Refugio County Jail Address and Operator
Refugio County Jail is operated by the Refugio County Sheriff's Office as the county's local detention facility. The official jail page lists the street address as 405 Mesquite St., Refugio, TX 78377, and the mailing address as P.O. Box 1025, Refugio, TX 78377. The jail phone is 361-526-1698, with extension 1 identified for booking information. The sheriff's office page separately lists Sheriff Matthew Tuttle as the elected sheriff, and the jail page identifies Captain Jason Andrade as Jail Administrator and Lt. Megan Grasham as Assistant Jail Administrator.
The facility is a county jail, not a state prison, federal prison, or ICE detention center. Refugio County's research map found no separate city jail, regional detention center, TDCJ prison, BOP prison, or ICE facility physically located inside the county. Local arrests by sheriff's deputies, local police, DPS troopers, or other peace officers should generally be checked through Refugio County Jail first unless a later transfer is confirmed.
The official Refugio County Jail page is the county source for the Mesquite Street address, mailing address, jail administration names, and booking-information extension.
That screenshot matters because the county's jail page supplies contact facts but does not supply a public online inmate roster, visitation calendar, or commissary vendor link.
Refugio County Jail Capacity and Population
The Texas Commission on Jail Standards is the official statewide source for county jail population reporting. In the TCJS County Jail Population Report dated June 1, 2026, Refugio County Jail was listed with 60 beds and a total jail population of 42. That report placed the jail at 70% of rated capacity on that first-day-of-month snapshot. The TCJS row also included local pretrial felony and misdemeanor categories, bench-warrant inmates, contract inmates, one housed-elsewhere inmate, and state-transfer-related categories.
Those figures should not be read as an annual booking count or a promise that the jail count is the same today. TCJS population reports are snapshots, and the research file notes that Refugio's recent monthly totals have moved from the low 30s into the low 50s while the rated capacity remained 60. For current custody, the population report is useful background, but the jail phone and VINELink are the practical lookup tools.
How to Look Up an Inmate at Refugio County Jail
Refugio County does not publish an official sheriff-hosted online jail roster on the county pages inspected. The county jail page gives the booking-information line, and the sheriff page links VINELink for custody status. Use the county jail for recent arrests, pretrial custody, local misdemeanor or felony holds, bench warrants, and people waiting on bond or magistration. Use TDCJ Inmate Search only after a person has moved into Texas state-prison custody. Use the BOP Inmate Locator for federal custody and ICE ODLS for immigration custody when those systems are relevant.
- Start with the official county jail page to confirm that the facility contact is still Refugio County Jail, 405 Mesquite St., and that booking information is handled at 361-526-1698 x1.
- Call 361-526-1698 and select extension 1. Have the person's full legal name, date of birth, approximate arrest date, and arresting agency if known.
- Search VINELink because the Refugio County Sheriff's Office links it for custody status and notifications. Select Texas and follow the prompts for person or agency search if the interface asks for them.
- If the jail cannot confirm current custody and the case may have reached state sentencing, search TDCJ by name, SID number, or TDCJ number.
- If a federal prosecution, federal sentence, immigration detainer, or transfer is possible, search BOP or ICE rather than assuming the person is still in the county jail.
- If no system returns a clear answer, ask the sheriff's office how to request existing booking or release records under the Texas Public Information Act.
Refugio County Jail Address and Contacts
Use the jail's Mesquite Street address for facility visits, booking questions, and directions. Use the P.O. Box 1025 mailing address for jail mail unless staff instruct otherwise. The sheriff's administrative office has a separate mailing address, P.O. Box 1022, and a separate administrative phone number, so keep jail questions and sheriff administration questions distinct.
Refugio County Jail
405 Mesquite St.
Refugio, TX 78377
361-526-1698 x1
Booking information line
Mailing Address
P.O. Box 1025
Refugio, TX 78377
Sheriff Matthew Tuttle
Jail Administrator: Captain Jason Andrade
Assistant Jail Administrator: Lt. Megan Grasham
Visiting Someone at Refugio County Jail
Refugio County's public jail page does not publish a social visitation schedule, visitor approval process, video visitation vendor, visit length, ID rule, child-visitor rule, dress code, visitor entrance, or prohibited-items list. That absence is a practical access issue. Anyone planning a visit should call 361-526-1698 before traveling and ask whether the person is eligible for visits, whether a visitor list is required, what identification is accepted, and whether visits are in person, video-based, or temporarily restricted.
| Facility or Custody Stage | Published Schedule | Practical Instruction |
|---|---|---|
| Refugio County Jail | Not published on official county pages | Call 361-526-1698 before travel; confirm ID, approved visitor list, dress code, visit length, entrance, and child-visitor rules. |
| TDCJ after state transfer | Varies by unit | Use TDCJ Inmate Search to identify the unit, then follow that unit's TDCJ visitation rules before traveling. |
| BOP federal custody | Facility-specific | Use the BOP locator and the assigned facility page for visitor approval and schedule rules. |
| ICE custody | Facility-specific | Use ICE ODLS and the identified detention facility for current visitation instructions. |
Mail, Phone, and Money at Refugio County Jail
The county publishes the jail mailing address but does not publish inmate mail formatting rules, commissary deposit methods, phone provider, video provider, tablet program, money-order policy, package restrictions, photo limits, book rules, or deposit fees. Because those details affect whether mail or money is accepted, do not send funds, books, packages, or legal mail based only on outside directory listings. Call the jail first and ask whether the mailing address should include the inmate's full legal name, date of birth, booking number, or housing assignment.
| Service | Published Detail | Call-Ahead Question |
|---|---|---|
| Mail address | Inmate name, Refugio County Jail, P.O. Box 1025, Refugio, TX 78377; confirm exact format with staff. | Ask whether legal mail, photos, books, money orders, or packages have separate rules. |
| Phone or video calls | No phone, video, tablet, or remote-visit vendor published on official county pages. | Ask how the inmate can place calls and whether account setup is required. |
| Commissary or money deposit | No deposit vendor, kiosk, online payment page, or fee table located in official sources. | Ask whether deposits are accepted in person, by mail, online, or only through a vendor. |
| Property release | No public property-release instruction located. | Ask what ID, authorization, hours, and paperwork are required before arrival. |
Booking and Intake at Refugio County Jail
A typical Refugio County booking begins when a deputy, police officer, DPS trooper, or other peace officer brings an arrestee to the jail. Jail staff receive the person, confirm identity, create the booking record, inventory property, screen for medical and mental-health concerns, take fingerprints and photographs, classify the person for housing, and wait for magistrate or bond paperwork. The county does not publish local booking timing, so the booking line is the source for whether a person has been received, magistrated, released, transferred, or held on another agency's warrant.
Texas county jail custody can involve more than one legal reason at the same time. TCJS categories for Refugio include local pretrial inmates, bench-warrant inmates, state-jail-felony pretrial inmates, TDCJ-sentenced or paper-ready transfer categories, contract inmates, and housed-elsewhere counts. That is why a caller should ask not only whether a person is present, but also whether a bond has been set, whether any no-bond hold or detainer exists, and whether another county, TDCJ, BOP, or ICE is involved.
Public Records, Mugshots, and Transfer Channels
The county jail page does not display online booking profiles, mugshots, charges, bond amounts, release dates, or housing assignments. Basic booking information may exist at the jail even when it is not posted online. For a records request, identify the person by full name, date of birth, arrest date, arresting agency, and the specific existing records requested, such as a booking sheet, arrest report, release record, bond information, or booking photograph. Texas Government Code Chapter 552, the Texas Public Information Act, is the fallback access law, but law-enforcement records can be withheld or redacted when an exception applies.
For people no longer held locally, the lookup system changes with custody status. TDCJ covers sentenced Texas prisoners and state-jail transfers, with search options such as name, SID number, and TDCJ number. BOP covers federal inmates incarcerated from 1982 to the present and supports name and number searches. ICE ODLS covers adults in ICE custody and some CBP custody cases longer than 48 hours, commonly using A-number and country of birth or full biographical information. None of those systems is a Refugio County Jail roster, and BOP or ICE locator results should not be treated as county booking-photo access.
About Refugio County Jail
Refugio County Jail is a small Texas county jail under sheriff operation and TCJS oversight. The official county pages do not publish construction history, pod names, program calendars, staffing levels, medical vendor details, grievance forms, work-release housing, or reentry programming. TCJS minimum jail standards provide the statewide baseline for health services, supervision, sanitation, food service, discipline, grievances, recreation, education and rehabilitation programming, work assignments, and compliance review. The TCJS non-compliant jails page is the official place to check any current standards listing.
Recent local context is limited but relevant. Sheriff Matthew Tuttle took office in January 2025, and the official county sheriff page now lists him as sheriff. Refugio County officials also formalized a 2025 law-enforcement partnership involving the police department and sheriff's office. Those facts speak to local agency coordination, but they do not create a separate detention facility or an online roster.
Note: Confirm custody, visitation, mail, money, and property rules with Refugio County Jail before traveling or sending anything to the facility.
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