Find Seminole County Released Inmates

Seminole County released inmates records are managed by the Sheriff's Office in Donalsonville. Located on Georgia's southwest border with Florida, this county processes all local jail bookings and releases through a single facility.

Seminole County Sheriff's Office Inmate Data

The Seminole County Sheriff's Office is the primary source for released inmates records in this county. The office is based in Donalsonville, the county seat. All arrests made in Seminole County, whether by sheriff's deputies or Donalsonville police, lead to booking at the county jail. The sheriff keeps records of each booking and each release.

Seminole County sits at the very bottom of Georgia. It borders both Florida and Alabama. The county has a population of roughly 8,700 people. The jail is sized for this population. It does not house a huge number of inmates at any given time, but every person who comes through gets a full booking record.

When you contact the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, staff can check on whether a person has been booked or released. Phone calls are the quickest way to get a basic answer. For copies of records or detailed data, you would need to submit a formal request. The office operates during normal business hours on weekdays.

The sheriff in Seminole County serves as the chief law enforcement officer. Deputies handle calls across the county. The Donalsonville Police Department covers the city. Both agencies bring arrestees to the county jail. The jail is the central point for all released inmates records in Seminole County.

Open Records and Georgia Law in Seminole County

Georgia's Open Records Act is your legal basis for getting released inmates data. O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 says that public records are open for inspection by any person. Jail booking logs and release records from the Seminole County jail qualify as public records. You do not have to explain why you want them.

The law does have limits. O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72 describes the types of records that can be withheld. Active criminal investigations, for one. Juvenile records are sealed. Medical files of inmates stay private. But the basic facts of an adult arrest and release in Seminole County are public. That includes the name, charges, arrest date, booking number, bond amount, and release date.

When you ask for records, the Seminole County Sheriff's Office has three business days to respond. They can hand you the records right then. They can set a date for when the records will be ready. Or they can cite a legal reason for not releasing them. They cannot just ignore the request. The three-day rule is in the statute, and it applies to every county office in Georgia.

Copy fees are allowed. The office can charge for the cost of making copies. Paper, ink, and staff time are all fair to charge for, but only if the request is big. A quick look at one person's booking record usually does not cost much. The office has to tell you the fee before they do the work, so you will not get hit with a surprise bill.

State Resources for Seminole County Inmate Searches

Not everyone arrested in Seminole County stays in the county jail. Some get transferred to state prison after sentencing. When that happens, the Georgia Department of Corrections takes over. You can search for state inmates at gdc.georgia.gov/offender-info/find-offender. The search is free. It covers all state prisons and shows the person's status, location, and release date if known.

The GDC website is the go-to tool for finding Georgia state prison inmates, including those from Seminole County.

Parole decisions for state inmates go through the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles at pap.georgia.gov. This board decides who gets early release and under what terms. If a person from Seminole County is in state prison and up for parole, this is the agency that makes the call.

Once paroled, the person reports to the Department of Community Supervision at dcs.georgia.gov. The DCS also handles felony probation cases across Georgia. So if someone was arrested in Seminole County and placed on probation, the DCS oversees that supervision. They have offices that cover the southwest Georgia area.

The GBI at gbi.georgia.gov runs background checks under O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37. This service pulls from a statewide criminal history database. It includes arrests from Seminole County and every other county. There is a fee, and the results take a few days. But it gives you a broader picture than what a single county jail can provide.

How Bookings and Releases Work in Seminole County

An arrest in Seminole County starts the booking process. The person is brought to the county jail. Jail staff take a photo and fingerprints. They record the person's name, date of birth, and physical description. The charges are listed. An arresting officer fills out paperwork that goes with the file.

Bond is usually set within 48 hours. A judge or magistrate decides the amount based on the charges and the person's record. If the person can pay, they get out. If not, they sit in jail until their court date. Some charges do not allow bond at all.

Release can happen several ways. Bond is the most common for people waiting for trial. Time served means the sentence is done. A judge can order release on the person's own recognizance, which means no bond payment is needed. Transfer to a state prison is another form of leaving the county jail, though the person is not free in that case.

Each of these events gets recorded. The Seminole County jail staff note the date, time, and reason for every release. This is the data that makes up the released inmates record. It stays on file at the sheriff's office and can be pulled up later through an open records request.

Seminole County Court System and Case Records

Seminole County belongs to the Pataula Judicial Circuit. This circuit also includes Clay, Early, Miller, and Quitman counties. The Superior Court handles felony cases. The Magistrate Court deals with minor offenses, warrants, and preliminary hearings. Each court keeps its own set of records.

Court records and jail records overlap but they are not the same. The jail tracks who was booked and when they left. The court tracks the legal case, the charges filed by the DA, the plea or trial outcome, and the sentence. If you want the full story on a released inmate from Seminole County, you may need to pull records from both the jail and the court.

The Seminole County Clerk of Superior Court is the keeper of felony case records. You can request these through the clerk's office in the courthouse at Donalsonville. The same open records laws apply. O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 covers court files just like it covers jail files.

Parole and Supervision in Seminole County

O.C.G.A. § 42-9-53 governs how parole data is handled. This is a state-level statute. It applies to people released from state prison on parole, including those who were originally arrested in Seminole County. The Board of Pardons and Paroles makes parole decisions. The DCS supervises parolees after they get out.

Probation is different from parole. A court orders probation as part of a sentence. Felony probation in Seminole County falls under the state DCS. Misdemeanor probation may be handled by a private company working under contract with the court. Both create records that show the person's conditions and compliance.

Knowing if a released inmate from Seminole County is on supervision matters. It tells you where the person stands in the system. The DCS can provide some of this data, though not all of it is available online. You may need to contact their local office or file a formal request.

Practical Steps for Seminole County Inmate Searches

Start local. Call the Seminole County Sheriff's Office for recent bookings and releases. If the person went to state prison, switch to the GDC offender search. For a broad criminal history, the GBI background check covers the whole state.

Third-party sites may list some Seminole County inmates. Coverage varies for smaller counties. The data on these sites can lag behind by a day or more. They are a starting point but not a replacement for the official records at the sheriff's office. For the most up-to-date released inmates data in Seminole County, go straight to the source.

Nearby Counties

These counties neighbor Seminole County in the far southwest corner of Georgia. Each runs its own jail and keeps its own records.