Dawson County Jail Overview
Dawson County Jail is operated by the Dawson County Sheriff's Office. The county page identifies Sheriff Matt Hogg and lists the jail and sheriff's office at the same Lamesa address. This is the county jail, not a state prison. It is the first local custody point for many adults arrested by sheriff's deputies, Lamesa-area law enforcement, DPS troopers, or other local officers on Dawson County matters.
The jail holds adult local custody groups reported to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. Those groups can include pretrial misdemeanor detainees, pretrial felony detainees, bench-warrant arrests, state-jail-felony detainees, local sentenced misdemeanants, and limited hold categories. A booking charge is the arrest or jail-entry charge. It may not match the final filed court charge after a prosecutor reviews the case.
Because Dawson County does not appear to publish an official online jail roster, the Dawson County Jail inmate search is a fallback chain. Use the sheriff's office for current local custody, VINELink Texas for notification, and clerk or court channels after charges are filed. If the person is serving a state sentence at Preston E. Smith Unit or another Texas prison, use TDCJ instead of the county jail.
Dawson County Jail Population
The strongest sourced figures for Dawson County Jail come from TCJS population reporting. The June 1, 2026 current population row listed a rated capacity of 54 beds and a total jail population of 34. That row put Dawson County Jail at 62.96 percent of capacity. The research also recorded 32 people on May 1, 2026 and 34 people on April 1, 2026, so the recent official rows did not support an overcrowding claim.
TCJS warns that jail-population data is submitted by each county jail or facility, and the submitting department is responsible for accuracy and quality. The state may update data over time. For that reason, the Dawson County Jail population figures are useful for capacity context, but a custody question about one person still needs direct confirmation from the sheriff's office or another current custody system.
The TCJS population report page is the official source used for Dawson County jail capacity and monthly population context.
Those TCJS reports count the jail population at the facility level. They do not replace a Dawson County Jail custody confirmation for a named person.
Dawson County Jail Lookup
No official Dawson County Jail online roster, booking report, mugshot gallery, commissary vendor page, or public inmate profile search was located on the county website. That changes the order of search steps. A reader should not expect to type a name into a county-hosted roster and see charges, bond, photos, or housing. The local route is the sheriff's office phone or in-person channel, followed by VINELink and the Texas Public Information Act process when a record is not posted online.
- Start with the Dawson County Sheriff's Office contact channel at 806-872-7560 for current local custody at Dawson County Jail.
- Search VINELink Texas for custody-status information or notification registration if the person appears in that system.
- Ask the sheriff's office how to request a booking record, booking photo, or booking packet if the record is not available online.
- Search TDCJ Inmate Search if the person may have been sentenced to state prison.
- Use BOP or ICE ODLS only when federal or immigration custody is possible.
When calling about a Dawson County Jail inmate, have the person's full name, date of birth if known, arrest date, booking date, arresting agency, and any case or warrant number. A partial name can lead to a bad match. If a person was just arrested, intake, fingerprinting, medical screening, and data entry may take time before staff can answer a custody-status question with confidence.
| Search Channel | Use It For | Dawson County Result |
|---|---|---|
| Sheriff phone or counter | Current local jail custody | Main official local route |
| VINELink Texas | Custody status and notices | Linked from the sheriff page |
| Public-information request | Booking records or photos | No Dawson-specific form located |
| TDCJ Inmate Search | Sentenced state prisoners | Use after transfer to TDCJ |
Dawson County Jail Contact
The Dawson County sheriff page is the local official source for jail contact information. Use the same number for custody, jail-record, visitation, property, and bonding questions unless the county later publishes a more specific jail line. The county site did not list public lobby hours, a records-unit email, or a jail-only booking desk number in the research set.
Dawson County Jail
400 S 1st St
Lamesa, TX 79331
806-872-7560
Call to confirm custody, visitation, bond, records, and public counter availability before travel.
The same official page lists fax 806-872-9396 and links VINELink for custody notification. If the question is about certified court filings after an arrest, the sheriff is not the records custodian for court documents. Use the appropriate clerk or court channel for filed charges and court dates.
Dawson County Jail Visits
Dawson County official sources did not publish a jail visitation calendar, video-visitation vendor, holiday schedule, attorney-visit process, or dress-code page. The correct approach is to confirm before travel. Visitors should bring government photo ID, follow secure-facility screening rules, and avoid bringing extra property into the jail unless staff instruct otherwise.
| Topic | Published Status | What to Do |
|---|---|---|
| In-person visitation | Not published in official sources | Call 806-872-7560 before travel |
| Video visitation | No vendor located | Do not create an account until the jail confirms a provider |
| Attorney visits | Not published in official sources | Attorneys should contact the jail directly |
| Holiday schedule | Not published in official sources | Confirm day-of status with the facility |
State prisons and county jails follow different visit systems. A Dawson County Jail visit for a pretrial detainee is not scheduled through TDCJ. A visit with a prisoner at Preston E. Smith Unit is handled under TDCJ rules and should not be mixed with the county jail process.
Dawson County Jail Mail Money
No Dawson County Jail mail policy, inmate phone provider, commissary vendor, tablet program, deposit portal, or fee table was located in official sources. Do not send cash, packages, books, photos, or money orders until jail staff confirms current rules. Mail rules can change quickly, and secure facilities can reject items that do not match the accepted format.
| Service | Provider or Detail | Research Result |
|---|---|---|
| Mail address format | Confirm inmate name and booking-number requirements | Not published, call first |
| Phone calls | Provider not identified in official sources | Confirm rates and account rules with jail |
| Commissary deposits | Vendor not identified in official sources | Confirm vendor and fees before payment |
| Property or funds release | Controlled by jail rules | Call before arrival |
The lack of a published vendor is important. Naming a common jail phone or commissary company would be unsupported for Dawson County Jail. The safest action is to call the jail, ask for the current inmate communication and deposit rules, and write down the staff-provided provider, account steps, fees, and cut-off times.
Dawson County Jail Booking
A typical Dawson County arrest path starts with an officer transporting the person to jail or another lawful holding point. Intake can include identity checks, property inventory, fingerprints, a booking photograph if taken, medical and suicide-risk screening, charge and warrant entry, classification, and housing assignment. Classification means the jail sorts people for safety, supervision, and housing needs.
Texas law requires an arrested person to be taken before a magistrate without unnecessary delay and no later than 48 hours after arrest. The magistrate warning is when the person is told about the accusation and rights, and bail may be addressed when allowed by law. A bond is security for release pending court. A hold or detainer can keep a person in custody even if a local bond appears available.
- Pretrial detainee
- A person held before the criminal case is finished.
- Bench warrant
- A warrant issued by a court, often after a missed appearance.
- Detainer
- A notice or hold from another agency that may affect release.
- State-jail felony
- A Texas felony category that may appear in county jail population reporting.
Dawson County Jail Records
Dawson County Jail-specific programs, grievance procedures, medical-request steps, work-release options, and reentry services were not published in the official sources located. The research did identify TCJS as the state oversight body for county jail standards and found a July 2025 Dawson County special inspection or non-compliance PDF. The PDF should not be summarized beyond its existence unless reviewed directly.
For jail records, use the sheriff's office and the Texas Public Information Act process. A request should give enough detail to identify the record: full name, date of birth if known, booking or arrest date, arresting agency, case number if known, and the type of record requested. For filed charges, use court records rather than jail records. The Dawson County inmate records page covers the broader search chain for jail, court, state, federal, and ICE systems.
Note: Confirm custody, visit status, mail rules, and deposit options directly with Dawson County Jail before traveling or sending funds.