The Sheriff's custody list runs on a county web portal. To use it:

1. Use any device to open the custody list.
2. Enter the surname. A long result list can be trimmed with the first name.
3. Tap the matching line for the booking details and charges.
4. Note the booking number. Staff use it to open the file fast.

The Sheriff's website adds a weekly roundup of new bookings. Still stuck? The jail line is 423-753-1701.

Several plain things can explain a search with no hit:

• Paperwork in progress. The booking may not be typed in yet.
• Police station stop. Johnson City or Jonesborough officers sometimes keep a person for questioning before the ride to the jail.
• Back on the street. The person might have received a citation, signed a release promise or paid a bond.
• Another agency has them. A different county jail, the state or the federal government may hold them.
• Odd spelling. Spell the surname other ways, or test a shortened first name.

Only the jail can say for sure. Dial 423-753-1701 and ask for Booking.

Local arrests lead to one building, the Washington County Detention Center, 114 West Jackson Boulevard, Jonesborough, TN 37659, 423-753-1701. The Sheriff's Office runs it. We found no annex, workhouse, work release unit or separate women's jail. The U.S. Marshals Service may also place federal detainees there by agreement.

Someone picked up just over a county line may be locked up there. Browse our pages for Carter, Sullivan, Greene and Unicoi counties. Minors are kept apart, as the under-18 answer explains.

The Sheriff's site is silent on whether the custody list has photos. Plenty of Tennessee sheriffs post mugshots, so open a booking on the custody list and look for one.

No picture? Phone the Sheriff's Office at 423-788-1414 and ask whether one can be given out. The office sits at 112 West Jackson Boulevard, Jonesborough, TN 37659. The state public records law reaches government photos yet says nothing of booking photos, so whoever took the picture decides.

• Any photo in ICE's files must be requested at this ICE records page.
• Federal booking photos are not handed out. A single exception exists for the U.S. Marshals Service, which can publish a photo of a fugitive.

VINE costs nothing. VINE will ring, text or write to you as soon as the person walks out or changes jails. Register at VINELink (choose Tennessee) or ring 888-868-4631, where a live person answers around the clock.

VINE may reach county jails differently than it reaches state prisons. Ask the jail at 423-753-1701 if your person is covered, and refresh the custody list daily too.

Bail comes from a judge or a magistrate, often at the first hearing. The law wants bail kept low, only as high as the court needs for a safe return to court. Home, job, family ties and past cases all count. The jail will not release anyone until a bail figure exists.

• Cash. Put the whole amount down with the court clerk. Debit cards or payment apps may be allowed, with a processing fee added.
• Bonding company. The usual price is around ten percent of the bond, and the company keeps it. Tennessee licenses these firms, and the courts here decide which ones may write bonds.
• Waiting period. Arrests for stalking or abuse may keep a person in for 12 hours or more.

Ask the jail at 423-753-1701 where payments are taken at the hour you plan to arrive. Details sit on our local bail guide, and the statewide rules sit on a separate page.

Each booking on the custody list shows the charges at the time of arrest. After the case reaches a courtroom, the offices below can say more. Spell the name out and share the date of birth.

• General Sessions Court Clerk, 108 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 1210, Jonesborough, TN 37659, 423-788-1425
• Criminal Court Clerk, 108 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 1212, Jonesborough, TN 37659, 423-753-1612
• District Attorney General, who files the final charges, 115 East Jackson Boulevard, Jonesborough, TN 37659, 423-753-5020

At the first hearing, let the judge know you cannot cover legal fees. The judge reviews the situation and assigns one if the person qualifies. Raising this early matters.

Washington County is in the 1st Judicial District, and its Public Defender office is at 3545 West Market Street, Johnson City, TN 37604, 423-434-6845. Staff can explain how appointments work.

Families may also pay a private attorney whenever they like. Lawyers can ask the judge to cut the bail amount.

Visits are by video, and the jail describes two ways to do them:

• On site: at the Justice Center, 108 West Jackson Boulevard, Jonesborough, TN 37659, weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Bring a photo ID and open a kiosk account. Every inmate gets three free 20-minute sessions weekly.
• From your home: book through inmatesales.com. The price is 20 cents per minute.

Schedules shift, so confirm with 423-753-1701 before leaving. More ideas are in our visiting tips.

The jail sends families to CorrectPay at correctpay.com or 855-836-3364. Bring the legal name and the booking number to the call.

The jail's page also names a commissary vendor for money orders: TBE 557 Commissary, P.O. Box 220, Chuckey, TN 37641. Before mailing a thing, confirm the payment method with the jail at 423-753-1701. Cash never belongs in an envelope.

Our deposit explainer and commissary explainer answer common questions.

People inside can place voice and video calls. Load call time at inmatesales.com or through 877-998-5678. Expect the jail to record calls, so keep case details for the attorney.

Tablets and text messages are worth asking about at 423-753-1701. Our phone service overview and overview of jail email and texts describe how these services usually work.

According to the jail's page, regular mail for inmates has stopped. Only verified legal mail from an attorney gets through. Confirm that with 423-753-1701, and ask about any other option for photos or notes.

Keep cash out of any envelope. Our letter-writing tips show how jail addresses are generally built.

Anything the person carried in is bagged and held by the jail. Reach the front desk at 423-753-1701 and ask for Records or Booking. Learn who is allowed to collect items, the hours, and which ID to show. The jail is at 114 West Jackson Boulevard, Jonesborough, TN 37659.

Please phone first. Showing up unannounced could mean a wasted trip.

Tell the jail's health staff by calling 423-753-1701. Give the name, the illness or injury, each medicine with its strength, and the doctor if you know one. The inmate can also fill out a request form inside.

For a life-threatening problem, use 911 instead. Mention any mental health worry plainly on the call.

Sheriff's deputies handle warrants in the rural parts, while Johnson City and Jonesborough officers handle their own towns. Phone the Sheriff at 423-788-1414, Johnson City police at 423-434-6160 or Jonesborough police at 423-753-1053. To look into a case, reach the General Sessions Court Clerk at 423-788-1425 or the Criminal Court Clerk at 423-753-1612. Thinking of turning yourself in? Get legal advice first. Then phone the office of the court that issued it. Clerks sit at 108 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 1210, Jonesborough, TN 37659.

Only the clerk of the right court knows the hearing date. Our court overview explains each stage.

• General Sessions, 108 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 1210, Jonesborough, TN 37659: first appearances, misdemeanors and early felony hearings. Criminal clerk 423-788-1425.
• Criminal Court, 108 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 1212, Jonesborough, TN 37659, 423-753-1612: felony trials after a grand jury indictment.
• Circuit Court Clerk, 108 West Jackson Boulevard, Jonesborough, TN 37659, 423-753-1736.
• The county courthouse is at 100 East Main Street, Jonesborough, TN 37659.

Confirm the building before you drive.

Federal judges for this area sit in Greeneville, in the Eastern District's Northeastern Division. Go to 220 West Depot Street, Greeneville, TN 37743 (the James H. Quillen U.S. Courthouse). The clerk's number is 423-639-3105.

1. A detention hearing comes early (18 U.S.C. 3142). There a judge chooses release or jail until trial.
2. The U.S. Marshals Service keeps the person in custody. Its Greeneville office is Suite 101 of the same courthouse, 423-823-3660. Ask which jail holds them.
3. When a federal sentence exists, the BOP inmate locator shows the new location.

Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee has an office at 219 West Depot Street, Suite 2, Greeneville, TN 37743, 423-636-1301.

ICE asks for a hold with Form I-247A, and 8 CFR 287.7(d) frames it. A jail may then hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, while ICE comes.

1. Open the ICE Online Detainee Locator. It wants the person's name plus birth country, or just an A-number.
2. No match? Call the New Orleans ICE field office, the one assigned to Tennessee. ICE's website lists the number.
3. Tennessee's immigration enforcement division lists this county as one working with ICE through 287(g) (state division page).

An immigration attorney is the best guide through this.

Transfers take time. Someone sentenced to state prison may wait in the local cell block before Tennessee Department of Correction staff collect them. Phone the jail at 423-753-1701. The state agency is at 320 Sixth Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37243, 615-741-1000.

• The offender lookup can show a person's status, location, offense and sentence.
• Our Tennessee prison directory lists each facility.

A child is not handled like an adult. Cases for young people run through Juvenile Court, at 108 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 1213, Jonesborough, TN 37659, 423-753-1728. Start there for hearing dates and for the lawyer question.

If a youth has to be kept in custody, youth detention may happen at Upper East Tennessee Regional Juvenile Detention, 307 Wesley Street, Johnson City, TN 37601, 423-282-2118. Files on minors stay private.

Ask the officer or the paperwork which agency took the person in. These can answer questions about the arrest:

• Washington County Sheriff's Office, 112 West Jackson Boulevard, Jonesborough, TN 37659, 423-788-1414. Handles areas outside the towns.
• Johnson City Police Department, 601 East Main Street, Johnson City, TN 37601, 423-434-6160
• Jonesborough Police Department, 423-753-1053. Ask the dispatcher for the station address.
• Tennessee Highway Patrol: see the list of district numbers and ask for the district serving this county.