Do this on any phone or computer:

1. Open the online jail search.
2. Enter the surname. Add a given name only when too many people appear.
3. Still no match? Try a nickname, an old surname or another spelling.
4. When you find the person, copy down every detail on the screen.
5. Phone 810-257-3426 to check anything that is unclear.

The Find an Inmate button on the Sheriff's site opens the state's prison tool. That tool lists state prisoners, parolees and probationers, so use the jail search for someone held in Flint.

A blank screen does not mean the person has left. Common causes:

• Paperwork is still underway. Booking can take many hours.
• City police have them for now. Flint police may be the ones who arrested them. The department's front desk is 810-237-6800.
• They already walked out. A person with a small misdemeanor may have paid a bond at the jail desk. Someone else may have been freed by a judge at the first hearing.
• A neighbor county has them. The arrest may have taken place across the line.
• They are a minor. A teen under 18 goes to juvenile care instead.
• The name is typed differently. Try each spelling you know.

Only the jail can say for sure. Phone 810-257-3426, give the name and ask if they are being held.

The Sheriff's Corrections Division runs several pieces:

• Genesee County Jail, 1002 South Saginaw Street, Flint, MI 48502, 810-257-3426. This is the main jail. The Sheriff calls it a direct supervision building with room for up to 580 people.
• Flint City Lockup. The Sheriff's Corrections Division lists this site. Ask the Inmate Information line for its street address before you drive anywhere.
• Work Detail, Work Release and Tether. These programs also sit under the Corrections Division. Ask the same office if the person is in one of them.

Arrested near the edge of the county? The person could sit in a neighbor's jail. Oakland County Jail, 1201 N. Telegraph Rd, Pontiac, MI 48341, 248-858-5000. For Lapeer, Livingston, Shiawassee, Saginaw or Tuscola, open the JE pages for Lapeer, Livingston, Shiawassee, Saginaw and Tuscola for each jail's address and phone.

Do not expect mugshots on the search screen. In OAG 1979-1980 No 5593, Michigan's Attorney General treated a suspect's file photo as a public record. Even so, an agency may decline any release that would badly and plainly invade the person's privacy.

To ask for a photo, send a written request under Michigan's FOIA (MCL 15.231 et seq.) to whichever agency took it. For a Sheriff's arrest, call 810-257-3426. For a Flint arrest, write to the police department at 210 E. Fifth St., Flint, MI 48502, 810-237-6800.

• For ICE pictures, file through the ICE records request page.
• A federal arrest photo is usually not released to the public. Only the U.S. Marshals Service may differ, since it can share a picture when it needs help finding a fugitive.

Use Michigan's VINE system. The alerts cover a release, a transfer or an escape, whether the person is in the Flint jail or already in state custody. Court events show up too.

• Register online at vinelink.com.
• Or phone 800-770-7657, any time of day.
• Nothing starts until you register.

An alert can trail the real event, so keep calling the jail at 810-257-3426 too.

A 67th District Court judge or magistrate sees the person fairly soon, sometimes through a screen at the jail. Under Michigan's release rule (MCR 6.106), the default is a signed pledge to show up, or an unsecured bond with nothing paid in advance. A judge orders cash bail only after saying on the record that no lesser step will keep the public safe or get the person back to court.

• Interim bond. For some misdemeanors, the jail deputy running the shift may accept a small interim bond before any hearing (MCL 780.581). If the arrest involves domestic violence, only a judge can set release.
• Money bail. The family can deposit 10 percent with the court clerk, or a court-approved surety agent can post a bond. As of May 1, 2026, a person who is not convicted gets the full deposit back, less fines or costs owed.
• Agent complaints. Call the state insurance department at 877-999-6442.

The court sits at 630 S. Saginaw St., Flint, MI 48502, 810-766-8968. Our bail page goes into detail, and the Michigan bail laws page covers state rules.

The jail can name the booking charge. Call 810-257-3426 and ask.

Once a case is filed, run the name through the state's MiCOURT case search. New cases can take days to show up, and a court may be missing from the results. In that situation, phone the 67th District Court clerk at 630 S. Saginaw St., Flint, MI 48502, 810-766-8968. A felony moves up to the 7th Circuit Court after the early hearings.

Michigan judges must raise the subject of counsel at the first hearing. Someone short on money may ask the court for an appointed attorney (MCR 6.005). State standards say that lawyer should be in place by that first hearing.

• Having money for bond does not close the door on a free lawyer (MCR 6.005(B)).
• The county has an Office of the Public Defender. To learn how a lawyer is named, call the 67th District Court at 810-766-8968.
• The state commission's office line is 517-657-3066.

Families may also hire a private attorney. Doing that early helps.

The Sheriff's website has two buttons, Schedule a Visit and Inmate Visitations. Both lead to an online scheduling site. Use them first.

Then call 810-257-3426 and ask:

• Is the visit in person or by video?
• Which days and hours are open for this person?
• What ID do visitors need, and how old must a child be?
• What clothing is allowed?

Rules can change fast. Our visiting guide adds more tips.

The Sheriff's site has a Pay Inmate Commissary Deposit button and a Friends and Family Orders button. Both go to a service named Express Account. Stick to those buttons, since the Sheriff's page is where the jail sends families.

Call 810-257-3426 to ask about fees, limits and how long a deposit takes. Keep the receipt. The money guide and the commissary guide on this site explain what the funds can buy.

The jail sets its own rules for calls, tablets and messages. Call 810-257-3426 and ask what is needed to start a calling account and whether texts or email are offered.

Expect calls to come from the jail, not from you to them. Jail calls are usually recorded, so keep case details out of the conversation. Our phone call guide and jail email guide have more.

The Sheriff's site links an Inmate Mailing Policy. Read it before you send anything. A letter that breaks the policy may come back.

Next, ask the Inmate Information line at 810-257-3426 for the exact address to use and for the person's inmate or booking number. Put the full name and that number on the envelope. Leave out cash, stamps and photos unless the policy allows them. Our mail guide lists common rules.

Clothes, a wallet and a phone are usually stored at booking. Call 810-257-3426 and ask four things:

• Where are the items kept?
• May someone else pick them up?
• What ID does that person need?
• What are the pickup hours?

On release day, the person gets back what the jail stored. If they are moved elsewhere, ask where their property goes.

Call 810-257-3426 and reach the jail's medical staff. Give the name, the medical issue and any daily medicine. Say if the matter is urgent.

Tell the person to ask an officer for medical help right away, and to repeat the request in writing if the jail uses forms. Say so plainly on the call if you fear for their safety.

Phone the Sheriff's non-emergency line, 810-257-3422, and ask about a warrant, giving the full legal name plus birth date. You can also run the name through the state's MiCOURT case search, or phone a clerk at the court if the case does not appear. To clear one, see a lawyer before anything else, then contact the court behind the warrant. Most local cases begin at the 67th District Court, 630 S. Saginaw St., Flint, MI 48502, 810-766-8968.

Each court gives out dates for its own cases:

• 67th District Court, Flint, 630 S. Saginaw St., Flint, MI 48502, 810-766-8968. It handles arraignments, misdemeanors and early felony hearings.
• 67th District Court, Central Division, Suite 124, same address, 810-257-3170.
• 67th District Court, Burton, 4094 Manor Dr., Burton, MI 48519, 810-743-5600.
• 67th District Court, Davison, 200 E. Flint St., Suite 3, Davison, MI 48423, 810-653-4126.
• 67th District Court, Grand Blanc, 8173 S. Saginaw St., Grand Blanc, MI 48439, 810-694-2552.
• 7th Circuit Court, 900 S. Saginaw St., Flint, MI 48502, 810-257-3220. A felony lands here after the District Court sends it up.

A felony moves on a schedule. Two early felony hearings come next: a probable cause conference about two weeks out at most, and then the preliminary examination, within about a week of it (MCL 766.4). Our court page describes every step of a case.

Federal charges for this area belong to the Southern Division of the Eastern District of Michigan's federal court, which meets in Flint, Detroit, Ann Arbor and Port Huron. Call the clerk at 313-234-5000 to learn which courthouse has the case.

• Flint: Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, 600 Church Street, Flint, MI 48502.
• Detroit: Theodore Levin U.S. Courthouse, 231 W. Lafayette Blvd., Detroit, MI 48226.
• Before trial, a federal judge rules on release or jail in a detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• U.S. Marshals, 231 West Lafayette Boulevard, Room 300, Detroit, MI 48226, 313-202-0135. Ask where the person is held.
• Federal Community Defender, 111 E. Court St., Suite L-100, Flint, MI 48502, 810-232-3600.
• After a federal sentence, the BOP inmate locator shows where the person went.

Expect this order:

1. Step one: ICE mails or sends the jail its detainer, which is Form I-247A.
2. The request tells the jail to keep them up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. After that, ICE officers take the person into their own custody.
4. The ICE Online Detainee Locator asks for the person's whole name and birth country.
5. When that search is empty, call the ICE field office at 985 Michigan Avenue, Suite 207, Detroit, MI 48226, 313-771-6601. Its area is Michigan plus Ohio.

Once a judge orders prison time, a deputy from the county takes the person to a state intake site. Women are received in Ypsilanti. Men are received at Jackson's Reception and Guidance Center. Sorting takes roughly 30 to 45 days. Family cannot visit during that stretch, though letters and deposits are fine.

• Search by name on the state's OTIS offender lookup.
• Our state prisons page covers visits and mail after transfer.

Michigan has counted 17-year-olds as juveniles since 2021. A juvenile case is handled by the Circuit Court's Family Division, and a youth may not be held where adult inmates can see or hear them.

The court runs the Genesee County Juvenile Justice Center, 4287 W. Pasadena Ave, Flint, MI 48502, 810-733-3820. It holds young people the court sends there while a case is decided.

Adult court is possible for a youth aged 14 or older if a judge waives the case (MCL 712A.4). Circuit Court takes some of the gravest charges from the start when the teen is 14 through 17 (MCL 600.606). Ask the 7th Circuit Court where a young person is being kept: 900 S. Saginaw St., Flint, MI 48502, 810-257-3220.

Ask the jail who made the arrest. Policing in this area is split among the groups below. The 911 office keeps a list of police and fire departments. For a phone number not shown below, call the Sheriff's line.

• Sheriff's Office, 1002 South Saginaw Street, Flint, MI 48502, 810-257-3422. It covers Atlas, Fenton Township, Goodrich and Vienna.
• Flint Police Department, 210 E. Fifth St., Flint, MI 48502, 810-237-6800
• City police: Burton, Clio, Davison, Flushing, Grand Blanc, Linden and Mt. Morris.
• Township police: Argentine, Clayton, Davison, Flint, Flushing, Genesee, Grand Blanc, Montrose, Mt. Morris and Richfield.
• Village police: Otisville.
• Metro Police Authority for Mundy Township and Swartz Creek, metropolicegc.org.
• Bishop Airport Police, airport public safety page.
• Michigan State Police, Flint Post, G-4481 Corunna Rd., Flint, MI 48532, 810-732-1111. It covers Gaines, Forest and Thetford.