Montague County Inmate Population Overview
The Montague County inmate population is held locally at the Montague County Detention Center, the sheriff-operated county jail in Montague. The jail is the local custody point for newly booked people, pretrial detainees, local sentenced jail inmates, defendants waiting for court action, and short-term holds for local agencies. It is not a Texas state prison, federal prison, or ICE detention center. That distinction matters because a person may start in the county jail and later leave the local roster after sentencing, transfer, release, or placement in another agency's custody.
The sheriff's official jail page describes the facility as a 101-bed indirect-supervision correctional facility. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards population report listed 58 people in the Montague County jail on June 1, 2026, which was 57.4 percent of the rated capacity. Those figures count the people reported in the county jail system on that reporting date. They do not count Montague County defendants who have already entered the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Bureau of Prisons, or immigration detention.
Montague County Inmate Population Statistics
Montague County publishes one local jail in the researched official sources. The sheriff page and TCJS workbook both support the 101-bed capacity figure, while the TCJS June 1, 2026 report supplies the current population count used here. Annual bookings and average length of stay were not published in the official sources reviewed, so those rows are left out rather than estimated.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Date |
|---|---|---|
| Current jail population | 58 | TCJS inmate population report, June 1, 2026 |
| Rated / bed capacity | 101 beds | Sheriff County Jail page and TCJS workbook, June 1, 2026 |
| Percent of capacity | 57.4% | TCJS workbook calculation, June 1, 2026 |
| Local detention facilities | 1 | Facility Map and official sheriff/county sources |
The state report is a useful snapshot, but it is not a promise that every jail bed is open for every custody type. Classification, gender separation, medical needs, holds, and transport status can affect where an inmate can be housed inside a jail even when the total count is below rated capacity.
Montague County Inmate Population Trends
TCJS rows captured for 2026 show the Montague County inmate population moving in a narrow range during the first half of the year. The count stayed below the jail's 101-bed capacity in each captured month. The low point in the researched rows was 53 on April 1, 2026, and the high point was 63 on January 1, 2026. By June 1, 2026, the reported total was 58.
| Date | Total Jail Population | Capacity | Percent Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1, 2026 | 63 | 101 | 62.4% |
| February 1, 2026 | 54 | 101 | 53.5% |
| March 1, 2026 | 57 | 101 | 56.4% |
| April 1, 2026 | 53 | 101 | 52.5% |
| May 1, 2026 | 56 | 101 | 55.4% |
| June 1, 2026 | 58 | 101 | 57.4% |
The TCJS report notes that each county jail submits its own data and is responsible for quality. TCJS may update data over time and does not guarantee the timeliness of every row. For current custody, the jail roster or the jail phone is more direct than a monthly workbook.
Who Counts in Montague County Custody
The Montague County inmate population includes several legal statuses. A newly arrested person may be booked into the jail while waiting for a magistrate. A pretrial detainee may stay in custody because bond has not been set, has not been posted, or another hold blocks release. A local sentenced inmate may serve jail time there. The same building can also hold people waiting for transport after a court action.
State prison custody is separate. A Montague County felony case that ends in a prison sentence moves into the TDCJ Inmate Information Search after transfer. Federal sentenced custody uses the BOP Inmate Locator. Immigration detention uses the ICE Online Detainee Locator. No official state prison, BOP facility, ICE detention center, or separate regional jail was found inside Montague County in the reviewed official lists.
- Pretrial detainee
- A person held before the case has ended, often while bond or court settings are pending.
- Detainer
- A request or hold from another agency that can delay release even if a local bond is posted.
- TDCJ
- The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the state prison and sentence system.
- Classification
- A jail safety review used to place inmates in suitable housing.
Montague County Jail Population Laws
Texas law supplies the frame for jail records, capacity oversight, and the early court process after arrest. The Montague County sheriff keeps custody records as a governmental body, TCJS oversees county jail standards, and Texas criminal procedure requires prompt magistrate action after arrest. The laws do not mean every detail is online. They define who holds the records and how the public can request existing records.
Key Statutes:
Texas Government Code Chapter 552 governs public access to records held by Texas governmental bodies, subject to exceptions.
Texas Government Code Chapter 511 creates and empowers the Texas Commission on Jail Standards for county jail oversight.
Texas Local Government Code Chapter 351 covers county jail and sheriff duties for safekeeping and jail operation.
Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 15.17 requires an arrested person to be taken before a magistrate without unnecessary delay and no later than 48 hours after arrest.
Search Montague County Current Inmates
The official local path starts on the sheriff site under County Jail, then "Inmates In Custody." That link goes to the sheriff-linked Montague County public inquiry roster, which redirects to the vendor list page. Because the link is in the official sheriff jail navigation, it is the local roster channel even though the roster is hosted outside the sheriff domain.
- Open the sheriff-linked Inmates In Custody page or go directly to the Montague County public inquiry roster.
- Allow JavaScript if the page displays "Loading ... Please Wait."
- Let the list load automatically. The page is not built as a normal last-name search form.
- Select a listed person when the roster loads. The vendor JavaScript supports detail and printer-friendly detail actions.
- If the list fails or the name is absent, call the jail at 940-894-2871 or use the sheriff's written open-records process.
The roster should not be used as proof that no custody exists if a name is missing. The official refresh rate and release-retention period were not located. Recent bookings, transfers, spelling variations, and browser loading problems can all affect what a user sees.
Montague County Roster Controls
The public inquiry page exposes hidden controls in its HTML rather than a typical search box. The JavaScript posts to a webshell endpoint using list and detail actions. Those details help explain why a browser may need JavaScript and why a failed page load should be followed by a phone call or records request instead of a quick conclusion.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| SortName | Hidden dropdown | Unspecified | Name is selected in source with value INFO_5. |
| SortBy | Hidden input | Unspecified | Default value INFO_5. |
| SortDirection | Hidden input | Unspecified | Default direction is DESC. |
| SortValue | Hidden text input | Unspecified | JavaScript uppercases the value before posting. |
| Load Inmate List | Button | n/a | The page normally loads the list on page load. |
The official screenshot capture for the vendor public inquiry page shows the Montague County list-loading screen used for current custody lookup.
The list-loading behavior is why the jail phone and open-records form remain important fallback channels for the Montague County inmate population.
Past Montague County Inmate Records
Released people may drop from the current-custody roster, and the research did not find a public archived booking database for Montague County. For a past jail record, request an existing booking record, incident record, or related sheriff record in writing. The sheriff open-records page says a request must seek existing records. The office is not required to answer questions, create new records, perform legal research, or comply with an open-ended continuing request.
Useful request details include the person's full name, approximate booking date, incident address if known, charge or case number if known, and the exact record requested. Delivery choices visible on the sheriff form include pick up in person, email, fax, and certified mail. If estimated costs exceed $40, the sheriff says the requester receives a cost estimate and may accept, modify, or withdraw the request.
Montague Jail vs TDCJ Search
A county jail roster answers a different question than a state prison locator. Montague County custody covers the local jail stage: booking, pretrial detention, local sentenced jail time, and short-term holds. TDCJ custody covers sentenced state prisoners after transfer. A person can move from one system to the other, so the right search depends on the current custody stage.
| Custody Type | Who Runs It | Where to Look | Best Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| County jail | Montague County Sheriff's Office | Inmates In Custody roster or jail phone | Current local bookings and pretrial custody |
| State prison | Texas Department of Criminal Justice | TDCJ Inmate Information Search | Sentenced felony custody after transfer |
| Federal prison | Federal Bureau of Prisons | BOP Inmate Locator | Sentenced federal inmates |
| Immigration detention | U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement | ICE Online Detainee Locator | ICE custody after immigration transfer |
State Federal and ICE Lookup
The TDCJ search page accepts last name, first name, TDCJ number, SID number, gender, and race. TDCJ warns that its data is updated on working days only and is at least 24 hours old. For notification alerts rather than records, Texas VINELink is available statewide.
Federal custody is not covered by the Montague County jail roster after a person leaves local custody for a federal track. The BOP locator is for sentenced federal inmates. Federal pretrial detainees may be handled by the U.S. Marshals Service and federal court systems before BOP listing. ICE custody uses the ICE locator, which is separate from county booking and may require immigration-specific identifiers.
Montague County Detention Facilities
The official facility sweep located one local detention facility serving Montague County. City police departments and other agencies may make arrests, but sheriff and county sources route county jail custody to the Montague County Detention Center after booking.
- Montague County Detention Center - the 101-bed sheriff-operated county jail for pretrial detainees, local sentenced jail inmates, court holds, and short-term local agency holds.
The official sheriff County Jail page shows the detention-center description and capacity statement.
That county jail page is the source for the local facility description used in the facility profile and population sections.
Booking Bond and First Appearance
After an arrest in Montague County, a city officer, sheriff's deputy, DPS trooper, warrant officer, or other law-enforcement agency may transport the person to the detention center for intake. Booking normally includes identity checks, property inventory, charge or hold entry, photo and fingerprint steps, safety screening, classification, and placement in the jail population. Montague's official pages do not publish a full intake manual, so procedural claims should stay general unless tied to the roster, jail phone, or open-records channels.
Texas Article 15.17 requires an arrested person to be taken before a magistrate without unnecessary delay and no later than 48 hours after arrest. Bond may be cash, surety, personal recognizance, or unavailable because of a no-bond hold or another agency hold. The sheriff publishes an approved bail bonds page, and the mail/commissary page states that dispatch accepts inmate bond money only, not commissary money.
Montague County Visitation Basics
Jail contact rules are part of inmate-population research because family access often depends on current custody status. The sheriff's visitation page says each inmate is allowed either two 20-minute visits or one 40-minute visit per week. If several people are waiting, only 20-minute visits are allowed that day. Visitors must check in at least 30 minutes before visitation ends, and visitors age 17 or older need picture ID and must be on the inmate's visitation list.
| Topic | Official Montague County Detail |
|---|---|
| Former inmates | Cannot visit any inmate until 45 days after release from the Montague County Jail. |
| Minors | Visitors under 17 must be with an adult who is on the list. |
| Banned items | No purses, cameras, cell phones, knives, guns, tobacco, or alcohol. |
| Drop-offs | No items unless authorized by the Jail Administrator before visitation. |
Montague County Inmate FAQ
How large is the Montague County inmate population? The TCJS report listed 58 people in the Montague County jail on June 1, 2026, against 101 rated beds. Earlier 2026 monthly rows ranged from 53 to 63.
How do I search current Montague County inmates? Use the sheriff-linked Inmates In Custody roster first. If the roster does not load or the name is not found, call the jail at 940-894-2871 or make a written sheriff records request.
Why is someone missing from the jail roster? The person may not be booked yet, may have been released, may have transferred to TDCJ, BOP, or ICE, or the JavaScript roster may have failed to load in the browser.
Does Montague County have a sheriff mobile app? No official Montague County Sheriff's Office app was found in the official navigation reviewed. Use the sheriff website, jail phone, open-records form, TDCJ, VINELink, BOP, and ICE channels.