The Sheriff's own site runs the tool, so it matches the jail's records better than any outside list. Here is a simple way through it:

1. Open the inmate search using a phone or desktop.
2. Start with the last name alone. A first name helps if you see too many rows.
3. Click the row that fits. The page can show the photo, the charges and any bond.
4. Jot down every detail before you phone anyone, since staff will ask what you saw.

People often sign with a short name or a middle name. Try a couple of versions before giving up.

A handful of everyday reasons can explain it:

• Staff are still fingerprinting and sorting the arrest, a slow process on busy nights.
• The person sits in a patrol station for now, such as the Franklin Police Department, 900 Columbia Avenue, Franklin, TN 37064.
• An officer handed over a citation with a court date and let the person walk.
• A bond was paid, or the court agreed to a written promise to appear, so the person already left.
• Another county or the state took custody.
• The record carries a different spelling than yours.

Ring the line at 615-790-5560 and ask the deputy to check by birth date.

For adults, there is one place to check: the Williamson County Jail, 408 Century Court, Franklin, TN 37064. The Sheriff's page gives its limit as 454 people. It names no second building, workhouse or work release site. Weekdays from 8 to 5, 615-790-5570 answers questions about housing level and release dates.

A person picked up in a neighboring area may sit in that jail first. Examples are the Downtown Detention Center in Davidson County, the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center and the Maury County Jail. Questions on federal, ICE or prison custody are answered near the bottom.

Yes. The Sheriff says the online search shows photographs. A mugshot is the picture staff take during check-in. Open a person's entry and look near the top.

No picture there? Ring the Sheriff's Office at 615-790-5550 and ask if one can be shared. State law covers government photos in general but never names booking pictures, so the office makes that call.

The state offers VINE, a free notice service. Visit vinelink.vineapps.com, pick Tennessee from the list, then enter the person's details to start alerts. Prefer a human voice? Dial 888-868-4631 at any hour.

Coverage of a local jail is not certain. After you sign up, check with the jail at 615-790-5560 to see that it works.

The magistrate, also called a judicial commissioner, sets the bond amount and picks a first court date. Magistrates sit inside the jail complex, 408 Century Court, Franklin, TN 37064, around the clock. Their number is 615-790-5813.

Magistrates never take payment. Bring cash to the jail at any hour, in the exact amount, because the jail gives no change. Nothing can be posted until intake is done. Deputies may not name a bondsman for you. Bondsmen usually keep roughly ten percent of the bond as their fee, and that money stays with them. Stalking or abuse-at-home charges can add a delay of half a day or longer before the person walks out. Staff can tell you.

Want more? See the Williamson County bond guide and the state bail laws page.

The inmate search often lists them. For the court's version, phone the clerk who holds criminal files:

• Misdemeanors and early hearings: 615-790-5478
• Felony cases: 615-790-5411

Both belong to the Circuit Court Clerk, Judicial Center, 135 4th Avenue South, Franklin, TN 37064. The state's lawyer is the District Attorney General of the 21st Judicial District. Ask the clerk's staff how to contact that office.

Families may hire anyone they like. When money is tight, the judge can appoint a lawyer at no cost. When the judge first speaks to them, the person must ask out loud for a lawyer and explain they lack the money. The judge then reviews their finances.

The public defender for the 21st Judicial District answers at 615-790-5519. Ask whether the office has opened a file and what the next hearing date is. You can gather pay stubs and bills, but only the person charged can make the request.

The jail uses video for visits. Free on-site video visits run from 9 AM to 5 PM at kiosks in the lobby, 408 Century Court, Franklin, TN 37064, or by app. To visit from home, book through correctpay.com or its app. Hours and rules can shift, so check with 615-790-5560 first.

The visiting page adds more tips for this jail.

CorrectPay runs the commissary account, along with the video, text and email account. Deposit at the lobby kiosk or at correctpay.com. Questions about that account go to 855-836-3364.

Calling credit lives on a separate account with Combined Public Communications at cpcjail.com. Both accounts are explained on the money page, and snack orders are on the commissary page.

Incoming calls are not possible, since the person dials out. Phone credit comes through Combined Public Communications. Video chats started by the person inside cost 21 cents a minute and are open from 9 AM to 8 PM every day. Texts and email use the CorrectPay account.

Look at our phone page and our electronic messages page to learn more.

Phone 615-790-5560 for the jail's mailing address and letter rules. A wrongly addressed envelope may come back to you.

For general advice, read our letters page.

Only medicine, and only in its original pharmacy container. Hand it over at the front lobby, 408 Century Court, Franklin, TN 37064. The jail does not take food or clothing. To get belongings back, or to learn how release works, call 615-790-5560.

Phone 615-790-5560, ask for the medical team and describe the illness, injury or daily medicine. The person should file a sick call slip too. If it is urgent, say that first.

Deputies carry out warrants on county land, and a city's own officers carry out theirs. Reach the Sheriff's warrants and extraditions unit at 615-790-5565, or Franklin Police at 615-794-2513. To see whether a case exists, ring the General Sessions Criminal clerk at 615-790-5478. If a warrant is real, talk with a lawyer before you act, then call the judge's court that issued it and ask about surrendering or a new date. Find the clerk at 135 4th Avenue South, Franklin, TN 37064.

Dates come from each separate court. Our court guide tells the story from arrest to trial.

• General Sessions Criminal hears first appearances, lower-level cases and the early look at felonies: 615-790-5478.
• Circuit Criminal covers felony trials after a grand jury indicts: 615-790-5411.
• Both clerks sit at 135 4th Avenue South, Franklin, TN 37064. The main desk is 615-790-5454.

Jot down the hearing date, the hour and the courtroom.

For federal charges, the judges sit in Nashville, in the Middle District. The courthouse is named for Fred D. Thompson: 719 Church Street, Nashville, TN 37203. Its clerk answers at 615-736-5498. A detention hearing under 18 U.S.C. 3142 decides whether the person may leave.

The U.S. Marshals are at 719 Church Street, Suite 2500, Nashville, TN 37203, 615-750-1434. The Federal Public Defender sits at 164 Rosa L Parks Boulevard, Nashville, TN 37203, 615-736-5047. Once sentenced, the BOP inmate locator shows placement. Booking photos from federal agencies stay private. The one exception: the Marshals may release one, for example while hunting someone on the run.

An ICE detainer asks a jail to keep a person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released. That request uses Form I-247A and 8 CFR 287.7(d). Look for the person with the ICE Online Detainee Locator. The ICE field office for Tennessee is in New Orleans.

The state's Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division page includes this county on its list for the 287(g) partnership. Want ICE photos? Send a request through ICE records requests. Ask the jail at 615-790-5560 whether a hold exists.

Long sentences go to the Tennessee Department of Correction, 320 Sixth Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37243, 615-741-1000. A person can wait in the local jail before that move, so ring the jail first. Then use the state offender lookup. Our state prison listings help too.

Juvenile Court takes cases for kids younger than 18. Youth services operate inside the jail complex at 408 Century Court, Franklin, TN 37064, and the Williamson County Juvenile Detention Center is listed there. Court staff answer at 615-790-5812, and the clerk at 615-790-5814. Those files are private, so an adult search can come up empty.

Two departments are listed for local arrests:

• Franklin Police, 900 Columbia Avenue, Franklin, TN 37064, 615-794-2513
• Brentwood Police, 910 Heritage Way, Brentwood, TN 37027, 615-371-0160

For other towns, dial the Sheriff's line at 615-790-5550. A trooper could be responsible too; find the right district on the Highway Patrol contact list.