Texas Arrest Records

Texas's arrest rate has steadily declined over the past decade. In recent years, the number of arrests made in the state has hovered between 500,000 and 550,000 from over 800,000 arrests in the past. On average, about 530,000 arrests are made annually in Texas for several criminal offenses. According to the FBI Crime Data, an estimated 15.6% of the state's annual arrests are for simple assault, 15.4% for drug abuse violations, 10.6% for DUI offenses, and 4.3% for aggravated assaults. Others include about 7.7% for larceny-theft, 0.8% for robbery, and 32.44 for all other offenses except traffic violations.

The arrest rate in Texas, which currently stands at 1,876.68 per 100,000 residents, is lower than the reported national average of 2,181.7 arrests per 100,000 people. Compared to some of the neighboring states, the arrest rate in Texas is relatively lower. For instance, Oklahoma, which shares borders with northern Texas, has an arrest rate of 1,979.87 per 100,000 inhabitants. Similarly, Louisiana's and Arkansas' arrest rates are 2,660.76 and 3,437.04 per 100,000 people, respectively.

What Is an Arrest Under Texas Law?

In Texas, an arrest is placing someone under restraint or taking them into custody, per Article 15.22of the state's Code of Criminal Procedure. An arrest may be made by an officer or an individual executing a warrant of arrest or by an officer or person making the arrest without a warrant. In most cases, law enforcement officers make arrests when they suspect someone has committed an offense.

Type of Arrests in Texas

In Texas, a law enforcement officer typically can make an arrest under certain circumstances, including the following:

• Someone committed a crime in the officer's presence, and the officer witnessed it.
• An arrest warrant is issued by a judge to execute an arrest.
• The police officer has probable cause to believe a suspect committed a criminal offense or is about to commit one.

Where there is probable cause to arrest someone in Texas, it means a law enforcement officer has more than mere suspicion; there are not enough facts to establish beyond doubt that an individual has committed or is about to commit a crime. However, there is actual information leading an officer to believe the person has committed or is about to perpetrate a criminal offense. In Texas, arrests are broadly categorized into warrant and warrantless arrests.

Warrant Arrests

These are arrests made by law enforcement officers in Texas after obtaining arrest warrants from magistrates. Typically, an officer will submit an affidavit to a judge stating probable cause that someone has committed a crime to obtain an arrest warrant. The affidavit is known as a complaint if it states that someone has committed an offense. In Texas, a warrant arrest generally can be made at any time of the day or night and on any day of the week. When making a warrant arrest, the arresting officer informs the suspect under what authority the arrest is being executed. In addition, they must have the warrant in their possession at the time of the arrest. If the arrest warrant is unavailable at the time of arrest, the suspect reserves the right to know the offense charged and if a warrant was issued.

Warrantless Arrests

As the name implies, these are arrests made without arrest warrants. Two things are required to make a warrantless arrest in Texas. These are probable cause and statutory authority. Probable cause is any fact capable of leading any intelligent person to believe someone has committed a criminal offense. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 14 outlines the statutory authority under which a warrantless arrest can be made in the state, and it includes the following:

• Offense Witnessed by Magistrate - A law enforcement agency generally can make an arrest without a warrant on a magistrate's orders if someone commits a felony or an offense against the public peace in the presence or within the view of the magistrate.
• Offense Witnessed by a Law Enforcement Officer - When someone commits an offense in an officer's presence or within their view, the officer can make an arrest without a warrant.

While an officer is legally permitted to make warrantless arrests under some circumstances in Texas, there are certain limitations. For instance, any officer executing an arrest without a warrant may not enter a suspect's residence unless the homeowner consents. The only exception is where it is exigent to make entry without a warrant or the consent of a resident.

Other types of arrests in Texas are listed and discussed below:

• Violation of Protective Order on View-Mandatory Arrest - The state's Code of Criminal Procedures mandates an officer who observes a person violate a protective order, even without a warrant.
• Suspicious Places Arrest - Without a warrant, a law enforcement officer may execute an arrest on anyone found in suspicious places and under circumstances that reasonably suggest that person has been guilty of a violation of disorderly conduct or some felony offenses.
• Assault with Future Danger Arrest - If an officer has probable cause to believe someone has committed an assault leading to bodily harm/injury and the danger of further bodily injury is imminent, the officer may arrest without a warrant, even if the offense was not committed in their presence.

What Are Texas Arrests Records?

A Texas arrest record is a person's detailed history of arrest stored on file by law enforcement agencies within the state. It is generated by law enforcement after making an arrest and is a critical part of the state's criminal justice system. Whenever law enforcement arrests or incarcerates an individual, everything that transpires from the point of arrest to detainment goes into the person's arrest record. A typical Texas arrest record may include information such as the record owner's name, date of birth, address, date and time of arrest, arrest location, fingerprints, mugshot, and certain physical descriptions of the record subject.

That a Texas resident has an arrest record does not necessarily mean they have violated any state law. It could simply mean they were a suspect in a crime at one point or another. This is what makes arrest records different from criminal records. Apart from documenting a person's contact with law enforcement or the state's judicial system, a Texas criminal record generally contains details of a person's conviction. However, an arrest record is always a part of a person's criminal record.

How Can Arrest Records Be Accessed in Texas?

Unless sealed or expunged, arrest records are considered public information in Texas and can be accessed by members of the public. Expunged or sealed records cannot be accessed because they are confidential or contain sensitive information. The Texas Public Information Act (Government Code 552) permits public access to public information, including arrest records. However, as stipulated in Section 552.108 of the Public Information Act, certain records, including arrest records, held by law enforcement agencies may not be subject to public disclosure under the following circumstances:

• If the disclosure of such record or information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime
• If the record contains information that could be a threat against a law enforcement officer

Interested persons may access publicly available Texas arrest records through any of the following agencies:

Texas Department of Public Safety (TX DPS)

The Crime Records Division of the state's DPS maintains a Criminal History Conviction Name Search database, which is a Computerized Criminal History System (CCH) and a statewide repository of criminal history record information. It generally allows anyone to search arrest records. The CCH contains records of people reported to the state's Department of Public Safety with a deferred adjudication or conviction. Typically, state law requires Sheriff's Offices, Police Department, and other criminal justice agencies in Texas to report information on arrests of individuals arrested for certain offenses.

Besides providing records of prosecution and disposition of cases, the results of any search conducted on the CCH will include arrest information for persons arrested for Class B misdemeanors or more serious offenses. However, an intending user must create an account to access a person's Texas arrest record using this name search database. This service is not free. As such, users should expect to pay certain fees to access Texas arrest records using the CCH.

Local Law Enforcement Agencies and Police Departments

Texas arrest records are kept by local law enforcement agencies and police departments that made those arrests, including the Sheriff's Offices. Each agency will have a specific procedure for anyone intending to view or access Texas arrest records in their custody. The first thing a record seeker should do is identify which agency created and keeps the specific record of interest so they can direct their request there. Afterward, they should find out from the agency the procedure for making such requests and if there are associated fees. Once this is done, the requester may submit their request through the channel advised. Most agencies will allow in-person, mail, and online requests. A requester must determine which record is more convenient for making the request.

Courts

Arrest records presented in criminal proceedings typically form part of court records. Anyone interested in obtaining them may contact the relevant court clerk. However, certain fees may apply to requesters wanting physical or certified copies. In some counties like Dallas, Harris, Travis, Denton, and BexarCounties, court records are searchable on the county's clerk's website. Interested persons may obtain arrest records from results obtained from such searches. Furthermore, Re:Search TX keeps court records from some courts and counties that enable members of the public to search court records and extract arrest information.

How Long Will an Arrest Report Stay on Your Texas Records?

In most cases, unless already sealed or expunged, a Texas arrest record may stay on a person's record for life. Some Public Safety Agencies in the state, including law enforcement, have mandatory retention periods for certain records or reports. During this period, no agency may dispose of any record listed in the schedule before the retention period expires. However, an expungement order overrides any retention period established for any type of record in the schedule. For instance, the retention period for arrest reports and fingerprints for individuals arrested by law enforcement agencies and charged with misdemeanors and felonies is 75 years or the date of death of the defendant, if known, whichever comes first.

Can You Expunge Your Arrest Records in Texas?

Yes, certain types of arrest records may be expunged in Texas under Chapter 55 of the state's Code of Criminal Procedures. As stipulated in Article 55.01 of the Code, the following arrests are eligible for expungement (or expunction) in the state:

• An arrest for a criminal offense that was never charged
• The arrest of an individual that is not charged if no case was filed and no felony offense emanated from the same transaction for which the individual was arrested
• Arrest on a person's record due to identity theft by another person was eventually arrested, charged, and convicted of that crime
• Arrest on a person's record who was convicted of a crime but was later acquitted by either the trial court or the Court of Criminal Appeals

Nonetheless, not everyone with arrest records eligible for expungement will qualify to have such records sealed. To expunge or seal an eligible arrest record in Texas, the subject of the record should file a Petition for Expunction with the proper court, asking the court to grant an Order of Expunction. The petition should include, at a minimum, the following:

• Some personal information about the petitioner
• The time of the arrest
• The offense charged. If the offense was charged, the petition should also include the name of the court, cause number for the case, and how that charge was resolved
• The time of the alleged offense
• The arresting agency and a list of other agencies that may have a record of the arrest on file

If the alleged offense that led to an arrest was charged, the petition will most likely be filed in the same court that handled the case. Once a petition for arrest record expungement is filed, the court will schedule a hearing and send out a notice of the hearing to all relevant agencies listed as respondents. Afterward, a hearing will be done in court, where respondents will get the chance to contest the expunction petition. Typically, the court will grant a Texas arrest record expungement petition if the petitioner satisfies all the requirements.

Is Citizen's Arrest Legal in Texas?

Yes, citizen's arrest is legal in Texas, but only for a felony or any offense against the public peace. However, the arresting citizen must witness the crime for which the suspect was arrested. In Texas, making a citizen's arrest for misdemeanor offenses is illegal. According to the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, any individual, which includes law enforcement officers, may execute an arrest without a warrant or essentially make a citizen's arrest when a criminal offense is committed in their presence. However, anyone making a citizen's arrest must ensure to contact law enforcement immediately.

While making a citizen's arrest in Texas, as stipulated by law, is legal, it is illegal to arrest someone falsely. A false arrest generally involves confining or detaining another individual against their will while falsely claiming to have the legal authority to do so. A false arrest may also occur when a law enforcement officer who does not have legal grounds or probable cause to detain someone arrests them.

How to Look Up Arrest Warrants in Texas

Per Chapter 15 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, an arrest warrant is an order written by a magistrate instructing a law enforcement officer or any other person specifically named to arrest someone by law. Arrest warrants are public records in Texas, per the state's Rules of Judicial Administration, Rule 12.4. According to this Rule, a judicial record is any record created or maintained by or for a court or any other judicial agency in its normal course of work but not relating to its adjudicative role. An arrest warrant and search warrant issued by a court is a typical example of a judicial record.

There is no central repository for arrest warrants in Texas. Anyone interested in looking up a warrant issued within the state may contact the local Superior Courts and request to inspect copies of such warrants. Such a request should be in written form and contain enough information to facilitate easy search by the court clerk. Alternatively, a requester may visit the office of the law enforcement agency that made the warrant arrest to inspect or request copies of the arrest warrant. Some county sheriff's offices and local police departments in Texas manage online repositories for arrest warrants in their custody. Such repositories are a good place to look up an arrest warrant. For instance, the Harris County Sheriff's Office maintains an online Warrant Search that provides information on active arrest warrants issued by a County Criminal at Law for Class A and B misdemeanor offenses.