Cotulla Transfer Facility

Men's TDCJ transfer facility in Cotulla, La Salle County, South Texas, between San Antonio and Laredo on I-35, with weekend visitation.

Overview

The Cotulla Transfer Facility is a men’s transfer unit in Cotulla, in La Salle County in South Texas, along I-35 between San Antonio and Laredo. TDCJ lists it at about 606 beds, opened in 1992, on a small footprint of roughly 36 acres.

As a transfer facility, its defining feature is short stays: many people are held here only briefly while awaiting assignment to a permanent unit.

What Makes the Cotulla Unit Different

• A transfer facility — most people pass through on the way to a permanent unit rather than serving a full term here, so stays are often short
• Because stays are short, a person may be reassigned before a scheduled visit; the TDCJ inmate locator shows the unit a person is currently assigned to, and confirming it close to the visit date avoids a wasted trip
• A small unit — TDCJ lists it at about 606 beds — on roughly 36 acres less than a mile east of Cotulla
• Located in South Texas on the I-35 corridor between San Antonio and Laredo, away from a larger city

Visiting Hours and Procedures

The statewide rules above — approval, ID, prohibited items, and dress code — apply at the Cotulla Transfer Facility. What follows is specific to this unit.

Visits are scheduled through the TDCJ Online Visitation Portal, and a visitor must be on the incarcerated person’s approved Visitors List before a visit can be booked.

Because Cotulla is a short-stay transfer unit, a person may be moved to another unit before a scheduled visit takes place. Checking the TDCJ inmate locator for the current unit assignment shortly before traveling helps confirm the visit will be at this facility.

Getting There and Parking

The Cotulla Transfer Facility is in La Salle County in South Texas, less than a mile east of Cotulla off FM 624. Cotulla sits on Interstate 35 between San Antonio to the north and Laredo to the south.

There is no fixed-route bus to the unit, so the trip is by private vehicle. Cotulla is directly on the I-35 corridor, which makes the highway approach straightforward, but the final stretch on FM 624 is rural.

Phones, Mail, and Video

Contact has a sequence to it. A phone number must be on the incarcerated person’s approved contact list before calls can connect, and after intake or a transfer that approval can take time to process. Calls are placed by the incarcerated person on TDCJ’s Securus phone system; a prison cannot be called into. Account setup, rates, and video options are covered in Phone & Video Calls.

Nearby Services

Cotulla is a small city, with limited commercial services concentrated near the I-35 interchanges, where travelers will find gas, fast food, and a few chain motels. San Antonio, about 90 minutes north, is the nearest large service center for a wider range of lodging, groceries, and other needs before the drive south.

For support beyond the unit itself, the Texas Inmate Families Association is a statewide nonprofit focused on education, advocacy, and prison-system navigation resources for families with someone in TDCJ custody.

Learn More

For detailed information about visiting and communicating with someone at a Texas state prison:

• Visiting in Texas — TDCJ approval process, dress code, scheduling
• Mail & Packages — what you can send and what gets rejected
• Phone & Video Calls — Securus accounts, call costs, video visits
• Sending Money — how to add funds to a TDCJ trust account
• Medical & Mental Health — healthcare in TDCJ facilities
• Transfers — what happens during transfers