St. Johns County Inmate Population and Jail Roster Search

The St. Johns County Inmate Population

The adult inmate population in St. Johns County sits inside two facilities run by the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office Corrections Division. The Main Detention Unit holds people awaiting a hearing, and the Community Work Release Center holds eligible men serving short county sentences. The Sheriff's Office states that every person arrested in St. Johns County is processed through the main facility, so the county roster is the single starting point for almost any local arrest. Police agencies in the county, such as St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach, do not keep a separate public jail roster.

The count is not fixed. It climbs when arrests outpace releases and falls when people bond out, have charges dropped, finish a sentence, or transfer to the Florida Department of Corrections. Pretrial detainees usually make up about half of the people held. The Sheriff's Office reports the local figures in its annual reports, and the state collects a separate monthly count through the Florida Department of Corrections County Detention Facilities report. Both are useful, and they do not always match, because each measures the population on a different schedule.

St. Johns County Inmate Population Statistics

The headline numbers come from two official sources. The Sheriff's Office Corrections Division page lists the bed capacity of each county facility, and the Florida Department of Corrections publishes a monthly average daily population for the county jail. The most recent county detention report reviewed listed an average daily population of 357 for December 2024, well below the combined bed count. Figures below carry a source and a date so each can be checked.

The bed total is calculated from the Sheriff's two adult facilities and is not a single published capacity figure. The detention-facility count includes the two adult county sites and two state juvenile residential academies physically located in the county. The state monthly report also breaks the December 2024 jail population into pretrial and sentenced groups, which is shown in the table.

The Sheriff's Office posts each year's figures in its annual reports, and the state county detention report supplies the recent monthly average daily population used above.

St. Johns County Inmate Population Trends

Over the past several years the jail population has stayed in a band well under the county's bed count. Sheriff's annual reports listed an average daily population of 432 in 2019 and 459 in 2022. The 2023 annual report is harder to pin down, because the same report carries two different jail summaries, one near 443 and one near 483. The state's monthly county detention reports for 2024 then show a clear drift downward across the year, from the low 420s early on to 357 by December.

The 2023 conflict is a real source issue, not a typo to smooth over. The year-in-review section lists 483 average daily population and 6,375 bookings, while the corrections detail lists 443 and 6,434. Both figures appear below as a range rather than an average. County population growth is the backdrop for all of this, since St. Johns has grown quickly and the share of residents in jail has stayed low.

Note: The Sheriff's 2023 report lists two different jail-population figures, so both are shown here rather than blended into one number.

Who Makes Up the St. Johns County Inmate Population

The state's December 2024 county detention report is the best breakdown of who is held. It counted 150 felony pretrial inmates and 35 misdemeanor pretrial inmates, with pretrial detainees making up about 51.8 percent of the total. That fits the role of the Main Detention Unit, which holds men and women waiting for a pretrial hearing. The rest of the count includes sentenced county inmates and people held on other matters.

• Pretrial vs. sentenced - About 51.8 percent were pretrial in December 2024, including 150 felony and 35 misdemeanor pretrial inmates, per the state county detention report.
• Male and female - The Main Detention Unit holds both men and women awaiting hearings, while the work release center holds only eligible men.
• Felony vs. misdemeanor - The December 2024 pretrial split shows far more felony pretrial inmates than misdemeanor pretrial inmates.
• Held for other agencies - The Sheriff's Office reports an ongoing partnership with federal immigration authorities, so some detainees may be held on federal interest.

No official race or age breakdown of the local jail population was published. County census figures should be read as community context only, not as a description of who is in jail.

That community context comes from the U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts table for St. Johns County.

These are countywide figures, so they describe the community the jail draws from rather than the people held inside it.

St. Johns County Jail Capacity and Overcrowding

The two adult county facilities list 764 beds in total, with 664 in the Main Detention Unit and 100 in the Community Work Release Center. Every recent average daily population figure sits below that total. December 2024 came in at 357, and even the highest 2023 figure of 483 stayed under the bed count. On the numbers found, the jail was not overcrowded during these reporting periods, and the build avoids calling it overcrowded without a source that says so.

Routine maintenance still happens. County commission records show a 2024 bid for jail restroom renovations, which is upkeep rather than an expansion. The county's fast population growth is worth watching, because a rising resident count can change demand over time even when the current share in custody is low.

Laws Governing the St. Johns County Inmate Population

Florida law is what makes jail and booking data open and what sets the rules jail operators follow. The public-records policy in Chapter 119 treats most county and sheriff records as open unless a specific exemption applies. Two jail-standards statutes set how county detention facilities must run and how often they are inspected. Each statute below is paired with a short plain-English note.

On deaths in custody, the research found no separate statewide law that forces every state and local agency to report jail deaths. The Florida Department of Corrections does have its own inmate death notification rule for state custody. The Sheriff's 2023 report listed one in-custody death that year, which is a single data point and not a trend.

St. Johns County and the State Prison Population

People sentenced to more than a year leave the county jail and enter the Florida Department of Corrections. From that point the county roster no longer tracks them, and the statewide inmate locator does. No adult state prison sits inside St. Johns County, so a sentenced felon from the county is processed through state reception and classification and then housed at a state institution elsewhere. That is why a search for a sentenced person can fail on the county roster and succeed on the Florida Department of Corrections inmate population search.

The state database covers felons sentenced to state prison or state supervision. It does not include county jail inmates, county probation, or short county sentences. Knowing that split saves time, because the right system depends on whether the person is pretrial, county-sentenced, or state-sentenced.

How to Search the St. Johns County Inmate Population

The official online path is the Sheriff's inmate search page, which links a roster search tool. During research on June 3, 2026, that page showed a notice that the inmate and jail search was temporarily down, and the underlying search tool returned an access error. The steps below start with the roster and then move to the official fallbacks, since the phone line is the fastest route when the online search is unavailable.

Before starting, have the person's full name ready, and a date of birth if you have it, because common names return many matches.

1. Open the Sheriff's inmate search page and try the roster search tool when it is online.
2. If the search is down or shows no result, call Booking and bond information at 904-209-3125 for a recent arrest.
3. For general jail questions, call the Detention Center at 904-209-1443, or the non-emergency line at 904-824-8304.
4. To get a booking record or report, file a request with the SJSO Records Unit at 904-810-6610 or Records@sjso.org.
5. If the person was sentenced to state prison, search the Florida Department of Corrections locator instead of the county roster.

Current Inmate Lookup in St. Johns County

A current inmate lookup means finding a person held right now in the county jail. The Sheriff's roster is meant for this, but because the online search was offline during research, the phone and records channels carry the load. The booking line handles bond and recent-arrest questions, and the Detention Center handles general jail questions. The Sheriff's page also warns that very recent arrests may not appear online right away, so a call is the better route for someone booked in the last few hours.

The Sheriff's inmate search page also posts a bail-bond scam alert. It says scammers use online inmate data to contact families and ask for payment through mobile apps, and that legitimate bond companies use traditional payment and established channels. Anyone offering to fix a release for an app payment should be treated with caution. The page that carries the outage notice and the fallback numbers is shown below.

The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office main website is where the inmate search, booking contacts, and records tools are hosted.

From there, the inmate search page carried the outage notice during research, so the booking and records lines were the working routes to confirm custody.

Past and Released Inmate Records

Finding someone no longer in custody works differently. The county roster is built around current inmates, and the research did not find a published rule for how long a released person stays listed. For an older booking, the reliable route is a public-records request to the Sheriff's Office for the booking report or arrest report. A request can go through the online portal, by email to Records@sjso.org, by phone at 904-810-6610, or by mail to the Records Unit in St. Augustine.

Requests are filled first come, first served, and fees may apply. A local records check is not a full criminal history. The Sheriff says it covers only records submitted by county agencies, reaches back about ten years, and is limited to arrests. For a complete statewide history, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is the right office. For a person who was sentenced to state prison, the state inmate locator keeps a record after the county roster drops them.

What a St. Johns County Inmate Record Shows

The exact field layout of the county roster profile could not be confirmed, because the search tool was offline during research. The table below describes the kinds of details a county booking record generally carries, framed as general guidance rather than confirmed St. Johns field labels. The Sheriff's own pages do confirm that booking reports and mugshots are records the agency keeps and that bond questions go to the booking line.

The Sheriff's notices stress that people on the inmate pages have been arrested but not found guilty, and that any record-entry problem should be reported to the Records Unit. Booking photos for current inmates are covered on the St. Johns County jail mugshots page.

County Jail vs. State Prison: Where to Look

The split between county jail and state prison decides which locator to use. The county jail holds pretrial detainees and people serving short county sentences, and the Sheriff runs that roster. State prison holds felons sentenced to more than a year, and the Florida Department of Corrections runs that locator. A person moves from one to the other only after a state-prison sentence and reception into state custody.

State and Federal Inmate Search

Beyond the county roster, four locators cover the rest of the custody map. The state search covers sentenced felons. The federal Bureau of Prisons locator covers people in federal prison from 1982 forward. The ICE detainee locator covers adults in immigration custody. VINELink covers custody notifications rather than full booking records. The decision table below points each kind of search to the right system.

The state locator lets you search by last name, first name, or DC number, and offers alias and photo options. A view of the Florida Department of Corrections population search shows those fields.

The Florida DOC inmate population search covers people sentenced to state prison and refreshes the full inmate list weekly.

It is the correct tool once a St. Johns County defendant has been sentenced to state prison and moved out of the county jail.

St. Johns County Detention Facilities

Four detention or residential facilities sit in St. Johns County. The two adult county facilities hold the local jail population, and two state juvenile academies hold committed youth under separate rules. Youth records are not searchable like adult jail records, so the academies are listed for completeness rather than as a public roster.

• St. Johns County Main Detention Unit - The 664-bed main jail in St. Augustine; holds pretrial men and women and processes all county arrests.
• St. Johns County Community Work Release Center - A 100-bed county facility for men serving 364 days or less who qualify for work release.
• St. Augustine Youth Academy - A state juvenile residential program for high-risk and maximum-risk male youth; not an adult jail.
• Deep Creek Youth Academy - A state juvenile residential program for moderate-risk male youth in Hastings; not an adult jail.

A full how-to for the roster sits on the St. Johns County jail inmate records page, which walks through each access channel in order.

St. Johns County Inmate Population FAQ

How big is the St. Johns County inmate population?

The state's county detention report listed an average daily population of 357 for December 2024. Sheriff's annual reports listed higher figures earlier, near 459 in 2022 and between 443 and 483 in 2023. All of these sit below the county's 764 adult beds, so the jail was not at capacity in the periods reviewed.

How do I search the St. Johns County inmate population?

Start at the Sheriff's inmate search page. If the online roster is down, as it was during research, call Booking at 904-209-3125 for a recent arrest or the Detention Center at 904-209-1443 for general jail questions. For a booking report, file a records request with the Sheriff's Records Unit.

Can I look up a released or past inmate?

The county roster centers on current inmates, and no published listing period was found. For an older booking, request the booking report from the Sheriff's Records Unit. If the person was sentenced to state prison, the Florida Department of Corrections locator keeps a record after the county roster drops them.

Does the Sheriff's Office have an inmate lookup app?

No official St. Johns County Sheriff's Office inmate app was found during research. The agency's tools are web based, including inmate search, warrant search, records requests, and deposit portals. Searching app stores for a county jail roster app is not a useful step.