The Bay County Jail, 5700 Star Lane, Panama City, FL 32404, holds adults for every city and beach town in the county. Reach jail staff at 850-785-5245. The Bay County Sheriff's Office main line is 850-747-4700.

Bay County Inmate Search shows names, charges and bond amounts. Panama City bookings can be missing from the list for several hours. Free VINELink alerts tell you when a person is released or moved.

First appearance is held within 24 hours of arrest at the Bay County Courthouse complex. The judge may grant release on recognizance, set a cash bond, or allow a surety bond through a bondsman.

• Paying cash: the full bond is posted and refunded at the end, less fines and costs.
• Using a bondsman: the nonrefundable premium is 10 percent, and at least $100 for each charge.
• Bond paid but no release? Another county's warrant or a probation violation may be the reason.
• Skipping a Bay court date brings a capias, and the bond money may be lost.

Our Bay County bail guide walks through payment.

Yes. Star Lane is the one booking stop for deputies and for the Lynn Haven, Callaway, Springfield and Mexico Beach police. A call to the Sheriff's Office at 850-747-4700 confirms custody; staff there can also check your own name. The clerk's docket search shows the case and whether a capias issued. For warrants posted by other Florida agencies, try FDLE's statewide public wanted list. When it's you who is wanted, a defense attorney can schedule the surrender at Star Lane so the first appearance goes calmly.

The Fourteenth Circuit Public Defender represents Bay defendants a judge finds unable to pay. A $50 application fee applies in Florida unless the judge waives it.

Visits are scheduled ahead, and many are done by video. Call 850-785-5245 to confirm current hours. See Bay visiting rules and remote visiting.

Bay inmates can place calls out but can't receive them. A prepaid phone account lets you take those calls. Learn about jail phones, messages and tablets.

Money in the account covers commissary orders: snacks, toiletries, envelopes. Use only methods the Star Lane jail accepts. Read our pages on deposits and commissary.

Address letters with the inmate's full name and booking number, then 5700 Star Lane. Avoid stickers, perfume, tape and glitter. Follow our mail guide.

Teens under 18 are sent through juvenile court. If held, they usually go to the Bay Regional Juvenile Detention Center, 850-872-4706, and see a judge within 24 hours. The sheriff's office at 850-747-4700 knows which facility took a Bay teen.

Phone 850-785-5245 about conditions like asthma, diabetes or seizures, or any suicide risk. Have a doctor's note or pill bottle ready to read from.

Federal arrests from the Panhandle beaches go to the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida. The Panama City division meets at 30 W. Government St., Panama City, FL 32401.

A magistrate judge handles the initial appearance, and custody is decided at a detention hearing, not by a bail chart. The U.S. Marshals (850-806-0150) may keep the person in a county jail until trial. The Bureau of Prisons assigns a prison after sentencing; check the BOP locator.

• Prints from the Star Lane booking desk are shared with immigration databases.
• If interested, ICE files an I-247A detainer with the jail.
• Bay may then hold the person awaiting federal transfer up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
• F.S. 908.105 says the bond judge must be informed, the detainer goes into the court file, and the prosecutor gets notice.
• F.S. 907.041 bars release before first appearance for a forcible-felony defendant who is an unauthorized alien; the judge then starts from a presumption of detention that can be rebutted.
• F.S. 908.11 orders every jail-running sheriff in Florida into a 287(g) agreement. Bay's is listed by ICE as Task Force Model plus Warrant Service Officer.
• Once ICE has custody, look the person up at locator.ice.gov, or phone the Miami field office, 2805 SW 145th Ave., Miramar, FL 33027, 954-843-5800.

People sentenced to prison wait in the Bay jail for a Department of Corrections bus. A reception center runs medical and security checks before assigning a prison. Find them on the FDC offender search; our Florida prisons page lists addresses.

Yes. Search a name in the Bay County jail search and the record shows that person's mugshot as a front picture. Records can send copies (850-747-4700); F.S. 119.071 keeps a few private.

An ICE photo takes a FOIA request. Federal mugshots are kept from the public, with an exception when the Marshals post one to find someone who fled.

• Panama City Police Department: 850-872-3112
• Bay County Sheriff's Office: 850-747-4700

Lynn Haven, Callaway, Mexico Beach and Panama City Beach have their own departments; unincorporated areas use deputies. Dial 911 in an emergency.