Inside The Jail: Inmate Records Division Hub Of Pinellas County Jail

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — “Nothing happens at the jail without it flowing through Inmate Records at some point,” said Inmate Records Manager Stephannie Watson. “Inmates can’t be booked, they can’t be housed, they can’t be released — none of that happens until it comes through Inmate Records.”

Inmate Records is a wide-ranging component of the Custody Management Division within the Pinellas County Sheriff’ Office’s Department of Detention and Corrections. Watson manages 77 members including three different classifications of Inmate Records specialists, supervisors, administrative assistants and a population analyst. Since inmates are arriving and leaving all day and night, it is a 24/7 operation with three shifts. The specialists have an incredibly wide array of responsibilities.

Inmate Records specialists III are responsible for the “ins and outs," creating an inmate’s file when they are first booked and then handling their release. Inmate Records specialists I handle most things that occur in between during the time an inmate is in custody

When a person is arrested, the arresting agency creates an arrest affidavit. Inmate Records specialists III review the affidavits and assign a bond amount. “From there it goes to booking and that’s where we input everything into the jail management system. We also do an ID review for fingerprints," Watson said. Inmates are fingerprinted when they are booked and those prints sometimes reveal they aren’t who they claim to be.

Specialists man the bond lobby where they take surety bonds and cash bonds and handle money releases. They’re also in charge of redacting parts of arrest affidavits according to public records laws before they are released to the media. The press has access to all arrest affidavits through a media-only account.

Inmate Records specialists II keep track of the good/gain time that can shorten an inmate’s sentence. The jail management system automatically gives them the good/gain time when they are sentenced and it is taken away if there is a disciplinary report. The credit is given upfront as an incentive to behave during their stay. The specialists are also responsible for preparing Department of Corrections sentenced inmates for transfer to state prison.

Specialists are the ones who prepare advisories for the clerk of court. By statute, all inmates arrested on new charges must be advised by a judge of their charges within 24 hours of arrest. They appear before the judge by video. Inmate Records specialists are also in charge of taking all the day’s court minutes and transcribing that into the jail management system.

One of the most time-consuming tasks is answering the phones.

“We take all of the phone calls from the public, about 300 to 500 every day," Watson said. "They ask if their family member is in jail, what’s their bond, what are their charges.”

Watson has a tip for anyone who needs this kind of information. “It’s all on our website. At the Who’s In Jail page you can search for inmates past and present, view their charges, their bond and their location inside the jail.” The information updates quickly, within about a minute of it being entered in the system.

One of the most crucial parts of their job happens when an inmate is released. Mistakes during the release process simply aren’t acceptable, Watson said.

“Errors here in Inmate Records can either violate someone’s civil rights by keeping them in too long — what we call an overstay — or we can be endangering the public if we let them out when we’re not supposed to — an erroneous release. We put processes in place to prevent mistakes, even if it only involves an inmate being released one day early or late.”

Watson started working in Inmate Records in 2001 and has worked her way up to manager through all of the positions. She said members really enjoy the variety of their work.

“Each member has six or seven positions that they rotate through. So if someone is in booking today, they may be in the lobby tomorrow and pre-release the next day," she said, adding, “This is a highly stressful environment. It is constantly moving. Inmates are booked and released 24/7. But everyone works together to get everything done.”