These steps work on a phone, tablet or computer:

1. Visit the jail lookup using any browser.
2. Enter the surname. Leave the first name blank unless dozens of results appear.
3. If nothing matches, retry with a nickname, a married name or a shorter spelling.
4. Select an entry and read the details, such as charges and the agency holding the person.
5. If a booking or ID number is shown, save it. Staff find the file faster when you give it.

The lookup only knows what the jail has entered, so it may run a few hours behind. A call to 615-563-1000 clears up any doubt.

An empty result is a puzzle, not a final answer. Think through these possibilities:

• Paperwork in progress. Fingerprinting and photos can delay the record.
• A stop at the local station. An officer may hold someone for questioning before delivery to the jail.
• A ticket instead of a cell. Minor charges often end with a citation and a hearing date.
• Back on the street. A posted bond or a signed promise to appear can free someone within hours.
• Taken elsewhere. Another county, a state agency or a federal office could have custody.
• A minor. Children go through juvenile court, so adult lists may skip them.

Ring the jail at 615-563-1000 and spell the name as it appears on the ID, with the birthday. Staff can say whether the person remains held.

An adult arrested here is processed at the Cannon County Jail, 110 Alexander Drive, Woodbury, TN 37190, 615-563-1000. The Sheriff's deputies have their desks under that same roof. Woodbury is the county seat, and that address is the one to use for jail questions.

Someone arrested near a county line may sit in the neighboring county's cells for a while. Ask the Sheriff where the arrest took place, then phone the jail in that county. A hold from another agency can also send a person to that agency's lockup.

Federal or immigration holds, and sentences to state prison, can move someone out of the area. The later answers cover each of those.

Look at the entry in the jail lookup, then call to confirm whether a mugshot or other booking photo exists for the person. Reach the Sheriff's Office at 615-563-1000 and ask whether staff can hand out a photo, and how.

Pictures held by public offices come under Tennessee's open records law at Tenn. Code Ann. 10-7-503, though booking pictures are never singled out in the text. Each agency therefore sets its own approach. Be ready to share the full name and the arrest date.

• ICE booking pictures come only through a request filed at ICE's records request page.
• Federal mugshots stay private. The only exception is the U.S. Marshals Service, which may release one, for example if a fugitive is being sought.

A free notice service exists. Tennessee VINE sends a phone call, text message or email whenever custody status changes. Open VINELink and choose Tennessee, or dial 888-868-4631. Live operators pick up around the clock.

VINE leans toward state custody. During a county jail stay, treat its messages as a bonus, and confirm any release or transfer by calling 615-563-1000.

Sign-up needs the person's name and how you want to be reached. Keep the booking details close by.

A judge or magistrate sets the amount soon after the arrest. Tennessee requires a first appearance before a judicial officer without unnecessary delay. The officer looks at the person's home ties, job, relatives and past court record. The amount should be only as high as needed to secure a return to court and protect others.

• Cash. The full amount may be paid at the Circuit Court Clerk's office, 200 West Main Street, Woodbury, TN 37190, 615-563-4461.
• Bondsman. A licensed bondsman typically keeps roughly 10 percent of the bond as pay for the service, and that money never returns to you.
• Waiting period. Certain charges, such as stalking or domestic abuse, may mean 12 hours or longer before release.

Our bail page gives the whole walk-through, and the Tennessee bail laws page for state rules.

Entries in the jail lookup may list the charges. When they do not, phone 615-563-1000 and ask for the charges and bond amount.

Court files give the whole picture. Those records sit with the Circuit Court Clerk, whose office is inside the old courthouse building at 200 West Main Street, Woodbury, TN 37190, 615-563-4461. Ask about General Sessions and Circuit Court cases both, and bring the spelling of the name plus the birthday.

The District Attorney General for the 16th Judicial District decides which charges move ahead. Ask the clerk for that office's number. A lawyer can also review the paperwork with you.

Expect the judge to mention lawyers during the first hearing. Someone short on funds should say that aloud. The judge then decides whether the person qualifies for a free lawyer.

The 16th Judicial District Public Defender covers this county along with Rutherford County. Its office answers at 615-898-8020. Call to learn how to apply, or to find out if the office already knows about the case.

Family members may pay for a private attorney at any time they like. That lawyer can meet the person at the jail and ask the court to lower the bail.

Rules shift, so call 615-563-1000 ahead of any trip to the jail. Useful things to ask:

• Which weekdays and times can guests come?
• Do I reserve a time in advance?
• What kind of photo ID counts?
• Does the jail use a visiting room, or a video link?
• Which clothes are banned?

A lockdown or a staff shortage may cancel a visit that was already set. Our visiting guide offers more tips.

The balance covers things like snacks, soap and call minutes. Phone 615-563-1000 and learn which deposit options work at the Woodbury jail, what limits apply, and how to name the person on the account.

Our money guide compares deposit choices. Our commissary guide lists the goods an account covers. Keep cash out of the mail, and do not wire money to someone who says they work for the jail.

Each jail chooses its own call setup. Dial 615-563-1000 and ask what your loved one must do to reach you, how much calls cost, and whether texts or video are available.

Expect recordings. Save any talk of the case for your lawyer. Read more in the phone guide for jails and in our inmate texting and email page.

Before anything goes in the mailbox, ring 615-563-1000 and get the exact address. Ask what must appear on the envelope, and whether cards, photos, books or stamps are allowed.

Stick with plain paper and plain envelopes. Address it to the person by full legal name, and write your own return address on the upper left. Our mail guide lists the common limits. Cash must never travel in the mail.

What staff took from the person at booking stays in a storage bag until the release day. Call 615-563-1000 to ask how pickup works, whether the person must sign for it, and what times staff can help.

Bring photo ID issued by the government to the Sheriff's Office at 110 Alexander Drive, Woodbury, TN 37190. Without the person's okay, the jail may send you away until it confirms who is allowed to collect.

Dial 615-563-1000 and request the nurse or medical unit. Give the person's name, each medicine with its strength, and who prescribed it. Mention allergies and conditions such as diabetes or seizures.

The person should also fill out a written sick-call request inside the jail. Call 911 when someone's life is at stake. Say so plainly if you fear a mental health emergency.

Outside town limits the Sheriff's deputies make warrant arrests, while town officers handle those within their borders. Phone the Sheriff at 615-563-1000 and find out if a warrant has been issued. The Circuit Court Clerk, 615-563-4461, can look up an open case. Have an attorney steer any effort to settle a warrant, which normally means a return to the court that issued the paper. Find the clerk downstairs in the courthouse, 200 West Main Street, Woodbury, TN 37190.

Whoever holds the file also holds the calendar, so ask that court. Both courts meet in the courthouse, 200 West Main Street, Woodbury, TN 37190.

• General Sessions Court. Hears cases the opening four Tuesdays every month, starting 8:30 a.m. Expect first hearings, misdemeanors and early felony hearings.
• Criminal Division of Circuit Court. Meets the first Thursday of each month at 9 a.m. Felonies come here once a grand jury indicts.

Call the clerk at 615-563-4461. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 8 a.m. to noon on Wednesday. Our court page walks through each stage.

This county falls in the Middle District of Tennessee. Federal cases go to the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse, 719 Church Street, Nashville, TN 37203. The clerk answers at 615-736-5498.

1. The first appearance includes a detention hearing, where a judge chooses custody or release until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Until trial, the U.S. Marshals select where the defendant sleeps, often a local jail. Their office is at 719 Church Street, Suite 2500, Nashville, TN 37203, 615-750-1434.
3. The Federal Public Defender, 164 Rosa L Parks Boulevard, Nashville, TN 37203, 615-736-5047, assists people who cannot pay.
4. After the sentence, try the Bureau of Prisons locator.

Federal immigration officers sometimes ask a jail for extra time with a person. The process tends to follow this path:

1. The detainer comes on ICE Form I-247A.
2. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), the jail may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.
3. The ICE Online Detainee Locator works with a person's name and birth country. ICE handles this state through its New Orleans Field Office, and the locator gives the contact route.
4. Tennessee names this county as a participant in the 287(g) partnership with ICE (Tennessee Department of Safety page). Its immigration enforcement division answers at 615-532-9736.

After a felony sentence, a person can remain at the Woodbury jail until the state has room. Phone 615-563-1000 to ask whether the move has happened.

• The Tennessee Department of Correction picks the placement and handles intake. Its office is at 320 Sixth Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37243, 615-741-1000.
• The state offender search reports where the person is held, the crime and the term.
• For prison visits and letters, read our Tennessee state prisons page.

Minors go before Juvenile Court, not the adult courts. Here, the General Sessions judge also hears those cases at the courthouse, 200 West Main Street, Woodbury, TN 37190. Phone the clerk at 615-563-4461 for hearing dates.

Ask the Sheriff's Office, 615-563-1000, where the young person is staying. Juvenile files are private, so a child may not appear in the adult lookup.

Ask the arrested person, or ask the jail, which agency made the stop. These offices work in the area:

• The county Sheriff's Office, 110 Alexander Drive, Woodbury, TN 37190, non-emergency 615-563-1000. Covers the unincorporated parts of the county and runs the jail. The county's main line is 615-563-2320.
• Town and city police. Call the Sheriff's non-emergency line above to learn which local department made the arrest, and ask for its number.
• Tennessee Highway Patrol. Troopers patrol state roads. Find the right office on the THP contact list by choosing the district for this area.