Harrison County Arrest Records

Harrison County Arrest Records are legal documents created when an individual has been taken into custody and booked into a jail facility’s database. An arrest is needed when a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that an individual committed a crime or has broken a statute. After a person is arrested in Harrison County, they are taken to one of two facilities: the Main Jail or the Jail Annex. The Harrison County Sheriff's Office oversees both facilities and is responsible for documenting arrestees and creating their arrest record.

Local Police departments in the county and the Texas Department of Public Safety also collect and maintain arrest records at the county and state level respectively. Arrest records along with other documents on the proceedings of the case make up Harrison County Court Records. As both are public records, they are publicly available for inspection and copying through the appropriate record custodian.

Are Arrest Records Public in Harrison County?

Yes. The Texas Government Code Section 552.021, considers documents created or filed by public officials and employees as public records and mandates that they be made publicly available for inspection and copying. Arrest records are considered public records and so they can be accessed by anyone through a background check or criminal history check unless the record is otherwise legally restricted or exempted from public disclosure. Some arrest records may be restricted from public view if they compromise the safety of persons involved in the case or the integrity of an ongoing case. To be eligible to access these records, the requester would require a court order to present to the records custodians. Examples of cases that are restricted from public view include the following:

• Information on juvenile cases
• Information on witnesses, informants, or victims
• Personal information (bank account numbers, passwords, health information, etc)
• Information on cases still undergoing investigation

What Do Public Arrest Records Contain?

Information on a public arrest record typically includes the following:

• Full name of the arrestee
• Date of birth of the arrestee
• Physical description of the arrestee (height, weight, hair and eye color)
• Mugshot
• Arrest information (date, time, location, arresting agency, arresting officer)
• Charge information (alleged crime, classification of charge, violated statute of law)
• Booking information (booking number, date, time, holding facility)
• Case information (case number, court with jurisdiction, scheduled court date)#
• Bail or bond information (bail amount, condition of bail)

The Harrison County Arrest Statistics

According to data from the 2023 Index Crime Statistics by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Harrison County recorded a total of 242 arrests. The most popular crimes resulting in arrests were larceny with 118 arrests, burglary with 64 arrests, and aggravated assault with 41 arrests.

Find Harrison County Arrest Records

There are several state and federal resources for obtaining Harrison County arrest records and they include the following:

• Texas Department of Public Safety (TXDPS): The TXDPS manages state-wide criminal records including arrest reports and makes them available through several avenues on their website. The Criminal History Conviction Name Search allows individuals who have registered on the platform to conduct a name-based search of arrest records in their database. The TXDPS also offers fingerprint-based criminal history checks and maintains a searchable database of sex offenders in the state.
• Federal Bureau of Prisons: The Federal Bureau of Prisons manages the Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator, an online tool for searching for federal inmates. Arrest records of individuals who have been incarcerated from 1982 to the present are discoverable by search. An arrest record search can be conducted using the incarcerated person’s inmate number or name.
• Sheriff’s Office and Local Police Departments: Records of local arrest records that occured within Harrison County can be obtained from the Harrison County Sheriff's Office or local police departments as long as the records have neither been restricted nor impede ongoing investigations. These records can be obtained by phone, fax, or by visiting the facility in person. The contact information of the Sheriff's Office is as follows:

Harrison County Sheriff’s Office
Sheriff: Brandon ‘BJ’ Fletcher 200 West Houston
Marshall, TX, 75670
Phone: (903) 923-4000
Fax: (903) 935-4884

Free Arrest Record Search in Harrison County

Individuals who want to conduct a free arrest record search can do so using state and local websites. They can also search local arrest records custodian's website by making a mail request or visiting their office in person to complete a search. It is usually free to conduct a record search with these custodians but charges may apply for making copies of the records or certifying the record.

Third-party websites also offer free search services for their database for interested individuals to retrieve arrest records. They usually serve as a consolidated resource containing arrest records from various counties and various states across the United States, including high makes it easier and faster to obtain diverse public records. They may however pay to access the full resource and may also not be as up-to-date as records from official government sources.

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

Indefinitely. In Texas, an arrest, conviction, or charge will stay on a person’s record forever unless otherwise expunged or sealed. Whether or not the charge against the individual is dropped, records of the charge can be found anytime someone conducts a background. This may affect an individual’s chances with landlords, and certification bodies. Although expunction laws are absolute, Texas also has a retention schedule that lists the document retention duration of various records before they are discarded.

Expunge Harrison County Arrest Records

Expungement eligibility varies from case to case in Texas, meaning that not all crimes or charges can be expunged. Chapter 55 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure governs the expunction process and defines the eligibility criteria that an individual must meet before they can petition for an expunction.

To expunge a Harrison County arrest record, The criteria that need to be met to qualify for expungement are as follows:

• The arrest did not lead to a conviction
• The charges were dismissed
• The specific waiting period for the arrest or conviction has elapsed
• There are no pending criminal charges on record
• There are no prior expungements on record

Before beginning their expunction process, individuals first have to ensure that their crime is eligible for expungement. Next, they fill out the appropriate expunction request form for their case and submit it to the Harrison County Courthouse for review. If the judge grants the order for the expunged charge, a signed copy of the expunction order is sent to record custodians to destroy the expunged charge. If the judge denies the expunction request, the individual can appeal the decision.

Harrison County Arrest Warrants

A Harrison County Arrest Warrant is a court or judge-issued legal document that gives law enforcement officers the authority to arrest an individual under suspicion of committing a crime. Arrest warrants are not determinants of guilt but are instead court orders that accuse a person of breaking the law and needing to be taken into custody to face their charges. Arrest warrants are typically issued for one of the following reasons:

• For failure to appear for a summons or scheduled hearing
• For breaking parole or probation

An arrest warrant is issued when there is probable cause to believe that the individual named in the warrant committed a crime. The process of obtaining an arrest warrant begins with an investigation by law enforcement officers and the gathering of evidence to support their case against the individual. The law enforcement officer or a prosecutor then presents this evidence before a judge, establishing a probable case of the person committing the crime. If convinced, the judge signs off on the warrant and authorizes the law enforcement officer to execute it.

Arrest warrants in Texas typically contain the following information

• The name of the individual to be arrested
• A Description of the alleged crime
• The signature of the magistrate or judge issuing the warrant
• Date the warrant was issued
• Arrest instructions to the law enforcement agency executing the warrant

Do Harrison County Arrest Warrants Expire?

No, arrest warrants do not expire as they have no statute of limitations in Harrison County. This means that when an arrest warrant is issued, it will remain active indefinitely until the person named on it is arrested, or dead or if the warrant is recalled. Other factors that may delay or otherwise affect the execution of an arrest warrant include the person named in the warrant moving out of its jurisdiction, or new evidence in the case forcing the judge to quash the warrant or invalidate it. It is important to address outstanding or active warrants as they can lead to the named individual potentially being arrested at any time.