The Sheriff's Office runs the search. Do this:

1. Go to the Sheriff's jail search.
2. Enter the last name. If many people appear, narrow it with the first name.
3. Open the row for your person.
4. Write down the control number. The Sheriff's mail page calls it the OCA number, and every deposit or letter needs it.
5. If nothing fits, phone 615-862-8123 and ask staff to look by name and birth date.

Here are the likely reasons:

• Booking is slow. Fingerprints and paperwork can eat up hours.
• A police holding room. The arresting officers may keep the person briefly before the jail takes custody.
• Cited and sent home. A written citation can end the stop with no jail time.
• Bail was paid. A judicial commissioner may have set a number, and someone covered it.
• A different lockup. The person might be in a nearby county's lockup, or federal agents or the state may have taken custody.
• Odd spelling. Also test nicknames, middle names and maiden names.

The quickest answer is the Sheriff's inmate line, 615-862-8123.

The Sheriff's Office has seven sites, and six of them house people. Each has its own job:

• Downtown Detention Center, 200 James Robertson Parkway, Nashville, TN 37201, 615-862-8224. This is the main downtown jail, with booking and video court units. It holds minimum, medium and maximum security people, and the third floor has medical housing.
• Maximum Correctional Center, 5119 Harding Place, Nashville, TN 37211, 615-862-8187. A high-security site for men entering the system and for local felons with one to six years to serve.
• Men's Correctional Center, 5113 Harding Place, Nashville, TN 37211. The Sheriff names it the Correctional Development Center for men. Security is minimum.
• Women's Correctional Center, 5115 Harding Place, Nashville, TN 37211. Women awaiting trial or serving local sentences stay here, with skills and treatment classes.
• The Annex, 5131 Harding Place, Nashville, TN 37211, holds minimum and medium security people.
• Behavioral Care Center, 433 Gay Street, Nashville, TN 37201, 615-862-8200. A licensed short-stay treatment home, offered in place of jail to people with a mental health or drug problem. Sixty beds are split evenly between men and women.

The Harding Place sites share one phone, 615-862-8187. For an arrest in a nearby county, browse our Tennessee jail list.

Phone the Sheriff's Office at 615-862-8123 and ask if it will hand over a booking photo. If a municipal or state officer made the arrest, ask that agency as well.

Government photographs fall under the public records law at Tennessee code section 10-7-503, and a lot of sheriffs show mugshots on their rosters. Booking photos are not named in the statute, so each office sets its own practice.

• A photo taken by ICE is requested through its public records portal.
• The public does not get federal mugshots. Only the U.S. Marshals Service can release one, and usually to find a fugitive.

Tennessee VINE is free and sends a notice by voice call, text message or email. Register at VINELink (pick Tennessee) or dial 888-868-4631, where staff answer around the clock.

VINE is aimed at people in state custody, so it may not follow a county jail stay. Phone the Downtown Detention Center, 615-862-8224, to confirm. A daily look at the Sheriff's jail search helps too.

A judicial commissioner sets the first bail, sometimes by video link with the Downtown Detention Center. A judge in either General Sessions or Criminal Court may revisit the amount afterward. Jail staff cannot alter it.

• Cash: the full bail is paid to the court clerk, who may accept a card for a fee. The Criminal Court Clerk is at 408 2nd Avenue North, Suite 2120, Nashville, TN 37201, 615-862-5601.
• Night or weekend: the State Warrant and Bond Office, 512 First Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37201, never closes.
• Bondsman: a licensed bondsman commonly charges about 10 percent of the bond.
• Domestic violence or stalking: release can be delayed by half a day or more, so check with the jail.

Our bail page goes through each step. For the wider state rules, see the Tennessee bail laws page.

The Sheriff's jail search is the place to begin. For the court file, use the criminal case lookup for General Sessions Court, which meets in the Justice A. A. Birch Building, 408 2nd Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37201.

Felony files sit with the Criminal Court Clerk, 408 2nd Avenue North, Suite 2120, Nashville, TN 37201. Call 615-862-5601 with the person's name and birthday. Final charges are chosen by the District Attorney General's office, which a defense lawyer can contact for you.

The Metropolitan Public Defender serves people who can't afford a lawyer. Visit 150 2nd Avenue North, Suite 400, Nashville, TN 37201, or call 615-862-5730 on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

1. Early in the case, the person asks the judge for a court-paid attorney and explains they have no money.
2. The judge reviews their income and decides on an appointment.
3. Family can collect pay stubs and similar papers to speed that up.

Some families pay a private attorney, who can also ask a judge for lower bail.

Lobby visits are on hold. Families see each other by video, and the schedule follows the housing unit.

• Video visits run daily, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and again 7:30 p.m. to 9:20 p.m.
• Units that offer them: 2A to 2D, 3B, 3C and 4A to 4F.
• Third-floor medical housing has no video visits.

Phone 615-862-8224 to learn your person's unit. More tips are in our visiting guide. The Harding Place sites may differ, so dial 615-862-8187 first.

Funds buy snacks and hygiene items. The Sheriff's Office sends families to CorrectPay.com, JailATM.com and kiosks in the Downtown Detention Center lobby, which accept cash or cards. Bring the full name and control number.

These deposits are not bail and will not release anyone. See our money guide and commissary guide. Do not mail cash.

ICSolutions handles calls and video chats. Open an account at ICSolutions.com or ring 888-506-8407, and ask about rates and how to add funds.

Jail calls may be recorded. Save details of the charge for the attorney. Learn more from our phone guide and from the page on jail email and texting.

Only postal mail is accepted. Address it exactly this way:

Inmate Name, OCA number
Nashville / Davidson County Sheriff's Office
PO Box 196383
Nashville, TN 37219-6383

Each letter is scanned, and the person views it on a tablet. Rules on photos and more are in our mail guide.

Phone the housing site first. For the Downtown Detention Center, dial 615-862-8224. Ask about pickup hours, the ID you must bring and any form the person must sign. Their items stay in storage until they leave.

Call 615-862-8224 and ask for the medical unit. Give each medicine's name, the dose and the prescribing doctor. Have your loved one fill out a sick-call slip on the unit.

A life-threatening problem is a 911 call. Mention any fear of self-harm right away.

Sheriff's deputies and city police officers serve warrants. Call the Sheriff at 615-862-8123 and ask about a warrant, or ask which number reaches the city police. Warrant questions are best handled before anyone goes to a hearing. For a court check, use the criminal case lookup or phone the Criminal Court Clerk, 615-862-5601. To clear one, get legal advice and then reach out to the judge's court. Its clerk works from 408 2nd Avenue North, Suite 2120, Nashville, TN 37201.

The judge in the case picks each date. Our court page explains the stages.

• General Sessions Court, Justice A. A. Birch Building, 408 2nd Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37201. This court takes first appearances, misdemeanor cases and the early hearings on felonies. Try the case lookup or phone the Criminal Court Clerk, 615-862-5601.
• Criminal Court Clerk, 408 2nd Avenue North, Suite 2120, Nashville, TN 37201. Felony trials come after a grand jury indicts.
• Circuit Court Clerk, 1 Public Square, Suite 302, Nashville, TN 37201, 615-862-5181.

A federal case here is heard in Nashville by the Middle District's federal court, which uses the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse, 719 Church Street, Nashville, TN 37203. The clerk answers at 615-736-5498.

1. A hearing on detention lets the federal judge pick jail or freedom while the case is pending (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. The U.S. Marshals, 719 Church Street, Suite 2500, Nashville, TN 37203, 615-750-1434, can tell you the holding place.
3. The Federal Public Defender, 164 Rosa L Parks Boulevard, Nashville, TN 37203, 615-736-5047, assists defendants without money for a lawyer.
4. After the sentence, the federal Bureau of Prisons locator shows the inmate's new home.

ICE may ask the jail to hold a person by sending a detainer, Form I-247A (8 CFR 287.7(d)). The jail may hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.

1. Search by name and birth country at the ICE Online Detainee Locator.
2. ICE's New Orleans office is in charge of Tennessee cases. The locator lists where a person is.
3. Tennessee's Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division, 615-532-9736, supports the federal 287(g) program with local agencies. Its page names 94 of the 95 counties as taking part, and Davidson is the one left off.

State prison intake belongs to the Tennessee Department of Correction at 320 Sixth Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37243, 615-741-1000. Someone who has been sentenced can wait in a county jail before moving, so call 615-862-8224 if the search comes up empty.

• The state offender search lists photo, status, location, offense and sentence for many people.
• For visit and mail basics, read our Tennessee prisons overview.

Anyone under 18 is handled by Juvenile Court rather than the adult jail. The Juvenile Detention Center sits at 100 Woodland Street, Nashville, TN 37213, 615-862-8066, and it has its own listing here.

A child's record stays private, so the adult search may come up blank. Call the center to learn the hearing date and how a parent can take part.

The arrest paperwork or jail entry can name the agency. These are your contacts:

• Sheriff's Office, 1 Jerry Newson Way, Nashville, TN 37206, 615-862-8123. It operates every jail above.
• City police: ask the Sheriff's line for the correct non-emergency number. Emergencies go to 911.
• Tennessee Highway Patrol: the patrol's contact list has each district's number. Ask which district covers Davidson County.