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Texas · County seat: Brownsville · Checked 2026-08-22

Cameron County

The jail, the sheriff who runs it, and the judges who decide who sits inside. Every fact below comes from a named public record. Anything not yet sourced is marked still needed rather than guessed.

The Detention Center

Carrizales-Rucker Cameron County Detention Center

Source: Cameron County Sheriff — Jail Division · checked 2026-08-22

Transparency rating

5/10Partial

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Cameron County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-08-22. Nothing here says the jail is run well or badly. Every mark moves the moment the county posts the document.

The Building

You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.

Since then

  • Not found

The Sheriff

Sheriff Manuel "Manny" Treviño

Still needed
  • Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
  • Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
  • Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail

Source: Cameron County Sheriff's Office — Contact Information · checked 2026-08-22

The Judges

Cameron County runs a dedicated Magistrate Court physically located inside the Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center; that is where first appearances and bond setting take place. A judge for County Court at Law No. 4 was not listed on the county's Courts at Law page on the research date.

County Judge

  • Eddie Treviño, Jr.

Magistrate Court (arraignment and bond at Carrizales-Rucker)

  • Leonardo Rincones Jr.
  • Gabriela Martinez

County Courts at Law

  • Arturo A. McDonald, Jr. — Court at Law No. 1
  • Laura L. Betancourt — Court at Law No. 2
  • David Gonzales III — Court at Law No. 3
  • Estela Chavez-Vasquez — Court at Law No. 5

District Courts

  • Janet L. Leal — 103rd
  • Benjamin Euresti Jr. — 107th
  • Gabriela Garcia — 138th
  • Adolfo E. Cordova Jr. — 197th
  • Juan A. Magallanes — 357th
  • Ricardo M. Adobbati — 404th
  • David Sanchez — 444th
  • Gloria Rincones — 445th
  • Adela Kowalski-Garza — 484th

Justices of the Peace

  • Benito "Bo" Ochoa IV — Pct. 1
  • Linda Salazar — Pct. 2-1
  • Cyndi M. Hinojosa — Pct. 2-2
  • Mary Esther Sorola — Pct. 2-3
  • Jesus T. "Chuy" Garcia, Jr. — Pct. 3-1
  • David Garza — Pct. 3-2
  • Juan Mendoza Jr. — Pct. 4
  • Charles "Chuck" Vieh — Pct. 5-1
  • Eloy Cano Jr. — Pct. 5-2
  • Alejandro "Alex" Torres — Pct. 5-3
Still needed
  • The county's bond schedule
  • Share of the jail population held pretrial
  • Median time from booking to first appearance

Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-08-22

The County Commissioners

They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.

Notes on the record

The record

13 people have died in the Cameron County jail since 2017.

2 by suicide
5 illness or medical
13 deaths in all, 2016 onward
Deaths where the person had not been convicted of the charge holding them11 of 13
Deaths within the first week of arriving8
Most recent death on the state's record2025-09-16
People held, 2026-081,493 in 1,746 beds
Share not convicted of the charge holding them70.4%

Deaths: Texas Justice Initiative, the cleaned copy of the Texas Attorney General’s custodial death reports — the state’s own public index carries no cause of death and has not been refreshed since August 2025. Population: Texas Commission on Jail Standards monthly report. Counted, not estimated.

These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Cameron County and what it costs the people who live here. Nationally, almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 had not been convicted of anything, and suicide was the leading single cause of those deaths (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019).

How much is your sheriff — and your judge — costing you?

Your VOTE is POWERFUL.

The sheriff who runs this jail is elected. So are the commissioners who pay for it.

Names verified 2026-08-22 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered