The Ector County Jail is the detention facility for Ector County, Texas.  The Ector County Jail is run by the Ector County Sheriff’s Office and overseen by the Ector County Sheriff, Mike Griffis.  Ector County is a sparsely-populated 900 square mile county in West Texas.  Its sheriff’s office is relatively small; a total of 235 people with 73 of them sworn peace officers in Law Enforcement and 23 in the Detention Department.

The Ector County Jail is a large facility.  It has a housing capacity of 667 inmates.  The jail and the sheriff’s office are located near each other, outside of the city of Odessa.

The Ector County Sheriff has a list of statutory duties, which are detailed in Vernon’s Texas Statutes.  The sheriff’s primary responsibilities include preserving public peace, protecting life and property, and preventing and controlling crime by detecting and arresting violators.  To carry out these duties, the sheriff is responsible for the charge of jail and prisoners.

The 23 peace officers who are part of the Ector County Sheriff’s detention center, are responsible for guarding the prison and the inmates.  They ensure public safety, both in and out of their facilities, by keeping inmates incarcerated, keeping incarcerated inmates safe, and keeping guards for the facility safe.  The primary responsibility of these officers is preventing escapes.  They are also in charge of ensuring that the jail complies with any and all state and federal regulations and laws.  Finally, they are responsible for running any services and programs dealing with inmate welfare.

Like all county jail facilities in Texas, the Ector County Jail is a temporary housing facility.  This means that it is not designed for the long-term detention of inmates.  Instead, it holds pre-trial detainees and post-conviction inmates.  Pre-trial detainees are those inmates who have been arrested and are being held prior to trial.  They may be released on bond before their hearings or held in detention up until the time of their trial.  Post-conviction inmates are those who have already had their trials and may be awaiting sentencing or waiting to be transferred to other facilities.

Temporary holding facilities do not offer the same level of programming as long-term facilities.  Therefore, there are not a wide range of programs available at the Ector County Jail.  Instead, it is focused primarily on housing and safety.  Safety can be particularly challenging at county-level facilities.  This is because these jails must be able to hold inmates of all security levels.  It must be capable of handling different security risks, and it must be able to make quick assessments about the appropriate security level for different incoming inmates, despite not having the type of assessment information available at larger jail facilities.  Therefore, like other county jails, the Ector County Jail has to be able to respond to a changing population of inmates.

The Ector County Jail is run by the Captain of the Ector County Detention Center.  Captain Steven McNeill has been in law enforcement since 1996, and with the Ector County Sheriff’s Office since 2004.  Captain McNeill has an Advanced Jailer License, holds a Master of Science in Criminal Justice Administration from UTPB, is a graduate of the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas, and has a Master Peace Officer License.

Ector County Jail Address

Physical Address

Ector County Jail
2500 S. Highway 385
Odessa, TX 79760

Mailing Address

The Ector County Jail mailing address is:

Ector County Detention Center
P.O. Box 331
Odessa, TX 79760

You can also have items shipped directly to the jail at its physical delivery address:

Ector County Detention Center
2500 S. Highway 385
Odessa, TX 79760

Inmate Mailing Address

To send inmate mail via the U.S. Postal Service, you send it to the following address:

Inmate Name and SO number (if known)
PO Box 331
Odessa, TX 76760

You do not have to include Ector County Jail/ Ector County Detention Center in the address.  In addition, while it is helpful to have the inmate’s SO number and can speed up delivery of the mail to the inmate, inmates can receive mail without SO numbers.

Inmates can receive regular mail via the USPS.  Inmates can receive some items in other formats, and through other shippers, but all regular mail should be sent via USPS.

Inmates can receive the following items in the mail: handwritten or typed letters; photos (no Polaroids or Polaroid-type photos); digital photograph; money orders; cashier’s checks; government checks; and legal mail.  Any other items might be considered contraband.  Contraband mail may be returned-to-sender, kept and saved in inmate property, destroyed, or used to prosecute you for sending contraband to an inmate.

Inmates cannot receive any cash in the mail or in person.

Other tips for inmate mail:

1. Include a complete address and return address on the envelope.
2. Do not send inappropriate photos, including ones with: sexually explicit material, nudity, gang-related information, incendiary material, or any photos that could be used in an escape plan.
3. The outside of the envelope has to have a complete name and address in the return address.  There cannot be any writing or drawing on the outside of the envelope.

Except for some legal mail, which is protected by attorney/client privilege, all incoming and outgoing inmate mail is subject to search. 

Inmates can receive published material like books and magazines.  However, these published materials cannot be sent from individuals.  They must be sent either directly from a recognized publisher or from an authorized bookseller.  Inmates can only receive paperback books of a non-elicit nature.  They must be ordered through a catalog warehouse or through the internet.  Orders must be shipped directly to inmates.  They can be sent to either the PO Box or the physical address, depending on the carrier.  Magazines are permitted, but cannot be of an elicit nature.  In addition to banning porn magazines, the Ector County Detention Center specifically bans the publications: Blender, Stuff, and Maxim.  In addition, the jail may ban additional magazines that it deems to be in poor taste.

Inmates cannot receive religious materials in the mail; they can be distributed through the ministry program.

Ector County Jail Phone Number

The main contact number for the Ector County Jail Facility is 432-335-3060.  There is a main contact number for the Ector County Sheriff’s Department: 432-335-3050. 

Ector County Jail Inmate Search

Ector County Jail has an inmate search function.  This list allows you to search by inmate first and last name, date of birth, date booked, and date released.  Unless you are looking for all inmates booked on a certain date, you need an inmate’s first and last name to complete a search.  You can also run a search by booking number.  Once you enter the information, you get a list of all inmates that could match your request, along with their booking numbers, date booked, date released, the arresting agency, and the charges against them.  If you click on the individual’s booking number, you get some additional information, such as the disposition of the case, if available.

Recent Arrests

Ector County Jail has an bond search function.  This list allows you to search by inmate first and last name, date of birth, date booked, and date released.  Unless you are looking for all inmates booked on a certain date, you need an inmate’s first and last name to complete a search.  You can also run a search by booking number.  Once you enter the information, you get a list of all inmates that could match your request, along with their booking numbers, date booked, date released, the arresting agency, and the charges against them.  If you click on the individual’s booking number, you get some additional information, such as the disposition of the case, if available.

Jail Visitation

All visitors must comply with visitation rules at all times or the visit may be terminated and the visitor’s visitation privileges may be revoked.

Ector County Jail allows inmates to have visitors two times per week.  Inmate visitation is Tuesday and Thursday.  Visitation hours are:

Tuesday and Thursday 8:30AM to 10:15AM; 2:00PM to 3:45PM; and 5:00PM to 6:45PM.

All jail visitation is conducted on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Visitors need to fill out a Visitation Permit, which they can print at the Ector County Detention Center’s website.  After turning your permit into the receptionist at the Detention Center, you wait for your turn to be called.  Visitation permits are only accepted up until the last 15 minutes of each visitation period. The times listed above are registration times; visitation lasts for another 15 minutes.

Each visiting session is 20 minutes long.  The week runs from Tuesday to Monday when counting visits.  Visitors who have to travel 100 miles or more for visitation may get a 30-minute visitation period, but will have to present a valid ID from their city or town of residence.

Any visitor 17 or older must have a valid government issued picture identification card, which include State ID card, State Driver’s License, Military ID, current passport, and resident alien cards.  Any visitors under 17 must be accompanied by an adult over the age of 21 or present a valid state driver’s license to visit.

There can be only two adults per visit.  If children are visiting, there can be one adult and two children up to the age of 12.  If there are additional visitors, then the visitors will need to split the 20-minute visit.

Inmates who have not been booked are not eligible for visitation, except for by attorneys and bondsmen.

Inmate Phone Privileges

Inmates can place outgoing calls, but cannot receive incoming calls.  If you have an emergency and you feel like the inmate needs to be contacted, you can contact the jail, but the jail will not take messages for inmates and generally will not relay information to inmates. They may make some exceptions for specific circumstances.

The Ector County Detention Center uses T-Netix Inmate Telephone System for telephone services.  Inmates cannot use calling cards, but must use the jail-provided service.  To have a number blocked or unblocked for jail calls, you can call 888-610-7079.  Because it is an automated system, be prepared to give the jail facility address, which is 2500 S. Hwy 385, Odessa, TX.

Inmates are permitted to make phone calls from 7:00 AM to 11:00PM each day.

Inmates who need to make international calls can purchase international phone cards through commissary.  They cannot use phone cards distributed in a different way for those calls.

Inmate Trust Accounts / Commissary

Ector County Detention Center allows you to deposit money into accounts for inmates to use for commissary.  Money orders must be entered in an inmate’s account no later than Tuesday at 12PM for the inmate to use it for that week’s commissary purchases.  Money orders can be sent in the mail.  Money orders must have the inmates’ name, the Sheriff’s Office Identification Number (SO) number, and the purchaser’s name.

There is no limit to the amount of money an inmate can have in their commissary account, but inmates are limited to $75 in purchases each week.

Cash deposits can be made in the kiosk in the main lobby of the Ector County Detention Center, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  The depositor needs the following information to make the deposit: inmate’s name as it appears in the booking records or the SO number.  The kiosk accepts cash in denominations from fives to one-hundred dollar bills.  The kiosk also accepts debit cards, MasterCard, and Visa.

Inmates can use commissary funds to purchase clothing, including: underwear, socks, bras, thermals, and tee shirts.  If the commissary does not carry the inmate’s size, you can contact the Jail Administration to determine how to get those items to the inmate.

If inmates are going to court, you can bring shoes and outerwear for them to wear to court, but the items will them be placed in the inmate’s personal property and will not be released without a property release.

Ector County Bail Information

While not all inmates will be eligible for bail, some will be released on bail or bond prior to a hearing.  There are actually different types of bonds.  The two most common types of bonds are cash bonds and surety bonds.  Surety bonds are bonds that can be secured by posting a percentage of the bond.  Usually these bonds are paid by bondsmen, who act as sureties to guarantee the unpaid portion of the bond, in the event that the defendant fails to appear for a later court date.  There is a fee, which is non-refundable and payable to the bondsman, associated with this type of bond, which is usually 10% of the bond amount.  If a defendant fails to appear, then the person who guaranteed the bond becomes liable to the bondsmen for the whole amount of the bond.  Cash bonds require posting the entire amount of the bond.

To find out the amount of bail, you can use the jail’s bail search function or contact the jail directly at 432-335-3060.  At that number, you can find additional information about the bond amount, the type of bond, and how much bond to pay.

If you decide to engage the services of a bondsman, it is important to note that the Ector County Jail will not recommend any particular bondsman.  If you need the services of a bondsman, you can find one in the Yellow Pages or online.

Conclusion

The Ector County Detention Center is the county jail facility in Odessa, Texas, which is in Ector County.  It is run by the Ector County Sheriff’s Office, under the supervision of Captain Steven McNeill.  The jail’s main phone number is 432-335-3060.  The jail is located at 2500 S. Highway 385.

As a temporary holding facility, the Ector County Detention Center houses pretrial detainees and post-conviction inmates who are awaiting the final disposition of their case, such as sentencing or a transfer to another facility.  The jail may also hold inmates who are transferred to it for other purposes, such as to attend court.    The jail’s main goal is to provide safe and secure housing for its temporary inmates and it does not provide any significant jail programming, although it does have a prison ministry program.