Main Areas You May Have To Deal With



Banking – This department used to physically receive commissary money for inmates.  Depositing money into an inmate’s commissary account is now done through various other means. If you call for information about depositing money you will probably get transferred to Banking. The clerks there are efficient and they can give you information but they are used to dealing with inmates.  Don’t be surprised if they treat you like one also. Save yourself some frustration. Go to the section “Money for Commissary” to get all the information you’ll need.

Central Records – Dealing with this department is pretty much a necessity.  They are the main ones that will give you information such as if someone is in jail, what the charges are and what their SID number is.  They are a mixed bag as far as what you can expect.  To their credit it seems they are the only ones at the Sheriff’s Office that understand and are not intimidated by an open records request.  To their detriment if you ask five different people in Central Records the same question you will get five different answers.

Front Desk – Sincerely hope that you do not have to deal with the front desk officers.  To begin with they won’t answer the phone.  When they do they can be abrupt and rude.  Unfortunately it seems there are questions that only they can answer.  If you must deal with them call at a time when visitation is not on.  You may have better luck then.

P.R. Bonds – (personal recognizance) is not part of the Sheriff’s Office.  They are actually a function of the Courthouse.  They do have a close relationship with the jail since they interview newly arrested people to see if they will qualify for a P.R. Bond.  They are very efficient but have a huge workload so don’t expect a friendly attitude.

Match/Patch – This program allows inmates to have some contact with their children to help them with their parenting skills.  It is a model program used by facilities across the country.

17 thoughts on “Main Areas You May Have To Deal With

  1. Theresa

    How can we find out who’s his court appointed attorney? Because my son has a court date on the 18th of this month and hasn’t even seen or talk to his lawyer.

    • admin

      Theresa – You can call the call the court that his case is being tried in. They will have that information. If you don’t know which court he is in, you can call the Central Records department at the Bexar County Jail. Their number is 210-335-6201 (they’re a 24×7 office).

  2. Theresa

    Thanks for the info. My son did find out who his lawyer is, but apparently his lawyer is confessed w/ his case. My son tried to explain but he won’t listen. Now is it possible to get another lawyer this late before his court date. Either he didn’t care, which most lawyer don’t, or he really didn’t understand his case. But either way, he should of stay and listen. Apparently he’s never deal w/ a concern mother.

    • admin

      Theresa – It’s not easy to get a new court appointed attorney. There would have to be some pretty serious negligence on his part. If you feel you have a valid complaint against an attorney you should speak to the court clerk where your son’s case is assigned.

  3. Terri

    I can not believe visitation took me 8 hrs and I still didnt get to see my son. I got there at 6:30am and by 2:00 I was told it was shift change and would be another hour and a half. I feel like it is an indirect way of denying the inmates visitation by making it as inconvenient and difficult as they can so family doesn’t come back. How do they continue to get away with this? Along with how little they feed the inmates. Bexar county has a reputation of not feeding them enough and inmates lose weight because the calorie intake is not enough to even maintain body weight. How and who would I submit a complaint through and will it do any good

    • admin

      Terri – The jail currently has three shifts; 7 – 3, 3 – 11, 11 – 7. Before each shift takes over there is a head count to make sure all inmates that are supposed to be there, are there. To do this inmates can not be moving from place to place otherwise it is too easy to mess-up the count. This time frame is called the freeze and is usually called about 45 minutes before the shift ends but they are getting people situated a little before that. You can call the Sheriff’s Office with complaints at 210-335-6010 but we doubt it will do any good particularly with this current sheriff.

  4. Joan

    I would like to file a complaint about a prison bus that was traveling on the interstate this morning. Who/Where should I direct this complaint????

  5. Genevieve

    Is there a way to find out about an inmate I was unable to visit this past week but my son calls on a regular basis and I have not heard from him in a week. There is money on the phone card. Would I be notified if he was ill or injured? Are there reasons for phone privileges to be taken away. Is there a number to call just to find out this information or to find out if they are ok?
    Reply appreciated. Thank you

    • admin

      Genevieve – The loss of privileges is one of the things used to keep inmates behaving. It is completely possible that your son could have lost his phone privilege. You could try calling the Front Desk at 210-335-6300 to ask if he is on some kind of restriction but they are also the officers that handle visitation. They are very busy and don’t always answer the phone.

    • admin

      Grace – A head count is done periodically throughout the day. All inmate movement is stopped so they don’t double count anyone. This is a way to ensure they have the right amount of people they are supposed to have. If the count is wrong they keep the freeze on while they try to figure out where the problem is. But we are told that it doesn’t have to be an inmate count that causes the freeze to be called. Various maintenance issues can cause it too.

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