Find Clinton County Released Inmates

Clinton County Release Paths

A Clinton County Jail departure can mean several things. Staff may release a person after bond is posted, after a judge orders release, or when county time ends. The person may also leave the building in the custody of the Michigan Department of Corrections, another county, the United States Marshals Service, the Bureau of Prisons, or another authority. This distinction matters in Clinton County because the jail houses local prisoners as well as federal, state, and other-county boarders. “Left the jail” does not always mean “free in the community.”

The release record shows how Clinton County custody ended. A court file shows what the judge ordered. OTIS describes state status, while VINELink reports supported custody events. Strong confirmation often pairs two sources.

Clinton County Inmate Release Types

The exact field labels used inside the Clinton County jail system are not published online. Still, the legal and custody paths are distinct enough to guide a record search. Ask the jail for the recorded release disposition or releasing authority rather than selecting a label based only on a court page or a missing roster name.

A death in Clinton County custody is not a community release. A detainer transfer also keeps the person confined. The recorded disposition prevents both events from being mislabeled.

Note: Clinton County does not publish its precise release-type vocabulary, so request the actual field labels when wording matters.

Clinton County Release Record Fields

The official Inmate Information page confirms that release-date information is available by phone. It does not publish a sample release screen or a data dictionary. For a written record, identify the booking episode and ask for existing fields rather than demanding that staff create a narrative. The following items are valid request targets, but they should not be described as guaranteed Clinton County field names until the Sheriff produces the record.

Request the booking photograph separately. Booking and release data can sit in different reports. If Clinton County provides only a booking sheet, ask for the movement log or existing entry that records the exit. A court order is not the jail’s operational completion entry.

Request Clinton County Release Records

Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act gives access to existing public records, subject to exemptions. Clinton County accepts requests by mail, delivery, email, or fax. A narrow request is easier to locate than a demand for every record about a person. Include a full name, date of birth or booking number when known, the approximate booking period, and the specific release fields sought.

1. Describe one custody episode and name the Clinton County Jail as the likely custodian.
2. Ask for the existing booking and release entries showing date, time, disposition, releasing authority, and destination if recorded and disclosable.
3. State whether inspection, paper copies, or an available electronic format is preferred. Request the booking photo as a separate item.
4. Send the request to the Clinton County FOIA Coordinator at 100 E. State Street, Suite 2100, St. Johns, MI 48879, by email to admin@clinton-county.org, or by fax to 989-224-5102.
5. Track the acknowledgment, extension, estimate, payment, and production. Narrow the date range if an estimate is too high.

Clinton County generally responds within five business days by granting, denying, granting in part, or issuing one extension of up to ten additional business days. This is not a production guarantee. Labor and media charges can apply. Paper is capped at ten cents per letter or legal sheet. An estimate above $50 can trigger a deposit of up to half. A qualifying indigent requester may receive the first $20 waiver.

FOIA does not require Clinton County to answer questions, build a chronology, or create a custom list that does not exist. If a recurring release report is the goal, first ask whether such an existing report has a title and retention schedule. If none exists, request the identifiable entries for the named period.

Clinton County Record Retention

Website visibility and record retention are not the same. Michigan-approved schedules govern destruction. Local Law Enforcement General Schedule 11 can apply, though an agency-specific schedule may control. The 2025 Clinton County Sheriff report documents archive purges under the state schedule but gives no single retention period for every release field.

Michigan set-aside law can also change public access. MCL 780.621g establishes an automatic process for some eligible convictions after the required time and subject to offense and numerical limits. MCL 780.622 generally changes the legal treatment of a set-aside conviction, with statutory exceptions. Restricted nonpublic records under MCL 780.623 are not open through FOIA. Court rules also require redaction of set-aside conviction information before public release.

A set-aside does not mean the custody episode never happened. Authorized nonpublic records may remain. If an item is no longer retained, ask which schedule item controlled. A missing public court record may reflect sealing, a set-aside, juvenile rules, or another restriction.

Note: A name leaving an online view does not prove the County destroyed the underlying booking or release record.

Clinton County Bond Release Checks

Clinton Circuit Court posts an annual alphabetical list of bond agencies authorized to post bonds in Clinton and Gratiot counties. The list is distributed to jails in January. It can help someone identify agencies permitted to handle a bond, but it does not show that an agency posted bond in a specific case. It also does not prove that the jail completed release processing.

Use the official Clinton County bail-bond page for the current authorized list. Then check the case register for the bond order and call the jail for the actual release date. A court order and accepted bond create the legal path to release, while the jail entry documents the later physical exit. Other holds can still delay or prevent community release.

The clean evidence chain is bond order, Clinton County release entry, and destination check if staff report a transfer. Do not treat an authorized-agency listing as proof of payment or action in one person’s case.

Property After Clinton County Release

Clinton County separates inmate property from evidence or other personal property held by the Sheriff. The Sheriff page says inmate property release is by appointment at 989-227-6582. The Evidence and Personal Property Returns page gives a different appointment route through an Evidence Technician at 989-668-3121. These numbers serve different kinds of property and should not be merged into one discharge instruction.

The official evidence and property page shows the separate evidence-return route. Its successful manifest image illustrates the agency process:

The Clinton County page supports calling for an appointment, not assuming that all property is handed over at the jail exit. Inmate property authorized for another person may follow different instructions from property held as evidence. Confirm the type, location, appointment need, identification, and release authorization with the listed office.

Clinton County Release Court Records

Clinton County court routing is split by court and by record age. District Court 65A handles misdemeanors and the early stages of felony matters. The 29th Circuit Court Criminal Division handles felony trials, criminal appeals, extraditions, and writs. A court register may show bond, dismissal, judgment, sentence, probation, or a later set-aside, but the jail remains the better source for the exact time staff completed release.

The Clinton County court-search page directs readers to the correct case systems. The captured page shows those routes:

Circuit records divide at July 1996. Newer records can be searched through MiCOURT, in person, or by mail. Older records rely on Clerk search. The record-search page states a mailed search charge of $10 per name per ten years and says the search is conducted within 24 hours. It lists copies at $2 per page for the first ten pages and $0.50 after that per case, with certification at $1 per page plus $10. Verify the current fees before ordering.

Question: Does a dismissal prove the jail release time? No. It explains a legal reason custody may end, but another hold or processing step can remain. Pair the court event with the Clinton County jail release entry.

Clinton County Jail Release Context

The Clinton County Jail opened in 1991 with a rated capacity of 186. An addition and renovation added 30 beds in 2004, and 20 more beds were added in 2012, producing the 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 count of 87 local prisoners plus two boarders, for 89 total. Booking totals are not release totals.

The local history matters because the jail accepts boarders from federal, state, and other county governments. A boarder can physically depart Clinton County Jail while remaining detained. The official Jail Operations page documents the capacity and boarder role, as shown in the captured source:

The image gives Clinton County operational context for the first phone question: “Was the person released or transferred?” A destination answer determines whether the next source is OTIS, another county, USMS, BOP, or the court file.

Clinton County Post-Release Charges

Clinton County states that sentenced inmates are charged $35 per day for confinement and billed after release. The Jail Operations page describes collection procedures when no settlement arrangement is made. Certain items supplied to indigent inmates and medical-related charges can also remain.

These are post-release administrative charges, not FOIA prices. The Clinton County Sheriff’s separate service fees are not a quote for a booking or release record. Public-record request costs follow the county FOIA policy.

Question: Does an unpaid jail bill mean the person is still held? No such rule appears in the reviewed Clinton County sources. The charge is billed after release, so custody status must come from the jail, not an account balance.

Note: Ask the jail or billing office about the specific account because room, property, medical, and public-record charges follow different processes.

Find Clinton County Released Inmates

Clinton County does not provide a current official online name roster that serves as a release archive. The strongest immediate local route is the official release-date phone channel. A documented historical answer then comes from the booking and release record. State, federal, and court systems enter only when the facts point to those authorities.

1. Call the Clinton County Inmate Information line at 989-403-5090. Give a full name, date of birth when appropriate, and approximate booking date. Ask for current custody, recorded release date, and whether the exit was release or transfer.
2. If the dedicated line is unavailable, use the Sheriff’s broader jail and inmate information number, 989-227-6580.
3. Check District or Circuit Court records for the bond, dismissal, judgment, sentence, or probation order that explains the legal event.
4. Search OTIS when the person entered MDOC custody or supervision. Read Status, Location, Date Paroled, earliest date, and Maximum Date separately.
5. Use VINELink for a supported named-person custody event, BOP for a sentenced federal prisoner, or ICE for current or recent immigration detention when the custody chain calls for it.
6. Submit a focused Clinton County FOIA request when a written jail release date, disposition, or destination is needed.

A current-custody check can answer where someone is now, but an old Clinton County release requires the historical record-request path.

Clinton County OTIS Release Search

The Michigan Department of Corrections Offender Tracking Information System covers current MDOC jurisdiction and people still visible within three years after supervision discharge. It includes prison, parole, MDOC-supervised felony probation, abscond, and discharge statuses. It excludes jail-only Clinton County cases and people sentenced only to county jail.

Search by MDOC number when known because it is the most reliable identifier. Otherwise, OTIS accepts a last name and permits an asterisk after at least three leading letters. First name, age range, sex, race, and status can narrow the result. Compare the commitment name, date of birth, court, and sentence before selecting a profile.

The official OTIS search displays the controls captured in the manifest image:

The interface supports state status, not a county jail release search. `PAROLE` means prison release under MDOC supervision. `PROB` means supervised probation. `DISCHRG` means state jurisdiction ended and can reflect completion, maximum discharge, or death. Date Paroled is the more specific prison-exit field.

Note: A blank OTIS result may reflect jail-only custody, spelling, an old discharge, or set-aside action rather than current incarceration.

Clinton County Recent Release Lookup

No current official Clinton County 24-hour, 72-hour, or archived release feed was found. The county site and sitemap also did not establish a current Sheriff mobile app or functioning public photo roster. A 2019 county document mentioned Police to Citizen jail mugshots, but that historical reference is not a current lookup instruction.

For one recent release, call 989-403-5090 and ask for the release date plus release-versus-transfer disposition. For all entries in a defined time span, ask whether an existing daily report is maintained, then request that record through FOIA with exact start and end timestamps. Clinton County does not have to generate a new list if none exists. Court records can explain the order, VINELink can report a registered event, and the destination agency can resolve a transfer.

The lack of a feed also means there is no official online field list, photo field, update cadence, or publication-retention period to report. A current-custody roster from another source should never be repackaged as a Clinton County released-inmate list.

Clinton County Release Supervision

OTIS is the public starting point for Michigan parole and MDOC-supervised probation. A `PAROLE` status reflects prison release under continuing MDOC jurisdiction. A `PROB` status reflects court probation administered through MDOC. Location can identify the supervision office. Clinton County Parole/Probation is in Courthouse Suite 3200 at 100 E. State Street in St. Johns, with telephone 989-224-5133.

An absconder status signals unresolved supervision, not successful completion or a new conviction. `ABSCOND1` concerns a parole absconder sought by MDOC. `ABSCOND2` concerns a probation absconder under the sentencing county. Successful completion later appears as discharge while the OTIS display window lasts. More local detail appears on the Clinton County Probation & Parole page.

MI-VINE is a separate, forward-looking notification service. A person can be searched in Michigan VINELink and registered for supported events such as release, transfer, or escape. The reporting agency and status must be read together. A release alert means that custodian reported an event; it does not rule out a transfer or another hold. Eligible crime victims may also have MDOC Crime Victim Services and the Clinton County requested-notice process available.

Clinton County Release Source Comparison

The best source depends on both the custody level and the question. A phone answer can be timely but may not serve as durable proof. A court order can explain why release should occur but may precede the actual door-out time. The table keeps those functions separate.

A BOP result of “Released” or “Not in BOP Custody” does not exclude another custodian. An ICE no-result case may involve spelling, lag, transfer, removal, or release. PACER and USMS records can become necessary for a federal pretrial case.

Clinton County Release Facility

The official facility map identifies one local detention facility: the Sheriff-operated Clinton County Jail at 1347 E. Townsend Road, St. Johns, Michigan 48879. No MDOC prison is located in Clinton County, and no verified federal prison or ICE detention facility was found there. A person committed to MDOC after a Clinton County case can be assigned anywhere in Michigan, so OTIS Location controls that case-specific search.

Clinton County Jail holds local prisoners and boarders. A person may leave for the community after bond, court order, or completion of county time. The same exit may instead lead to MDOC, another county, USMS, BOP, or another holding authority. Call 989-403-5090 for the release-date route or 989-227-6580 for broader jail information, and ask for the destination whenever the answer is transfer.