Search Ector County Detention Center Inmates

Ector County Detention Center Overview

The Ector County Sheriff's Office operates Ector County Detention Center as the county jail and local detention center. The jail sits in the Law Enforcement Center on South U.S. Highway 385, south of Odessa and separate from the downtown courthouse. That location is important. Jail custody, jail records, property release, visitation, mail, phones, and inmate account questions route to the detention address. Court filings, prosecutor action, and district clerk records route to the courthouse on North Grant Avenue.

Ector County Detention Center is described by the Sheriff's Office as a state-certified facility. The sheriff's page lists a 667-inmate housing capacity, while the Texas Commission on Jail Standards reports a different jail-reporting capacity for Ector County in its current population workbook. Both numbers matter because they come from different official contexts. The local sheriff page describes the facility. The TCJS workbook is the state jail standards reporting source used for current jail population and capacity data.

The jail is used for pretrial detainees, local inmates, people awaiting bond or court processing, parole violators, state jail felony pretrial detainees, and other local categories reported to TCJS. It is not a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison, a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility, or an ICE detention center. A person sentenced to state prison moves out of the Ector County jail roster path and into the statewide TDCJ search path after transfer.

Ector County Jail Population

The current population data comes from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards population reports. The research file used the TCJS current inmate population workbook downloaded in June 2026. In that workbook, the Ector County row lists a jail-reporting capacity of 1,079 and a total jail population of 762 on June 1, 2026. That equals about 70.6 percent of the TCJS-listed capacity. The Sheriff's Office page, by contrast, states a housing capacity of 667 inmates for the Detention Center description.

The TCJS breakdown also shows why the Ector County Detention Center population should not be described as only sentenced inmates. On June 1, 2026, the largest reported local group was pretrial felony detainees, with 334 local male pretrial felons and 63 local female pretrial felons. The same row reported 67 local pretrial Class A and B misdemeanants, 32 parole violators or blue warrants, 93 local pretrial state jail felons, and 2 male federal inmates. TCJS states that jail data is submitted by local agencies and that those agencies are responsible for accuracy and quality.

Ector County Inmate Lookup

The official lookup for current county jail custody is the Tyler JailSearch portal for Ector County. The county links this system as its inmate information path. Use it for people booked into Ector County Detention Center after a local arrest, while they are awaiting court, bond, release, or local sentence handling. The research could not inspect a full sample record because automated access met human verification, so exact roster field labels should not be overstated.

1. Open the official Tyler JailSearch page linked by Ector County for inmate information.
2. Search by the person's legal name. If the portal exposes a booking date or Sheriff's Office number field, use that known identifier to narrow the result.
3. Confirm the record points to Ector County Detention Center or Ector County jail custody, not a state prison or federal facility.
4. If the portal is blocked, down, or does not show a recent arrest, call the Detention Center or use the Sheriff's ID and Records Division for booking and release paperwork.

A person who bonded out, transferred to TDCJ, moved under another agency hold, or left county custody may stop appearing through the county jail roster. For sentenced state prisoners, use the TDCJ inmate search. For sentenced federal prisoners, use the BOP inmate locator. Immigration detention questions may require the ICE detainee locator or a records request if the county jail record only shows a hold.

Ector County Detention Contact

The Detention Center phone line is the direct custody contact when the roster is unavailable or a booking is too new to rely on a screen result. The Sheriff's Office main number can route general calls during business hours. The detention operation is open continuously, but administration and records work follow weekday office hours unless the county posts a different rule.

For source paperwork, use the Sheriff's ID and Records Division. The county says that division maintains records tied to incarceration at Ector County Detention Center, including arrest, booking, release, bonding, fingerprint-card, criminal case report, and attachment records. Records requests may be routed through the sheriff records email shown by the county or through the same South Highway 385 address.

Ector County Jail Visits

The Ector County Detention Bureau publishes the jail's visitation, mail, phone, commissary, and property rules. Jail visitation is first come, first served. The visitation week begins Tuesday, and visits are held Tuesday and Thursday in morning, afternoon, and evening sessions. A standard visit is 20 minutes, with two visits per inmate per week. Visitors traveling 100 miles or more may receive a 30-minute visit if Administration grants it and the visitor has valid ID showing the city or town of residence.

Visitors must complete a permit and turn it in to the receptionist. Permits are not accepted during the last 15 minutes of a visitation period. Visitors who are 17 or older need valid government-issued picture ID, such as a state ID card, driver's license, military ID, current passport, or resident alien card. Visitors under 17 must be with an adult age 21 or older unless they have a valid state driver's license. The county also links an English visitation permit and a Spanish visitation permit.

Ector County Jail Mail

Mail rules at Ector County Detention Center are more detailed than a normal street-address mailing instruction. Non-privileged mail is sent to an out-of-state processing address and then made visible to inmates through kiosks or tablets. Legal or privileged mail is handled through a separate process. The county states that privileged mail is opened and scanned in the inmate's presence into an encrypted file, and the original is shredded in view of the inmate.

The Detention Bureau image captured from the county Detention Bureau page shows why Ector County jail rules should be checked at the source before sending mail, books, money, or legal material.

The same county page is the source for the Tuesday and Thursday visit sessions, digital mail routing, legal-mail scanning, commissary limits, kiosk deposits, and phone hours described here.

Ector County Commissary and Phones

Deposits for Ector County Detention Center inmate accounts can be made at the kiosk in the vestibule area of the main lobby. The kiosk is available 24 hours a day and accepts $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills, along with MasterCard, Visa, and debit cards. Depositors must enter the inmate's booked name or the correct Sheriff's Office number. The county says account balances and commissary price lists are not released to the general public.

Securus works with Budget Connections for blocking and unblocking phone numbers, and the county lists 888-610-7079 for that help. Phone rates can change, so the $4.90 local 30-minute call figure should be treated as the county's current posted amount from the research capture, not a permanent price. Phone access is daily from 7 am to 11 pm.

Ector County Booking Property

Booking creates the local jail record and the property-control issues that often matter to family members. The Detention Bureau rules and linked property release form explain the release route. All items except clothing may be released if the inmate approves the release. Clothing may be released only if the inmate has been sentenced to TDCJ. Specific item release must be approved by Administration, and money in an inmate account can be released to immediate family only with inmate approval.

Intake also affects visits and deposits. During booking, jail staff create or update the Sheriff's Office identification number, which helps route money orders and kiosk deposits. The county's rules also state that an inmate who has not been completely processed can be visited only by attorneys, bondsmen, or law enforcement personnel. If a person was just arrested, call the jail before making a trip, sending money, or assuming the roster has the final status.

SO number

The Sheriff's Office identification number used by Ector County for inmate account and deposit routing.

Classification

The jail review after intake that helps determine housing and service access.

Detainer

A hold or request from another agency that may affect release even when local bond is addressed.

Ector County Transfer Notes

Ector County Detention Center is the local jail, so the county roster is the best starting point for a recent Odessa or Ector County arrest. It is not the right first tool for a person already sentenced to Texas prison. After a felony sentence and transfer, the custody record belongs in the TDCJ system. For a federal sentence, the BOP locator is the better path. If an immigration hold appears, the county record may show the hold while ICE custody details may require the ICE locator or a records request.

This split mirrors Ector County's local records layout. Jail custody is handled south of Odessa at U.S. Highway 385. Court cases and filed charges are handled through the courthouse and the Tyler court portal. State prison status is handled by TDCJ. Keeping those systems separate prevents a common mistake: treating one missing county roster result as proof that no custody, court case, transfer, or hold exists.