Decatur County Jail Roster Lookup

The Decatur County jail roster tracks all inmates held at the detention facility in Bainbridge, Georgia. Decatur County is in the southwest part of the state, near the Florida border. The sheriff's office manages the jail and updates the roster as bookings happen throughout the day and night. You can search the Decatur County jail roster online, by phone, or through a formal records request. This page explains how each method works and what information you can expect to find about inmates held in this county.

Decatur County Sheriff's Office

The Decatur County Sheriff's Office handles the jail and all inmate records for the area. Bainbridge is the county seat and where the detention center is located. The sheriff's office takes calls about the jail roster during regular business hours. If you need to know whether someone is in custody, the staff can check for you by name. They deal with booking questions, bond info, and general jail roster requests on a daily basis.

Decatur County covers a good stretch of land in southwest Georgia. The area borders the state of Florida to the south. Because of this location, some arrests in the county involve people passing through on their way to or from Florida. Those folks show up on the Decatur County jail roster like anyone else picked up in the county. Cross-border warrants and fugitive holds are also part of the workload for the sheriff's office here.

Search the Decatur County Jail Roster

The easiest way to check the Decatur County jail roster online is through third-party sites that collect Georgia jail data. These sites pull booking records from county jails and let you search by inmate name. The data usually shows the person's name, charges, booking date, and bond amount if one has been set. For the most current info, call the sheriff's office directly.

You can also track inmate status in Decatur County through VINELink. This free service sends you alerts when an inmate's custody status changes. You can sign up by phone at 1-800-398-2892 or through the VINELink website. Alerts come by phone, email, or text. It works around the clock.

Note: Third-party jail roster sites may not update as fast as the official county records.

Decatur County Inmate Records and Law

Georgia's Open Records Act covers jail roster data in Decatur County. Under O.C.G.A. Section 50-18-70, most booking records are public. You can ask the sheriff's office for these records in writing. Cite O.C.G.A. Section 50-18-71 in your request. The law gives them three business days to respond. The first 15 minutes of search time are free. Copies cost $0.10 per page. After the free search time, the county can charge based on the hourly rate of the lowest paid staff member who can do the work.

Criminal history records in Decatur County fall under O.C.G.A. Section 35-3-37. This statute controls when records get restricted. Misdemeanor arrests with no conviction get restricted after two years. Non-violent felony arrests without a case outcome are restricted after four years. Serious violent crimes have a seven-year wait period. The Georgia Crime Information Center at the GBI manages these records at the state level. Once the GCIC restricts a record, the Decatur County jail must do the same within 30 days of getting a written request.

People who complete a sentence under Georgia's First Offender Act, O.C.G.A. Section 42-8-66, can have their records sealed. They will not show up in the GDC offender search. The local Decatur County jail roster may still show the original booking, though. Under O.C.G.A. Section 50-18-74, agencies that wrongly deny records requests face fines up to $1,000 for the first time.

State Search Tools for Decatur County

If someone from Decatur County has been moved to a state prison, the county jail roster will no longer list them. Use the GDC offender search tool to check state facilities. The Georgia Department of Corrections runs this free search. You can look up inmates by name or offender ID. The results show current location, charges, and tentative parole dates.

The GDC facility directory covers state prisons, county facilities, and transitional centers. The Georgia Sheriffs' Association can point you to the right contact at any sheriff's office in the state. For state-level open records, submit a request through the GDC open records page.

Decatur County Jail Booking Steps

Arrests in Decatur County lead to booking at the county jail. The process starts with identification. Staff take fingerprints and a photo. A health check follows. Personal items are collected and stored. The person's name, charges, and arresting agency get entered into the records system. After that, they appear on the Decatur County jail roster. This can take a few hours depending on how busy the jail is at the time.

Bond is set based on the charges. Some offenses in Decatur County follow a bond schedule. Others need a hearing in front of a judge. If the inmate posts bond, they are released and their name comes off the active jail roster. If they can't make bond, they stay in custody until trial or until the court takes further action. Bond amounts and charge details are part of the public jail roster record in most cases.

Visitation schedules at the Decatur County jail can change. Call the sheriff's office before making a trip to confirm current hours and rules. Some Georgia county jails now use video visitation instead of in-person visits. Check ahead of time to know what Decatur County offers.

Nearby County Jail Rosters

Decatur County is in the southwest corner of Georgia near the Florida border. Check the neighboring county jail rosters here if you need to widen your search.