This list is kept by the Sheriff and shows who sleeps in the cells right now. Follow these moves:

1. Load the jail roster on a phone or laptop.
2. Pick the male or female section.
3. Open your browser's page-search tool and type the surname.
4. Scan the row for the Jail ID, charges, court, disposition, total bail, book date, attorney, next court date, arresting agency and release date.
5. Write down the Jail ID. Booking staff can call up the file faster that way.

A date in the release column means the person has already left. If the surname is absent, read on.

A blank search is often harmless. Common reasons:

• Paperwork under way. Booking involves fingerprints, photos and a health screen, and the list lags behind.
• Police holding room. Some departments have a holding room where an arrested person waits until a deputy drives them to Columbus Avenue.
• Sent home. An officer may have issued a ticket, or the person may already have bonded out or been freed on a signed promise to return.
• Somewhere else. Another agency, state or federal, could have custody.
• Spelling. Test other forms: Bob for Robert, one half of a double surname, or a maiden name.

Phone the Jail Division at 419-627-7569 and ask for Booking or Records. For the Sheriff's Office front line, dial 419-625-7951.

Every adult arrest in the county ends up at one place, the Erie County Jail, 2800 Columbus Avenue, Sandusky, OH 44870, 419-627-7569. The roster keeps men and women in separate sections. No regional jail, work-release unit or city-run jail is on record for the county.

Other places to check:

• Police department cells. People may sit there for a short while first. The last answer gives each department's number.
• Jails next door. An arrest near the county line could put the person in the Huron County Jail, the Lorain County Jail, the Ottawa County Detention Center or the Sandusky County Jail. Each linked page lists that jail's street address and phone.
• Federal, ICE or state custody. Separate answers below cover each one.

Minors are held in a different building. The teen answer explains.

The roster includes a Photo column. Open the jail roster, find the row and see whether a picture is there. If it is blank, ask the Sheriff's Office at 419-625-7951 if a booking photo can be released.

Booking pictures are generally open records in Ohio (R.C. 149.43). Families get one protection. A person who publishes mugshots or arrest details may not demand or take payment to remove them. A site that does so commits a first-degree misdemeanor, and the hurt person can sue for at least $10,000 (R.C. 2927.22). Never pay a site that offers to erase a photo.

• ICE keeps its own photo files. Ask for one through ICE's public records form.
• Federal arrest mugshots stay out of public hands, though the U.S. Marshals Service has the option of sharing one, say in a manhunt.

Use Ohio VINE, a free Attorney General program. Register at VINELink or phone 800-770-0192, which answers around the clock. Its database spans local jails along with state prisons and Division of Youth Services sites.

It also shows a person's current custody status and place. You can ask for a message when that person is freed, transferred, escapes or dies.

• Messages can arrive late, so treat them as a backup.
• Dial the jail at 419-627-7569 to be certain of a release.
• Open the roster again every so often.

Ohio changed its release rules in June 2023 (R.C. 2937.011). A court is to pick terms that are as mild as possible yet still guarantee the person comes back to court and the community stays protected. For petty crimes the court has a printed schedule of amounts, so someone can leave before any hearing. A felony needs a judge or magistrate. Anyone still held gets a hearing within two court days.

If money is needed, the person charged picks the form. The list: a signed promise, a 10 percent deposit, a bond bought from a surety company, a bond secured by real estate or shares, or the entire amount in cash. On the 10 percent deposit, the court gives back nine tenths at closing, provided the person obeyed every condition.

• Paying at the jail (2800 Columbus Avenue, Sandusky, OH 44870): money orders made out to the court handling the case, plus surety bonds from approved agents at any hour. Cash, checks and cards are refused there.
• Vermilion court cases are different. Bring bond to the Vermilion Municipal Court, 687 Decatur Street, Vermilion, OH 44089, 440-204-2430, during business hours, or to the Vermilion Police Department at 440-967-6116 after hours.
• Bail agents hold state licenses issued by the Ohio Department of Insurance, and none may ask you to sign over a home title. Ask the department at 800-686-1526.

Our bail guide shows each move, and the Ohio bail laws page lists the state's rules.

The roster shows each charge and which court owns it, so you know whom to call:

• Smaller offenses and traffic tickets: the municipal court for that area. Sandusky Municipal Court sits at 222 Meigs Street, Sandusky, OH 44870, 419-627-5920.
• Felonies: the Clerk of Courts, 323 Columbus Avenue, Sandusky, OH 44870, 419-627-7706, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Final charging decisions: the Prosecuting Attorney, 247 Columbus Avenue, Suite 319, Sandusky, OH 44870, 419-627-7697.

A felony first goes to a grand jury and later to Common Pleas. Our court guide maps out the stages.

A shortage of cash should not leave anyone alone in court. The Public Defender, 247 Columbus Avenue, Suite 37, Sandusky, OH 44870, 419-627-6620, serves people who cannot pay. Sometimes the judge picks a lawyer from the private bar.

1. When you first see the judge, ask for a lawyer out loud.
2. Write your income and bills on the court's form.
3. The court rules on eligibility and names counsel.

If no lawyer has helped and the person is still held, a second bail hearing is held two court days after the first, with an attorney named if money is the obstacle. Hiring your own attorney is allowed too. The state-level office is the Ohio Public Defender, 250 East Broad Street, Suite 1400, Columbus, OH 43215, 614-466-5394.

Video is the main option. Pick one:

• From your own device. There is a charge. Sessions run every day from 7:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. and from 2:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Each inmate is capped at an hour a day.
• Free kiosks. They sit in the lobby of the Sheriff's Office, 2800 Columbus Avenue, Sandusky, OH 44870. Spots go first come, first served, and each inmate gets one hour a week.

For word on face-to-face visits, dress codes and ID, call 419-627-7569. Stay courteous and do what staff say. Our visiting guide has more ideas.

A balance in the person's name buys chips, toothpaste and call time. Pick a method:

• Online through inmatecanteen.com, which the jail lists for families.
• In person at the lobby kiosk at 2800 Columbus Avenue, Sandusky, OH 44870, where cash, debit and credit are all taken.

Have the legal name and the Jail ID from the roster handy. Cash never belongs in the mail. Our money page explains the process, while the commissary page lists purchases. Questions on fees or limits go to 419-627-7569.

Calls go out only from inside. If a collect call fails or your number is blocked, contact Correctional Billing Services at 800-844-6591.

Text and email messages cost a fee and run through inmatecanteen.com. Video is covered in the visits answer.

Assume someone may listen in. Save case details for your attorney's ears. More is on the jail phones page and the electronic messages page. The jail itself answers at 419-627-7569.

Only postcards get through, and they must already carry postage. Stamps and envelopes are turned away. Letters from attorneys and courts are the exception.

Write the address this way:

Erie County Sheriff's Department
Attn: (the person's name)/Jail
2800 Columbus Avenue
Sandusky, OH 44870

Put your own return address on it, and keep cash out of the mail. General tips sit in our mail guide. Unsure about a card? Call 419-627-7569.

Items the person carried in are stored by the jail. Keys, credit cards and court papers can go to someone the person picks. If the person moves on to prison, anything left is released to their chosen contact inside 14 days.

Ring 419-627-7569 first and learn the pickup window, any form to sign and the ID to bring. The Sheriff's Office, 2800 Columbus Avenue, Sandusky, OH 44870, is where items change hands.

Phone 419-627-7569 as soon as you learn of a problem. Give the name and Jail ID, then describe the condition, list every drug with its strength, and share the doctor's contact. Ask staff to hand it to the jail nurse.

Inside, the person can ask a guard for a sick-call form. A written request leaves a record.

In a medical emergency, 911 is the number. If the trouble is mental, say so plainly when you call.

Outside city limits, Sheriff's deputies serve warrants. Within a town, its own officers do. Browse the Sheriff's warrant list or phone the Sheriff's Office, 2800 Columbus Avenue, Sandusky, OH 44870, 419-625-7951. Ask the municipal court clerk about a lesser case. Felony files live with the Clerk of Courts (419-627-7706). Speak to a lawyer before you deal with an open warrant. Next, phone that court's clerk and ask what the clerk needs from you. Felony clerks work at 323 Columbus Avenue, Sandusky, OH 44870.

Most roster rows show an upcoming hearing. If the cell is blank, ask the court that has the case:

• Sandusky Municipal Court, 222 Meigs Street, Sandusky, OH 44870. Criminal and traffic business runs 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Erie County Municipal Court, 150 West Mason Road, Milan, OH 44846, 419-499-4689, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Huron Municipal Court, 417 Main Street, Huron, OH 44839, 419-433-5430
• Court of Common Pleas for felonies, 323 Columbus Avenue, Sandusky, OH 44870, with the Clerk of Courts at 419-627-7706

The spot where the offense happened picks the municipal court. Our court guide explains what each hearing leads to.

Federal court for Erie sits in Toledo, part of the Northern District of Ohio, at 1716 Spielbusch Avenue, Toledo, OH 43604, 419-213-5500.

1. Early in the case the person appears before a magistrate, who rules on jail or release in a detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. The Marshals Service takes charge before trial. It often rents beds from a county jail for federal detainees. Their office shares the courthouse, Suite 313A, 419-376-3094.
3. The Federal Public Defender, 617 Adams Street, Toledo, OH 43604, 419-259-7370, may assign a lawyer.
4. Following sentencing, type the name into the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

How an ICE hold unfolds:

1. ICE begins with a detainer, filed on Form I-247A and handed to jail staff.
2. With that in hand, staff can keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE then takes over. Its Detroit Field Office covers Ohio, at 985 Michigan Avenue, Suite 207, Detroit, MI 48226, 313-771-6601. The Ohio office nearest Sandusky is at 925 Keynote Circle, Brooklyn Heights, OH 44131, 216-749-9200.
4. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator by surname plus country of birth. If you know it, use the A-number.

The Sheriff's Office can say if it works under any ICE partnership: 419-625-7951.

Every state prison term starts at a reception center. There the state decides which prison fits the person. Before the ride, the person might stay on Columbus Avenue for a time, so ring 419-627-7569 to confirm.

• Enter a name in the state's prison and supervision lookup, from the state prison agency. It finds prisoners and people on parole alike.
• See what we wrote on Ohio state prisons for visiting, mail and money.

Minors do not go into the adult cells. Their cases belong to the Juvenile Court, a part of Common Pleas, at 323 Columbus Avenue, 4th Floor, Sandusky, OH 44870, 419-627-7782. Juvenile files are private, so no child appears on the adult roster.

A youth waiting for the court is housed at the Erie County Detention Center, 1338 Tiffin Avenue, Sandusky, OH 44870, 419-627-7611.

• Three days is the outer limit for a judge to look at a child's detention, and an earlier court day moves it up (Juv.R. 7 and R.C. 2151.314). If that deadline is missed, the child goes home to a parent.
• Parents or custodians may visit twice weekly: Tuesday to Thursday, 6:30 to 7:00 p.m., or Saturday and Sunday, 4:00 to 4:30 p.m. Call ahead for any special visit.

Every roster row names the arresting agency. Local departments and the phones the county gives for them:

• Sandusky Police Department, 419-627-5863
• Huron Police Department, 419-433-4114
• Vermilion Police Department, 440-967-6116
• Perkins Police Department, 419-627-0824
• Milan Police Department, 419-499-2001
• Castalia Police Department, 419-684-5644
• Bay View Police Department, 419-684-5990
• Kelleys Island Police Department, 419-746-2735
• Sheriff's Office (covers the whole county), 2800 Columbus Avenue, Sandusky, OH 44870, 419-625-7951. Call the Sheriff when a place has no department of its own.

Call a department to get its street address. For highway arrests, each county has a patrol post, and you can find yours on the Ohio State Highway Patrol local post page.