Houston Municipality, Texas Criminal Records

In the City of Houston, criminal records collectively refer to official documents that report a person's criminal interactions with criminal justice agencies within the city's jurisdiction. Depending on the case, these records may include police incident and arrest reports, criminal complaints, charges, warrants, court docket entries, judgments, sentences, and jail booking information.

Houston criminal records are not available in a single database. The offense location, the investigating or arresting agency, and the type of criminal case may influence which agency or court maintains them. The Houston Police Department is the primary custodian of city police reports and other law enforcement records, while the Houston Municipal Courts Department oversees city-level court records connected to traffic offenses, Class C misdemeanors, and ordinance violations.

Since most of Houston lies in Harris County, the Harris County District Clerk handles records from the county's criminal district courts (e.g., felony cases) and the County Criminal Court at Law (Class A and Class B misdemeanors and appeals from municipal and justice courts). The Fort Bend County District Clerk and the Montgomery County District Clerk may oversee cases arising in the smaller parts of Houston outside Harris County, depending on where the case was filed. At the state level, the Texas Department of Public Safety's statewide Computerized Criminal History System maintains reported arrests, prosecutions, and dispositions related to Class B misdemeanors and other serious offenses.

What are Houston Public Records?

Houston public records are documents created, received, or maintained by a city office or agency in the course of official business or in compliance with the law. The Texas Public Information Act, in Chapter 552 of the Texas Government Code, states that "public information" also includes records another person or organization keeps for the government, that the government has a right of access to, or created and maintained with public funds. Examples of Houston public records include ordinances, City Council minutes, budgets, contracts, permits, emails, maps, photographs, recordings, police reports, arrest records, municipal court documents, and statutes.

The general public does not have unrestricted access to every record maintained by a Houston City agency or office. Texas law allows criminal justice agencies to withhold details that are protected by statute. Such information includes juvenile offender records, child abuse investigation records, confidential law enforcement investigatory records, driver's license, Social Security, and financial account numbers. Other protected information comprises active court proceedings, attorney-client communications, draft policymaking documents, audit working papers, or pre-contract competitive bidding paperwork.

Houston Crime Statistics

According to a 5-year analysis of the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) statistics, the Houston Police Department recorded 591,320 violent and property crimes between September 2021 and July 2026. Violent crimes accounted for 19.83% (117,263 offenses), while property crimes made up 80.17% (474, 057 offenses).

A breakdown of violent crimes during the period under review revealed that aggravated assault was the most common crime reported with 67.69% (79,374 offenses), followed by robbery with 24.97% (29,275 offenses). Rape cases accounted for 5.94% (6,970 offenses), while arson constituted 0.31% (1,450 offenses) of reported violent crimes.

Analysis of property crimes reported by the department showed that larceny-theft was the prevalent property crime type at 69.65% (330,179 offenses). Other property crime types include motor vehicle theft at 16.25% (77,054 offenses), burglary at 13.79% (65,365 offenses), and arson at 0.31% (1,459 offenses).

Are Houston Criminal Records Public?

Most Houston criminal records are available to the public, but not everything is accessible to the public. What requesters can access typically depends on the type of record and the agency maintaining it. Under the Texas Public Information Act, anyone (Texas residents and non-residents, or non-US citizens) may request disclosable Houston criminal records. However, state law allows record custodians to withhold or redact confidential or legally protected information. Releasable Houston criminal records may include convictions, deferred adjudications, criminal court filings, case outcomes, Houston Police Department arrest or booking records, and the public portion of police offense reports.

However, information seekers cannot access sealed or expunged records or information that has been placed under an order of nondisclosure. Houston criminal justice agencies also withhold juvenile records, victim information, legally confidential personal details, and sensitive investigative records.

To obtain disclosable Houston criminal records, requesters must identify the relevant agencies that maintain them. For instance, the city’s police department maintains police and arrest records, while the Houston Municipal Courts Department handles municipal cases and citations, and the Harris County District Clerk oversees felony and other county criminal court records. The Texas Department of Public Safety provides statewide public conviction and deferred-adjudication searches.

How to Obtain Houston Police Reports and Arrest Records

Individuals seeking Houston Police reports and arrest records may obtain disclosable portions of such documents from the department’s Open Records Unit. They may submit a written request via the Houston Public Information Request Center or by email at HPD.OpenRecords@houstontx.gov. Requesters may also submit record requests by fax at (713) 308-9150 or by sending mail to the Office of Legal Services/Open Records Unit at 1200 Travis Street, 10th Floor, Houston, TX 77002. They may also submit their record requests in person on the first floor of the same building.

Individuals seeking a police or offense report should specifically ask for the “public information report” and provide useful identifying details, such as HPD incident or case number, the names and dates of birth of the people involved, the incident date and address, and the type of offense. The disclosable portion of the report includes a summary of the incident, the complainant’s name and address, the date, time, and location, the responding officers’ names, and the incident number. Suspect information may also be available when someone was arrested and charged.

To obtain a Houston Police Department arrest record, also known as a jail booking blotter, the applicant must include the person’s full name, date of birth, and arrest date in the record request. Providing a Texas driver’s license number, Social Security number, offense-report number, or type of offense may also help the department locate the record. The Open Records Unit submission channels listed above are also applicable to arrest records.

The Houston Police Department advises requesters to submit the request only once and include a postal mailing address, even when applying by email, and allow at least 10 business days for a response.

Note: A comprehensive offense report and related photographs, videos, or investigative material may not be publicly available for a pending investigation; the Houston Police Department typically only releases disclosable information about someone who has been arrested and charged.

How to Find Sex Offender Information in Houston

The Houston Police Department offers a city-level sex offender search portal for looking up registered individuals living within Houston city limits. Users may search the database by an offender’s last or first name (or any alias first or last name) or use the “in your area” search option to locate all published offenders within a specified radius of their home, school, business, or other relevant address.

The search engine usually returns results such as an offender’s complete name and known aliases, booking photograph, age and date of birth, basic identifiers (e.g., sex, race, height, weight, hair and eye color), residential address, employment or volunteer address (when publicly reportable), and a map showing the approximate or registered location, and more.

Inquirers may also contact the Houston Police Department’s Sex Offender Registration Unit at 832-394-1913; they may direct questions on registration compliance to 832-394-1930. Requesters may also access the registered sex offenders database via the Harris County Sheriff’s Office website.

At the state level, the Texas Department of Public Safety offers official online public access to a computerized statewide sex offender registration database, called the Texas Public Sex Offender Registry. Users may search by map address and use additional filters such as street number, street name, city, state, and ZIP code. Those who choose to search by a registrant’s name must provide the person’s first and last name. Searches typically return results, including an offender’s full name and known aliases, last reported photograph, date of birth, basic identifiers (e.g., sex, race, height, weight, hair and eye color), SID number, and risk level.

What Happens if My Request for Criminal Records is Denied in Houston?

An agency or office may deny your request if it does not keep the requested record, the record does not exist, the request is too broad, it is a juvenile record, the information has been sealed or placed under a nondisclosure, or contains confidential or protected investigative information.

The next step is to ask the agency or office for a written explanation identifying the legal basis for the denial and possibly clarify or refine the request if the record is not clearly identified. Texas law typically requires agencies seeking to withhold records to obtain a ruling from the Texas Attorney General’s Open Records Division, which gives a requester a chance to submit written comments for consideration.

Individuals who believe a City agency responded improperly may file an open-records complaint or contact the Open Government Hotline at 512-478-6736 or 877-673-6839, or write to the Open Records Division, Office of the Attorney General, P.O. Box 12548, Austin, TX 78711-2548.

If the Attorney General approves the withholding of the information, a requester may challenge the decision by filing a suit against the governmental body.

How to Expunge or Seal Houston Criminal Records

A Houston resident may seek the expunction of their criminal records under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 55A, which destroys eligible arrest and court records or seals eligible records from public access through an order of nondisclosure under Texas Government Code Chapter 411. Expunction is highly limited under Texas law but may be available for arrests that did not result in convictions, pardons, and other eligible outcomes under the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 55A.

When charges are not filed, the usual minimum waiting periods are 180 days for a Class C misdemeanor, one year for a Class A or B misdemeanor, and three years for a felony, subject to statutory exceptions. A person who successfully completed deferred-adjudication probation, or certain qualifying first-time misdemeanor or DWI sentences, may petition for nondisclosure after the necessary waiting period, but sex and domestic violence offenses and most serious violent offenses do not qualify.

Eligible applicants must file the appropriate petition with the court through the Harris County District Clerk, pay the required filing costs or request a fee waiver, and obtain a signed court order directing the relevant agencies to expunge or restrict disclosure of the record.