail holds local pretrial detainees, local sentence holds, warrants, state-transfer cases, contract counts, and housed-elsewhere counts reported through TCJS.
Refugio County Inmate FAQ
How big is the Refugio County inmate population? TCJS reported 42 people in the Refugio County Jail on June 1, 2026, with a rated capacity of 60 beds. The incarceration-rate report used an ADP of 32 for the same date.
Does Refugio County publish an online inmate roster? No official sheriff-hosted online roster was located in the research file. Use the jail booking line, VINELink, and a written Public Information Act request when a record is not online.
Where do sentenced prisoners show up? Sentenced Texas prisoners move to the TDCJ search path after transfer. Federal inmates use BOP, and immigration detainees use ICE ODLS or custody-notification tools where available.
Public Record Search
Sponsored Results