Eddie Christian Vargas was in the custody of Travis County Sheriff’s Department in Austin, Texas, in pre-booking as of 5:20 pm on June 9, 2021. Tragically, the 25-year-old died minutes later at 6:35 pm. The manner and cause of death are pending autopsy results, according to the custodial death report prepared regarding the passing of Mr. Vargas.

What Happens During the Booking Process?

What happens when an individual is booked in a county jail in Texas is a uniform procedure throughout the state. The booking process is a reference to making a record of each detainee’s name, age, address, and reason for the arrest.

After the information is collected and entered online, a County Identification Number (CID) is assigned. The number is unique to each inmate and will be used for any future alleged criminal activity in the county for the remainder of his or her life. This number it is the best reference that can be used to locate past or pending cases regarding a particular inmate.

Next, inmates are asked a series of questions. They are then fingerprinted and given an iris scan.  As a record for the jail, a photograph is taken of each inmate. Fingerprints can be run online to compare for a potential match in other databases throughout the country to check for any additional warrants or outstanding criminal cases.

Learn more about what happens during the booking process in this ongoing series.

It is never intended on this website to infer wrongdoing on any person or organization. The goal in adding posts is to provide a helpful resource benefiting inmates now or previously incarcerated in a county jail in Texas.

–Guest Contributor