Union County Jail Inmate Lookup

Union County Jail Overview

The Union County Jail sits at 50 NW 1st Street in Lake Butler, on the north side of the courthouse complex, and is operated by the Union County Sheriff's Office. The sheriff's office describes it as a 36-bed facility that holds both convicted and non-convicted offenders for felony and misdemeanor crimes. In plain terms, it serves pre-trial detainees and people serving short local sentences, not long-term state prisoners.

The jail is the booking point for arrests made by the sheriff's office and other agencies bringing people through Lake Butler. Behind the scenes it runs an automated reporting system that moves civil and criminal court paperwork in real time, plus laser automated fingerprinting tied to NCIC and FDLE. The booking area also houses the alcohol breath-testing equipment used by county deputies and the Florida Highway Patrol.

Union County Jail Capacity and Custody

Rated capacity at the Union County Jail is 36 beds, per the sheriff's office, reviewed in June 2026. A current daily population count is not published online, so this page does not show one. The jail's small size is the main reason the county relies on the state for anything beyond short-term local custody.

How to Look Up an Inmate at the Union County Jail

There is no public web roster for the Union County Jail, so a lookup is a phone task. The jail and sheriff's office share the line at (386) 496-2501, which the official jail page uses for jail-administrator questions. Have the person's full name ready, and a date of birth if you have it.

1. Call the Union County Jail at (386) 496-2501.
2. Ask for the jail or booking desk and give the person's full name.
3. Ask whether the person is in custody and whether bond has been set.
4. If they were sentenced or moved to state custody, search the Florida Department of Corrections locator instead.

For a copy of a booking or arrest record, see the records-request steps on the jail inmate records page.

Union County Jail Address and Contact

The jail is reached through the main sheriff's line, and records are handled at the sheriff's courthouse office a block away. Both are in downtown Lake Butler.

Visiting Someone at the Union County Jail

Visiting at the Union County Jail is limited and should be confirmed before you travel. The official jail page sets visiting on Thursday and Friday from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., allows it on only one of those days, and restricts it to immediate family. Everyone who visits is subject to search under Florida law. The sheriff's office has not published a dress code, an ID rule, a visit length, or a video option, so call ahead with any questions.

Mail, Phone, and Money at the Union County Jail

The sheriff's office has not published a mail-addressing format, a phone or video vendor, or a commissary and money-deposit vendor for the Union County Jail. Rather than name a service that may be wrong, the safe step is to call the jail at (386) 496-2501 and ask how to send mail, set up calls, or deposit funds before sending anything.

Booking and Intake at the Union County Jail

A person arrested in Union County is normally brought to the jail in Lake Butler. Staff identify the person, check for warrants and holds, and start the booking paperwork. Fingerprints are taken on equipment tied to NCIC and FDLE, and DUI arrests may involve the breath-testing equipment housed in the booking area. The jail does not publish how long booking takes or when a new arrest would appear online, and since there is no public roster, confirming custody means a phone call.

After booking, the judge and court process control bond and the next court date. The arrest charge at booking can differ from the charges a prosecutor later files. For that side of the case, see court records after a jail arrest.

The Sheriff's Office Behind the Jail

The jail is run by the Union County Sheriff's Office, whose stated mission includes both protecting life and property and operating the county jail. The current sheriff is Brad Whitehead, who took office in 2014 and is the third generation of his family to hold the seat. His background is unusually relevant for a jail operator: before becoming sheriff he worked for the Florida Department of Corrections as a correctional service consultant, a senior prison inspector, and an assistant warden.

Public records for the jail flow through the Sheriff's Records Unit, which stores and releases reports, handles copies and fingerprinting, and manages felon and sexual-offender registration. The custodian of public records is Captain Lyn Williams, and requests can be made by phone, in person, or in writing. Email sent to the office can itself become a public record under Florida law, so anyone who wants to keep an email address private should call or write instead.

Programs and Local Response

The sheriff's office has not published a list of in-jail programs such as GED classes, work release, or treatment groups, so this page does not claim any. What is documented is the agency's crisis response. In 2018 the office completed Crisis Intervention Team training in Lake Butler, covering mental-health crises, substance abuse, dementia, and autism, and the sheriff said the agency keeps a trained deputy on duty around the clock and one in each school.

The office also describes a long partnership with Meridian Behavioral Services for Baker Act cases and assessments. The county dispatch center, which handles jail-area calls, was the first sheriff communications center in northeast Florida to link directly to public-school administrators by portable radio. These are local details, not a substitute for confirming custody, which still goes through the jail line.

Jail Terms Worth Knowing

A few terms come up constantly when people call about a Union County inmate. Short definitions make the rest of the process easier to follow.

Booking

The intake event after an arrest, when identity, fingerprints, photo, and charges are processed.

Pre-trial detainee

A person held before trial who has not been convicted.

No-bond hold

A custody status where release is blocked until a court acts or another hold clears.

Detainer

A hold placed by another agency, such as another county, the state, or federal authorities.

V.I.N.E.S.

The victim notification network the jail uses to alert victims when an offender is released.

About the Union County Jail

The jail has deep local roots. The original Union County jail was built around 1922. The county put up the brick courthouse at the present-day location around 1936, and by 1950 the old jail had been taken down and a new one built on the site of today's jail, with renovations following as the county grew. That courthouse-centered geography still shapes how records, court follow-up, and visits work in Lake Butler.

The jail is also a working booking facility, not just a holding space. It runs an automated reporting system that moves civil and criminal court paperwork in real time, and its booking area houses the breath-testing equipment used by both county deputies and the Florida Highway Patrol, which makes a DUI arrest a common local example of how the place operates. The sheriff's office describes Union County as a small, heritage-minded community, and the jail's modest size fits that setting.

The jail also participates in the V.I.N.E.S. network, which sends automatic notifications to victims of certain crimes when an offender is released. Sentenced prisoners are a different matter: once a person is sentenced to state prison, they may leave the jail for the Union Correctional Institution or another Florida facility and should be searched through the state system. The home page covers the full Union County inmate population picture.