This county's lookup runs on the free statewide custody service. The steps are short:

1. Open the lookup page on a phone or computer.
2. If a menu asks for the state, choose Tennessee.
3. Put the surname in the box first and add a first name next. Leave out middle names at the start, because a brief entry finds more spellings.
4. Open any result that looks right and read the status line.
5. Jot down what it says and confirm it by phone before you drive anywhere.

The jail desk can be reached through the Sheriff's Office at 731-989-2449. Keep the date of birth handy.

No match is not proof of release. Here are other explanations:

• Booking has not finished. Printing and paperwork can run for hours.
• A city cell comes first. Officers sometimes keep a person at the station before being driven over.
• A citation was written. Many people sign a promise to come to court and leave at once.
• Bond is posted. A bondsman or the court clerk may have handled the release already.
• Another agency has them. A different county or the state could hold the person.
• The spelling differs. Try a nickname, a hyphen or a former surname.

Telephone 731-989-2449 and ask for the jail. Staff see records that the website misses.

Adults arrested by local officers go to the Chester County Jail, 333 Eric Bell Drive, Henderson, TN 38340, 731-989-2449. Men and women alike are housed there while their cases are open. State inspectors certify space for 81 beds. We found no workhouse, annex or work-release building for this county. If a job program matters, ask the Sheriff's Office.

Picked up near the border? These neighboring jails may hold the person:

• Madison County Jail, 515 S. Liberty Street, Jackson, TN 38301, 731-423-6000
• Henderson County Jail, 170 Justice Center Drive, Lexington, TN 38351, 731-968-7777

Holds by federal, immigration or state agencies are explained further down the page.

A mugshot is the picture snapped when someone is booked. Tennessee's public records act reaches government photographs, yet it never lists booking photos by name. Some sheriffs put pictures beside each roster entry. Here, call the Sheriff's Office at 731-989-2449 and ask if staff can hand over a booking photo.

• A photo taken by a town officer may be requested from that department. Henderson Police can be reached at 731-989-2201.
• Photos kept by ICE itself come through the agency's public records form.
• Mugshots made by federal agencies are kept private. The U.S. Marshals Service alone may share one, such as a wanted poster.

Tennessee offers a free service named VINE. Sign up on VINELink, choose Tennessee, or phone 888-868-4631 at any hour and a live operator will help. You can pick calls, texts or email.

Tennessee's prison agency recommends VINE for people it holds. Coverage of the county jail may differ, so sign up and also check with the jail at 731-989-2449. Treat any alert as a bonus, never as a guarantee.

A judge, or an officer with the power to fix bail, names the amount. General Sessions Court for this county sits at 333 Eric Bell Drive, Henderson, TN 38340, and its judge's office takes calls at 731-989-2608. Under state law, the amount should be only what it takes to get the person back in court and keep the public safe. Judges weigh home, job, family and past record.

• Cash. The entire sum can be left with the Circuit Court Clerk, Suite D at that same address, 731-989-2454. Ask how the window accepts payment on the day you come.
• Bondsman. A typical charge runs near 10 percent of the bond. The state licenses these businesses, and the court decides which ones may write bonds here.
• Wait before release. A few offenses, among them stalking and some family violence cases, may keep a person inside 12 hours or longer. Ask the jail.

For more detail, open our bail page. Rules written into state law are summarized on our Tennessee bail laws page.

Your fastest source is the jail itself. Staff at 731-989-2449 can read out the charge and say if another hold exists. Once the case is filed, the Circuit Court Clerk (who also acts as General Sessions clerk) keeps the papers. That office, 731-989-2454, sits at 333 Eric Bell Drive, Suite D, Henderson, TN 38340, and opens weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Bring a birth date along with the name. In felony matters, the District Attorney General for the 26th Judicial District chooses what goes to the grand jury, and the clerk can give you that office's number.

At the first hearing, say out loud that money for a lawyer is not there. The judge studies income and debts, then decides whether to appoint one. Relatives can speed this up by gathering pay stubs and bills.

• The District Public Defender's office for the 26th Judicial District covers this county plus Henderson and Madison counties. Dial 731-423-6657.
• Have the charge, the hearing date and any case number written down first.

You are free to hire private counsel whenever you like. The clerk at 731-989-2454 can say which court holds the case.

The jail alone controls visiting days, time slots and dress codes, and it can change them quickly. Ring the Sheriff's Office at 731-989-2449 before heading to 333 Eric Bell Drive, Henderson, TN 38340. Staff are in weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

• Which days and hours are open?
• Is an appointment needed?
• What ID is required, and are kids allowed?
• Is the meeting in person or on a screen?

Our visitation guide covers customs shared by many Tennessee jails.

A balance covers store snacks, soap and phone minutes. Ask the jail which deposit options work right now, what limits apply and which companies it uses. The number is 731-989-2449. Know the spelling of the inmate's name.

Never slip cash into an envelope. Account money also cannot free anyone, because bail goes to the clerk. See the money guide for common methods and the commissary guide for what a balance can buy.

The jail chooses the phone vendor and sets the rates. Ring 731-989-2449 to find out the way your loved one reaches you, how to fund a prepaid account, and whether texting or video exists.

Assume recordings exist. Keep the talk about home and health, and save case details for your attorney. For extra reading, try the phone guide for jails and the page on email in jail.

Address it to Chester County Jail, 333 Eric Bell Drive, Henderson, TN 38340. Write the inmate's legal name first and tuck your own return address into the top corner. Ask by phone at 731-989-2449 if your envelope must show a booking number, and whether snapshots or paperbacks may come inside.

Choose plain paper and an ordinary envelope. Cash must stay out. The mail guide lists the common rules.

Items an arrested person had at intake stay locked up until release. To leave clothing or retrieve belongings, phone 731-989-2449 on a weekday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Ask if the inmate must authorize the release of items, and carry a photo ID.

The address is 333 Eric Bell Drive, Henderson, TN 38340. Please do not drop bags off unannounced. Staff will tell you what they can take.

Deputies run the jail and are responsible for the health of everyone inside. Call 731-989-2449 and ask for someone who handles medical matters. Share each drug's name, the strength and the prescriber's contact information.

Encourage your relative to submit a written sick request inside the cell block as well. If the danger is immediate, dial 911. Use the words "mental health" on the call when that is the worry.

Chester County deputies, reachable at 731-989-2449, serve warrants outside town, and Henderson Police, 731-989-2201, do so inside it. Phone either one and ask, and have the person's birth date ready. Do not ignore a warrant, because it stays active until a court clears it. To look at a case, call the Circuit Court Clerk, who doubles as General Sessions clerk, at 731-989-2454. The first step is to talk with a lawyer. The next is a visit or letter to the court that signed it, asking for another date. The clerk's address is 333 Eric Bell Drive, Suite D, Henderson, TN 38340.

Whichever court holds the file gives the date. Adults here usually appear in one of two places:

• General Sessions Court takes the first appearance, bail questions, misdemeanors and early felony hearings. It meets every day but legal holidays, beginning at 8:00 a.m., at 333 Eric Bell Drive, Henderson, TN 38340. The judge's office is 731-989-2608.
• Circuit Court takes felonies for trial once grand jurors have voted to indict. Its clerk works from 333 Eric Bell Drive, Suite D, Henderson, TN 38340, 731-989-2454.

Ask the clerk to look up a date by name and birthday. The court page shows every stage in order.

Federal prosecutions arising here go to the Eastern Division of the U.S. court for West Tennessee. It sits in the James D. Todd U.S. Courthouse, 111 South Highland Avenue, Jackson, TN 38301. Clerk: 731-421-9200.

1. The opening hearing includes a detention decision, meaning jail or home until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. The U.S. Marshals Service keeps the person before trial, frequently at a contract county jail. Its Jackson office, Room 214 of the same building, answers at 731-427-4661.
3. A federal public defender can be assigned. That office is at 109 South Highland Avenue, Jackson, TN 38301, 731-427-2556.
4. Following sentencing, use the federal prison locator.

These steps are typical:

1. ICE can lodge a detainer, known as Form I-247A, which tells the jail that agents want a warning before a release.
2. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), the jail may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, giving ICE a window to collect them.
3. To find where they are, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Search with the person's name and homeland, or with an A-number.
4. When the locator is empty, contact the ICE field office in New Orleans, which covers Tennessee. The locator page gives its details.

The state's Safety and Homeland Security department lists this county among those working with ICE under 287(g) (state list). Ask a lawyer how that affects an actual case.

After a state sentence is handed down, the person may stay in the local jail for a time. Phone 731-989-2449 to ask. Afterward the Tennessee Department of Correction, 320 Sixth Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37243, 615-741-1000, picks the placement.

• The offender search shows status, location and sentence.
• Our Tennessee state prisons guide explains mail and visits.

Young people go through Juvenile Court instead of the adult jail, and those files are kept private. Do not guess that a child sits in the Eric Bell Drive building.

Phone the Circuit Court Clerk at 731-989-2454 to learn which court has the matter, the next hearing and the child's location. The office is at 333 Eric Bell Drive, Suite D, Henderson, TN 38340. The Sheriff's Office, 731-989-2449, can help too. Ask soon about an attorney and about the hearing that decides if the child remains in detention.

These agencies make arrests here:

• Chester County Sheriff's Office, 333 Eric Bell Drive, Henderson, TN 38340, 731-989-2449. Its deputies patrol everywhere outside the town limits. Non-emergency dispatch: 731-989-2787.
• Henderson Police Department, 121 Crook Avenue, Henderson, TN 38340, 731-989-2201.
• Tennessee Highway Patrol, covering state roads. The district phone list shows who answers for which area. Ask the operator which post handles this part of West Tennessee.

County offices at 159 East Main Street, Henderson, TN 38340, answer at 731-989-5672 on weekdays, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.