The Chattooga County Inmate Population
The Chattooga County inmate population is split between two very different systems. The Chattooga County Sheriff's Office operates the Chattooga County Jail for local arrest-stage custody. That jail handles people booked after arrests by the sheriff, Summerville Police Department, Trion Police Department, Georgia State Patrol, and other agencies with local authority. It also holds defendants awaiting trial, people serving county sentences, state-sentenced inmates waiting for transfer, and other holds shown in jail data.
Hays State Prison is also in Chattooga County, but it is not a county jail branch. It is a Georgia Department of Corrections close-security prison in Trion for adult male felons. A person appears in state prison records after GDC intake, not just because the person was arrested in Chattooga County. That difference matters for any Chattooga County inmate search because the county jail phone, GDC Offender Query, BOP locator, and ICE locator answer separate custody questions.
Chattooga County Inmate Population Statistics
The strongest current jail figures come from the Georgia Sheriffs' Association jail report. Its May 2026 Chattooga row reported 46 people in the county jail against 48 permanent beds, or 95.8 percent of capacity. The same source reported 10 state-sentenced inmates, 19 people awaiting trial, 9 people serving county sentences, and 4 other inmates. Those numbers count the county jail only, not the much larger state prison in Trion.
| Measure | Figure | Source and Date |
|---|---|---|
| Chattooga jail inmates | 46 | Georgia Sheriffs' Association, May 2026 |
| Chattooga jail capacity | 48 | Georgia Sheriffs' Association, May 2026 |
| Percent of capacity | 95.8% | Georgia Sheriffs' Association, May 2026 |
| State-sentenced people in county jail | 10 | Georgia Sheriffs' Association, May 2026 |
| Hays State Prison capacity | 1,101 | GDC Hays State Prison page |
Chattooga County Inmate Population Trends
Recent monthly snapshots show a small jail that has been near capacity, at capacity, and over capacity in close reporting periods. April 2026 showed 52 inmates against 48 beds, which put the jail over reported permanent bed capacity. May 2026 dropped back below capacity at 46 inmates. May 2025 was exactly full at 48 inmates, while May 2024 was lower at 40 inmates. The safe reading is recent pressure on a small jail, not a sourced finding that the facility is always overcrowded.
| Date | Inmates | Capacity | Percent | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | 46 | 48 | 95.8% | 10 state-sentenced, 19 awaiting trial |
| April 2026 | 52 | 48 | 108.3% | Over reported permanent bed capacity |
| May 2025 | 48 | 48 | 100% | Exactly at capacity |
| May 2024 | 40 | 48 | 83.3% | Below capacity in that snapshot |
Who Makes Up Chattooga County Custody
Custody-status detail is more useful than race or age data for Chattooga because no current official demographic table was located. May 2026 data showed that awaiting-trial inmates made up the largest documented category in the county jail. That means many people in the Chattooga County inmate population had not been convicted or sentenced on the pending case. State-sentenced inmates also used county jail beds while waiting for transfer, which is common enough in Georgia to appear as a separate statewide jail-report category.
- Awaiting trial: 19 people in the May 2026 Chattooga jail report.
- State-sentenced: 10 people were still housed at the county jail after state sentencing.
- County sentence: 9 people were listed as serving county sentences.
- Other inmates: 4 people were reported in the GSA "other" category.
The older June 2, 2021 Chattooga Jail Population Report is useful for field examples, but it should not be treated as today's jail count. It showed report fields such as sentenced Y/N, felony and misdemeanor indicators, first appearance date, disposition date, housed flags, and probation or parole flags. Those fields show how a custody report may classify people, even when a current live official roster is not posted on the sheriff site.
Chattooga County Jail Capacity Rules
Georgia law explains why a jail record can exist even when a county does not publish a live current-inmate roster. O.C.G.A. 42-4-7 requires the sheriff to keep records of people committed to the county jail, including identifying information, the process under which the person was committed, the charge, commitment date, and discharge data. The same statute makes the jail record subject to Georgia open-records examination.
Key public-record rules:
O.C.G.A. 50-18-70 defines Georgia public records broadly and states the open-government policy.
O.C.G.A. 50-18-71 sets access, timing, cost-estimate, and fee rules for records requests.
O.C.G.A. 50-18-72 lists exemptions that may affect law-enforcement, medical, juvenile, or prosecution records.
Chattooga County State Prison Population
Hays State Prison makes Chattooga unusual for search purposes. The county has a 48-bed local jail and a 1,101-capacity state prison within the same county lines. Hays houses sentenced adult male felons for the Georgia Department of Corrections and includes close-security housing, Tier I, Tier II, Step Down, mental-health, and general population units. Its population is not the same as the county jail count, and a person housed there may have been convicted in another Georgia county.
The GDC Offender Query is the correct search route for Hays and other Georgia prison custody. A Chattooga arrest can lead to the county jail first, then the state locator later if a person is sentenced and transferred. During the waiting-transfer period, a state-sentenced person may still appear in the county jail count.
Search Chattooga County Inmate Population
Current official sheriff material gives a phone-first route for local custody: call Chattooga County Jail at 706-857-0717 to find an inmate. The GDC contact and jail-bond sources also list 706-857-0721 as a jail number. A Chattooga-labeled OffenderIndex roster lead was found and inspected, but it was not confirmed as linked from the current sheriff website. Use it as a possible roster lead, not as the only custody confirmation.
- Start with the custody stage: new local arrest, sentenced state prison, federal sentence, or immigration detention.
- For current Chattooga County Jail custody, call 706-857-0717 and have the full legal name ready.
- Use the sheriff open-records form when a written booking record, incident report, or jail record is needed.
- Use GDC Offender Query for sentenced Georgia prison custody, including Hays State Prison.
- Use the BOP or ICE systems only when the custody level is federal or immigration.
The sheriff site screenshot at chattooga-ga-sheriff.org shows the current official sheriff web and app channel for Chattooga County. It is useful because it points local users to sheriff services and the MySheriff app, while the custody lookup instruction in the research remains phone-based.
Chattooga County Roster Search Fields
The OffenderIndex lead exposes the kind of roster fields a Chattooga-labeled jail interface may use. Because current official status was not confirmed, those fields should help users understand possible roster terms rather than replace a call to the jail. The interface had tabs for current inmates, bookings over the last 24 hours, and inmates by booking date.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current Inmates | Tab | Optional | Shows current-inmate view when available. |
| Bookings Over Last 24 Hours | Tab | Optional | Filters recent booking entries. |
| Inmates by Booking Date | Tab | Optional | Uses start and stop date controls. |
| First Name / Last Name | Text | Unspecified | Name search fields shown in the interface. |
| Start Date / Stop Date | Date/Text | Optional | Date boxes can be used for booking-date search. |
| Search / Clear | Buttons | n/a | Submit or reset the roster fields. |
Chattooga County Inmate Record Fields
A county jail record is a custody snapshot, not a full criminal history. The Chattooga Jail Population Report and OffenderIndex lead show fields such as name, status, sex, height, weight, arrest date and time, days in jail, arresting officer or agency, total bond, charges, warrant number, court, sentence, visitation, release, date of birth, and age. The jail report also includes first appearance and disposition dates, sentenced Y/N, felony and misdemeanor flags, and housing-like codes.
- Booking
- The jail intake record made after arrest.
- First appearance
- An early court hearing where bail or next steps may be addressed.
- Detainer
- A hold or notice from another agency that can affect release.
- Sentenced
- A court has imposed a sentence, but transfer may still be pending.
Chattooga Jail vs State Prison
One search box will not cover every Chattooga County inmate population question. A person arrested today is usually a county jail question. A person sentenced to a Georgia prison is a GDC question. A federal sentence is a BOP question. Immigration detention is an ICE question. VINELink is available statewide for custody notification where participating data exists, but Chattooga-specific jail participation was not confirmed in official county sources.
| Custody Level | Who It Covers | Search Route |
|---|---|---|
| County jail | Local arrests, pretrial custody, short sentences | Call Chattooga County Jail, use records request as needed |
| State prison | Georgia sentenced felony custody | GDC Offender Query |
| Federal prison | Federal inmates from 1982 to present | BOP Inmate Locator |
| Immigration detention | ICE custody and some CBP custody after 48 hours | ICE Online Detainee Locator |
Chattooga County Detention Facilities
Only two detention facilities were resolved for the Chattooga County facility map. No official BOP, ICE, regional jail, or separate municipal jail facility was found inside Chattooga County. Summerville and Trion have police departments, but official pages reviewed did not document separate city jails.
- Chattooga County Jail holds local pretrial detainees, county-sentenced people, state-sentenced inmates waiting for transfer, and other reported holds.
- Hays State Prison holds adult male felons in Georgia Department of Corrections custody and uses the state offender locator.
Chattooga County Inmate Population FAQ
How big is the Chattooga County inmate population? The county jail count was 46 inmates in the May 2026 Georgia Sheriffs' Association report. That count does not include the separate Hays State Prison population capacity of 1,101.
How do I search the Chattooga County inmate population? For local jail custody, call Chattooga County Jail at 706-857-0717. For state prison custody, use GDC Offender Query. Use BOP or ICE only for those custody systems.
Can I find a released inmate? Released county jail records may require a sheriff open-records request. GDC can search active and inactive state offender records, and BOP covers federal inmates from 1982 to present.
Does the county jail publish mugshots? A current official Chattooga mugshot gallery was not confirmed. Georgia booking-photo law limits law-enforcement website posting and some disclosures.