Understanding Obion County Releases
A release record answers when custody by one agency ended and what that agency recorded as the reason. It does not always prove that a person entered the community. Obion County Jail holds local pretrial detainees along with state and federal prisoners. Someone may leave the building on bond, after time served, or under a court order. Another person may leave in a vehicle bound for a Tennessee Department of Correction facility. A federal detainee may remain in United States Marshals Service custody after moving away from Union City.
The recorded disposition must guide the next check. Bond is a pretrial release while a case remains open. Own recognizance is a court-authorized pretrial release without a conventional secured bond. Time served or sentence expired refers to the end of confinement on a sentence. Parole is conditional release from a state sentence before its end, while probation is court-ordered community supervision that may or may not follow jail. A transfer ends the jail's physical hold but continues custody elsewhere.
- Discharge
- The end of a particular custody or supervision record.
- Detainer
- A request or hold that can lead to transfer to another authority.
- Time served
- A disposition crediting confinement already completed toward the sentence.
- Expunction
- A court-controlled process that can limit public access to qualifying records under Tennessee law.
Obion County Release Paths
The same Obion County booking channel can lead to very different outcomes. Read the release code literally, and ask the Sheriff to define any abbreviation. Do not turn a court dismissal into an assumed jail exit time, or a jail transfer into community release.
| Recorded path | What it means | Next place to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Bond or recognizance | Local pretrial custody ended while the case continued | Jail release entry and General Sessions order |
| Dismissal or acquittal | The case outcome changed, subject to other holds or cases | Signed court order plus the jail timestamp |
| Time served or expiration | Confinement for the recorded sentence ended | Judgment, jail credits, and release entry |
| Parole or probation | Community supervision may follow release | TDOC FOIL and the Union City supervision office |
| Transfer | Obion County custody ended but another authority took control | Receiving agency, FOIL, BOP, or ICE when supported |
Obion County Release Record Fields
The strongest local proof is the Sheriff's booking and release entry for the exact admission. Ask for existing fields rather than asking staff to create a new history. Not every field will exist or be public. Sealed, juvenile, expunged, and otherwise confidential material may be withheld or redacted.
| Field | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Booking number | Links the release to one admission instead of an older booking |
| Booking date and time | When the jail recorded intake, which may differ from arrest time |
| Actual release date and time | When that custodian's physical control ended |
| Release or disposition code | The recorded basis, such as bond, time served, or transfer |
| Bond type and amount | The pretrial release mechanism, not the final case result |
| Court or case number | The key for locating the order and later disposition |
| Receiving agency or destination | Whether custody continued after departure from Obion County Jail |
| Public detainer information | Whether another authority may have taken custody |
| Booking photograph | The image associated with that specific admission, when disclosable |
A sentence end date, parole eligibility date, hearing date, actual release date, and supervision end date answer different questions. Preserve the label exactly. A future calculation can change. A Board grant can still require completion of conditions, and an actual release can be followed by supervision.
Request Obion County Release Records
The county public-records policy and request form directs Sheriff's Department requests to 1 Law Lane, Union City, TN 38261, at 731-885-5832. A separate official directory lists the jail at 731-885-0277. Records and lobby hours are not posted, so call before visiting. Inspection may be requested orally or in writing. A request for copies, or inspection plus copies, should use the county's written form. Verify current identification and Tennessee citizenship requirements before travel because policy and law may change.
- Identify the person with a full name and approximate booking date. Add a date of birth, case number, or booking number only as needed to separate similar names.
- Ask for the existing booking and release record, including actual release time, recorded disposition, bond data, receiving agency, and the related booking photograph.
- Request the meaning of any local code, the legal basis for any withheld field, and a cost estimate before copies are made.
- Keep the response, invoice, exact record labels, source URL, and access date tied to that one booking.
1 Law Lane
Union City, TN 38261
Sheriff: 731-885-5832
Jail: 731-885-0277
Hours: not posted; call first
No official Obion County web retention period was found. MobilePatrol may provide a current lead, but the Sheriff publishes no promise about its update rate or how long a released entry remains. A timely request is the sound way to preserve the durable record. Expunction under T.C.A. § 40-32-101 is separate from release and depends on the case result and statutory route.
Obion Release Records Law
Tennessee public-records guidance explains that a request goes to the office believed to hold the record. There is no central statewide clearinghouse. T.C.A. § 10-7-503 is the core access provision. When prompt production is not practical, the custodian generally has seven business days to produce the record, deny the request in writing with a legal basis, or state how much more time is reasonably needed.
T.C.A. § 8-4-115 confirms that Tennessee's standardized booking process includes a photograph, but it does not make every image automatically open. Juvenile rules, court seals, expunction orders, confidentiality laws, and record-specific exemptions may affect access. Release alone does not erase the case. If a court grants expunction, current access should be checked with the clerk and the record custodian.
Obion Jail Release Turnover
The Sheriff's official jail description reports a 159-bed Obion County Jail that processes about 3,000 inmates each year. That figure measures processings, not releases. It may include more than one admission for the same person and events that end in transfer. Still, the volume shows why a changing custody tool is weak as a historical archive.
A saved court order and a requested release entry remain useful after a current screen changes. Record the exact booking number and source date, since a name alone can join two different admissions by mistake.
Obion Release Reentry Program
Obion County Jail began its Inmate Work Release/Re-Entry Program in 2019. The Sheriff identifies Williams Sausage Company as the first worksite partner and Excel Boat Company as a later partner. About 20 participants are transported by bus to and from worksites, searched when they return, and subject to random drug testing. This is an in-custody program. Participation does not prove community release.
Eligibility rules described by the Sheriff favor nonviolent charges and exclude listed categories involving escape, failure to appear, and sex-crime charges. The program can help a participant build work experience and savings, but a named person's release date still must come from the judgment and the jail's own calculation.
Obion Release Program Deductions
Work-release participants earn the civilian hourly wage, according to the Sheriff. The stated program rules include a $28 daily processing deduction and application of 25 percent of net pay to fines, court costs, and past-due child support. A participant may place funds in savings intended for rent or utilities after release and may send a portion to family.
Those amounts apply to the work-release program. They are not a universal booking charge, jail stay fee, or cost required for all Obion County released inmates. Program pay records also do not replace the custody release entry.
Find Obion County Released Inmates
Begin with the authority that last controlled custody. The Sheriff's Inhouse Inmates page does not offer a working browser roster or release archive. It says the list is coming soon and points users to MobilePatrol and FOIL. A released person will usually no longer appear as currently held, but absence alone proves nothing. Follow the custody trail.
- For a local booking, select the Obion agency in MobilePatrol. Match name, identifiers, and booking details. If the status is missing or changed, call the jail and ask whether the record shows community release or transfer.
- Search the limited Obion TnCIS court inquiry by name or case number. Find the signed bond, dismissal, time-served, probation, or other disposition order.
- Check Tennessee VINE or MobilePatrol notices for the reporting agency's custody event. Save the event time, but verify the exact disposition with the custodian.
- Use TDOC FOIL when a felony state sentence or state supervision is involved. Read status before dates and check whether a new location shows continued custody.
- For federal custody, separate a pretrial USMS detainee from a sentenced or former BOP prisoner. Use the federal case and jail for the first, BOP for the second.
- Use ICE's locator only when a detainer or handoff is supported by facts. Then request the county release record to identify the receiving agency.
- When digital sources remain unclear, request the Sheriff's booking and release entry for the exact admission.
Obion Released Inmate FOIL Search
TDOC's Felony Offender Information Lookup, or FOIL, covers current and former people in Tennessee felony custody or supervision. It does not cover every short county jail stay, misdemeanor, or dismissed charge. Search by name, with optional race and aliases, or use a TOMIS/TDOC ID or SID. Complete the CAPTCHA, compare identifiers, and open the details record.
| FOIL item | How to use it |
|---|---|
| Name, race, aliases | Broad search fields that require careful identity matching |
| TOMIS/TDOC ID or SID | Stronger identifiers for separating similar names |
| Status | Incarcerated, parole, probation, or inactive controls interpretation |
| Location | A new prison location can show transfer rather than release |
| Sentence End Date | TDOC's documented sentence field, not an appointment for exit |
| Offense, sentence, hearing data | Context for the state record and any parole process |
The FOIL status comes first. Incarcerated means state custody continues. Parole means community release under conditions. Probation is community supervision but may not follow a prison stay. Inactive means the TDOC record is no longer active. A past Sentence End Date with inactive status supports an ended state record, while the archived discharge entry supplies stronger proof of the exact event.
The official FOIL overview shows how Tennessee describes its public lookup and the fields that may be available.
FOIL is the state path for a former felony offender, not a substitute for an Obion County short-stay release log.
Obion Release Discharge Proof
FOIL can retain former state offenders with an inactive status. When a public calculation is stale, unclear, or incomplete, TDOC Records Management provides the formal archived-record path. A request should identify the full offender name, TOMIS number, date of birth, contact information, the reason for the request, and the exact records sought. TDOC says archive-search charges may apply and instructs requesters not to prepay.
Records Management is at the Rachel Jackson Building, Second Floor, 320 Sixth Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37243-0465, and can be reached at 615-253-8079. Ask for the release or discharge entry rather than treating inactive status as a full account of where the person went.
Obion Court and Release Timing
The limited Obion TnCIS inquiry can show a docket, charges, and some orders or dispositions. General Sessions often holds the early misdemeanor and felony-stage record. Circuit or Criminal Court preserves indicted felony proceedings, judgments, sentences, probation orders, revocations, and dismissals. Juvenile matters are excluded from the limited public view.
The court answers why custody should end. The jail answers when it did. A signed bond or dismissal order may precede physical release while jail staff process the order and check other holds. Another case, warrant, consecutive term, or detainer can keep the person confined. Retrieve the final signed order, then compare it with the Sheriff's actual release timestamp.
The county inquiry screen is a useful first check when an Obion County release needs its legal basis.
A court result explains the order, but the jail record remains the source for the physical release time.
Obion Release Supervision Checks
Parole is release to the community before a Tennessee sentence expires, under Board conditions and TDOC supervision. A grant or hearing date does not prove physical release because programs and release-plan approval may remain. FOIL status shown as parole is a stronger public sign that supervision has begun. Probation is ordered by a court and can begin directly or after split confinement.
The TDOC Union City Community Supervision office serves Obion, Crockett, and Lake Counties at 830 Sherwood Drive, Union City, TN 38261, telephone 731-885-1265. Use it to confirm routing or clarify a public supervision status, not to seek protected case notes. More detail appears on the Obion County Parole / Probation page.
Obion Releases Across Custody Systems
The Sheriff generally reports a custody mix of about 65 federal, 50 state, and 45 pretrial inmates at Obion County Jail. These are population estimates, not release totals. They make one question decisive: who controlled custody next? A local disappearance can mean freedom on bond, transfer to TDOC, or continued federal detention.
No TDOC or BOP prison was verified inside Obion County. Northwest Correctional Complex is in Lake County and should not be assumed as a destination. FOIL identifies a state placement. Federal pretrial custody is traced through the federal case, the holding jail, and USMS, while BOP becomes the main public locator after designation for a federal sentence.
Obion Release Alerts and Locators
TN SAVIN covers all Tennessee sheriff agencies and can provide custody notices for release, transfer, or escape. Search Tennessee in VINELink by name or booking/offender ID, confirm the agency and identifiers, and read the event word exactly. A VINE release event means the reporting agency ended its custody. It does not rule out another hold. Phone, text, email, or app registration may be offered, and phone users create a four-digit PIN to confirm receipt.
For a sentenced or former federal inmate, the BOP locator accepts a register number or name with age, race, and sex refinements. A BOP result marked released or not in BOP custody means only that BOP custody ended. USMS pretrial detainees are not reliably covered by that locator. Use the federal docket, holding jail, or a focused USMS records request.
ICE's Online Detainee Locator is conditional. Search it only when the record suggests an immigration detainer or transfer. No Obion County ICE facility or local agreement was confirmed. ODLS includes current detainees and people released from ICE custody within its limited recent window, so a missing result does not prove release.
Where Obion Release Records Appear
A current-custody source and a release source answer different questions. Match the system to both the person and the stage of the case.
| Situation | Best starting source | What confirms release |
|---|---|---|
| Current local detention | MobilePatrol and jail phone | Not a release source; request the later jail entry |
| Past local booking | Obion court inquiry and Sheriff records | Actual date, time, and disposition in the release entry |
| State felony custody | TDOC FOIL | Status, past date, and archived discharge record |
| Federal sentence | BOP Inmate Locator | BOP release date, read with the federal judgment |
| Possible ICE handoff | ICE ODLS and jail record | Receiving agency field and ICE result when available |
| Custody change alert | TN SAVIN or VINELink | Useful notice, then verify with the reporting custodian |
Obion County Release Facility
Obion County Jail is the only independently verified jail system in the county. It is operated by the Sheriff's Office at 1 Law Lane in Union City and houses local, state, and federal prisoners. Local community releases are confirmed through the Sheriff's release entry and court file. State movements are checked in FOIL. Federal movement may remain under USMS or later appear in BOP.
Union City Police is an arresting agency, but no primary source established a separate municipal jail or release-record system. Ask where an arrested person was delivered, then check Obion County Jail. No separate county page is warranted for Northwest Correctional Complex, which is in Lake County, or for federal and ICE custody because no such prison or detention facility was verified in Obion County.