Search Wichita Falls Police Records

Wichita Falls police records are maintained by the Wichita Falls Police Department and the Wichita County Sheriff's Office. This North Texas city sits close to the Oklahoma border and serves as the county seat for Wichita County. If you want to search for an arrest record, pull an incident report, or check on a criminal case in Wichita Falls, you can do it online or in person. The police department handles city-level records, and the county sheriff manages jail bookings and warrant service for the broader area. Here is what you need to know about getting police records in Wichita Falls.

Wichita Falls Police Department

The Wichita Falls Police Department runs law enforcement inside the city limits. Officers handle patrol, investigations, and traffic calls. The department keeps incident reports, accident reports, and arrest records for all cases that start within Wichita Falls. You can call their records division or walk in during business hours to request copies of reports.

Wichita Falls is the largest city in Wichita County and serves as the county seat. The county has a population of about 131,000 people. Sheppard Air Force Base sits just north of the city, which adds a military presence to the area. The police department works alongside the Wichita County Sheriff on cases that cross city and county lines.

People arrested by Wichita Falls PD are booked into the Wichita County Jail at 900 7th Street in Wichita Falls. The sheriff's office runs the jail and handles all booking records from that point forward. You can check the county jail roster for current inmates or call the sheriff's office for booking details.

How to Find Wichita Falls Police Records

Start with an online search. The Wichita County Sheriff's Office may post current inmate data on their website. You can also use the statewide Texas Judicial Branch portal to look up court records tied to criminal cases in Wichita County. Court records show case filings, charges, and dispositions for both felony and misdemeanor cases.

For police reports and incident records, you need to go directly to the Wichita Falls Police Department. File a written request under the Texas Public Information Act. Include the date, location, and names of people involved. The department has 10 business days to respond. If they plan to deny any part of your request, they must ask the Attorney General for a ruling.

The Wichita County District Clerk at (940) 766-8190 handles felony court records. The County Clerk at (940) 766-8195 keeps misdemeanor court records and other official county documents. Both offices are in Wichita Falls since it is the county seat.

Note: Crash reports from Wichita Falls can be purchased through the TxDOT CRIS system for $6 per report.

Wichita Falls Records Request Process

Put your request in writing. You can mail it, email it, or hand it to someone at the police department. Texas law does not require you to use a specific form. Just describe what you want clearly. Include dates, names, and report numbers if you have them. The more details you give, the faster they can find the record.

Fees follow the state schedule. Standard copies are $0.10 per page. If the agency needs to spend staff time pulling and compiling records, they can charge $15.00 per hour for general labor. Overhead adds 20% on top of labor costs. Any request expected to cost more than $40 requires an itemized estimate before they start working on it. You pay before you get the records.

There is no requirement to explain why you want the records. The Texas Attorney General's Open Government Division publishes a handbook on the Public Information Act that covers your rights. You can also call their hotline at (512) 478-6736 with questions.

Statewide Police Records Tools

Beyond Wichita Falls PD and the county, Texas has several statewide databases that may hold relevant records. The DPS Crime Records Division maintains the Computerized Criminal History system with over 15 million conviction records dating back to 1975. You can run a name-based search for a small fee after creating an online account.

The DPS Crime Records Division is the central clearinghouse for criminal history data reported by agencies like the Wichita Falls Police Department.

This portal lets you check conviction records across the entire state. It does not show arrest-only records that lack a conviction or deferred adjudication.

The TDCJ Offender Search is free and shows current state prison inmates and people on parole. The Texas VINE system lets crime victims track offender custody status changes. Both tools work statewide and cover people originally arrested in Wichita Falls who end up in the state system.

Police Records Laws in Texas

Texas Government Code Chapter 552 is the Public Information Act. It says government records are open unless a specific exception applies. For police records, the big exception is Section 552.108, which lets agencies withhold records related to ongoing investigations. Once a case is closed, those records generally become available.

Crime victim information stays confidential. So do juvenile records under Texas Family Code Chapter 58. The Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 60 governs how criminal history data gets reported to DPS. Only convictions and deferred adjudications are public through the state system.

If a Wichita Falls agency denies your records request, they have 10 business days to seek an Attorney General opinion. The AG then decides within 45 working days whether the records should be released. You can appeal to state district court within 30 days after that if you disagree.

Wichita County Police Records

Wichita Falls is the county seat of Wichita County. All jail bookings, felony court records, and county-level law enforcement records go through the county offices here. The sheriff's office, district clerk, and county clerk are all located in Wichita Falls. For a full breakdown of the county system and how to access records, visit the Wichita County page.

View Wichita County Police Records