How to Check Criminal History in Valentine
Begin by defining the record. For a Valentine-area incident or arrest, ask which agency created the report. The Jeff Davis County Sheriff is the best first local contact because no Valentine police records unit or city portal was found. Current custody is a separate search through the sheriff and VINELink. A citation may belong to the countywide Justice Court, while a Class A or B misdemeanor or felony belongs with the combined clerk after prosecutors file it. A statewide conviction or deferred-adjudication search runs through Texas DPS.
- Call the sheriff at 432-426-3213 and identify the event, place, date, and record sought.
- Request the report from the sheriff, constable, DPS, or other agency that created it.
- Call the countywide Justice Court for a qualifying citation or fine-only case.
- Ask the combined clerk about a filed misdemeanor or felony case and its signed disposition.
- Use DPS for reported statewide history, VINELink for custody, or TDCJ after a state transfer.
These layers should agree as a matter moves through the system, but timing and legal limits can leave gaps. Absence from one source does not settle the question. For deeper countywide channels, use the Jeff Davis County criminal history overview.
Valentine Is the Only Incorporated Municipality
Official Texas Demographic Center place files identify Valentine as Jeff Davis County's sole incorporated municipality. Fort Davis is the unincorporated county seat, not a city. The 2020 Census counted 73 Valentine residents; the state's July 2023 estimate was 67, and its January 2024 estimate was 65. Those figures explain why there are not three local city pages and why record services are centralized outside Valentine.
The Texas Demographic Center estimates hub provides the official population context captured below.
Population estimates do not identify a police force, court, or jail. They show why a Valentine records search depends on county and state channels.
The Valentine Police Department
No official Valentine Police Department, police page, records unit, request form, public case portal, or city arrest log was found. That is a key local fact, not a gap to fill with a guessed city office. Law enforcement comes through the Jeff Davis County Sheriff, the countywide constable, Texas DPS, and other agencies with authority over a given event. The report remains with the agency that created it, even if the sheriff later handles custody.
For a Valentine incident, contact the sheriff clerk at 105 Court Avenue, Fort Davis, or mail P.O. Box 1061, Fort Davis, TX 79734. The office phone is 432-426-3213 and fax is 432-426-3937. Ask whether that office or another agency holds the report. Give the incident number if known, event date and location, names involved, record type, and desired format. No local fee, ID rule, or turnaround was published, so request a current estimate instead of assuming the service is free.
Which Office Holds a Valentine Report?
Start with the creator, not merely the place of custody. A sheriff deputy's incident or arrest report belongs with the sheriff. A constable record stays with the constable, and a DPS crash or arrest report follows DPS channels. The Jeff Davis County Constable page is the official source for that countywide office.
The countywide constable can be reached at 432-249-2155. If the creator is unclear, give the sheriff the Valentine location and event date, then ask which agency holds the report. A court clerk will not hold the original police narrative merely because a charge was later filed.
Arrests and Bookings in Valentine
No Valentine holding facility, city jail, public booking log, or city arrest blotter appears in the official sources. The sheriff is the routing authority for local custody questions. Call with the person's full name and approximate event time, ask whether the person is in custody, and confirm the actual receiving facility before sending mail, money, or a visitor. The county does not name a current contract jail on its site.
VINELink may show current custody and can accept notification registration when the match is reliable. It is not a historical arrest index and does not prove guilt. Request booking documents from the sheriff clerk, then check the combined clerk only after a prosecutor files a case. DPS public criminal history is for reported statewide convictions and deferred adjudications, not a live Valentine blotter. TDCJ becomes relevant after a state sentence and transfer.
VINELink for Valentine Custody Checks
VINELink is the official custody-status and notification route linked by the sheriff. Select Texas, search with the available name or identifying fields, and compare the returned information carefully. A match may supply custody status or location and let a user register for updates. If no result appears, call the sheriff because participation, transfer timing, and data updates can affect the display.
Do not turn a custody hit into a criminal-history conclusion. Booking follows an arrest allegation. It can precede prosecutor screening, a formal charging paper, dismissal, acquittal, or conviction. For the full path, compare the sheriff's booking record, any filed clerk case, and the signed disposition.
Note: Valentine has no published city roster, and VINELink does not replace a request for the sheriff's booking documents.
Valentine Municipal Court Records
No documented Valentine Municipal Court or city case portal was found. Qualifying fine-only and citation matters route instead to the countywide Justice Court at 100 Court Avenue, second floor, Fort Davis. The court phone is 432-426-3045, and posted hours are 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. on weekdays. The Justice Court states that it accepts nothing electronically. Its online citation option is for payment, not a full case search, and American Express is not accepted.
| Court Name | Jeff Davis Countywide Justice Court; no Valentine municipal court was documented. |
|---|---|
| Case Types Heard | Qualifying Class C and fine-only matters, citations, warrants, and magistrate functions. |
| Case Lookup Channel | Call or visit the Justice Court; no Valentine name-search portal exists. |
| What to Request | Cause or citation number, charge, settings, plea, judgment, and warrant status as public. |
| Copies & Fees | Local copy pricing was not posted; ask the court for current terms. |
Class A and B misdemeanors move to County Court and the county-clerk side. Felonies move to the 394th District Court and district-clerk side. Both filed record paths reach the combined clerk at 111 North Front Street, 432-426-3251.
Valentine Citation or County Criminal Case?
The grade and filing stage identify the right office. A qualifying fine-only citation starts with the countywide Justice Court. A Class A or B misdemeanor belongs in County Court after the county prosecutor files it. A felony proceeds through the 394th District Court, usually after prosecutor and grand-jury action. The combined clerk maintains the latter two case files even though the historic courthouse hosts proceedings at a different address.
The Jeff Davis County Attorney page identifies the county-level prosecutor and contact used in the local misdemeanor system.
The prosecutor is not the file counter. Request the filed information, docket, orders, and disposition from the combined clerk. For a status that affects a statewide DPS record, obtain a certified disposition rather than relying on a dated docket entry.
Where Valentine Records End Up
A Valentine-area event does not remain in one city file. The responding sheriff, constable, DPS trooper, or other officer creates the incident and arrest record. A receiving agency creates booking data. The prosecutor decides whether and what to file. The Justice Court, County Court, or 394th District Court then creates its own judicial record, while the combined clerk keeps the county and district case file.
Record flow: Valentine incident › Responding agency or sheriff › Jeff Davis County Courts › Texas Department of Public Safety
Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 66 requires reporting of qualifying Class B and more serious arrest, prosecution, and disposition events to DPS criminal history. Recent local facts may appear first with the sheriff or clerk. DPS is the statewide reported-history layer, and it may lag or lack a disposition that was not sent. A person correcting their own history should get a certified court disposition for DPS error resolution.
US 90 Links Valentine to Record Counters
Valentine sits on US 90, while the main record offices are in Fort Davis. The sheriff is at 105 Court Avenue. The historic courthouse and countywide Justice Court are at 100 Court Avenue, while the combined clerk is at 111 North Front Street. That split makes phone, mail, fax, and a call ahead especially useful. A person should not assume the clerk counter is inside the historic courthouse.
The Jeff Davis County Judge page is one official source for the courthouse location and posted county-office context.
The county judge does not hold sheriff reports or clerk case files. Use that source to orient the courthouse layer, then contact the specific custodian before traveling from Valentine.
Public Access Rules
The Texas Public Information Act governs access to agency-held information unless an exception or another confidentiality law applies. For Valentine, that means sending the request to the sheriff, constable, DPS, or other agency that actually created the report. Government Code Section 552.108 can protect parts of an active investigation or prosecution, while basic offense and arrest information receives different treatment. Judicial case files follow Texas court access rules rather than the ordinary agency-request model.
Key Statutes:
Texas Government Code Chapter 552 gives the public a right to agency information subject to stated exceptions, including Section 552.108.
Texas Government Code Sections 411.083 and 411.135 restrict criminal-history information while authorizing DPS public conviction and deferred-adjudication access.
Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 66 sets reporting duties for qualifying criminal-history events.
Protected information can include juvenile records, victim-identifying facts in sensitive matters, personal identifiers, expunged records, nondisclosed history, and parts of an open investigation. Ask for a redacted public copy if the whole file cannot be released. For a signed court outcome, contact the combined clerk rather than making a broad request to an agency.
Valentine Crime Rates Need Caution
No official Valentine-only Uniform Crime Reporting row was located. County sheriff data for 2024 covered 11 reported months and a population of 1,835, with 18 listed offenses. Those are county figures, not Valentine totals. Assigning them to the town would be inaccurate. With a population estimated in the dozens, even one event would swing a city rate sharply and could risk identifying people in a small community.
The county breakdown listed six assaults, five burglaries, four thefts, two motor-vehicle thefts, and one rape, with no reported murder, robbery, arson, or listed trafficking offense in that partial-year sheriff submission. Eight clearances were reported. A clearance is not the same as an arrest, and neither term proves a conviction. The missing month and small denominator make rates less useful than the raw counts.
Use raw county counts only as broad Jeff Davis context and label the geography and missing month. Do not use the sheriff's reported rate as a Valentine crime rate. A person tracing a specific event will get more reliable facts from the responsible agency report, the filed court case, and the signed disposition than from a tiny-area rate.