Releases from Federal Custody and BOP
BOP's locator covers federal inmates incarcerated from 1982 to the present. Most matching records show a Release Date. A future date is projected from BOP calculations. A past date with no facility location indicates that BOP custody ended on that date. It does not prove that all custody, court duties, or supervision ended.
A person leaving Tattnall County Jail for the U.S. Marshals Service remains in custody. There is no broad public USMS locator equal to the BOP tool for all federal pretrial detainees. In that case, check the federal court docket, counsel or court channels, and later the BOP locator if the person receives a BOP designation. The county row documents departure from local custody only.
How to Confirm a Release from Federal Custody and BOP
Open the official BOP Inmate Locator. The register number is the strongest key, while name, age, race, and sex can narrow a search.
- Search the exact name and add available identifiers.
- Open the matching BOP record and compare the register number.
- Read the location and Release Date together.
- Treat a future date as projected, not final.
- Treat a past date without a BOP location as release from BOP custody only.
- Check the federal docket or supervising authority when later status matters.
The Tattnall County custody map helps separate a federal record from a county booking or GDC record.
Federal Custody and BOP Records and Contact
BOP publishes an explanation of federal inmate records and release dates. Use it when the locator result needs context. The sentencing federal court is the source for docket orders, while U.S. Probation handles applicable post-sentence supervision.
Federal Release Sources
BOP Inmate Locator
About Federal Inmate Records
Local distinction: Tattnall Sheriff records cover only a separate county booking.
A narrow federal records inquiry should state the full name, register number, approximate custody dates, and exact record sought. Do not send a GDC request for a BOP release.
Federal Release Record Limits
The official BOP locator is shown below.
The locator supplies the federal custody result, while the court record explains the case.
BOP warns that “released” or “not in BOP custody” does not rule out supervised release, parole in an older case, or another law-enforcement custody. A Tattnall booking may also exist independently. Compare agency, date, and case before drawing a conclusion.
| Federal question | Source |
|---|---|
| BOP location or release date | BOP locator |
| Pretrial USMS movement | Federal court or counsel |
| Sentence and orders | Federal docket |
| Separate local booking | Tattnall Sheriff |
| Supervision after release | U.S. Probation |
No federal prison in Tattnall County is identified in the facility map. Federal custody is included because a local arrest can involve a writ, hold, or transfer.
Federal Release Is Agency-Specific
A county release to USMS is still custody. A BOP release ends BOP custody. A court may then impose supervised release, which is a separate status overseen through the federal judicial system. State prison parole is not the same process. These labels should never be substituted for one another.
If the BOP locator has no match, verify spelling and identifiers, then consider whether the person was only in USMS pretrial custody, was held before the locator's coverage period, or belongs to a state or local system. A no-match result is not proof of release.
Tattnall Federal Transfer Records
A Tattnall County booking can form the first part of a federal custody trail. The local record may show an arresting agency, warrant, court, booking date, bond information, and a later RELEASED status. None of those fields alone confirms arrival at a federal prison. If a federal writ, hold, or transfer is involved, ask the Sheriff's Office for the public portion of the release or transfer entry and identify the receiving authority when that field is releasable.
The U.S. Marshals Service commonly handles federal pretrial movement, yet it does not provide a single public locator for all people in its custody. That gap makes the court docket important. A federal docket may identify the district, case number, detention order, sentencing event, or later judgment. BOP becomes the main locator only after the person enters records covered by its system. Thus, the sequence can be Tattnall jail, USMS movement, federal court action, BOP designation, and eventual BOP release.
Reading BOP Release Dates
The BOP result must be read as a federal record. Its Release Date can be in the future or the past. BOP explains that a future date is projected from its calculation and may change. A past date paired with no current facility location indicates release from BOP custody on that date. It does not describe every later legal obligation.
Identity matching comes first. Compare the full name, register number, age, race, sex, and other available details. A register number is more reliable than a name alone. When two results look similar, do not select one merely because the date seems plausible. Link the BOP record to the known federal case, sentence, or local transfer trail. For records from before 1982, the public locator's stated coverage means another federal archive or records route may be necessary.
- Projected release date
- A future date calculated by BOP from the federal sentence and information in its records.
- Released
- The person is no longer in BOP custody as of the displayed past date.
- Supervised release
- A court-ordered period after imprisonment, administered through the federal judicial system.
- Federal writ
- Legal process that can move a person for federal proceedings without creating a community release.
Federal Release Verification Chain
Use each source for the fact it owns. The Tattnall Sheriff owns its county booking and release log. The federal court owns filed orders and the judgment. BOP owns the federal prison locator and its custody record. U.S. Probation handles questions tied to applicable federal supervision. Combining these sources prevents a county event from being mistaken for a completed federal sentence.
- Confirm the Tattnall booking with the exact name, arrest date, agency, warrant, and court details.
- Request the county release or transfer entry if the public row lacks an exact destination.
- Search the federal court trail using the known case number or identity.
- Use the BOP locator with a register number when one is available.
- Compare the BOP Release Date with the judgment and later federal docket events.
- Contact the appropriate federal record custodian when the online result is incomplete.
Do not insert the Georgia TPM or Parolee Search into this chain. Those tools serve Georgia state prisoners and parolees. Likewise, a GDC record concerns state custody, even if the person once had a federal case. Separate concurrent or consecutive cases by agency and case number.
Requesting Tattnall Transfer Proof
Tattnall County's open-records instructions say requests should go to the custodian of the record sought. A request may be oral or written, though the county recommends written requests for clarity. Give the requester's name, phone, return address, and a precise description. Add the person's full name, booking date, approximate transfer date, location, and case or warrant number when known. The county says charges may apply and it will contact the requester before processing if they do.
For the local side of a federal transfer, ask for the public booking record, release date and time, release type or authority, and receiving agency or destination if public. Do not ask the county to certify BOP release. The Tattnall open-records question line is 912-557-4335, while the Sheriff's main line is 912-557-6778. A federal request should separately identify the register number, federal case, facility, dates, and exact federal document needed.
| Needed fact | Record custodian |
|---|---|
| County booking and exit time | Tattnall Sheriff's Office |
| Receiving federal authority | County transfer entry, if public |
| Federal detention order | Federal court clerk |
| BOP location or release date | Federal Bureau of Prisons |
| Post-prison court supervision | U.S. Probation or federal docket |
Federal and Local Status Compared
Tattnall County contains a county jail and active Georgia state prisons, but none of those systems is BOP. A federal result should not be inferred from the county's Current Inmates view or from GDC Find an Offender. Conversely, a BOP released result says nothing by itself about a later Georgia or Tattnall booking. Search each known custody system independently.
The timing can overlap. Someone may finish BOP custody and enter another agency's custody, or leave the Tattnall jail under federal authority before BOP displays a facility. Holds and court orders can change the order of movement. Build the timeline from dated records, not from the absence of a name on one live roster. When exact proof matters, request the underlying record from the agency that made each custody change.