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Hays County Texas Sheriff's Office
Hays County - County Jail - Texas
Hays County Jail in Texas

About Prison

The Hays County Jail is operated by the Hays County Sheriff’s Office. The Hays County Jail is a medium sized facility, with 362 beds and with 111 corrections officers and peace officers.  The jail handles approximately 8,000 inmates each year, and transfers 2,600 to different courts.

Captain Julissa Villalpando is the Captain of the Corrections Bureau.  She has been with the Hays County Sheriff’s Office since 1991, and worked her way up from the role of receptionist to the role of Captain of the Corrections Bureau.  Captain Villalpando is responsible for overseeing jail operations and support services for the jail.  Her responsibilities include supervising human services, building maintenance, bonding, transportation, mail, visitation, property, food service, commissary, and classification.  While she has been in office, she has been responsible for implementing a number of programs for the jail including the Hays County Bail Bond Board, the Field Release Program, the Victim Information Notification Everyday System, and the Veterans Court.

In Texas, the Office of the Sheriff was created in 1836 by the Constitution.  Each of Texas’s 254 counties has its own Sheriff.  The Sheriff is a required role, and sheriffs are voted into office.  Sheriffs are Texas Peace Officers.  Hays County was created in 1848.  Initially, the Hays County Sheriff was assisted by the Hays County Commissioners Court.  Eventually, the sheriff got deputies and were put in charge of the Hays County Jail.

Hays County Jail Addresses

Physical Address

The address for the Hays County Jail is:

Hays County Jail
1307 Uhland Road
San Marcos, TX 78666

Mailing Address

Hays County Jail
1307 Uhland Road
San Marcos, TX 78666

Inmate Mailing Address

The mailing address for the Hays County Jail is:

Inmate Name and Inmate SPIN Number

Hays County Jail
1307 Uhland Road
San Marcos, TX 78666

Inmates at the Hays County Jail are allowed liberal mail privileges.  They can write to anyone as often as they want to, as long as they do not violate any applicable U.S. Postal Regulations.  In addition, inmates can get incoming mail as long as the mail complies with U.S. Postal Regulations, jail rules, and state or federal laws.

Inmates cannot receive any contraband in the mail.  To find out information about what is considered contraband, consult the Hays County Jail Policy Manual.  All incoming inmate mail is opened and inspected for contraband before it is provided to the inmates. 

Inmates cannot receive personal property in the mail.  However, if an inmate needs clothing for court for a jury trial, they can get their court clothes.  These should be delivered in person, not by mail.  Inmates who are going to be released and do not have clothing for when they are released will be issued clothing.

If an inmate has personal property that needs to be picked up from the jail, the designated person can pick it up from 8:00am to 4:00pm Monday through Friday, except for county holidays.  Any property that is released must be pursuant to a property release card, filled out by the inmate, and indicating who will receive the property.  The person picking up the property must provide a valid state-issued form of identification in order to get the property.  If an inmate is transferred to another facility that will not take personal property, they have 30 days to have a designated individual pick up the property before it will be destroyed.

Phone Number

The main phone number for the Hays County Jail is 512-393-7800.  The numbers to call for bond information are 512-393-7807 and 512-393-7690.  Jail records is 512-393-7832.  Visitation is 512-393-7366.  The Chaplain’s number is 512-393-7862.

Hays County Inmate Search

Hays County Jail does not maintain an online inmate roster, but you can call the jail at 512-393-7832 to ask if a defendant is in custody at the Hays County Jail.

Jail Bookings/ Recent Arrests

The Hays County Jail does not maintain a public online blotter describing recent arrests or bookings.  You can contact the jail at 512-393-7832 to find out if a person has recently been booked at the jail.

Hays County Jail Mugshots

The Hays County Jail does not have an online mugshot/ booking photo database.  However, you may be able to access inmate mugshots through the Texas Public Information Act.  The Texas Public Information Act means that a governmental body has to provide certain public information after getting a written request for that information.  However, public information requests are not considered official unless they are provided in written format.  Only a written request will trigger a governmental body’s obligations under the Public Information Act.

Jail Visitation

The Hays County Jail has both remote and on-site visitation.

Children under the age of 17 are considered minors for the purposes of visitation and may only visit if accompanied by a parent, legal guardian, or attorney.  Adult visitors are required to show a state-issued identification card or a driver’s license as proof of identification for visits.  Inmates get two 20-minute on-site visits each week.  There is a max of 3 visitors at any time, including children.

On-site visitation days are Monday, Thursday, and Friday.  Visitation on those days is from 8:00am to 10:00am and from 12:00pm to 4:00pm.  There is also visitation on Tuesdays.  Visitation on Tuesday is from 12:00pm to 4:00pm and 6:00pm to 8:00pm.  There is no visitation on holidays.    Visitors must arrive no later than 30 minutes before the end of the visitation period, and visits will end on time, even if they started late.

Off-site video visitation is offered through Securus Tech.  It is Sunday through Saturday, from 7:30am to 9:00pm.  You must schedule them in advance and can do that at the Securus website at https://www.securustech.net/web/securus/friends.

Visitation is considered a privilege, not a right.  The Hays County Sheriff’s Office can supervise visitation any way it chooses to do so.  They can end a particular visit or keep visitors from using the system in the future.  They can also make decisions about on-site visitation based on remote site visitation behavior.  However, attorneys are allowed to visit as long they can show proper identification.

Video visitation visitors must be at least 17 years, provide proof of ID during the registration process, and be approved through the registration process.  Approvals can take 24 to 48 hours.  Video visits are 25 minutes in length.  Inmates can have up to two off-site video visits per day.  Video visits are recorded and may be monitored.  The visitor and the inmate have to be present at the start of the scheduled visitation time.  Visitors who sign in late will not get any additional time.

Visitors cannot be nude or wear inappropriate clothing during the visit.  Inappropriate clothing includes clothing that is tight-fitting or provocative.  Visitors under the influence of alcohol or drugs will not be permitted to visit.  Visitors cannot display drugs, drug paraphernalia, with gang signs, symbols, or colors.  Visitors under the age of 17 have to have parents or guardians present during off-site visits.  Any type of disruptive behavior is not allowed.  Damaging or defacing any of the video equipment can result in prosecution.  Any problems with the audio or video reception can be resolved by Securus Video Visitation on their web site or by calling 800-844-6591.

Inmate Phone Privileges

Hays County Jail inmates are permitted to make outgoing phone calls, but cannot receive incoming phone calls.  Inmate outgoing phone calls are collect calls or chargeable to inmate phone accounts.

Not all phone service providers will permit collect calls to their numbers.  While most landlines can be configured to accept phone calls, many cell phone providers simply do not allow that function.  Therefore, it may be important for an inmate to set up a calling account or use phone cards in order to place outgoing phone calls from the jail.

Jail phone calls can be monitored or recorded.  While the content of conversations is not usually enough to get an inmate’s jail privileges revoked or to cause the phone call to be terminated, there could be some content that results in punishment or revocation of privileges. For example, planning a jail break during a phone call would be considered prohibited behavior.  In addition, there are some behaviors that can result in immediate termination of the jail phone call. These include attempts to use call features such as call-waiting or three-way calling.  Inmates can only speak to people at the numbers that they call and no recipient of a jail phone call should attempt to transfer the phone call to any other party.

Collect and non-collect phone calls from the jail will be identified as jail phone calls by a recording at the beginning of the call. The recipient will then be given the option to accept or reject the jail phone call.  Accepting a collect phone call not only means accepting the call, but also financial responsibility for any charges related to the phone call.  If you do not want to be on an inmate’s phone call list, it is possible to block calls from the jail.  Contact the Hays County Jail directly to discuss how to block jail phone calls, removing blocks on phone calls, or to report harassing or abusive phone calls from an inmate.  Furthermore, if there are restraining or protective orders in place between the parties, an inmate may be prohibited from making certain phone calls.

Inmates are permitted to make free calls to a single designated attorney number.  To activate the free call option for attorney phone calls, the inmate needs to select one business phone number to put on the call list.  The inmate asks the attorney to make the request.  Inmate requests for the free call list are directed to Lieutenant John Saenz and can be emailed to him at [email protected].  The requests should be made on letterhead and should include a copy of the attorney’s driver’s license and BAR card.  Free calls are limited to 20 minutes each.  They are not recorded.

Inmate Commissary / Send Money

The Hays County Jail takes deposits for inmate accounts in several different ways.  You can mail money orders through the U.S. Mail Postal Service.  Money orders must have the inmate’s full name, and the sheriff’s personal identification number (SPIN).  This information helps ensure that the money will be processed and credited to the correct account.  For commissary to be available for commissary, they must be received by 8:00am on Monday morning.  Deposits can also be online or by phone.  Phone deposits can be made by calling 866-345-1884.  Internet deposits can be made by visiting www.accesscorrections.com.

Commissary forms are processed on Tuesday mornings.  There are no refunds for commissary purchases.  Inmates who place orders and are released before they get their orders can have someone claim their orders within 7 days of their departure date.

Bail Information

When a prisoner goes to jail, the first thing that they encounter is the booking process.  Booking is a detailed procedure that lets an inmate be part of the jail facility.  Booking includes completing the arrest report, fingerprinting, and photographing the inmate.  It can take a varying amount of time to book a prisoner, depending on several factors, which include how cooperative the inmate is being, whether the inmate is intoxicated or otherwise impaired during the booking process, and how many inmates are being processed.  Inmates are processed in the order they are brought into the Hays County Jail.

Once inmates have been booked into the facility, they are brought before a magistrate for a process known as magistration.  Magistration is the procedure of charging a defendant in front of a magistrate.  The magistrate then informs the defendant of his or her rights, the charges against them, and the Bail amount, if applicable.

Bail refers to the security a defendant must give to ensure that he will appear before court and otherwise comply with any conditions of pretrial release.  In Texas, defendants can post a cash bond or use a surety known as a bail bondsman to provide the bail to the jail.  A cash bond is payment of the full amount of the bail.  The defendant and the court enter into an agreement for the defendant to appear in court or forfeit the full amount of the cash bond.

A surety bond is when the defendant, the court, and a bail bondman all enter into an agreement.  The defendant pays the bail bondsman a fee (usually a percentage of the bond amount).  In return, the bail bondsman promises the court that the defendant will appear at trial.  If the defendant fails to appear, the bail bondsman owes the court the full amount of the cash bail.  The defendant may also owe the bail bondsman money if the defendant fails to appear.

In Hays County, the Hays County Bail Bond Board is responsible for licensing and overseeing different bail bonds companies in Hays County.  If you have complaints about any bail bondsman in Hays County, you can contact this board with those complaints.

If you have questions about bail in Hays County, you can contact the Hays County District Clerk at 512-393-7660 or the Hays County Clerk at 512-393-7738.

Conclusion

The Hays County Jail is the local jail facility for Hays County.  It is part of the Hay’s County Sheriff’s Office.  The Hays County Sheriff’s Office is a medium-sized sheriff’s office, when compared to other counties in Texas, with around 350 employees that are a mix of civilians and law enforcement officers.

The Hays Count Sheriff is Gary Cutler.  Sheriff Cutler has been the Sheriff of Hays county since November 2010.  Prior to becoming sheriff, he spent almost 40 years in law enforcement, including time at the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.    Sheriff Cutler grew up in Hutchins.  He attended Sam Houston State University, where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice.  He began working with the Travis County Sheriff’s Office in 1974.  He quickly rose to the rank of Captain.  While with Travis County, Cutler performed various different positions.  These included jailer, patrolman, criminal investigations detective, fugitive warrant deputy, mental health deputy, and Captain of Investigation and Process.  While he was the Captain, he was responsible for supervising a variety of different divisions at Travis County, including courthouse security, narcotics, evidence, special weapons and tactics (SWAT), crime scene investigations, the training academy, victim assistance, and the Criminal Investigations Division.

 


Year Built or Opened: 1885 Warden or Supervisor: Jail Admin Capt. Julie Villalpando Total Capacity: 362 Security Level(s): minimum - medium

1307 Uhland Road
San Marcos, TX 78666

Phone Number(s): 512-393-7800
Email Address: [email protected]

1307 Uhland Road
San Marcos, TX 78666