Clinton County Jail Release Paths
Clinton County Jail is the primary local detention facility. The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office operates it in St. Johns. A local arrestee can leave after bond, a court-ordered release, dismissal, a sentence already satisfied, or completion of county time. Yet not every exit is a community release. Someone sentenced to state prison may leave in MDOC custody. A federal boarder may move with the United States Marshals Service, and an out-of-county boarder may return to the jurisdiction that placed the person here.
| Departure from the jail | What it means | Next record |
|---|---|---|
| Bond or court release | Local custody ends after processing, subject to other holds | Jail release entry and court register |
| County sentence completion | The local custodial term ends | Court commitment and Sheriff calculation |
| MDOC transfer | The person remains incarcerated in state custody | OTIS after MDOC intake |
| Federal transfer | USMS or later BOP custody may continue | Federal case, USMS record, or BOP locator |
| Other-county transfer | The originating jurisdiction resumes custody | Originating jail or court |
Important: “Left Clinton County Jail” and “returned to the community” are not synonyms. Confirm the destination before describing the release.
Confirm Clinton County Jail Release
The current county website does not provide a verified searchable roster, recent-release archive, or 24-hour or 72-hour feed. The official local route is phone-centered. The Inmate Information page states that callers can obtain release-date, bail, court-appearance, and visitation information.
- Call 989-403-5090 with the full name, date of birth when appropriate, and approximate booking date.
- Ask whether the person is currently held and whether a release date is recorded.
- Ask whether the departure was community release or transfer to another authority.
- Check the Clinton County court record for the bond order, disposition, judgment, sentence, or dismissal.
- If the person transferred, move to the destination system: OTIS, the originating county, BOP, or another identified authority.
- Request the existing booking and release record when a durable date or disposition is needed.
The Sheriff also publishes 989-227-6580 for general jail and inmate information. A court order can show why custody should end, but it may precede the moment jail staff complete processing and clear other holds. The jail’s operational entry is stronger for the physical release date and time.
The full person-search and records-request sequence is available on the Clinton County released-inmate page. That route is useful when the destination is not yet known.
Clinton County Jail Records
Call before visiting. Public counter access is not the same as entry into the secure jail, and the official research does not publish a release window, exit door, family waiting area, or weekend-processing rule.
Clinton County Jail1347 E. Townsend Road
St. Johns, MI 48879
Release-date inquiry: 989-403-5090
Jail information: 989-227-6580
Fax: 989-227-0461
A historical release record can be requested under Michigan FOIA. Address a written request to Clinton County, Attn: FOIA Coordinator, 100 E. State Street, Suite 2100, St. Johns, MI 48879. The County also identifies admin@clinton-county.org and fax 989-224-5102. Requests may be mailed, delivered, or sent electronically.
Describe one custody episode. Ask for the existing booking/release record showing booking date and time, release date and time, release disposition or releasing authority, and transfer destination if recorded and disclosable. FOIA provides existing records subject to exemptions. It does not require staff to answer questions or create a new release list.
Clinton County Jail Capacity History
The jail’s size and boarder role help explain why a physical departure may be a transfer. The official Jail Operations page says the facility opened in 1991 with a rated capacity of 186. An addition and renovation added 30 beds in 2004. Another 20 beds were added in 2012, producing a stated capacity of 236.
The 2025 Sheriff Annual Report lists 1,706 bookings, including 1,253 male and 453 female bookings. It reports an average daily population of 87 local prisoners plus two boarders, for 89 total. A booking count is not a release count. It should not be used to infer how many people returned to the community.
The official jail operations source is pictured below and documents the facility history and its role holding boarders.
Federal, state, and other-county boarders make the destination question central to every Clinton County Jail release check.
Clinton County Jail Release Fields
The county publicly confirms that release-date information is available by phone. It does not publish the exact field labels of its booking system. A focused request can seek common concepts, but those concepts must not be presented as confirmed screen labels until the Sheriff supplies the record or data dictionary.
| Request target | What it may establish |
|---|---|
| Identity and booking number | Links the record to one person and episode |
| Booking date and time | Shows when local custody began |
| Release date and time | Shows when the jail completed the departure |
| Release disposition | May distinguish bond, court action, time completion, or transfer |
| Releasing authority | Identifies the legal or custodial basis |
| Transfer destination | Shows where custody continued, if recorded and disclosable |
Booking and release can be stored in different rows or screens. If the County produces only a booking sheet, follow up for the release screen, movement log, or report containing the exit disposition. A court order is not a substitute for the jail’s completion entry.
Note: The County publishes no current online retention period or data-update cadence for a Clinton County Jail release view.
Preserve Clinton County Jail Records
Website visibility and record retention are different. A name can disappear from a current view even while an underlying booking, release, or movement entry remains under an approved schedule. Michigan’s Local Law Enforcement General Schedule 11 supplies statewide categories, but an agency-specific schedule can control. The precise retention period for each Clinton County release field is not published on the reviewed jail pages.
The 2025 Sheriff Annual Report says the Corrections Division archive was purged and a records-room purge began under the State retention schedule. That confirms active schedule-based records work. It does not prove that every release item has the same life. If the County responds that a record is no longer retained, ask which schedule item applied to that record type.
Keep a request log with the submission channel, exact wording, acknowledgment, estimate, payment, and production. Preserve the source filename and page. A detached date can mislead, so request the nearby field labels and disposition rather than just one timestamp.
Trace Clinton County Jail Transfers
An MDOC transfer should eventually appear in OTIS after state intake and processing. Search by MDOC number when known, then compare name, date of birth, court, Status, and Location. OTIS does not cover a jail-only case. Its absence immediately after transport may reflect intake lag rather than community release.
A federal boarder may remain in USMS custody after leaving St. Johns. PACER can show federal case action. The BOP locator becomes relevant for a person in sentenced BOP custody, but “Released” or “Not in BOP Custody” proves only BOP status. An out-of-county boarder should be checked with the originating jail and court.
No official local source establishes an ICE detention contract at Clinton County Jail. An immigration transfer should be described only when case-specific evidence supports it. If such a transfer exists, the ICE locator and field office are the correct next channels. Do not infer ICE custody from a missing county record.
Property After Clinton County Release
The Sheriff distinguishes inmate property from evidence and other personal property. The Sheriff page says inmate property release is by appointment only at 989-227-6582. That statement may concern release to an authorized third party and does not establish the routine discharge handoff for every person.
Evidence or personal property held in a case uses a separate Evidence Technician appointment at 989-668-3121. The return may depend on whether the item is still needed or legally releasable. A jail exit does not automatically release case evidence.
Clinton County Post-Release Billing
The Jail Operations page states that sentenced inmates are charged $35 per day for confinement and billed after release. It describes collection procedures if no settlement arrangement is made. The page also says certain mandated items supplied to indigent inmates can be billed after release and discusses responsibility for medical-related charges.
These are post-release administrative charges, not the fee for obtaining a public record. FOIA costs are calculated under the County’s separate policy. A person with a billing question should ask the jail which charge and custody dates apply, rather than treating the public-record request process as the payment channel.
The County’s FOIA policy has its own fee rules. It can charge permitted labor and media costs, caps letter or legal paper at ten cents per sheet, and may seek a deposit of up to one-half when the estimate exceeds $50. Those figures describe record production, not jail debt. Keeping the two billing systems separate helps route questions to the right office.