Find Columbia County Jail Roster

The Columbia County jail roster tracks everyone held at the detention center in Evans, Georgia. Columbia County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state and sits just west of Augusta along the Savannah River corridor. The Columbia County Sheriff's Office runs the jail and keeps the roster current with every new booking. You can search for inmates online or call the sheriff's office for the latest custody information. Whether someone was picked up in Evans, Martinez, or elsewhere in the county, all bookings go through this one facility.

Columbia County Sheriff and Detention

The Columbia County Sheriff's Office is a large agency that serves one of the most populated counties in Georgia. The office handles law enforcement, court services, and the county jail. Evans is the county seat and home to the main sheriff's office complex. With a population over 156,000, Columbia County sees a steady volume of arrests and bookings that show up on the jail roster each day.

Columbia County is part of the Augusta Judicial Circuit, which also covers Burke and Richmond counties. Superior Court cases from the Columbia County jail go through the courthouse in Evans. The Magistrate Court handles bond hearings and initial appearances for new arrests. If someone on the Columbia County jail roster is facing felony charges, their case will move to Superior Court after a grand jury indictment or a preliminary hearing. The county has grown fast over the last two decades, and the justice system has kept pace with added judges and staff to handle the caseload.

Search Columbia County Jail Roster Online

Columbia County is large enough that online search tools give you fast results. Several sites pull booking data from the county and display it in an easy format. You search by name and can see who is currently in the Columbia County jail. Each entry shows the inmate's name, charges, and booking date. Bond info may also be listed if it has been set by a judge.

You can also call the Columbia County Sheriff's Office to check on someone. Phone lookups work well during business hours. Have the person's full name and date of birth if you can. The jail roster updates as bookings happen, but online data can run a few hours behind. For the most current info on who is held at the Columbia County jail, a phone call gives you real-time answers.

Note: Columbia County jail roster data online may not reflect very recent bookings or releases.

Columbia County and State Prison Records

When an inmate at the Columbia County jail gets sentenced to serve time in a state prison, they leave the local roster. The Georgia Department of Corrections takes over at that point. You can search for them using the free GDC offender search tool. Type in the first four letters of the last name and set the search to show all offenders. The tool covers all state prisons and transitional centers in Georgia.

The results show the inmate's GDC ID number, the facility where they are held, and tentative release dates. People who completed sentencing under Georgia's First Offender Act per O.C.G.A. Section 42-8-66 won't show up. The GDC facility directory lists every state prison and county facility that holds state inmates. Columbia County inmates who move to state custody are no longer on the county jail roster. They exist only in the GDC database after the transfer is done.

Inmate Tracking in Columbia County

VINE is a free tool that sends you alerts about inmates in the Columbia County jail. It stands for Victim Information and Notification Everyday. The service runs around the clock and is completely confidential. You can sign up to find out when someone on the jail roster bonds out, gets moved, or is released. This is useful if you need to know when a specific inmate's status changes.

Visit VINELink or call 1-800-398-2892 to get started. You will need the inmate's name or booking number. Then choose how you want alerts. Options are phone, email, and text. A live operator is on call 24 hours a day if you need help. The TTY line for hearing impaired users is 1-866-847-1298. VINE covers most Georgia counties including Columbia County and works in several languages.

Open Records for Columbia County Jail

Georgia's Open Records Act covers jail data in Columbia County. Under O.C.G.A. Section 50-18-70, booking records, charge sheets, and basic inmate info are public. You send a written request to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. They have three business days to respond under the law.

The first 15 minutes of search time are free. After that, they charge at the hourly rate of the lowest paid employee who can handle the request. Copies cost $0.10 per page. If Columbia County denies a valid request without cause, O.C.G.A. Section 50-18-74 allows fines up to $1,000 for the first offense and $2,500 for each repeat within 12 months. Security procedures, medical records, and employee personal data are exempt. But standard jail roster info is almost always available to anyone who asks for it in Columbia County. The GDC has a separate open records portal for state-level prison data.

Columbia County Criminal History Records

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation stores criminal history records at the state level through the Georgia Crime Information Center. Arrest data from the Columbia County jail goes into this system. Under O.C.G.A. Section 35-3-37, you can get your own criminal history for up to $15, not counting fingerprinting. If your record has errors, you can request a correction from the GCIC.

Jail roster records from Columbia County can be restricted over time. Misdemeanor arrests with no case outcome get restricted after two years. Non-violent felony arrests are restricted after four years without a disposition. Serious violent crimes have a seven-year waiting period. The Columbia County jail must restrict records within 30 days of a written request when the GCIC has already restricted them at the state level. This helps people who appeared on the Columbia County jail roster but were never convicted. Dismissed cases, dropped charges, and acquittals all qualify for restriction under Georgia law.

Columbia County Cities

Columbia County includes several communities in the Augusta metro area. Arrests made by city police within Columbia County go to the county jail and show up on the jail roster. These cities are part of Columbia County and their jail bookings are handled by the sheriff's office.

Nearby County Jail Rosters

Columbia County borders several counties in the Augusta area and along the South Carolina state line. If you can't find someone on the Columbia County jail roster, they may have been booked in a neighboring county.