Lafayette County Detention Center

Run his name through Lafayette County Inmate Search. If Lafayette's page is blank, phone the jail at 386-294-4381 and ask if he is there or in another county's jail. A booking that happened only minutes ago may not be on the list yet.

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The Florida Department of State directory gives 178 NW Crawford Street, Mayo, FL 32066. The Sheriff's own jail page gives the same street and says the jail line, 386-294-4381, is staffed 24 hours a day. The Sheriff's administrative office is a separate building at 231 NW Monroe Avenue, open weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 386-294-1222. Do not go there to post a bond until the jail desk says so.

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The Third Circuit's Administrative Order 2026-001, signed January 7, 2026, sets figures for release before a judge. Every second-degree misdemeanor is $1,000, whether or not force is involved. A first-degree misdemeanor is $1,000 without force and $2,500 with force. A third-degree felony is $5,000 without force and $10,000 with force. Lafayette lists $2,000 for a first DUI filed as a second-degree misdemeanor.

These are higher than the statewide schedule. Judges aren't bound by the order and may set other amounts at first appearance.

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The same order lists people for whom the schedule gives no bond and who must see a judge first. Lafayette's list includes injunction violators, frequent arrestees, and people accused of homicide, robbery, or burglary. It follows Florida Statute 903.011(6).

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Within 24 hours of arrest. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.130 sets that limit, and video hearings are allowed. The judge may confirm the charge, appoint a lawyer, and decide release terms. Phone the Lafayette Clerk at 386-294-1600 for the case number and next date.

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The Sheriff's jail page lists a lobby kiosk that takes cash and cards, and an online deposit site that takes cards, but those are for an inmate's commissary account and are not bail. Money orders are refused there. The page says nothing about a bond counter or its payment types. Call 386-294-4381 and ask: which window, which hours, cash or check or card, and what ID. If you hire a bail agent, the agent files the bond with the jail.

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The state's Department of Financial Services puts a Lafayette state bond premium at 10 percent of court-set bail. A Lafayette agent keeps it after release. If the person never gets out, the agent must return the whole premium. Collateral is not for the agent's personal use, and it should come back within 21 days after the court discharges the bond. For complaints, call 1-877-693-5236.

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Possibly. Florida Statute 903.05 lets a surety who lives in Florida or owns Florida real estate qualify. The state says a Lafayette agent can't accept a quitclaim deed as collateral. Ask the Clerk at 386-294-1600 whether the land must sit in Lafayette County and how much equity the judge expects. Collect the deed and a recent tax value first.

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Lafayette generally returns court-posted cash once the case closes. The clerk can first deduct unpaid fees, costs, and fines if someone other than an agent posted it (Statute 903.286). A missed hearing can cost you the bond. Save your receipt and case number.

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The Lafayette County Courthouse is at 120 West Main Street, Mayo, FL 32066. Lafayette's Clerk answers at 386-294-1600; mail goes to P.O. Box 88, Mayo, FL 32066. The Lafayette Clerk can name the judge assigned.

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If someone other than the Lafayette Sheriff's Office made the arrest, like a state officer or a town department, get the report number and ask where the person is going. Next, try Lafayette County Inmate Search, and phone the jail if the name is missing.

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The Third Judicial Circuit Public Defender handles appointed cases from the main office at 108 North Jefferson Street, Suite 301, Perry, FL 32347, 850-838-2830. A judge decides at first appearance who qualifies, so ask for counsel then.

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Alachua Regional Juvenile Detention Center, 3440 NE 39th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32609, 352-955-2105. The Department of Juvenile Justice lists Lafayette among the counties it serves, and the same number answers for detention screening. Lafayette keeps juvenile records private, so the adult search skips children.

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If someone skips a Lafayette hearing, the judge can take the bond and order an arrest. Statute 903.26 requires the Lafayette clerk to notify the surety before the court date. Reach the lawyer and the agent fast, and ask the Lafayette Clerk at 386-294-1600 for a new date.

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In Lafayette, never send cash, gift cards, or app payments to callers. Reach the jail at 386-294-4381 and the Clerk at 386-294-1600 yourself. Before paying any fee to an agent, check the agent's license with the state.

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• ICE uses Form I-247A to ask Lafayette jailers for more time.
• That extra hold in Lafayette lasts up to 48 hours.
• The Lafayette clock keeps running on weekends and holidays.
• Paying a Lafayette bond will not lift the detainer.
• The Lafayette judge who sets bond learns of it (F.S. 908.105).
• Notice also goes to the Lafayette state attorney.
• Every Florida jail sheriff, Lafayette included, must join 287(g) (F.S. 908.11).
• ICE's official 287(g) list shows these models for Lafayette:
  • Task Force Model
  • Warrant Service Officer
• After ICE takes a Lafayette inmate, use the online detainee locator.

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What happens right after an arrest? For a minor Lafayette charge, a deputy may issue a notice to appear, a slip naming your court day. When it’s a jail booking, Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.130 gives a Lafayette judge one day to see you. The judge reads the charge and decides on pretrial release, meaning freedom to leave jail while the charge is still pending. A uniform bond schedule, issued by Florida’s Supreme Court for 2026, sets the smallest bond amounts the jail can take before that hearing. A few charges, though, mean you must wait for the judge. Families often use a bail bond agent, who charges a nonrefundable premium, usually 10% of the bond.

How serious can a misdemeanor get? First degree: a maximum of 12 months in jail, plus fines reaching $1,000. And for second degree, sixty days and $500 at the most. Many people instead get probation, a class, or community service hours. The prosecutor is the elected Third Circuit State Attorney. Lafayette defendants unable to pay a lawyer can seek the Third Circuit Public Defender. If there’s a conflict, the Regional Counsel for that part of Florida (full name: Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel) can step in for Lafayette defendants. Florida law, Fla. Stat. 938.29, lets the judge assess a public defender fee, and it can become a lien if it isn’t paid.

First-time offenders sometimes qualify for pretrial diversion. Finish the program, and the State Attorney may drop the charge. A trial in County Court is in front of six jurors. Under the speedy trial rule, a Lafayette misdemeanor must be tried within 90 days of formal charging, except when the defense agrees to wait.

Teens in Lafayette: Children under 18 aren’t tried in County Court. Instead, juvenile judges in Circuit Court decide their misdemeanor cases. Florida’s civil citation law, Fla. Stat. 985.12, allows officers to skip arrest for many first-time minor offenses. Instead, the teen agrees to things like an apology letter or service hours. Doing them keeps an arrest off their record.

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In Lafayette, as statewide, a felony can bring over a year, served in a Florida state prison. After first appearance, the State Attorney looks over the reports and chooses whether to file the official charging paper, called an information. Then comes arraignment. That’s when you enter a plea in Circuit Court. For felonies, the speedy trial clock runs 175 days after formal charges are filed, unless the time is waived.

How long can a sentence be? A third-degree felony can mean 5 years. Second degree, as many as 15. First degree, as many as 30. A life felony can mean life. To set the minimum, the judge uses a Criminal Punishment Code scoresheet. It works like a point total: the charge, injuries to a victim and earlier convictions all add points. Florida inmates serve no less than 85% of a prison term. When a gun is part of certain felonies, the 10-20-Life law kicks in, with mandatory minimum terms of 10, 20, or 25-to-life years depending on whether the gun was carried, fired, or hurt someone badly.

Mayo felony trials have six jurors, and they must all agree. Most felony cases, though, end in a plea agreement worked out between the lawyers.

Teens in Lafayette: When police pick up a child on a felony, the child can be locked up at a Department of Juvenile Justice detention center. Lafayette has no youth center, so children go to a regional one, such as Tallahassee or Gainesville. Within 24 hours, at a detention hearing, the judge rules on whether the child may go home. Prosecutors can “direct file” adult charges against many 16- and 17-year-olds accused of felonies. For 14- and 15-year-olds, that’s limited to a set list of very serious crimes in Fla. Stat. 985.557.

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Violent Lafayette charges follow those same steps, with much more at stake. Bond can be denied completely in cases punishable by life or death if the proof is strong. When the state wants to charge a capital crime, it must go through a grand jury, a panel of Lafayette County residents who listen to evidence privately. If they agree there’s enough, they return an indictment.

First-degree murder is Florida’s top crime, a capital felony. A Lafayette conviction for it brings execution or a whole-life term. In those trials, 12 jurors hear the case. A 2023 change means a death sentence now needs a recommendation from only 8 of the 12, not all of them. Executions happen at Florida State Prison near Starke. Most death-row men in Florida sit at Union Correctional Institution in the town of Raiford; Lowell Correctional Institution holds the few women. Robbery with a gun or sexual battery on a child can bring decades or life.

Victims and their families in Lafayette have rights too, thanks to Marsy’s Law (Article I, Section 16 of Florida’s constitution). They can learn about each hearing, attend it, and be heard by the judge, including at sentencing.

Teens in Lafayette: Some Lafayette crimes carry a possible death or life sentence. For those, a grand jury may indict even a very young child, as Fla. Stat. 985.56 allows. Once indicted, that child is handled as an adult. Still, no one can be executed for something done before turning 18.

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Sheriff's Office deputies keep and serve warrants issued by Third Circuit judges, and the agency answers at (386) 294-1222; its warrants staff will check a name. Mayo dockets live on the shared court records portal, capias entries included. Counsel can phone the Crawford Street detention center and pick the day of surrender. West Main Street is home to the clerk for new dates, and Day and the riverside fish camps are part of the same court. For a statewide check, FDLE has a wanted persons search built from agencies' releases.

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