The Sheriff's Office runs the jail lookup. Five quick steps:

1. Pull up the jail inmate lookup on a phone, tablet or PC.
2. Key in the surname. Getting swamped with matches? Enter the first name as well.
3. Compare each result with what you know, because shared surnames are common.
4. Click into the record to check custody and bond status.
5. Jot those details on paper so your call to staff is short.

Hours later and still nothing? Phone 419-354-7744 and press 1.

An empty result early on is normal. Usual causes:

• Booking is still going. Staff fingerprint and photograph each person, run a warrant check, screen health needs and log belongings. All of that eats up time.
• They walked out. Officers hand out tickets for many small charges instead of taking people in. Others pay a set bond soon after booking and go home.
• They got moved. Holds from elsewhere, federal charges and prison terms all send people down the road.
• Youth. Kids under 18 who must stay locked up go to juvenile detention on Dunbridge Road, apart from the grown-up list.
• A typo. Try nicknames, a hyphenated surname or a name used before marriage.

Staff can sort it out. Call 419-354-7744 with the legal name and birthday.

Bookings from every corner of the county go to one building: the jail at the Justice Center, 1960 East Gypsy Lane Road, Bowling Green, OH 43402. The jail line is 419-354-7744, and the Sheriff's main office is 419-354-9137. City police, village officers, campus police, troopers and deputies all bring people here. Inside you'll find:

• people awaiting trial who haven't made bond
• people doing time on a local sentence
• people locked up for probation violations
• people picked up on another agency's warrant
• people with a prison term who are waiting on a state transfer

An education and job-skills program called IGNITE is open to people held there.

Was the arrest over the Maumee in Toledo, or in Henry or Fulton County? Then check the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio, 3151 County Road 2425, Stryker, OH 43557, 419-428-3800. This regional jail in Williams County houses people for Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Lucas and Williams counties.

Staff take a booking photo of each adult at the Justice Center. Curious whether mugshots show in the lookup, or whether one picture can be released? Ring the Sheriff's Office at 419-354-9137. Under the state's Public Records Act (R.C. 149.43), lots of jail records are open to the public.

State law also fights pay-to-remove mugshot sites (R.C. 2927.22). Anyone who publishes arrest photos or details is barred from charging a fee to delete them. Doing it anyway is a first-degree misdemeanor. A wronged person may sue and collect $10,000 at minimum.

• Photos from immigration bookings come only through a written request at the ICE records page.
• Federal booking pictures stay sealed. The U.S. Marshals Service is the exception, releasing a few, mostly while hunting a fugitive.

Sign up for Ohio VINE, a no-cost program run by the state Attorney General's office. Beyond alerts, it shows a person's custody status and current location. You'll hear if they are freed, transferred, escape or die.

• Register on VINELink.
• Prefer the phone? The line, 800-770-0192, never closes.
• It tracks people in county jails, state prisons and state juvenile facilities.

Nothing arrives until you register. Before heading out to pick someone up, double-check with the jail at 419-354-7744.

Judges in Ohio pick the lightest terms that keep a defendant showing up and neighbors safe, as R.C. 2937.011 directs. Locally:

• Small cases. Bowling Green and Perrysburg each keep a misdemeanor bond chart. Paying the listed amount often frees a person not long after booking.
• Serious cases. A felony, a domestic violence charge or certain OVI arrests normally go before a judge or magistrate first. That first hearing tends to come the next weekday, sometimes over video.
• Time limit. Anyone not yet freed goes before the court on bail by the second court day after being arrested.
• Kinds of bond. Choices may be a signature on a promise, a 10 percent deposit (most of it refunded later), a bondsman, land or a house, or full cash. By state law, the municipal courts here take credit cards.
• Paying it. Most bonds are posted at the Justice Center. Ask 419-354-7744 what forms of payment work.
• Held with no bail. In grave cases a judge may refuse bail altogether. Prosecutors first need to win a special hearing with very strong proof (R.C. 2937.222).

Every bondsman must be licensed by the Ohio Department of Insurance. Prices follow a state-approved rate, and extra fees must be disclosed. Soliciting at the jail or courthouse is off limits, as is demanding a vehicle or home title. Questions or complaints go to 800-686-1526.

For amounts and steps, read our bond guide. The Ohio bail law overview adds state detail.

Call the clerk for the court in charge, birthday and legal name in hand, and ask them to read the charge.

• North end cases (Perrysburg, Rossford, Northwood and nearby): Perrysburg Municipal Court, 300 Walnut Street, Perrysburg, OH 43551, 419-872-7900.
• Bowling Green and the middle and south of the county: Bowling Green Municipal Court, 711 South Dunbridge Road, Bowling Green, OH 43402, 419-352-5263.
• Perry Township: Fostoria Municipal Court, 213 South Main Street, 2nd Floor, Fostoria, OH 44830, 419-435-8139, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Indicted felonies: Clerk of Courts, Legal Office, Second Floor, One Courthouse Square, Bowling Green, OH 43402, 419-354-9280, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Prosecutors in the Prosecuting Attorney's Office settle on felony charges and present them to a grand jury. Their office is on the 4th Floor of the County Office Building, One Courthouse Square, Bowling Green, OH 43402, 419-354-9250.

Free defense for people short on money usually comes from the county Public Defender, 123 North Summit Street, Bowling Green, OH 43402, 419-354-9244. Its lawyers take adult and teen cases at both local municipal courts, Common Pleas and Juvenile Court.

1. When court first meets, your loved one should say out loud that they need a free lawyer. Relatives may call the office sooner.
2. A money form follows, asking about pay, savings and who lives in the home.
3. The judge rules on who qualifies. Ohio allows a small application fee, which a judge may drop.
4. When a conflict blocks the office, as with two people charged together, the judge names an outside lawyer.

Paying a private attorney instead is fine, ideally right away.

Family visits here are non-contact video calls. The jail uses Combined Public Communications (CPC). Families join through the free CPC app, a computer or a tablet.

• Create your CPC login well before visit day.
• Read the jail's visiting rules first, since breaking one can end a visit.
• For days, times and anything else, ring 419-354-7744.

Prep tips live in our visitation guide.

Account money buys commissary goods, like chips or shampoo, stocked by Keefe Group. Most deposits land within two hours, and each one carries a fee. Pick one of three ways:

• The lobby kiosk at the jail door, 1960 East Gypsy Lane Road, Bowling Green, OH 43402. Use bills larger than $1 or a card.
• The Access Corrections website.
• Access Corrections by phone at 866-345-1884, day or night.

Money orders get refused. Keep cash out of letters. A deposit gone missing? Phone 419-354-7744. Details sit in our deposit guide and commissary page.

Combined Public Communications (CPC), the video visit company, also runs the jail's phones and tablets. Open a CPC account so calls can reach you, and look over the prices while you set it up.

Questions about messages, tablets or calling hours go to 419-354-7744. Assume someone may be listening, and ask staff if calls get recorded. Case details belong with the attorney. Extra help: our phone guide plus the messaging guide.

Address letters to the jail itself, using the person's full legal name on top. You can skip any booking number:

Full name of the person
1960 E Gypsy Ln Rd
Bowling Green, OH 43402

Plain letters work best. Staff send back:

• boxes and packages
• photos you printed yourself
• newspaper clippings or printouts from the internet
• scented paper
• cards with glitter or add-ons

Put your return address on top left. No cash. Mail questions go to 419-354-7744. Our mail guide has extra pointers.

At booking, staff make a list of each person's things and lock them up. Phone 419-354-7744 before you make the trip and ask:

• whether your loved one has to okay the pickup in writing
• what days and hours pickups happen
• which photo ID to have with you

Items are handed over at the Justice Center, 1960 East Gypsy Lane Road, Bowling Green, OH 43402.

Health screening is part of every booking. If your loved one has a medical problem, an injury or takes medicine each day, call 419-354-7744 and ask that medical staff get the details. Read off every medicine with its dose, then give the doctor's office number.

Inside, your loved one should also fill in the jail's sick-call form. Any suicide risk or mental health emergency goes first in the call. Danger outside the jail? Use 911.

Sheriff's deputies serve warrants anywhere in the county, while city police handle them in their own towns. Want to know if one exists? Phone the Sheriff's Office at 419-354-9137 and ask for Records. For misdemeanor and traffic cases, try the clerk at Bowling Green Municipal Court, 711 South Dunbridge Road, Bowling Green, OH 43402, 419-352-5263, or Perrysburg Municipal Court, 300 Walnut Street, Perrysburg, OH 43551, 419-872-7900. On felonies, phone the Clerk of Courts, 419-354-9280. To clear one up, a defense lawyer is the first call. Next, reach whichever court issued it. You'll find the felony clerk upstairs, second floor, One Courthouse Square, Bowling Green, OH 43402.

Location decides it: the town where the charge arose sets which court. Check the ticket or bond slip. Jailed defendants are brought over or appear on video.

• Perrysburg Municipal Court, 300 Walnut Street, Perrysburg, OH 43551, 419-872-7900, hears cases from the north end.
• Bowling Green Municipal Court, 711 South Dunbridge Road, Bowling Green, OH 43402, 419-352-5263, takes the rest.
• Fostoria Municipal Court, 213 South Main Street, 2nd Floor, Fostoria, OH 44830, 419-435-8139, covers Perry Township.
• After indictment, felonies are tried at the Court of Common Pleas, third floor, One Courthouse Square, Bowling Green, OH 43402, 419-354-9210. For its calendar, ring the Clerk of Courts at 419-354-9280.

A handful of cities and villages run mayor's courts for small local tickets. Call the town hall printed on that ticket. Our court guide explains arraignment, pretrial and trial in order.

Toledo is home base for U.S. District Court cases from Wood, Lucas and nearby counties, part of the Northern District of Ohio. Its courthouse stands at 1716 Spielbusch Avenue, Toledo, OH 43604, 419-213-5500.

1. Within days, a federal magistrate holds the detention hearing and weighs custody against release on conditions (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. During the case, the U.S. Marshals Service has custody. Its Toledo office sits in Suite 313A of that courthouse, 419-376-3094, and can point families to the right jail.
3. The Marshals contract with jails around northwest Ohio. The Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio, 3151 County Road 2425, Stryker, OH 43557, 419-428-3800, is one of them.
4. Can't afford counsel? The Federal Public Defender works from 617 Adams Street, Toledo, OH 43604, 419-259-7370.
5. After a federal sentence, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator by name or register number.

Immigration holds tend to follow this path:

1. Immigration agents lodge a detainer at the jail, known as Form I-247A.
2. It seeks a hold lasting up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, giving agents a window to arrive (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Immigration officers then take over. The ICE office for Ohio is the Detroit Field Office, 985 Michigan Avenue, Suite 207, Detroit, MI 48226, 313-771-6601.
4. Look the person up on the ICE Online Detainee Locator by A-number. If you lack that number, type the full legal name and pick a birth country.

The Sheriff's Office at 419-354-9137 can explain how its jail treats detainers and whether it has signed any deal with ICE. For legal choices, talk with an immigration lawyer.

Prison transfers rarely happen on sentencing day. The wait at Gypsy Lane may last a while. Later comes a reception center operated by the state prison system, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Testing there decides which prison comes next.

• Use the ODRC offender search and type a name to see the current location.
• For visiting and writing to a prison, read our Ohio state prisons page.
• Not sure if the transfer happened? Ask the jail at 419-354-7744.

Teens stay out of Gypsy Lane. A teen's case belongs to the Juvenile Court at 1032 South Dunbridge Road, Bowling Green, OH 43402, 419-352-3554.

• When going home isn't safe, a teen is held at the juvenile detention center, which the court runs at the same Dunbridge Road address. Its roughly 48 beds also serve four nearby counties under contract.
• Ohio rules set a short fuse here (Juv.R. 7; R.C. 2151.314). Detention gets a judge or magistrate review within 72 hours. Should a court day come before that, the review moves up. Miss that window, and the child returns to a parent.
• Families who qualify can get a lawyer from the county Public Defender.
• Some boys, after their case is decided, are sent to the Juvenile Residential Center of Northwest Ohio, 1012 South Dunbridge Road, Bowling Green, OH 43402, 419-353-4406.

The Juvenile Court can tell you where your teen is being kept and when the judge will see them.

Every agency in the county brings adult arrests to Gypsy Lane. Who to call:

• Sheriff's Office, 1960 East Gypsy Lane Road, Bowling Green, OH 43402. Main line 419-354-9137; non-emergency 419-354-9001. Deputies answer calls all over the county.
• Northwood Police Department, 6000 Wales Road, Northwood, OH 43619, non-emergency 419-691-5053.
• Other local police. This covers Bowling Green, Perrysburg and Rossford officers, the BGSU police and village officers. Call the Sheriff's non-emergency line and ask for the number you need.
• Ohio State Highway Patrol. Troopers cover the interstates and state routes. Their nearest post shows on the Highway Patrol locations page.

For an emergency, dial 911.