Houston Felony Records

Houston felony records are kept by the Harris County District Clerk and are available to the public through online portals and in-person visits. If you need to look up a criminal case in Houston, the Harris County Criminal Court Records Search is the main place to start. You can find case status, charges, court dates, and docket history for both felony and misdemeanor cases. The city is the largest in Texas, so the court system handles a high volume of criminal filings each year. Statewide tools like re:SearchTX and the Texas DPS criminal history database can round out your search beyond just local records.

Houston Felony Records at Harris County District Clerk

Felony cases in Houston go through the Harris County District Court system. The Harris County District Clerk is the official keeper of criminal court records, including all felony indictments, plea records, jury verdicts, and final judgments. Harris County has multiple criminal district courts that each handle their own docket, but the District Clerk maintains a unified public records database for all of them.

The primary location for in-person records access is the Harris County Criminal Justice Center. That building holds the criminal courts and the clerk's offices for criminal filings. If you want certified copies of felony case documents, you need to request them from the District Clerk at this address. Staff can pull files and make copies while you wait in most cases, though high-volume days may require you to return the next day.

The Harris County public records portal at records.harriscountytx.gov lets you search court records online at no cost. You can look up cases by party name or case number. The portal returns party names, charge descriptions, case status, and court events. It does not include sealed records or juvenile matters.

The screenshot below shows the Harris County court records search portal, which provides free access to criminal case information including felony charges and case status for Houston cases.

Harris County Court Records Portal

This portal is the main starting point for most public records searches in Houston and Harris County.

Note: Free online searches show basic case data only. Full document copies require a request at the clerk's office and may come with per-page copy fees.

How to Find Houston Felony Records Online

Several tools are available to search for felony records tied to Houston cases. Each one pulls from a different source, so using more than one will give you a more complete picture.

The Harris County District Clerk's online portal is the best place to start for local court records. You can search free by party name or cause number at hcdistrictclerk.com. The system shows active and closed criminal cases. It is updated regularly with new filings, hearings, and dispositions. For older cases or records from before the online system, you may need to call the clerk's office or visit in person.

The re:SearchTX portal is a statewide tool run by the Texas Office of Court Administration. It covers district and county courts across Texas, including Harris County. You can search by name or case number and see docket entries, court orders, and case summaries. This is useful if a defendant has cases in multiple counties.

For state criminal history background checks, the Texas DPS Crime Records Service is the official source. This database contains criminal history compiled from law enforcement agencies across Texas. Basic searches are free; certified reports cost a fee. You can also search the TDCJ offender search to find people currently in or recently released from Texas state prisons.

To find registered sex offenders in Houston, the Texas Sex Offender Registry provides a searchable map and name lookup tool. Sex offender registration is managed statewide by Texas DPS, so Houston offenders appear in this database alongside offenders from the rest of the state.

Houston Police Department Records

The Houston Police Department maintains its own records separate from the court system. HPD records include incident reports, arrest records, and booking information. These are different from the court case records held by the District Clerk. HPD records show what the police documented at the time of an arrest or incident, while court records show what happened after the case was filed.

You can submit public information requests to HPD for incident reports and related police documents. Texas Government Code Chapter 552 governs public access to government records. HPD will respond to requests within 10 business days. Some records may be withheld if they relate to ongoing investigations or contain information about juveniles.

For current jail inmates in Harris County, the Harris County Sheriff's Office operates the jail. You can search for inmates online through the sheriff's office website or call the jail's central records line to ask about someone in custody.

Houston Municipal Courts

Houston Municipal Courts handle Class C misdemeanors and city ordinance violations. These are not felony cases. But if you are looking for low-level criminal records, the municipal court is where those cases are filed. Things like traffic violations, minor theft under $100, and public intoxication often end up in municipal court rather than district court.

Municipal court records are public but are kept separately from district court felony records. An online citation search is available through the city's website. You can look up case status, fines owed, and hearing dates for municipal court matters. These records do not appear in the Harris County District Clerk's criminal search portal.

Note: Municipal court convictions for Class C misdemeanors are separate from felony records and will not appear in a Harris County felony case search.

Statewide Texas Felony Record Tools

Beyond Houston-specific resources, several statewide databases cover felony records from across Texas. These are useful when you need to check records that may span multiple counties or when you want a broader criminal history picture than local court records provide.

The Texas DPS Crime Records Service is the central clearinghouse for criminal history in Texas. Law enforcement agencies submit arrest and disposition data, and the DPS compiles it into a statewide record. The public can request a name-based search online. Results are returned quickly and show all Texas criminal history on file, not just records from one county or city.

The TDCJ offender search at offender.tdcj.texas.gov is specific to people in or recently released from Texas state prison. You can search by name or TDCJ number. The database shows the offender's current status, assigned unit, and projected release date if applicable. It does not include people in county jails or on parole who have completed their sentence.

The Texas Judicial Branch's re:SearchTX system covers court case records from district courts across the state. It is free to use and does not require an account. You can search by name to see all cases in participating courts, which includes Harris County.

• re:SearchTX - statewide court case search
• TDCJ Offender Search - state prison records
• Texas DPS Criminal History - statewide arrest and conviction data
• Texas Sex Offender Registry - registered offenders by name or location

Note: re:SearchTX is updated as courts enter data, so very recent filings may take a day or two to appear in the system.

Harris County Felony Records

Houston is in Harris County. All felony cases filed in Houston go through the Harris County District Courts. The county page has more detail on court locations, search tools, fee schedules, and how to request certified copies of criminal records from the District Clerk.

View Harris County Felony Records