Facility Information

The Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility is the local jail facility for Hidalgo County, Texas.  Operated by the Hidalgo County Sheriff, this facility holds those adults who have been detained by the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Department, other local law enforcement agencies, state law enforcement agencies, and federal law enforcement agencies.

The Hidalgo County Adult Detention is primarily a pre-trial detention facility, but inmates may also be held at the facility after conviction while awaiting sentencing, to serve a sentence, when being transferred to or from other facilities, or while being held in order to attend a court date.  It is an adults-only facility; children are not held at the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility.

The Hidalgo County Sheriff is J.E. “Eddie” Guerra.  Sheriff Guerra is an elected official.  He is also a commissioned law enforcement officer.  According to Sheriff Guerra, the mission of the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office is to provide a sense of security for the people in Hidalgo County by protecting life and property, reducing opportunities for crime and disorder, enforcing the law, and providing the other police-related services that are needed by the community.  The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office works in partnership with other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to address crime and disorder.

While the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility houses primarily male inmates, it is designed to hold inmates of both genders.  You can find adult female and male inmates in Hidalgo County at the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility.

Given its location, the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Department works hand-in-hand with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  If an inmate is determined to be an illegal alien who has committed a crime while in the United States, ICE generally begins removal proceedings against the alien, to have him or her removed to the country of origin.  ICE may take possession of an inmate, removing the inmate from the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility.  In those instances, to find out information about an inmate, you would need to contact ICE.  You can sign up for their victim notification system, or contact them via phone at 866-872-4973.

Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility Addresses

Physical Address

Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility
711 El Cibolo Road
Edinburg, TX 78451

Mailing Address

Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility
711 El Cibolo Road
Edinburg, TX 78541

Inmate Mailing Address

Inmate Name
c/o Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility
711 El Cibolo Road
Edinburg, TX 78541

Hidalgo County does not list its mail rules on any public website.  Therefore, because mail rules are constantly subject to change, you should contact the jail facility before sending any mail that might be prohibited.  Generally, inmate mail that is limited to plain or lined paper, blue or black ink, with no adornments of any kind, and with a full return address, properly addressed to the inmate, should be permissible.

The following rules apply to inmate mail, in general, and almost certainly apply to mail sent to inmates at the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility:

All mail must be addressed to the inmate to whom it is sent; mail cannot be transferred from one inmate to another, nor can mail to multiple inmates be contained in the same envelope.

All mail must have a complete recipient address; if the intended recipient cannot be determined from the address, then the mail will be returned to sender.

Inmates cannot send mail to other inmates at the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility, and may be prohibited from receiving mail from inmates in other correctional facilities or from those who have been recently incarcerated in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility.  If any of those circumstances apply to you, contact the jail prior to sending mail to an inmate.  The jail may make exceptions for family members.

Mail should not contain any extra marking or drawings on the envelope. Only plain letters on plain paper should be included in inmate mail.  Snippets of published materials should not be included in the mail.  To send published materials to an inmate, you need to contact the publisher or an authorized reseller to have them ship the material directly to the inmate.

The content of inmate mail is important.  No content that could be considered inflammatory or dangerous should be sent to the jail.  This includes, but is not limited to, content that: is sexually explicit, pornographic, or obscene; is racist, advocates for the separation of races, advocates violence against members of a certain race, or promotes the superiority of one race over others; is violent, incites violence, or includes details or plans for violence; is gang-related; is an escape plan or provides information that could be used in an escape plan.

Inmates cannot receive mail that is not plain letters or greeting cards.  This includes cards with musical or moving parts, stickers, stamps, glue, or any foreign substances like perfume, lipstick, or bodily fluids. Inmates should receive mail in plain envelopes, not bubble envelopes or padded envelopes.

Inmates cannot receive contraband.  Contraband includes items like weapons, food, drugs (including prescription and over-the-counter medications), alcohol, cell phones, and cigarettes.  However, the list of contraband items may also include things that inmates could use to create weapons or that might otherwise disrupt the jail environment.  Sending contraband to an inmate can subject both the intended recipient and the sender to consequences ranging from suspension of mail privileges up to criminal prosecution.

Phone Numbers

The Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility’s phone number is: 956-381-7900.  The phone number to the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office is 956-383-8114.  The fax number to the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office is 956-393-6179.  Non-emergency calls to the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office will be answered during normal business hours, which are Monday-Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm.

As with most jail facilities, inmates at the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility are not allowed to receive incoming phone calls.  Calls to the jail should be limited to people seeking information about the jail and the inmates.      Inmates cannot receive incoming phone calls.

Hidalgo County Inmate Search

The Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility does not maintain the same type of jail roster that you find in many local jail facilities.  Instead, it maintains a broader cite for records searches in Hidalgo County, known as the Hidalgo County Records Inquiry.  At this website, you can find links to searches in Hidalgo County.  Once you are at that site, you can choose the jail records option.  This option brings you to a search engine, where you can look for people’s jail records.  You can search by defendant last name, defendant first name, defendant middle name, date of birth, booking date, and release date.  At a minimum, you must have the inmate’s first and last name.  If you do not know the inmate’s first name, you can enter a first initial and get all of the results for inmates with that last name and names that begin with that first initial.

Once you have entered your search terms, the jail records will pull up a list of possible matches for your search.  You can then select the matches to look at more extensive records for each inmate.  The records include information such as: name, any known aliases, so#, address, a physical description of the inmate, hair color, eye color, a straight-on booking photo/ mugshot, a profile mugshot/booking photo, charges against the inmate, warrant number if applicable, the issuing or arresting authority, the offense date, the bond amount and type of bond, any fines or court costs, and the disposition of the inmate’s case.

Inmate Bookings / Recent Arrests

Hidalgo County does not have a recent arrest of booking roster.  However, it has both a jail records and a jail bond records roster.  You can search jail records by name and a booking date range to determine when inmates were arrested, but you cannot search solely by booking date to create your own inmate roster.  If you believe an inmate may have been booked and then released, you can search in the bond records to see if the inmate bonded out.

Mugshots

Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility does not maintain a booking photos/mugshots database.  However, there are booking photos in the detailed files in the jail records. 

Facility Visitation

The Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility seeks to encourage family members and friends to visit inmates in the facility.  It is well-established that visitation helps an inmate maintain his or her ties with the community, which can be critical in any rehabilitation efforts.  However, visitation poses security risks for the jail.  This means that visitors and inmates must follow strict rules for visitation or else they could have their visitation rights terminated.

Hidalgo County Jail’s visitation rules are:

All visitors must be on the inmate’s approved visitation list.  Inmates fill out their visitor list during their initial intake process, and can update the list after six months of incarceration.  Inmates must have your full name and date of birth for visitation list.  If the inmate does not have that information, you can verify the information when you come to visit.

If an inmate has been moved to a new cell, and was not moved for rule violations, you can still visit at the designated time for the old visitation.  If it was for a rule violation, then you have to visit at the new time and date.

All visitors must be 17 years or older.  Anyone under 17 years is considered a child.  Children can only visit on children’s week. There is a children’s week every month at the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center, and it is the first complete week of the month that starts on Friday and ends on Monday.

All visitors 17 and older must present a valid photo identification.  The following types of identification are considered valid photo identifications: state driver license issued by the State Department of Public Safety (DPS); Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS; Texas personal identification card issued by DPS; Texas license to carry a handgun issued by DPS; United States military identification card containing the person’s photograph; United States citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph; United States passport; and any foreign government-issued ID.  If an adult does not have any of those forms of ID, they can present: a valid voter registration certificate or utility bill.

All visitors will be searched and required to pass through a metal detector.  The jail may also use electronic detection devices or canines.

Inmates get a minimum of two-twenty minute visits each week.  At least one of those visitation periods will be during evenings or weekends.  Time can be split between approved visits, but time will not be stopped or paused during the switch.

Any visitors, including children, who fail to listen to staff directives, or who is disruptive and presents improper conduct, can have a visit stopped and may have their visiting privileges provoked.

The following items are prohibited in the visitation area and should be left in your car: cell phones, tablets, computers, cameras, recording devices, electronic devices, matches, any type of weapon, food, drinks, purses or bags, lighters, and tobacco.

All children must be attended and under an adult visitor’s control at all times. 

Visitors cannot smoke in the facility.

No weapons should be brought in any of the facility grounds.

Visits will be denied on the following grounds: the visitor has a record of disruptive conduct; the visitor is under the influence of drugs or alcohol; the visitor refuses to submit to a search; the visitor refuses to show proper identification; the visitor is directly related to the inmate’s criminal behavior; the visitor is on probation or parole; the visit would be detrimental to the inmate’s rehabilitation; the visitor is a gang member or gang associate; the visitor has an arrest warrant; or the visitor has been incarcerated in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility.

All visitors must adhere to a dress code, which is strictly enforced.  Visits will be denied if the visitor is not in compliance with the dress code.  The following items are prohibited: clothing with offensive of profane language; short-shorts of short-skirts; steel toed boots or shoes; revealing gang tattoos; shoulder-revealing clothing; clothing that exposes the midriff, back, shoulders, upper chest, thighs, or other large areas of clothing; tight fitting clothes; spandex; leggings; tank tops; tube tops; and see-through or sheer clothing.

Inmate Phone Privileges

The Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility does not publish its phone rules online.  However, according to GlobalTel, they provide phone services for inmates at the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility.  Inmates cannot receive incoming phone calls.  However, if you have a legitimate emergency and need to have an inmate return your phone call, you can call the jail and talk to the duty supervisor.  The supervisor may relay a message to the inmate.  However, the decision whether or not to do so is completely at the discretion of the jail supervisor.

Inmate Trust Accounts / Commissary

The Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility maintains inmate trust accounts.  Inmates can use the funds in these accounts to make commissary purchases.  These purchases may also be known as canteen.  Commissary is a way for inmates to purchase items that are not supplied by the jail.  Some of these items may include: clothing, recreational items, food, and hygiene items.  To make deposits into an inmate’s trust account, you can bring cash, money orders, cashier’s checks, and credit cards to the jail.  You can also mail money orders and cashier’s checks for deposit on an inmate’s account.  To find out more about how to mail money to inmates, contact the jail. 

Bail Information

You can find bond information for inmates at its public record page, by visiting the jail records or the jail bond records roster.  You can find out the amount of bond at either of those sites, as well as the type of bond.  Cash bonds can be paid in full.  You can also secure the services of a bail bondsman.  A bail bondsman will charge a percentage of the bond, which is not refundable, and in exchange for that fee, guarantees that the defendant will appear at trial.  The Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center cannot recommend a bail bondsman, but you can find them in the Yellow Pages.

Conclusion

The Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility is run by the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, which is under the control of Sheriff J.E. “Eddie” Guerra.  Located at 711 El Cibolo Road in Edinburg, Texas, the jail is the local jail for Hidalgo County, Texas.  The jail’s phone number is 956-381-7900.  The phone number to the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office is 956-383-8114.