Perform a free Taylor County mugshot search now and find inmates’ crucial information by utilizing official resources.
The Texas Public Information Act (PIA) assures that public information, including mugshots, is made available to the residents throughout the state. 1 This act offers citizens access to governmental documents and allows them to make copies which are typically free of charge.
This resource leads you to the right tools and agencies for finding mugshot information seamlessly.
How To Find Free Mugshots in Taylor County Texas
Mugshots, along with other offender details, are most often available at the county level.
As for Taylor County, the sheriff’s office provides access to an online jail record search tool in order to locate and find particular inmates’ information. It doesn’t specifically display mugshots, but it has all the important details, including the defendant’s name, booking number, arresting authority, booking date, release date, and charges.
In some instances, mugshots can also be found through local or city police departments; this option can be the most convenient, especially when the arrest has been made fairly recently by the relevant department.
If you want to search mugshots at the state level, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has an online inmate search tool where you can access information about inmates within the state. 2 Having this helpful database enables interested parties to be informed on the persons currently incarcerated – all from the safety and convenience of one’s home.
The next section will explain how to look for free mugshots using county-level resources.
How To Search Taylor County Mugshots (No Fees)
Residents of Taylor County can use the sheriff’s office’s jail court records search tool to access inmates’ information.
You can use this tool by entering either the defendant’s name or their booking number. You are required to enter the first and last name of the inmate, and you can also provide additional details like their date of birth, middle name, as well as the booking date and the release date to refine your search.
You will then see a list of inmates together with their booking number, booking date, release date, arresting agency and their respective charges.
By clicking a particular booking number, you can see additional details, including the address, warrant number, issuing authority, offense date, bond/type, fines/costs, and disposition.
If you need more information regarding inmates’ information, you can contact the sheriff’s office by using the details below:
Taylor County Sheriff’s Office
450 Pecan Street
Abilene, Texas 79602
Phone: (325)-674-1300
Interested citizens can also review the process of finding arrest information in Taylor County for further knowledge.
Third-party service providers, such as VINELink, are also available and have alternative resources for tracking and locating mugshots.
Inmate Services: Contact Information, Visiting Procedures & Commissary
If someone is currently detained or incarcerated in Taylor County, staying connected with inmates is still possible for friends and family of those behind bars. There are several ways to do this:
- In-Person Visit – ‘Out of town’ visitors are considered those who live 150 miles or more from Abilene. Registration for visitation is required to be done face-to-face through the jail office window. Every inmate is allowed to have two visits every week.
- Financial Assistance – Money deposits can be made at the jail lobby kiosk or through a third-party provider, Regent Pay.
- Phone Deposits – Deposits via phone can be made at the lobby kiosk. If you have more inquiries, you can contact their customer service at (877)-618-3516 or visit their address below:
Detention Center
910 South 27th
Abilene, Texas 79602
Operation Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
For more information about ways to reach out to inmates – and other relevant services – you can check the Detention Center page from Taylor County website.
How To Access Mugshots via Cities Within Taylor County
Arrests made by city or town police may appear in local databases. It is advisable to check with the city police department directly if the county-level search does not show results, especially if the city or municipality where the arrest was made is known.
Below is a list of contact information for the police agencies in the three major cities in Taylor County, Texas.
| Agency | Address | Contact Information |
| Abilene Police Department4 | 4565 South 1st Street Abilene, Texas 79604 |
325-673-8331 |
| Merkel Police Department | 100 Kent St., Merkel, Texas 79536 |
325-928-4911 |
| Winters Police Department | 312 South Main Street Winters, Texas 79567 |
325-754-4121 |
Citizens can type “[city name] police department” or “[city name] mugshots” into any search engine to look up mugshots in other cities. You can then browse the top few results for the corresponding website or agency webpage.
Members of the public can check out the tutorial on finding public records across Taylor County to learn how to obtain criminal history information, warrant insights, background checks, and many other types of records.
The next section will discuss the nature of finding police photographs using state and federal resources.
How To Look Up Prison Mugshots in Texas: State & Federal
Mugshots are typically taken following an arrest, but they are also frequently obtained of prisoners.
Although the county-level resources may not yield these results even if an inmate resided locally, searchers may still be able to access their mugshots through state-level databases.
Mugshots of individuals held in state prisons can be seen through the online inmate search tool provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). To make a search, you need to provide the offender’s first and last name. To narrow down your search, you can also provide their gender, race, TDCJ and State Identification (SID) number.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons also has an inmate locator tool; though it doesn’t display mugshots, it offers defendants’ crucial information such as name, race, age, sex, and release date.6
The accessibility of mugshots, along with other records, are freely available in Texas thanks to the Public Information Act (PIA), as well as the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Nevertheless, these records cannot be unlawfully used to harass, intimidate, or stalk people in breach of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the guidelines set by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
You can now know what to do with any information you discover when executing a Taylor County mugshot search; use all the information you find in this resource responsibly.
References
1The Public Information Act. Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2024, from <https://comptroller.texas.gov/about/policies/open-records/public-information-act.php#:~:text=Texas%20Government%20Code%2C%20Chapter%20552,be%20available%20to%20the%20public.>
2Inmate Information. Texas Department of Criminal Justice. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2024, from <https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/ks_offender.html>
3Jail Records Search Detail. Taylor County Sheriff’s Office. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2024, from <http://publicaccess.taylorcountytexas.org/PublicAccess/JailingDetail.aspx?JailingID=10017131>
4About Us. Abilene Police Department. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2024, from <https://www.abilenetx.gov/166/About-Us>
5Inmate Information Details. Texas Department of Criminal Justice. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2024, from <https://inmate.tdcj.texas.gov/InmateSearch/viewDetail.action?sid=18187678>
6Inmate Locator. Federal Bureau of Prisons. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2024, from <https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc//>