Heard County Released Inmates Search

Heard County released inmates records are managed by Sheriff Ross Henry's office in Franklin. The jail at 11820 HWY 100 processes all bookings and releases, and Penny McClain serves as jail administrator.

Heard County Sheriff's Office Inmate Records

Sheriff Ross Henry runs the Heard County Sheriff's Office at 11820 HWY 100 in Franklin, GA 30217. The main phone number is 706-675-3329. Penny McClain is the jail administrator. Her email is pmcclain@heardcountyga.com. If you need info on a specific inmate or released person, she is a good contact.

Heard County is one of the smaller counties in Georgia. About 11,800 people live here. The jail is small too. It handles bookings from the sheriff's deputies and the Franklin Police Department. All arrests in the county go through this one facility. That makes record keeping simpler since there is only one place to check for released inmates data.

The sheriff's office does not run a big online inmate search portal. For current inmate info, you will likely need to call or visit. Third-party sites carry some Heard County data, but the sheriff's office is always the most reliable source. Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70, booking records are public and you can request them at any time.

Visitation at the Heard County jail is limited. It happens on Wednesday and Sunday only. The exact time depends on where the inmate is housed. You must be on an approved visitor list that the inmate submits. Visits last 20 minutes at most, and only two people can visit at a time. These rules are strict. Call ahead if you plan to visit.

Released Inmates Records in Heard County

Each booking at the Heard County jail creates a record. It has the person's name, date of birth, charges, bond amount, and the date they came in. When they leave, the record stays. Released inmates data is kept by the sheriff's office and can be pulled up through a records request.

Georgia's Open Records Act under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72 makes most jail data public. That includes booking logs, charge sheets, and release dates. Some info can be held back. Medical records, for instance, are not public. Neither are juvenile records. But the basic facts of an arrest and release are open in Heard County.

O.C.G.A. § 42-9-53 handles release and parole tracking at the state level. The Heard County jail deals with local holds. People serving more than a year on a felony sentence go to the state prison system, not the county jail. So released inmates from the Heard County jail are typically people who posted bail, served short sentences, or had charges dropped. For state inmates, the Georgia Department of Corrections at gdc.georgia.gov is the right resource.

The City of Franklin Police Department also makes arrests in Heard County. Chief Kevin Hannah runs the department at 118 Davis St. in Franklin. The phone is 706-675-6624 and email is chiefhannah@franklingapolice.com. They have seven officers on staff. Anyone arrested by Franklin PD gets booked into the same Heard County jail, so the records end up in the same place.

Heard County Online Lookup Options

Online options for Heard County released inmates are limited since the sheriff does not run a dedicated search portal. Third-party sites are the main online option right now.

VINELink is a free service that lets you track an offender's custody status in Georgia. You can sign up for alerts by phone, email, or text when an inmate is released or transferred.

VINELink covers jails and prisons across Georgia. You can search by name or offender ID to get current status info.

Third-party sites pull from whatever public data is available. In a small county like Heard, the data feed may be slow or incomplete. For the most current info on released inmates, a direct call to 706-675-3329 is your best option. Penny McClain and her staff can check the system and tell you if someone is in custody or has been let go.

Crime statistics for the Franklin area show 56 total reported crimes in 2016, which is a rate of about 5,083 per 100,000 people. Thefts and property crimes were the most common types. These are older numbers, but they give context for the kind of cases that come through the Heard County system. As of mid-2018, there were 45 registered sex offenders in the area. That registry is separate from the jail roster but is also public info.

Georgia State Resources for Heard County

State tools help when you need records beyond the local jail. The Georgia Department of Corrections has a free offender search at gdc.georgia.gov/offender-info/find-offender. It covers state prisons. If someone from Heard County went to state prison, you can track them there.

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles at pap.georgia.gov handles parole decisions for state inmates. The Department of Community Supervision at dcs.georgia.gov tracks probation and parole. The GBI at gbi.georgia.gov does criminal history checks under O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37. These all cover Heard County.

How to Request Heard County Inmate Records

Call 706-675-3329 first. Ask about the person by name. Staff can tell you if they are in custody or have been released. For simple checks, this is the quickest way.

For copies of records, send a written request. Mail it to the Heard County Sheriff's Office, 11820 HWY 100, Franklin, GA 30217. Or email pmcclain@heardcountyga.com. Include the person's name, date of birth if you know it, and what records you need. Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70, the office has three business days to respond. They can charge for copies but must give you an estimate first.

You can also visit in person. The office is in Franklin. Bring ID. Keep in mind the jail's visitor hours are limited to Wednesday and Sunday, but the office itself has regular business hours. For state prison records, submit a request through the GDC open records form at gdc.georgia.gov/contact-us/open-records-request.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Heard County in west Georgia. Each one runs its own jail and keeps its own released inmates records.