Webster County Jail Roster

The Webster County jail roster tracks inmates held at the detention facility in Preston, Georgia. Webster County is one of the smallest counties in the state by population, located in southwest Georgia. The sheriff's office manages the jail and posts booking records. You can search for people on the Webster County jail roster through online tools or by calling the sheriff's office. This page covers all the ways to look up inmates, what records you can get, and how Georgia law handles public access to jail roster data in Webster County.

Webster County Sheriff and Jail Records

The Webster County Sheriff's Office runs the jail and maintains the roster. The office is in Preston, the county seat. With a population of just about 2,600, Webster County is one of the least populated counties in all of Georgia. The jail is small. Bookings are infrequent compared to urban counties. But the sheriff still handles all detention duties and keeps the jail roster as the official record of who is in custody.

Webster County sits in the Southwestern Judicial Circuit along with Lee, Macon, Schley, Stewart, and Sumter counties. Superior Court cases from Webster County go through the courthouse in Preston. The magistrate court handles bond hearings, warrants, and preliminary hearings. Because the county is so small, the sheriff's staff can often tell you over the phone if someone is in the jail without needing to look it up in a system.

Search Webster County Jail Roster

You can check the Webster County jail roster through online search tools. Third-party sites that pull data from Georgia county jails let you search by name. The results show inmates, charges, and booking dates. These sites are free. In a tiny county like Webster, the list of current inmates is usually very short, which makes it easy to scan through.

Calling the sheriff's office in Preston is often the most direct way to get info about the Webster County jail roster. Staff there can look up the roster and give you a current answer. In a county this small, the phone call is quick and simple. Have the person's name ready. The roster updates as bookings and releases happen, though changes do not come as often as they would in a bigger county.

State Prison Records and Webster County

The Webster County jail roster covers local inmates only. If someone is sentenced and sent to a Georgia state prison, they leave the county roster. The GDC offender search is the free tool for finding state inmates. It covers all state prisons and transitional centers in Georgia.

Search by typing the first four letters of the last name. Results show the inmate ID, current facility, and tentative release date. People who served under Georgia's First Offender Act per O.C.G.A. Section 42-8-66 will not appear. The GDC facility directory maps every state prison. Webster County has no state prison, so inmates moving from the county jail to state custody get sent elsewhere in Georgia.

Webster County Jail Roster Tracking

VINE is a free service that tracks inmates in the Webster County jail. You can sign up to get alerts when someone's custody status changes. Bonding out, transfers, and releases all trigger a notification. The system is confidential and runs 24 hours a day. Nobody at the Webster County jail will know you are tracking an inmate.

Register at VINELink or call 1-800-398-2892. You need the inmate's name or booking number. Pick your alert type. Phone, text, and email are all available. A live person is on call at all times. The TTY line is 1-866-847-1298 for hearing impaired users. Even in a small county like Webster, VINE is a useful tool when you want automatic updates on someone's jail roster status instead of calling the sheriff's office yourself.

Webster County Jail Records and the Law

Georgia's Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. Section 50-18-70, makes most jail data in Webster County public. You can file a written request with the sheriff's office for booking records and charge sheets. They have three business days to respond. The first 15 minutes of search time cost nothing. After that, fees are based on staff time. Copies run $0.10 per page.

O.C.G.A. Section 35-3-37 governs when jail records can be restricted. Misdemeanor arrests with no case outcome get restricted after two years. Non-violent felony arrests with no result get restricted after four years. Violent felonies take seven years. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation runs the GCIC, which handles restrictions at the state level. Once restricted by GCIC, the Webster County jail must restrict its copy within 30 days of a written request from the person.

Under O.C.G.A. Section 50-18-74, agencies that wrongly deny open records requests face fines. First offense is up to $1,000. Repeat violations within a year can bring fines of $2,500. Medical records and security plans are off limits, but standard booking data on the Webster County jail roster is available to the public. The Georgia Sheriffs' Association can help you find contact info for the Webster County sheriff.

Nearby County Jail Rosters

Webster County is in southwest Georgia. If you are not sure which county handled an arrest, check these nearby jail rosters.