The Sheriff's Office runs one official list of people held in its jail. Walk through these steps:

1. Go online and load the jail search.
2. Enter only the surname at first. If many rows come back, add a given name.
3. Tap a row that fits to read the whole record.
4. Should a booking number display, keep it for when you call the jail.
5. Still nothing? Retry with a nickname, an alternate spelling or a former surname.

Need a person to explain? The jail answers at 419-993-1407, and the Sheriff's Office main desk is 419-227-3535.

Empty results happen for a handful of reasons:

• Booking is underway. Fingerprints and forms take hours.
• A police station has them for now. The arresting agency sometimes keeps a person briefly. Lima Police Department sits at 117 East Market Street, Lima, OH 45801, 419-227-4444.
• Cited and sent home. Small cases often end with a notice to appear in court.
• Back on the street. The person may have paid bond or signed a promise to come to court.
• Taken elsewhere. A court order, a state hold or a federal agent may have moved the person.
• A spelling twist. Try other versions of the name.

Ring the jail first at 419-993-1407. If the answer is no, ask staff which agency did the arrest.

City police, deputies, village officers and troopers here all bring adults to the same place: the Allen County Jail, also called the Adult Detention Center, 333 N. Main Street, Lima, OH 45802, 419-993-1407. Men and women are booked through this one building. Ask staff how cells are split by security level, because the Sheriff decides that.

Someone picked up beside a county border could have been driven to the other side. Hardin County adults go to the Marion-Hardin Multi-County Correctional Center, 1514 Victory Road, Marion, OH 43302, 740-387-7434. For any other neighbor, phone that county's Sheriff.

Young people have their own facility, described in the answer about those under 18.

Open the jail search and click into a record to see if a mugshot shows up. When you find none, phone the Sheriff's Office at 419-227-3535 and request a copy of the booking photo, if the office will release one.

• Under R.C. 149.43, Ohio's open-records law, anyone may request public records from the arresting agency.
• Taking money to delete a posted booking photo is against Ohio law for any site that publishes them (R.C. 2927.22). A first-degree misdemeanor charge can follow, and a harmed person may sue for $10,000 or more. Never pay to have a photo erased.
• To get a picture ICE holds, use the ICE records request address.
• Federal agencies keep their arrest photos from the public. Only the U.S. Marshals Service may release one, perhaps to find a fugitive.

Free Ohio VINE alerts come from the Attorney General's office. Sign up at VINELink or phone 800-770-0192 any hour of the day. The system follows people in county lockups, state prisons and state-run youth centers. Messages arrive by phone call, text or email if a person is released, transferred, escapes or dies.

Alerts can arrive late. Call the jail at 419-993-1407 to double-check, and refresh the jail search now and then.

Under R.C. 2937.011, in force since June 30, 2023, judges look for the mildest conditions that still guarantee a court appearance and protect the community. For a misdemeanor, a posted bail schedule can allow quick release before any hearing. On a felony, the bail figure is chosen by a judge or magistrate alone. A judge must take up bail for anyone still held no later than two court days after the arrest.

• Where to pay: Bonds are taken around the clock at Window 3 in the Sheriff's Office lobby, 333 N. Main Street, Lima, OH 45802. On weekdays the Clerk of Courts, 301 N. Main Street, Lima, OH 45801, 419-223-8513, can answer court questions.
• The 10 percent route: A judge may accept a tenth of the bond up front. If the person follows every rule, nine-tenths of that deposit is refunded after the case is over.
• Bondsmen: Surety bonds come only from agents who hold an Ohio Department of Insurance license. Ask the state about a license at 800-686-1526. No agent may approach you to start a deal on jail or courthouse property.

You can follow every release step on our bail page. For the statutes, see the Ohio bail laws overview.

A jail record may name the charge. For the full picture, contact whoever holds the case:

• Lima Municipal Court Clerk, 109 N. Union Street, Lima, OH 45801, 419-221-5275. Misdemeanors, traffic tickets and the opening steps of a felony land here.
• Clerk of Courts for Common Pleas, 301 N. Main Street, Lima, OH 45801, 419-223-8513. A felony moves here after a grand jury indicts.
• Prosecuting Attorney, 419-228-3700. This office brings felony charges.

Provide the person's whole name and birthday. Weekday hours at the Clerk of Courts are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

When the case first comes before a judge, the person needs to let the court know a lawyer is out of reach. A short money form comes next. They fill out a short form about money, and the court decides who qualifies. A judge then appoints a lawyer.

• A county public defender's office is listed at 417 North West Street, Lima, OH 45801. To ask for help, ask the clerk where the case sits; Lima Municipal Court answers at 419-221-5275.
• The Ohio Public Defender, 250 East Broad Street, Suite 1400, Columbus, OH 43215, 614-466-5394, backs local systems across the state.

Paying for a private lawyer is still allowed.

The jail lets each person have two visits a week. The posted rules are:

• Up to five visitors may join one visit.
• A visit runs 20 minutes.
• Arrive and check in 15 minutes before your time.
• A dress code applies, so ask staff what to wear.
• Lobby video visits cost nothing and run Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.
• Video visits from home cost $0.39 a minute, every day, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 to 10:00 p.m.

Hours can shift. Phone 419-993-1407 before the drive to 333 N. Main Street, Lima, OH 45802. Our visitation guide adds more advice.

For online or phone deposits the jail uses TurnKey Corrections, through inmatecanteen.com. A kiosk in the jail lobby, 333 N. Main Street, Lima, OH 45802, takes cash. A money order may also be mailed; put the person's name and date of birth on the order. Ask at 419-993-1407 where to send it and what limits apply.

JE explains more in its deposit guide and commissary guide. Cash must stay out of envelopes. Hang up on any caller who insists on payment first.

Calls go out from inside only. Families open a calling account with Securus, and the jail points them to securustech.net for it. Expect calls to be recorded. Prices depend on the account you pick.

Ask at 419-993-1407 whether the jail also offers texts, email or tablets. More detail is in JE's phone guide and email guide. Facts about the charge are for the lawyer's ears only.

Write the envelope exactly like this:

Inmate's Name
c/o Allen County Jail
P.O. Box 1243
Lima, OH 45801

Officers open and look through every piece. Up to four photos may go in one envelope. Leave out cash. Ask 419-993-1407 if a rule is unclear, and see our mail guide for general tips.

Anything the person had on arrest is stored until release. About leaving or retrieving items, phone 419-993-1407 and ask about hours, forms and the ID you must bring. The jail is at 333 N. Main Street, Lima, OH 45802. Ask staff, too, what happens to cash that was in the person's pocket.

Medical care is on hand day and night. Call 419-993-1407 and describe the illness, the medicine and the dose. Tell the person to submit a medical request from inside.

Because of the privacy law called HIPAA, staff cannot discuss health details with relatives. The person may sign a release that lets them talk to you. Call 911 if it is an emergency.

Warrants are served by the Sheriff's Office in the countryside and by city police in town. Start at the Sheriff's warrants page, then phone 419-227-3535. Lima police take calls at 419-227-4444. To check a case, ask the Lima Municipal Court clerk, 109 N. Union Street, Lima, OH 45801, 419-221-5275, or the Clerk of Courts at 419-223-8513. Speak with a lawyer before surrendering. Afterward, phone the clerk at the court behind the warrant. The Clerk of Courts is located at 301 N. Main Street, Lima, OH 45801.

Each case sits in one court, and that court picks the date.

• Lima Municipal Court takes misdemeanors, traffic tickets and first appearances from every corner of the county. Find it in the Hall of Justice, 109 N. Union Street, Lima, OH 45801, 419-221-5275.
• Court of Common Pleas tries felonies after a grand jury indicts. Its number is 419-223-8325, and its records sit with the Clerk of Courts, 301 N. Main Street, Lima, OH 45801, 419-223-8513.
• Juvenile Court appears in the under-18 answer.

Our court page traces how a case moves between courts. Check any date with the clerk before you travel.

People charged in federal court from this county appear in Toledo, in the Northern District of Ohio, at the courthouse, 1716 Spielbusch Avenue, Toledo, OH 43604, 419-213-5500.

1. The person goes before a magistrate judge first. A detention hearing under 18 U.S.C. 3142 then settles custody or release until trial.
2. The U.S. Marshals Service holds the person until trial, often in a contract jail. Its office in the same building, Suite 313A, answers at 419-376-3094. Ask where the person is held.
3. PACER lets you read the federal docket.
4. Following a sentence, look the name up in the BOP inmate locator.

Those without money can request the Federal Public Defender, 617 Adams Street, Toledo, OH 43604, 419-259-7370.

A hold for immigration goes in stages:

1. ICE can send Form I-247A, called a detainer, asking the jail to wait.
2. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), the jail may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.
3. ICE then collects the person. Its Detroit Field Office covers Ohio at 985 Michigan Avenue, Suite 207, Detroit, MI 48226, 313-771-6601. The nearest Ohio office is 675 Brooksedge Boulevard, Westerville, OH 43081, 614-948-4100.
4. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator by A-number, or by entering the whole name and the birth country.

No signed Ohio statute governs detainers. For any deal between the Sheriff and ICE, ask the Sheriff's Office at 419-227-3535.

A felony sentence to prison first sends the person to intake at a state reception center, and staff there choose the prison. A stay at the local jail may come before the move, so call 419-993-1407 if the state record is still blank.

• Type a name into the state offender search. The prison agency in Columbus runs it.
• Our Ohio state prisons page explains visits, money and mail.

A person under 18 is held apart from adults, and the case is heard by the Juvenile Court, a branch of Common Pleas, at 1000 Wardhill Avenue, Lima, OH 45805, 419-227-5531.

Detention for a child is at the Allen County Juvenile Court Treatment and Detention Center in Lima, 419-998-5240. Parents and guardians may visit each day by appointment. A judge or magistrate must review the detention within 72 hours of admission. Should the next court day arrive earlier, the review is due then (Juv.R. 7). If no order is made, the child goes back to a parent's care.

The jail record or the jail staff can name the arresting agency. Here is who covers what:

• Allen County Sheriff's Office, 333 N. Main Street, Lima, OH 45802, 419-227-3535. Deputies patrol the townships and any place without its own police.
• Lima Police Department, 117 East Market Street, Lima, OH 45801, general line 419-227-4444.
• Bluffton Police Department, 154 North Main Street, Bluffton, OH 45817, 419-358-2961.
• Delphos, Elida and Spencerville: phone the Sheriff's Office to find who responds in each village.
• Ohio State Highway Patrol: the patrol lists every post in its local post directory. Pick the one for this county.