Anderson County Jail Overview
Anderson County Jail is operated by the Anderson County Sheriff's Office under Sheriff W. R. Flores. The jail and sheriff complex are at 1200 E. Lacy St. in Palestine, the county seat. It is a county jail, not a state prison, so its population is made up of local custody groups: people booked after arrest, pretrial misdemeanor and felony defendants, people held on warrants or parole matters, people serving county jail time, and people waiting for movement to another custody system.
The official sheriff page lists jail resources for visitation, dress code, commissary, mail, and records, but it does not publish a separate public jail roster or booking photo gallery. That detail shapes every practical lookup step. A current custody check should begin with the jail phone line or the sheriff's records process, while sentenced Texas prisoners should be searched through the Texas Department of Criminal Justice only after transfer into state custody.
The official Anderson County Sheriff's Office page is a useful source lead-in for jail contacts and PDF rules: Anderson County Sheriff's Office. The image below shows the county page where the jail, records, visitation, mail, and commissary resources are grouped.
Use that source for official contact routing, then confirm details directly with the jail before making a visit, mailing documents, or relying on a custody status.
Anderson County Jail Capacity and Population
The Texas Commission on Jail Standards current population report is the strongest official source for Anderson County Jail population figures. The June 1, 2026 report lists a rated capacity of 300 beds and a total jail population of 209 people, about 69.7 percent of capacity. Those are county-jail figures only. They do not include the much larger TDCJ prison units in Anderson County.
The same TCJS row shows why a roster-style search can miss context. The jail count includes pretrial felons, pretrial Class A and B misdemeanants, parole violators, state jail felony defendants, and people already sentenced to TDCJ divisions but still counted locally while paperwork or transport is pending. A person can therefore be in Anderson County Jail even when the next destination may be a TDCJ state unit.
How to Look Up an Inmate at Anderson County Jail
No official public Anderson County Jail roster was located in the sheriff source materials. That means the practical lookup path is a fallback chain, not an online name search. Start with the sheriff's office or jail phone number, then use the Records Department for jail reports or booking records that are not posted online. The sheriff page states that Records is the custodian for sheriff and jail records and accepts open-records requests and jail reports by email or letter.
- Call Anderson County Jail or the sheriff's office at 903-729-6068 and ask for the current jail information process for a custody check.
- Have the person's full legal name, date of birth if known, approximate arrest date, and arresting agency ready before calling.
- If a public answer is not available by phone, use the sheriff Records Department for jail reports or booking records. The mailing route listed in the research is Anderson County Sheriff's Office, ATTN: Records, Palestine, TX 75801.
- If the person has been sentenced and moved into state custody, search the TDCJ Inmate Information Search by name, TDCJ number, or SID number.
For newly arrested people, do not assume a visit can be scheduled immediately. Booking, classification, court appearance, bond decisions, visitor-list approval, and data entry can all affect what a family member can verify. If a charge has already moved into court, use the Anderson County court portal and clerk offices for formal case records rather than treating booking charges as final filed charges.
Anderson County Jail Address and Contact
The jail and sheriff's office share the East Lacy Street complex in Palestine. Official materials list the main phone and jail PDFs through the sheriff site. The records department is the fallback for jail reports and open-records requests when a current roster or booking gallery is not available online.
Anderson County Jail
1200 E. Lacy St.
Palestine, TX 75801
903-729-6068
County jail and sheriff records channel
Visiting Someone at Anderson County Jail
Anderson County Jail visits are scheduled through Tarmactech. The official visitation rules say a visitor may use a computer, tablet, or smartphone, and a tablet is available in the jail lobby. The visitor selects the inmate, chooses an available date and time, enters required information, and confirms. Every visitor must be on the inmate's approved visitation list. Each inmate is allowed two 20-minute visits per week, and up to three visitors may attend at one time.
Visitors must check in 20 minutes before the scheduled visit. A late visitor is denied access. Visitors age 16 or older must bring a valid government-issued photo ID that matches the information entered into the scheduler. Personal items should be secured in the vehicle, and the secure visitation area bars items such as cellphones, cameras, handbags, and baby carriers. The dress code also bars revealing or see-through clothing, sleeveless tops, spandex, short dresses or shorts, clothing with offensive images or language, gang-affiliation clothing, hats, hoodies, bandanas, coats, and similar coverings.
| Item | Anderson County Jail Rule | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduling | Use Tarmactech or the jail-lobby tablet | Scheduled visit |
| Weekly limit | Two 20-minute visits per inmate per week | In-person/video process as scheduled |
| Check-in | Arrive 20 minutes before the visit | Facility check-in |
| Visitor count | Up to three visitors at one time | Approved visitor list |
| ID | Government photo ID for visitors 16 or older | Identity verification |
Mail, Phone, and Money at Anderson County Jail
Anderson County Jail uses several vendor systems that should not be confused with TDCJ prison services. JailATM handles commissary funds and care packages. Deposits can be made through JailATM from a computer, tablet, or smart device, or through the ATM in the jail lobby. The lobby ATM accepts cash, debit cards, and credit cards. Sheriff's office personnel do not accept cash, money orders, cashier's checks, or other currency in person or by mail. Funds must be deposited by noon Monday to be used for that week's commissary order.
Mail and messaging changed effective September 25, 2024. Ordinary non-legal and non-medical mail is sent to a Longview processing address, scanned, delivered electronically, and destroyed after delivery. Mail must include the inmate name, SO or identifying number, and return address. Legal and medical mail must go to the jail or facility where the person is housed, not the Longview processing address. NCIC messages cost $0.25 per message, and picture messages or documents cost $0.35 per picture according to the jail mail information in the research.
| Service | Provider / Detail |
|---|---|
| Ordinary mail | Inmate Name, SO#, Anderson County Jail, PO Box 591, Longview, TX 75606 |
| Messaging and scanned mail | NCIC messaging and electronic delivery |
| Money deposit | JailATM online or jail-lobby ATM, Monday noon commissary deadline |
Booking and Intake at Anderson County Jail
Anderson County Jail intake begins after an arrest by the sheriff, a municipal police department, a constable, DPS, or another agency that uses the county jail for local custody. The jail creates the booking record, identifies the person, records the arresting agency and charges or holds, handles property, photographs and fingerprints the person as applicable, and places the person into the jail classification process. Texas Article 15.17 requires an arrested person to be taken before a magistrate without unnecessary delay for warnings and bail-related processing.
Because no public Anderson County roster was found, booking information may not be visible to the public through an online profile. A requested booking report may include the person's name, booking number or sheriff identifier, booking date, arresting agency, charge description, warrant or case reference, bond if set, and release or transfer status if releasable. Those fields should be treated as possible record contents, not as promises that a county website shows them online.
About Anderson County Jail
The jail is part of a local detention footprint that is unusually easy to misunderstand. Anderson County has one sheriff-operated county jail in Palestine and five TDCJ prison units in or near Palestine and Tennessee Colony. The county jail is the local arrest and pretrial facility. The TDCJ units hold sentenced state prisoners and use TDCJ lookup, visitation, mail, deposit, and unit rules. A person can move from Anderson County Jail to TDCJ after conviction and sentencing, but the correct search system changes when that transfer occurs.
Official county-jail program details are limited in the sheriff materials reviewed. The strongest published local details are operational: visitation approval and scheduling, the visitor dress code, JailATM deposits, NCIC messaging, and the Longview mail-scanning process. No official county source reviewed published annual booking totals, average length of stay, a public mugshot gallery, or a separate mobile app roster.
Note: Confirm custody, visitor approval, and mail instructions with Anderson County Jail before traveling or sending important documents.