The Wakulla County Inmate Population
Almost everyone counted in the Wakulla County inmate population is held in a single building. That building is the Wakulla County Detention Facility on Oak Street in Crawfordville, run by the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff's Office calls it the largest division in the agency. It splits the inmate population into two stated sections, one for local inmates and one for immigration detainees, and it also houses federal defendants awaiting trial under a contract with the U.S. Marshals. So the local count is not one simple group. It is a mix of custody types under one roof.
The size of the Wakulla County inmate population rises and falls with arrests, bond decisions, sentencing, and transfers. A person booked today may be released on bond tomorrow. A person convicted of a felony does not stay long. Once sentenced to state prison, that person leaves county custody and moves into the Florida Department of Corrections count instead. The numbers below come from official Wakulla County and state sources, with the year and the source named for each figure.
Wakulla County also hosts a separate state prison complex on Melaleuca Drive. Those prisoners are not part of the county jail count. Keeping the two apart is the single most useful habit when reading any Wakulla County inmate population figure.
Wakulla County Inmate Population Statistics
The best documented numbers for the Wakulla County inmate population describe the building, not a daily headcount. The Sheriff's Office publishes the jail's bed capacity, its construction history, and its staffing. It does not publish an average daily population, an annual booking total, or a live census on its public pages, so those figures are left out here rather than guessed.
The lead-in to the official source helps here. The Sheriff's Corrections page lays out the facility's capacity, staffing, and accreditation history in plain terms.
That page is the anchor for the county jail figures in the table below, while the state prison rows come from Florida oversight reports for the prisons in Crawfordville.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Detention facility rated capacity | 350 beds | WCSO Corrections page (2004 expansion) |
| Original 1991 capacity | 139 beds | WCSO Corrections page |
| Detention staff | 60 members | WCSO Corrections page |
| Custody sections | Local and immigration | WCSO Corrections page |
| Average daily population | Not published | No WCSO source located |
| Annual bookings | Not published | No WCSO source located |
Note: rows marked not published are left blank on purpose, because no dated official source for a daily Wakulla County jail census was found during research.
Wakulla County Jail Capacity and History
The clearest trend in the Wakulla County inmate population is a capacity story. The detention facility opened in 1991 with 139 rated beds. In 2004 the Sheriff's Office added a wing for about 200 more inmates, which brought the rated capacity to 350. That growth tells you the local population outgrew the first building within roughly thirteen years.
| Year | Capacity / Figure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 139 rated beds | Original detention facility built |
| 2004 | 350 rated beds | About 200-bed wing added |
| 2018 | Wakulla CI main unit census 1,442 | State prison, not county jail (FCMA survey) |
| 2025 | Wakulla CI Annex census 588 | State prison annex (FCMA survey) |
The 2018 and 2025 rows are listed only to keep them separate from the county jail. They count sentenced state prisoners in Crawfordville, not the people the Sheriff holds on Oak Street.
Who Makes Up the Wakulla County Inmate Population
The Sheriff's Office describes the inmate population by custody type rather than by a daily demographic table. Three groups share the same Oak Street facility, each under a different legal authority. A reader looking for one type may need a different lookup channel than a reader looking for another.
- Local inmates are county arrestees held before trial or serving short county sentences.
- Immigration detainees sit in a separate section of the same building, held on immigration matters rather than county charges.
- Federal pretrial defendants are housed under a U.S. Marshals contract while their federal cases move forward.
- Sentenced state felons are not here at all once sentenced, since they transfer to the Florida Department of Corrections.
The Sheriff's pages do not publish a daily breakdown by sex, age, or charge level for the county jail, so none is claimed here.
Laws Governing the Wakulla County Inmate Population
Florida law is the reason most of this information is public at all. The state's public records law starts from openness, then carves out narrow exemptions. A separate jail standards law sets the floor for how the population is housed and cared for. Sheriff Jared Miller sits on the state committee that writes those standards, which gives Wakulla County a direct tie to the rules below.
Key Statutes:
Florida Statutes § 119.01 - sets the broad policy that records made or received by an agency are open to the public unless an exemption applies.
Florida Statutes § 119.07 - lays out how the public inspects and copies records and what fees an agency may charge.
Florida Statutes § 951.23 - requires counties to run their detention facilities under at least the Florida Model Jail Standards.
Florida Statutes § 119.071 - lists the exemptions that let an agency redact items like juvenile or victim information.
The Florida Model Jail Standards program sets the operating baseline that § 951.23 points to. Wakulla County backs that up with its own accreditation record, which the Sheriff first earned in 2002.
Wakulla County and the State Prison Population
Crawfordville holds a large slice of Florida's state prison population, which often confuses a local inmate search. The Florida Department of Corrections lists three facilities at 110 Melaleuca Drive: Wakulla Correctional Institution, its Annex, and the Wakulla Work Camp. These hold sentenced adult male state prisoners, not county arrestees.
The scale is very different from the county jail. A 2018 oversight survey listed the Wakulla CI main unit at 1,280 beds with a census of 1,442, and a later survey put the Annex at 756 beds with a census of 588. Those people moved into state custody after a court sentenced them. To find one, use the state offender search rather than any county channel. A sentenced person from a Wakulla County arrest who has been admitted to prison appears in that statewide system once they have a Department of Corrections number.
How to Search the Wakulla County Inmate Population
There is no public web roster for the Wakulla County Detention Facility. The Sheriff's website documents corrections, bonds, mail, deposits, phones, and visitation, but research found no browser page that lists current inmates by name. That makes the Wakulla County inmate search a fallback process, not a single roster lookup. The steps below move from the fastest channel to the records-request channel.
Start with what you know about the person's custody type, then work the list in order.
- Confirm the facility and phone on the Sheriff's Office corrections page.
- Call the Sheriff's Office at (850) 745-7100 and ask for jail or detention information.
- Check the free Wakulla County Sheriff's Office app, which is reported to include a jail inmate search.
- For a recent arrest or booking report, contact WCSO records at 850-745-7142.
- If the person has a court case, search the Wakulla Online Court Records Search.
- If the person was sentenced to state prison, use the FDC Offender Search instead.
Because the county channel runs through people rather than a database, having a full name and a rough arrest date speeds every call.
Current Inmate Lookup in Wakulla County
For someone believed to be in the jail right now, the phone is the primary tool. The main line at (850) 745-7100 reaches the Sheriff's Office, which can route a detention or jail question. The agency's free mobile app is the only source found in research that is reported to carry a jail inmate search, while the public website does not. The app is published by the Sheriff's Office through both major stores.
The lead-in below points to the official store page so the app comes from the right publisher and not a copycat.
You can install it from the Google Play listing or the Apple App Store. The store text describes tips, messages, and public safety news, while a local news report adds the jail inmate search feature, so confirm the in-app result against a phone call when it matters.
Past and Released Inmate Records
Released and past inmates do not sit in any public county roster, because none exists online. The route for a historical booking is a public records request to the Sheriff's records section. Arrest paperwork and crime reports are maintained there, and copies run $0.15 per page or the cost allowed under Florida Statute 119.
Ask by full name, any alias, and an approximate arrest date so staff can find the file. Incident and arrest report requests go to the records contacts at 850-745-7142. A court case, by contrast, may already be searchable through the clerk's portal, which is often the faster way to learn what happened after a past arrest.
What a Wakulla County Inmate Record Shows
Because Wakulla County publishes no online inmate profile, the field list below describes the closest documented record, the state offender search result for a sentenced prisoner. It shows what a working inmate record looks like in Florida, even though the county jail does not expose one on the web. Booking-level detail for a county arrestee comes from a records request or the court file instead.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| DC Number | The six-character Department of Corrections identifier for a sentenced person. |
| Name and Aliases | The committed name, with aliases searchable when the alias box is checked. |
| Photo | An offender photo on the detail page, controlled by the search options. |
| Current and Prior Offenses | The offenses behind the state sentence, including related attempts. |
| Location and Status | The assigned facility and custody status, which the state warns can change quickly. |
| Release Date | The projected release, subject to recalculation. |
Note: the state warns its database covers people sentenced to the Department of Corrections, not anyone held in a county jail or on county probation.
County Jail vs. State Prison: Where to Look
The split between the county jail and the state prison decides which tool finds a person. The county jail holds people before trial and on short sentences. The state prison holds people after a felony sentence. Each runs a separate system, and the same name can sit in only one of them at a time.
| County Jail | State Prison (FDC) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who Is Held | Pre-trial and short sentences | Sentenced felons |
| Run By | Wakulla County Sheriff | Florida Department of Corrections |
| Where to Look | WCSO phone, app, records request | FDC Offender Search |
| Online Roster | None located on the web | Statewide offender search |
When a person disappears from county channels, a transfer to state prison is a common reason. Checking the state search next usually answers it.
State and Federal Inmate Search
Four outside systems cover the parts of the population the county channel cannot. Each one fits a specific custody type, and using the wrong one returns nothing. The state search fields are shown below because that portal is the one documented roster form available for a Wakulla County case.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Name | Text | One field needed | Begins-with matching |
| First Name | Text | One field needed | Begins-with matching |
| DC Number | Text | One field needed | Six characters, primary identifier |
| Search aliases? | Checkbox | No | Adds aliases to a name search |
Use the FDC Offender Search for sentenced state prisoners, the federal Bureau of Prisons locator for sentenced federal inmates, the ICE detainee locator for immigration custody, and VINELink Florida for custody notifications. VINELink is an alert layer, not a full roster, so pair it with a direct call to the Sheriff when the person may be held locally.
Wakulla County Detention Facilities
Four facilities sit inside Wakulla County, one county jail and three state prison units. Only the first holds the county inmate population. The other three hold sentenced state prisoners and are listed so a search starts in the right place.
- Wakulla County Detention Facility - the county jail for local, immigration, and federal pretrial inmates.
- Wakulla Correctional Institution - a state prison for sentenced adult men.
- Wakulla Correctional Institution Annex - a state prison unit with protective management and mental health housing.
- Wakulla Work Camp - a state work camp for sentenced men beside the main prison.
Custody Terms Used on the Roster
A few terms come up in every inmate lookup. Knowing them makes a phone call or a records request go faster.
- Pre-trial detainee
- A person held before their case is decided, often because bond has not been posted.
- Detainer
- A hold placed by another agency that can keep a person in custody even after a local bond is met.
- DC Number
- The Florida Department of Corrections identifier assigned once a person enters state prison.
- Immigration detainee
- A person held on an immigration matter, kept in a separate section of the county facility.
Wakulla County Inmate Population FAQ
How big is the Wakulla County inmate population?
The Sheriff's Office does not publish a daily headcount, so an exact number is not available from official sources. What it does publish is the building's rated capacity of 350 beds, up from 139 when the facility opened in 1991. Those capacity figures are the most reliable way to size the Wakulla County inmate population without guessing at a census the county has not released.
How do I search the Wakulla County inmate population?
There is no public web roster, so start by calling the Sheriff's Office at (850) 745-7100 and asking for jail information. The free Sheriff's Office app is reported to include a jail inmate search. If the person has a court case, the Wakulla Online Court Records Search may show it, and sentenced state prisoners appear in the FDC Offender Search.
Can I look up a released or past inmate?
Released inmates are not in any online county roster. To document a past booking, file a public records request with the Sheriff's records section for the arrest report, which costs $0.15 per page. A court case from that arrest may also be searchable through the clerk, which often answers the question faster than a records request.
Why does my search show nothing for a Wakulla County inmate?
The most common reasons are a missing online roster, a transfer to state prison, or a federal or immigration hold. If county channels come up empty, check the state and federal locators next, since a sentenced or federally held person leaves the county system entirely.