Adults arrested anywhere in the county are held at 3015 Lexington Road, Athens, GA 30605. The jail has 839 beds and handles intake, pretrial detention, short local sentences and holds for other jurisdictions.

Custody questions go to 706-613-3270; administrative matters go to 706-613-3250. The sheriff's website also posts arrests from the last 24 hours and a current inmate list. Run the name through our inmate search and jot the booking number, since deposits, phone accounts and letters all key off it.

Yes. The Clarke County Correctional Institution at 2825 County Farm Road holds sentenced state prisoners. The county jail on Lexington Road holds new arrests and people awaiting court.

If someone has been sentenced to state prison and assigned to the County Farm Road facility, use the state offender lookup to locate them. Visiting and mail rules there are set by that institution. For anyone recently arrested, use the jail number 706-613-3270. Checking the location first prevents a wasted trip across town.

Use our inmate search, entering the last name and checking age and booking date. Prints, photos, a nurse's screening and a property count all happen first, so a fresh arrest can lag by several hours.

An empty result often points to a ticket release, a bond-out, a move elsewhere or a federal pickup. The jail can search by full name and birth date. After a state prison sentence begins, check the state offender lookup. Keep the booking number handy because the jail and service providers use it.

We have separate guides for this jail: visits, phones and tablets, mail, deposits and commissary. Public visits are remote by phone or video, and on-site video kiosks opened in late October 2026; check times at 706-613-3270.

Visit days follow the inmate's last name: A through J on Tuesdays and Saturdays, K through Z on Wednesdays and Sundays. Accounts are capped at $200, and the weekly commissary limit is $80, split between food and hygiene or clothing. Money orders are no longer accepted.

Personal letters do not go to Lexington Road. They are sent to a central processing center, scanned and shown on inmate devices for 14 days. Use the current address on the sheriff's mail page and include the inmate's name and booking number.

Legal mail must come from an approved legal source and goes directly to Clarke County Jail, 3015 Lexington Road, Athens, GA 30605 (desk 706-613-3270). Checks, birth certificates and other official papers go to the Business Office at the same address. Books must come directly from a retailer or publisher, and some topics are banned.

Active-warrant questions belong with sheriff's administration, 706-613-3250. Our jail record lists 706-613-3310 for the magistrate's warrant desk, and pending cases can be looked up by the Suite 450 clerk at 706-613-3190.

Speak with a lawyer before surrendering. Counsel can often arrange a planned turn-in timed to first appearance, reducing time in custody. Deputies do not collect warrant payments by phone, so any caller demanding money to cancel a warrant is almost certainly a scammer. Report such calls to county police.

If the person cannot afford a lawyer, the Western Circuit Public Defender may represent them. Its office is at 440 College Avenue, Suite 220, Athens, GA 30601, 706-369-6440.

Ask the magistrate for a lawyer at the first hearing, or go straight to College Avenue. Georgia permits a fifty-dollar application charge, which the court may excuse. Relatives can pull together wage slips, school enrollment proof and character letters ahead of a bond hearing; strategy stays between client and counsel. Court timelines are explained on our court page. Appointed counsel covers both misdemeanors and felonies when jail is possible.

After bond is posted, officers check for outside holds, finish paperwork and return property. Release often takes several hours, especially during busy weekend periods.

Without a bond, the person waits for first appearance, held daily including weekends and holidays. Release happens at Lexington Road, east of downtown, so plan transportation. Pack a charged phone, a coat in winter and cab fare, because property returned at the door may not include everything taken at booking, and late-night exits are common after weekend first appearances. Bond how-to sits on our bail page, and 706-613-3270 can say if out-processing is underway.

Anyone younger than 17 accused of a delinquent act lands in juvenile court. Detention, when ordered, is at Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center, 450 Crescent Drive, Gainesville, GA 30501, 770-531-4597, not at the adult jail.

A detention hearing comes within days at most. Parents do well to arrive with report cards, medical history and relatives willing to supervise. Juvenile files are confidential and kept apart from the adult list. Certain violent felony accusations shift a teen into Superior Court, which can bring adult custody rules.

Call the jail at 706-613-3270 as soon as possible for diabetes, seizures, heart conditions, pregnancy, withdrawal risk or suicidal statements. Give each prescription's name and dosage plus the doctor who wrote it.

Medical staff may not share treatment details with relatives, but they can take information. Flag allergies, any recent operation and psychiatric history too, along with the name of a pharmacy that has the current prescription list. The jail has a social services team for special needs. If care falls short, the defense attorney may ask a judge to order records released or a specific treatment.

An immigration detainer at the Lexington Road jail usually follows this sequence.

• Fingerprints taken at booking are checked against federal databases.
• Under section 42-4-14, jail staff must work out status and alert federal officials whenever lawful presence stays unproven.
• Form I-247A from ICE can then request that Lexington Road keep a person up to 48 hours beyond release, excluding Saturday, Sunday and holidays, under 8 CFR 287.7(d).
• If ICE does not pick the person up within that time, the detainer alone does not authorize more custody.
• After transfer, use the ICE locator site.

Paying state bond remains possible, yet federal officers might collect the person at the exit. ICE Atlanta is at 180 Ted Turner Drive SW, Suite 522, Atlanta, GA 30303, 404-893-1290. International students should contact their school's international office and an immigration attorney.

Federal cases from this area go to 115 East Hancock Avenue, Athens, GA 30601, 706-227-1094, the Middle District of Georgia's Athens Division. A magistrate judge decides release under section 3142 of title 18, and bondsmen are not used.

Marshals keep federal defendants in custody, often in local jails under contract, and can move them quickly. Ask counsel where the person is housed this week before any drive. Defendants without funds get the federal defender or a CJA panel lawyer. Post-sentencing, look up the assigned institution on the Bureau of Prisons locator, which also lists a projected release date.

Sentenced prisoners wait on Lexington Road until state corrections sends a bus.

Transfer dates are not announced in advance and may take days or weeks. Families usually learn of the move only after it happens. Track the person through the state offender lookup, then see our Georgia state prisons guide for visiting and mail rules. Ask the jail how account balances are handled, because funds may move with the person or be refunded. Write letters to the new prison address only after the state lookup shows the assignment, since mail sent to the jail after transfer can be returned or delayed for weeks.

Georgia's section 35-1-19 bars sheriffs and police from uploading booking photos to their own sites. Those images remain public records, obtainable on request through 706-613-3250.

A requester may have to sign a pledge against passing the image to sites that charge for takedowns. Following an acquittal or dismissal, section 10-1-393.5 allows those sites 30 days to delete the photo free of charge. For immigration files, file through the ICE FOIA request page. Requests for a federal booking photo should go to the U.S. Marshals Service directly.

Nearly every booking on Lexington Road starts with one of these five agencies. Call 911 for anything urgent.

• Sheriff's Office, which runs the Lexington Road jail, serves warrants and guards the courthouse: Suite 125, 325 East Washington Street, Athens, GA 30601; 706-613-3250; jail line 706-613-3270.
• Athens-Clarke County Police Department, the unified force for the whole county outside campus: 3035 Lexington Road, Athens, GA 30605; 706-613-3330.
• University of Georgia Police, with jurisdiction on campus property: 286 Oconee Street, Suite 100, Athens, GA 30602; 706-542-2200.
• Georgia State Patrol Post 32, assigned to Barrow, Jackson, Madison, Oconee and this county: 1505 U.S. Highway 29 North, Athens, GA 30601; 706-552-4439.
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Atlanta field office, which lodges detainers with Georgia jails: 180 Ted Turner Drive SW, Suite 522, Atlanta 30303; 404-893-1290.

Because the city and county operate as one government, a single local police department covers the area outside campus. Arrests on university property may come from campus officers, while a highway crash is often handled by a trooper. Request incident reports from whichever badge appears beside the charge on the booking record.