| Inmate Processing Division
1201 COMMERCE
HOUSTON, TX. 77002
Information Office 713-755-2852
The Inmate Processing Division’s Inmate Processing Center (IPC) is located in downtown Houston at 1201 Commerce Street. The IPC is the main intake facility for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. The IPC is responsible for processing all persons charged with a criminal offense in Harris County. This processing includes the fingerprinting, photographing, and information processing of all prisoners prior to them being housed in the Harris County Jail. In 2007, the Inmate Processing Center received over 135,050 prisoners and released over 134,100 inmates, to include those transferred to other agencies, municipalities and/or detention facilities. On average, approximately 370 prisoners are processed through the IPC each day. The IPC has the ability to quickly accept custody of a prisoner, thus allowing all law enforcement officers to return to service in their communities in a timely manner. In order to process prisoners more efficiently, and better serve all law enforcement agencies, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office strategically operates four satellite jails in various parts of unincorporated Harris County. These facilities take custody of prisoners who are charged with criminal offenses and temporarily hold them until they can be safely transported downtown to the Inmate Processing Center.
A prisoner requiring medication or found to have injuries will be seen by the on duty nurse for further evaluation prior to being accepted and/or booked into jail. A chest x-ray is taken of each prisoner during the booking process in order to detect active Tuberculosis. Trained nurse's interview and medically evaluate all prisoners booked into the Harris County Jail.
The Inmate Classification Division uses a highly specialized system to classify prisoners who will be housed in the County Jail. The Sheriff's Office uses these programs to record a defendant's age, sex, frequency of offense, type of offense, health, mental state and sexual orientation. Based on the prisoners responses to specific questions, they are assigned a designated housing group within a specific area of the jail. Classification computers show which cellblocks and bunks are available for assignment in each area. The Classification Deputy assigns the inmate to a single bunk, in a designated cellblock, and enters that location into the computer system.
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