Holding Cells



When a person gets arrested he is kept in a holding cell.  This is the same at the Jail and at the Magistrate’s Office.  The inmate is brought out of the cells to see a magistrate, to get interviewed by P.R. Bonds, to get fingerprinted, medical screening and various other functions.  There are more processes for someone who gets committed to the jail than there are for someone who is being booked in and then out at the Magistrate’s Office.   When the inmate is finished with whatever part of the process he was in he is returned to the holding cell to wait until he is needed for another part of the process.

An inmate cannot receive calls when in a holding cell.  There are phones they can use to call out but they are collect calls.  An inmate can spend a long time in the holding area.  They do have access to a toilet in each cell and they are fed on the same schedule as the rest of the jail, that is three meals a day with no more than 12 hours between any two meals.  A location number will not be available for an inmate until he is booked in on the computers.

Don’t bother asking to be transferred to Booking to speak to an inmate or asking for a message to be given to an inmate.  It’s not going to happen.

14 thoughts on “Holding Cells

  1. renee

    I put up money for my daughter to get to talk to me while in
    the holding cell, but they never told her, I would like my
    money back,but I don’t have the number anymore, they said to call 211- a word I can’t remember,please can you help

    • admin

      Renee – The phone system for the jail is handled by ICSolutions. Their number is 1-888-506-8407. If they are not where you put money then maybe you actually put money into her commissary account. You can try calling Banking at 210-335-6287.

  2. Victoria

    Is the holding cell the same thing as wen they hold someone to be picked up from another county? Do they have phones? Is this room separated from the actual inmate cells at bexar county

    • admin

      Victoria – The holding cells are in booking. They are not the same as the living unit cells. Yes they have phones in them.

  3. Mj

    My son went to T.D.C. and came bk after 5months went to court and was granted shock probation,including 4 mo. in a place called MIOF. Hes been in Bexar county jail, going on 2 months TIME that IS Not counting towards his Probation conditions because there are no beds available! Besides he has his Dr.s out here for treatments. I wrote to the Judge twice to let him know whats going on, but who else can I talk to??

    • admin

      MJ – We understand how frustrating this is for the family. Bed space in the treatment facilities is very limited. You need to speak to your son’s attorney to see what can be done.

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    • admin

      Adrian – We don’t know of any online access to those pictures but you can make an open records request for a picture.

      We would like to ask our readers to help spread the word about our website. Please recommend us to people you know. Thank you.

  4. Dusty

    How soon once person has been booked Will you be able to post bond or pick them up is there a set time they let them walk out or just whenever

    • admin

      Dusty – A lot depends on how many people they have to process. If a person who is drunk is taken in then there is time waiting for them to be sober enough to understand what is going on. There is no set time.

      We would like to ask our readers to help spread the word about our website. Please recommend us to people you know. Thank you.

  5. Laura

    My husband is in on a transfer from comal couny he is in the magistrate holding cell he called me at 9pm an stated that the phones were getting shut off when did they start that process?

    • admin

      Laura – We don’t believe the policy has changed but we have heard that there have been some repairs or something that have been going on and that the power or some systems are getting shut off. We don’t know if that’s what is happening here but it is a possibility. To our readers, have any of you heard anything? If so, we’d like to know.

      We would like to ask our readers to help spread the word about our website. Please recommend us to people you know. Thank you.

    • admin

      Debora – Sorry we weren’t able to answer for a while. We didn’t have power. The jail maintained power but they did have water issues. For a while, inmates could not flush toilets and were not given water to drink. Currently they have water but my understanding is that the pressure is still low. Like everyone else, they had to come up with workarounds for things but at least they stayed warm.

      We would like to ask our readers to help spread the word about our website. Please recommend us to people you know. Thank you.

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