Texas Jails & Prisons

Finding someone

TDCJ inmate search

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice publishes a public inmate search covering people in TDCJ custody. Search by TDCJ number, SID number, or name. County jail populations are held separately.

Open the official agency page →

Phone calls

Phone calls from Texas prisons (Texas Offender Telephone System)

TDCJ phone service runs on the Texas Offender Telephone System, operated by Securus. Before you can receive a call you must register your number — online at texasprisonphone.com (you will need the inmate's TDCJ ID number) or by phone at (866) 806-7804. You must be at least 18, be the registered owner of the line, and the name on your driver license or state ID must match the telephone listing. TDCJ does not publish a per-minute rate on its own page; reporting by the Texas Tribune in July 2024 put it at 6 cents per minute since 2018, with the FCC's 2024 order setting a lower ceiling for audio calls at large facilities from January 1, 2025 — treat those figures as indicative and confirm the current rate before relying on it. Phones are available 5:00 a.m. to midnight, calls are limited to 30 minutes, and you must be on the inmate's Approved Calling List. Three-way calls, call forwarding, and speakerphone are prohibited and can cost the inmate phone privileges.

Provider: Securus Technologies

Open the official Securus Technologies page →

Sending money

Sending money to a Texas prison — two free routes, two different PO boxes

Texas is one of the few states with genuinely free deposit routes, and they lead this list. Free route one: a money order or cashier's check made payable to 'Inmate Trust Fund for Offender Name and Number', mailed to Inmate Trust Fund, PO Box 60, Huntsville, TX 77342-0060. Free route two: TDCJ's ACH plan, an automatic monthly debit taken on or around the 5th and credited on or around the 10th — but the ACH authorization form and voided check go to a different address, PO Box 629, Huntsville, TX 77342-0629. Two boxes, two purposes; sending one to the other delays it. Fee-charging vendors, if you need speed: Access Corrections (1-866-345-1884, or cash at Dollar General with a CashPayToday barcode), eCommDirect at texas.gov, JPay (1-800-574-5729, or cash at MoneyGram), TouchPay (tdcjpayment.com, 1-877-868-5358), and ACE Cash Express (1-866-734-2306). Never send cash or stamps. Trust fund questions: (936) 438-8990.

Provider: Multiple (Access Corrections, ACE, eCommDirect, JPay, TouchPay)

Open the official Multiple (Access Corrections, ACE, eCommDirect, JPay, TouchPay) page →

Mail and photos

Mail to Texas prisons goes to Dallas — but books and legal mail go to the unit

TDCJ general correspondence is digitized: letters, greeting cards, drawings, and photos go to Texas Department of Criminal Justice, [inmate's full name + TDCJ number], PO Box 660400, Dallas, TX 75266-0400 — not to the unit. Securus scans them and the inmate reads them on a tablet or kiosk within three business days; the service is free for both sender and inmate. The split matters: legal mail, media correspondence, and books, magazines, and packages from verified publishers are NOT scanned — those still go physically to the unit address. So a letter mailed to the unit gets delayed or returned, and a book mailed to Dallas goes nowhere. Correspondence rules live in TDCJ Board Policy BP-03.91. Securus digital-mail support: (800) 844-6591.

Provider: Securus (digital mail scanning)

Open the official Securus (digital mail scanning) page →

Planning a visit

Visiting a Texas prison: form RO-1, ten names, two hours

Two gates before any TDCJ visit: you must be on the inmate's Visitors List, and you should confirm the unit's schedule before you travel, since unit-wide cancellations are posted on the TDCJ homepage. The inmate starts the list using form RO-1, submitting up to 10 proposed visitors with each person's physical address, phone number, and relationship — a visitor cannot request to be added. Names can be added or deleted only once every 60 days, so start early. A regular visiting period is two hours, and each inmate is allowed only one visit per weekend, so coordinate with the others on the list or someone will be turned away at the gate. Bring a current government-issued photo ID and follow the posted dress code. Whether a visit is contact or general (non-contact) depends on the inmate's custody classification, not your preference. Securus video visitation is separate: 60-minute sessions at $10.00, one per month.

Open the official agency page →