Waller County Jail Overview
Waller County Jail is operated by the Waller County Sheriff's Office at 100 Sheriff R. Glenn Smith Drive, Hempstead, TX 77445. The sheriff website uses the same main phone number for the sheriff and jail campus: (979) 826-8282. The jail is part of the county's justice-center and sheriff-campus area in Hempstead, the county seat. Court users should distinguish the jail address from the Waller County Justice Center address used by the District Clerk at 400 Sheriff R. Glenn Smith Drive.
The facility is a county jail. It holds local pretrial defendants, convicted misdemeanants, state-jail-felony defendants, parole violators, convicted felons awaiting TDCJ transfer, local holds, and other categories that may appear in Texas jail population reporting. It should not be described as a TDCJ prison. A person sentenced to a Texas prison or state jail may pass through Waller County Jail before transfer, but the long-term prison locator becomes TDCJ after transfer.
The sheriff history page says the Waller County Sheriff's Office was founded in 1873, the same year Waller County was created from Austin and Grimes counties. It identifies William Green as the first sheriff and Troy Guidry as the nineteenth sheriff. The newest jail opened in January 2021 after completion of the Waller County Justice Center. The sheriff history page described the new jail as able to house up to 200 inmates with room to add beds, while the Texas Commission on Jail Standards current reports list 225 beds for Waller County.
Waller County Jail Capacity and Population
The conservative current figure to use for Waller County Jail is 225 rated beds and a June 1, 2026 average daily population of 163 from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards incarceration-rate data. That non-future June 2026 ADP places Waller below rated capacity while still showing an upward trend from earlier 2024 and 2025 rows. TCJS current population data inspected in the June 2026 workbook also showed a visible total jail population of 179, but the associated workbook row carried a date issue in the research notes. Treat that 179 total as a dated TCJS snapshot requiring caution, not as a forward-looking live count.
The Texas Commission on Jail Standards population reports are the source used for capacity, ADP, and incarceration-rate context. The matching TCJS source capture is shown below.
TCJS reporting matters because the Waller jail population is not just one simple count. The state reports track categories such as Class A/B misdemeanants, pretrial felons, parole violators, convicted felons awaiting TDCJ transfer, state-jail felons, and other local or contract categories.
How to Find Someone Held at Waller County Jail
For a county jail inmate, start with the Waller County Sheriff Inmate Search at wallercountytexassheriff.org/inmateSearch. The roster is an OCV feed/list with mugshot cards, profile links, and pagination. It is not a structured search form with every field exposed in the public capture, so browsing by card and page number is part of the lookup process.
- Open the sheriff inmate search from the official Waller County Sheriff's Office website or the Waller County Sheriff Office app.
- Browse the current roster cards, which show names in last-name-first style and may show a booking-photo image.
- Use the pagination buttons when the person is not on the first roster page.
- Open a current card profile from the live roster when available. If an old profile link fails, return to the live roster and click from there.
- Call the jail at (979) 826-8282 if the person was recently arrested, released, transferred, or not yet visible online.
- Use TDCJ, BOP, ICE ODLS, or VINELink when the custody may no longer be ordinary Waller County Jail custody.
The official inmate search page is represented in the roster capture below.
The image reflects the roster-card style documented in the research: names, booking-photo cards, profile links, and multiple roster pages rather than a single name-search form.
Waller County Jail Address and Contact
Use the jail and sheriff campus contact for custody checks, visitation questions, and general routing. Use the written public-information channel for sheriff records, reports, and documents that are not available on the roster.
Waller County Jail
100 Sheriff R. Glenn Smith Drive
Hempstead, TX 77445
(979) 826-8282
County jail and sheriff operations
Public Information Requests
Attn: Public Information
645 12th St., Hempstead, TX 77445
publicinformation@wallercounty.us
Written requests for sheriff records
Visiting Someone at Waller County Jail
Waller County visitation is scheduled through the sheriff-linked portal at vl-wallerctytx.tarmactech.com. Official research did not locate a complete published day-by-day hour schedule, so visitors should schedule through the portal and confirm before traveling. The sheriff page does publish several rules that apply to social visitation.
| Rule Area | Official Waller County Detail |
|---|---|
| Schedule source | Use the official visitation scheduler linked by the sheriff; a complete public day-by-day hour chart was not located in the reviewed materials. |
| Check-in | Visitors must be checked in 30 minutes before visitation closes. |
| Visit count / length | Each inmate is allowed two 20-minute visits per week. |
| ID | Valid government-issued photo ID is required. Persons age 17 must also have valid photo ID. |
| Approved list | All visitors must be on the inmate's approved visitation list. |
| Prior incarceration, probation, or parole | Recent incarceration within 180 days, active probation, or active parole requires jail administrator approval before visitation day. |
| Items not allowed | No cameras, cellphones, handbags, or baby carriers in visitation areas. Secure personal property in the vehicle. |
| Group size | Up to two visitors may visit at one time, subject to station seating limits. |
The sheriff visitation page also lists dress-code and contraband rules. Revealing clothing, see-through clothing, sleeveless tops, leggings without a skirt, short garments more than 3 inches above the middle of the knee, torn clothing with multiple holes, offensive or gang-related clothing, hats, caps, and hoodies can end a visit. Alcohol, tobacco, e-vapes, lighters, firearms, ammunition, sharp items, cash, and medications or drugs are prohibited in visitation areas.
Mail, Phone, Commissary, and SecurePak
Waller County did not publish a complete inmate-mail format in the official materials reviewed. Confirm the inmate's full name, booking number if needed, mailing address format, and prohibited-mail rules with the jail before sending mail. Do not invent a postcard-only rule, a scanning rule, or a publication list when the jail has not published it in the reviewed source set.
The sheriff site and jail FAQ do publish money, phone, commissary, and SecurePak channels. The facility provides commissary, purchases are made from money in individual inmate accounts, and family or friends can use the vendor channels listed by the sheriff.
| Service | Provider / Detail | Published Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Money deposits | Access Corrections | Online at accesscorrections.com or by phone at 1-866-345-1884. |
| Inmate phone | Access Corrections link on sheriff site | Exact Waller local phone rates were not published in the reviewed materials. |
| Commissary | Facility commissary funded by inmate accounts | No physical legal-tender transfer to inmates. |
| SecurePak | accesscatalog.com or phone | As of October 21, 2025, family and friends can order up to $50 per week in approved products. |
| SecurePak phones | 1-636-888-7003 or 1-800-546-6283 | Published hours: Mon-Fri 7:30 AM-11:00 PM CST; Sat 10:00 AM-4:00 PM CST. |
The sheriff links money, inmate phone, and commissary routes to Access Corrections, shown in the vendor capture below.
Always verify custody before sending funds or packages, because a transfer, release, or hold change can affect whether a deposit or package is accepted.
Booking and Intake at Waller County Jail
Waller County did not publish a local booking-process flowchart, so the process should be described using county-jail norms, TCJS standards, and the sheriff records channels. A person arrested in Waller County may be transported to Waller County Jail for county-level charges, a warrant, a local hold, or transfer processing. Intake commonly includes identity confirmation, paperwork review, property inventory, search, fingerprints, booking photo, health screening, classification, and housing assignment.
The public roster is a useful first online clue, but newly arrested people may not appear immediately. Jail staff must complete intake work before a person is housed and before any public feed updates. A later court appearance or magistrate event can address rights, probable cause, and bond, but the filed court case is separate from the booking record. The Waller Tyler/Odyssey portal and the District Clerk or County Clerk handle court-record questions after the booking stage.
Directions and Arrival Notes
Official sources place Waller County Jail at 100 Sheriff R. Glenn Smith Drive in Hempstead. The county seat location matters because the same named drive also serves justice-center functions. Visitors should confirm whether they need the jail/sheriff building, a court clerk counter, or a public-information mailing or hand-delivery address before leaving.
From the Houston or Prairie View side, the practical approach is to reach Hempstead by US 290 and then navigate to Sheriff R. Glenn Smith Drive. From western Waller County and the Austin County side, use US 290 or local Hempstead routes. From the I-10 and Brookshire side, expect to travel north toward Hempstead before reaching the sheriff campus. Official visitor parking lot names, transit routes, and ADA entrance details were not published in the sheriff materials reviewed, so call ahead if those details affect the trip.
History and Local Context
Waller County was created in 1873, and the sheriff office dates to the same year. The sheriff history page ties the county's development to Hempstead, the Houston and Texas Central Railway, US 290, and I-10. The modern jail opened in January 2021 after completion of the new justice-center project. The sheriff history page also reports 182 full-time employees, 57 jailers, and 55 reserve deputies.
Published program details are limited. Official sources confirmed commissary, Access Corrections deposits, SecurePak, visitation rules, and TCJS county-jail oversight, but no detailed local GED, vocational, work-release, tablet, grievance, medical-request, or chaplaincy program page was located. Program, medical, classification, grievance, or special-visit questions should be routed to the jail rather than assumed from another county's practice.
Note: Confirm custody, visitation approval, and arrival details with Waller County Jail before traveling to Hempstead.
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