Texas Prison Inmate Search
Do you need to find someone in Texas prison? If a family member or loved one has been sent to prison, you might be wondering how to find them. Probably you want to write to them and stay in touch while they do their time.
I used to be able to display a form on this page that let folks search for inmates within TDC but the folks at TDCJ have changed the way things work and I cannot make it work now. I hope to have a solution soon. Meanwhile please continue to send your questions to me and I will keep trying to help y’all. Sorry for the hassle.
You can also check these other pages I have with information about Texas prison, Federal prison, and, soon to come, county jails in Texas.
He said to get people to write letters for parole board to see that he can hav a job, his family needs him, thibgs like that how should i write it? And which people would be helpful to write a letter?
Hey Ivett, they are looking for confirmation that when he gets out he has a decent support system around him. They want to hear where he will live – who else lives there? Are they folks that are doing well? Is it a stable living place? Like if you have lived in your place a long time, that is good to mention, it shows stability. They want to know if he has a solid job lined up and if so, where? And if he doesn’t, are there some folks willing to help him look for work or give him a good reference to his character and that sort of thing. Or if you have a solid job that is helpful information, so they know you are making your bills and he is not going to be faced with considering doing something drastic to make money. If you guys go to church its good to mention that, and if you do and your minister or priest would write a letter about him that is really good too. If he has family in the area its good for them to know he has you, and his parents and siblings, grandparents, all that. All that shows support. (Unless those folks have a record of trouble themselves in which case maybe you shouldn’t mention that as much) You can send a photo of your home or of your family if you want, to reinforce what you are telling them. Really all this stuff is just “helpful” but their main decisions will come down to HIS behavior while incarcerated, if he has finished his classes and all that. But if he has a good support system outside that helps. Peace ~ Magnum
Classes..like if they had him take Changes or any other kind of class..sometimes completion of classes is mandatory before parole. When we wrote letters to the Board we didn’t know what we were doing…but I did learn that short and sweet is best…direct to the point, hes remorseful, has a good support group, stable home life, family waiting on him who is anxious to get home to…job possibilities…that kind of thing.
Do yall know what short time or to do a turnaround is?
Not sure about the turnaround…but I know when they are close to going home they are called short timers…or if going home by PRD that is their short way
FI-3R (02/2016)- Transfer to a TDCJ rehabilitation program, such as Changes/Lifeskills, and release to parole on or after completion and not earlier than three months from the specified date of 02/2016. What do this mean he finish the class early on January 15, 2016.
From my experience this means he should be released in Feb. You should call the release number (I called daily until I got a release date) and find out when his release is. Its almost home time!
Thank you Rose. i hope so…
Today I call them and they said he wait on his parole certificate and it take up to 30 to 69 days
He’s a short timer Mrs Knowles. Just keep focusing on that. It’s a countdown game now. Peace to y’all ~ Magnum
Thank you Magnum
I was persistent and anxious, as Im sure you are. I called that release number daily (lol sometimes twice daily morning and right before 5). Just hang in there, its almost over!!
Ms. Rose ……FI-1 (FURTHER INVESTIGATION 1)- Release offender on parole supervision as soon as eligible. I just want to thank y’all so much am so ready for my husband to come home.
Ms. Knowles…yay! I know every little thing just lifts your spirits and makes home time feel that much closer! Its February…praying you have a release date soon and can “officially” count them days down!!
Am so happy… When i seen that tears of joy start round down my face. I miss my husband. Yes its count down now. I call them everyday to see if they prints his certificate.
Guess what i call them today and they told me his certificate was print today at 8am and they told me to call back Monday for a release date. God is so good. God never ends anything on a negative; God always ends on a positive.
Hey Ms. Knowles, congratulations, glad to hear your good news. Things are looking up indeed. Peace ~ Magnum
Hey Texas Magnum, thank you and yes everything going good.
YAY!!!!! Doin the happy happy joy joy dance with you!!! Thank you Jesus…now bless and keep safe and on a straight path never to walk this road again!!
Thank you Rose i will keep y’all update when he get a release date and how your son doing. i will keep on praying for all of us. I know that when I pray, something wonderful happens. Not just to the person or persons for whom I’m praying, but also something wonderful happens to me. I’m grateful that I’m heard.
Thank you! God is good and I’m very thankful for Him carrying us thru these times. Please do keep us posted! Still praying for you all!
My son said turnaround is when someone goes for a short time, basically goes, gets his number, does a little time and gets out.
I caled earlier todau anf she said they will be eligible for calls, visits, anf to send out letter after 30-45days, the calls anf visits i understand but is it really true that i wont be able to get a letter from him until after 30-45days? Can i spray perfume on letters or will they get sent back
We got letters all the way thru, no waiting time…as long as he had money to purchase writing materials and stamps he could write whenever so Im not familiar with being told no he cant write for x amount of days. My daughter in law sprayed perfume on all her letters to my son and there were no problems.
Does anybody know about the holliday facility? How long does it usually take for a person call,use ccomminsary, o visiys
Hey Ivett, it usually take a couple days to get showing up in the system. Once you send them some funds they can get on the next chance for commissary. That is a huge help. Visit depends more on when they get through their initial processing. As far as a call, that is something I don’t have experience with. I chose not to do phone calls while incarcerated. Just wrote letters and the occasional visit.
Theres no yellow are that say parole. Also were you able to email him? If so dis it take long for them to get the email or it took just as long as with mailing a letter?
Okay just give it time…its like one day there was no yellow with parole then the next day it just appeared. I did use JPAY to send my letters and he got them within 24-48 hours…he had to write back regular mail, but at least he got mail faster that way.
So if they hav a projected releas date does that mean they have seen parole board already? When i checked for his name it said he doesnt hav visitation right now does that include video chat? Like i wont be able to do a video chat with him until they say he can have visitation or is that different? Thank you so much for answering these questions i have had
When you check his name towards the bottom is there a yellow area that says parole? You can click that and it will tell you whether in review, approved, not approved or not in review. I have no experience with video chat…that was not available anywhere my son was and Im not real sure there is video chat in TDCJ…you can call to verify that tho at whatever unit. Im glad I can help ya out although I do wish I hadn’t been thru this to know lol. Hang in there!
I don’t think Texas prisons have video chat capabilities. Other states allow individuals to write emails back to loved ones, but not in Texas. It took about 1 day after husband’s name was in the system for the yellow parole box to appear.
Just checking in…Magnum hows it goin? SheMakia any news yet? All is well out here with parole and son number two. Hes fixing to transfer his parole to go be with his wife and child, they’ve been making the drive here every weekend and that’s getting rough. My other son got in some trouble back in June and we go to court tomorrow…he got a deal for six months county jail so here we go…last year on January 15 my youngest son went in and now this year on the same date my oldest son…lordy! 6 months county is way better than 2 years probation and ending up in state jail for two years so I aint griping…but I am pretty much over all this bs and am hoping to God lessons get learned and life can be somewhat normal after this lol. Hope everyone is doing well. Yall keep hanging in there! Praying for all of you and all those inside still!
Hi Rose, we still have no release date yet. I went to see my boyfriend today and all he’s saying is be patient. He says that when he completes CHANGES on February 4th they will email Huntsville the same day so I’m hoping that the release process will go smoothly and He’s home before the end of February. I will definitely be praying for you and your family. Glad to hear that your son is adjusting well. As for your other son you’re right 6 months county is better than 2 years probation or state jail. I’ll definitely be praying for your strength. I’ll keep you posted on my situation also.
Patience is all there is during this huh? No choice lol. Praying for yall and appreciate your prayers as well! Thanks for keeping me posted! Just catch myself wondering about those that I pray for and hoping all goes easy and all this ends soon!
Hey Shamekia, Rose is right. Be patient. There is nothing to do but wait, and be patient, and be supportive. He’s on the home stretch, hang in there and peace to you and your boyfriend ~ Magnum
Damn Rose just wrote a long response and it all got deleted. Well I don’t have time to rewrite it all over again but things are good, and busy. Sorry to hear about your other son. I think it it will go by real fast, at least on your part, considering what you already went through. It’s like you told Shemakia, patience is what this takes. And a very accepting attitude that things will work out, just be calm, and supportive, and hang in there. You know that by now, and your advise to others is always right on. Seems like your other son is doing great, good for him, I am glad to hear it. It sure is nice of you to hang out with us on here and continue to help the folks with questions. It’s real hard to get answers and I know that a lot of these people like hearing your perspective since you have been in their same shoes. I guess in reading your note your son is probably now at county – so you are in those shoes again but this time you know the ropes. Peace to you and your family Rose. Hang in there.
Hey Magnum..glad all is well with you and with you being in Texas and Texas being oil in most circumstances busy is good at this time lol. Hanging in there is all I know to do in all things! Some day, some how, it all gets okay! Sorry your long response got deleted, hate when that happens! Hope you have a good week!
Hey Rose, thinking about you and your oldest son. Is he settled in? Doing OK? I assume he is somewhere close for you to get to for a visit. You probably noticed I got some problems with the inmate locator. TDC changed the way I can pull things in. Dealing with that now. I hope I can get things right soon since we get so many questions about folks here. Meanwhile I sure do appreciate you continuing to help people with information when you can.
Hey there! Yea my son is doing okay…we are almost two weeks in and hes ready to come home lol. This is a different circumstance/situation then with my youngest son so I haven’t been freaked out…maybe because its county and not prison…maybe because this boy HAS to get it together and Im praying this does it, who knows…but hes doing okay and I see him weekly. Oldest son should be off monitor this week and is putting in for a transfer so he can go be with his wife and baby…hell be about 5 hours away, but after doing a prison sentence and surviving lol I think I can handle a move in the free world just fine. Life is just moving forward, day by day just praying that things click, lives get changed and “normalcy” (whatever that is lol) returns! Your page has been my morning and in between routine for a long time now so its habit to just keep checking in…besides I believe we go thru things and learn things so we can help the next person, kinda pay it forward…you and this site were such a help to me the least I can do is return the help!
When you find the person on here theres three different dates maximum sentence date, projected release, parole elegibility what do they mean? Hes been in there since november just got transfered this monday, he sgned for 2yrs but before going in on november he had already served 7months, his dates say maximum sentence 5/2/17, projected release 4/3/16, anf parole eligibility 7/26/15 what do they all mean?
Hi there…parole eligibility is when he was eligible to be reviewed for parole. Projected release date is when they assume they are going to release him, as long as there are no problems, like he stays out of trouble and doesn’t get any cases against him in there. Maximum Sentence date is the longest they will keep him. My son signed for two years and did almost a year. He was released on his projected release. Denied parole the first time and made it the second time. Ill past a time line of his stuff into this message so you can see…it varies of course depending on the person, the charges and the way things go inside.
1/15 county
2/13 Middleton
2/19 Parole review started
3/15 he called me
3/21 first visit
3/25 moved to Rudd
4/4 first contact visit and hug in 78 days
4/6 Parole eligible
4/28 he saw IPO
6/17 Parole called me
6/26 Parole denied
7/3 Parole review started
7/14 he saw re-entry
8/13 he got his line class change and his PRD moved up
8/26 he saw IPO
9/11 he finished Changes
9/18 they did labs on him
10/12 PAROLE APPROVED!!!!!
11/18 Transferred back to Middleton
11/19 transferred, not sure where
11/25 is released
When he calls would that be when i set up a phone accpun so i can talk to him, or do i hav to put money on a phone account for him to even be able to try to cal if so how do i do that
I know that once he shows up in the system you can instantly put money on his books and he will be able to go to store. I think if I remember right it took 30-45 days before I was able to purchase online for my son. Below are the steps for registering your phone for calls.
Offender Telephone System
The Offender Telephone System (OTS) allows eligible offenders to make paid telephone calls to friends and family, in accordance with the TDCJ Disciplinary Rules and Procedures for Offenders.
Information or registration:
Before you can receive calls from a TDCJ offender, you must first register your telephone number:
•Internet: texasprisonphone.com
Note: You will need the offender’s TDCJ ID Number to register to receive phone calls from him or her. If you do not know their number you can find it through the online offender search at http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/offender_information/index.html or by phone at (936) 295-6371 or (800) 535-0283. The phones are answered from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday – Friday.
•Telephone: (866) 806-7804
Telephone calls can be placed in the following manner:
•Collect calls – charges are accepted when the offender calls.
•Friends and Family Prepaid – the telephone number owner establishes an account in which to deposit money to pay for the offender’s calls.
•Offender Telephone Prepaid Debit Account – the offender or family can deposit money into the offender’s account.
The following rules apply to the system:
•Phones are available from 7:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m., unless conditions dictate a change.
•Calls are limited to 20 minutes.
•You will hear a warning message one minute before being disconnected.
•Offenders have unlimited minutes per month.
•All calls, except to the Attorney of Record, are subject to monitoring and recording.
•Calls may only be made to home land line telephone numbers and post-paid cell phones. No calls are allowed to internet services, 800 numbers, businesses, pay phones, or international numbers.
•To receive calls, the name on the registrant’s driver’s license or state identification card must be reflected on their telephone listing or bill.
•To register you will be required to confirm that you: ◦Are the registered owner of the telephone number.
â—¦Agree to allow the offender to call the phone number.
â—¦Are at least 18 years old.
â—¦Will not forward calls or make 3-way calls received from the offender.
If they were taken from galveston county to tdc (thats what he kept calling it) would i be able to find out where he went on here?
Yes…it takes a few days from the time of transfer for them to show up online but you should be able to enter his name and find him…youll know where he is and what his tdc number is so you can write and put money on his books.