Starr County

The Detention Center

The county publishes no formal name for this facility.

• Operated byStarr County Sheriff's Office (the county budget shows the facility is leased, not county-owned outright)
• County publishes a jail nameNo — the Sheriff page carries an address, a phone, a staff list and a VINELink link, and nothing about the jail
• Budget department"Detention Center", pages 23 & 24 of the county budget, separate from "Sheriff's Department" on page 25
• LeaseThe Detention Center department carries a line reading "Jail Lease $71,800 /mo." and a second line "Trustee Fees-Jail Lease"
• Detention Center total expenses$1,493,649.98 in the FY2021-2022 budget
• What was triedhttps://www.co.starr.tx.us/page/Sheriff ; https://www.co.starr.tx.us/page/Sitemap ; https://www.co.starr.tx.us/page/Budgets ; https://www.co.starr.tx.us/page/Public.Notices
• Beds and population, 2026-08272 people held in 321 rated beds

Source: Starr County, Texas — Budgets · checked 2026-08-22

• ✗The jail is named — not published
• ✗Who is in custody — not published
• ✗Beds and daily population — not published
• ✓What it costs taxpayers
• ✗Deaths in custody — not published
• ✗PREA audits — not published
• ✗Independent inspection — not published
• ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
• ✗How to post bond — not published
• ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Starr 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.

• Year builtNot found
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byNot found — but the county's own budget books the facility as a lease, at $71,800 a month, with a separate "Trustee Fees-Jail Lease" line
• BedsNot found

The Sheriff

Sheriff Rene "Orta" Fuentes

• Published as"Starr County Sheriff Rene ‘Orta’ Fuentes"
• Chief DeputyLarry Fuentes
• MajorCarlos Delgado
• CaptainLenard Fuentes
• Chief AdministratorJose R. Molina
• Address102 E. 6th Street, Rio Grande City, TX 78582
• Phone956-487-5571

Source: Starr County, Texas — Sheriff · checked 2026-08-22

The Judges

Starr County publishes eight Justice of the Peace precincts and eight constable precincts — the largest JP bench of any county in this group, Tarrant included, which has eight. The 381st District Court judge is published on https://www.co.starr.tx.us/page/381st.

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

The County Commissioners

They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.

• What they controlThe detention budget, the building itself, and the agreements that let other agencies rent its beds.
• What they don'tDay-to-day operations. The sheriff is separately elected and answers to voters, not to the board.
• The boardBoard of County Commissioners →
• Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →