Clay County Same-Day Release Records
No official Clay County 24-hour release feed, historical release archive, fixed update schedule, or web-retention period was found in the official sources reviewed as of July 16, 2026. The Clay County Sheriff site offers an inmate search, but its underlying data is a live view of people recorded as in custody. It is not a list of people who left jail today. The practical same-day source is the sheriff's booking and release record, supported by an Illinois VINE event and the Clay criminal case file.
A proper release entry should identify the person and agency, then state when physical custody ended and why. The reason may be a pretrial court order, dismissal, time served, completion of a county sentence, transfer, or another lawful event. Transfer is especially important. Clay County may relinquish custody while another jail, IDOC, a federal agency, or an immigration custodian takes charge. That event must not be described as a return to the community without proof.
Check Clay County Releases Today
Use a precise time range. “Last 24 hours” means a rolling interval, while “today” may mean midnight through the time of the request. Give the sheriff the full name, date of birth if known, local inmate or booking number, arrest date, and estimated release time. Those details reduce the chance of matching the wrong person. The Clay County FOIA channel accepts written requests by delivery or email when a direct confirmation is not enough.
- Check the sheriff's current inmate feature only to learn whether the person is still shown with an
INstatus. Record the access time and exact spelling used. - Call the Clay County Sheriff at (618) 665-3316 and ask whether the custody event within the stated interval was release or transfer.
- Request the booking and release log entry, exact release date and time, release authority or reason, and receiving agency when publicly releasable.
- Compare the event with Illinois VINELink. VINE can report a custody change, but the sheriff record controls the physical Clay County event.
- Read the Clay court docket or signed order through the Circuit Clerk's linked Judici access. The court file explains the legal order, while the jail record shows when it was carried out.
For a single known person, the broader Clay County released-inmate search path also explains IDOC, federal, and immigration checks. Do not use an IDOC search for a person who only served a county-jail term. IDOC becomes relevant when the Clay record shows commitment or transfer to state prison.
Clay County Release Fields
Because Clay County does not publish the requested 24-hour view, the useful field set comes from the release record a requester should seek. The live feed has fewer fields and a different purpose. It includes identity and booking facts, a custody timestamp, agency data, an image reference, and the code IN. It does not expose a release date, reason, destination, bond disposition, or 24-hour flag.
| Requested field | What it establishes |
|---|---|
| Full name and local inmate ID | Connects the event to the correct Clay booking. |
| Booking number and booked time | Separates one custody episode from another. |
| Release date and time | Shows when the sheriff relinquished physical custody. |
| Release authority or reason | Distinguishes a court release, time served, dismissal, sentence completion, or other event. |
| Destination or receiving agency | Distinguishes community release from transfer. |
| Criminal case number | Connects the jail event to the controlling court file. |
The words used by each source should remain intact. An IN status, a VINE custody event, a court release order, and an IDOC admission are not synonyms. Record each label and its access time before explaining what the combined records support.
Request Clay County Release Logs
Written requests go to Sheriff Andy Myers, P.O. Box 267, Louisville, IL 62858. The sheriff's FOIA form asks for requester contact details, the dates or period sought, record type, incident details, whether copies are wanted, and any fee-waiver request. Ask narrowly for the booking and release entry for the exact rolling interval. Include the identifiers above and ask for the release reason, timestamp, destination, and booking photo only when needed.
Clay County states that the first 50 black-and-white letter or legal pages are free, with later pages at 15 cents each. Illinois FOIA generally requires a response within five business days, subject to a permitted five-business-day extension. A denial must identify the exemption and review rights. These time rules govern the public-record request, not how fast jail staff process a physical release.
A three-day interval can be more useful after a weekend or holiday. The Clay County 72-hour release process explains how to frame that wider request without assuming an online archive exists.
Clay Release or Current Custody
The current Clay feed answers a narrow question: who is shown as in county custody now. Its sampled records carried custody_status_cd: IN. A release record answers a past event question. It states when Clay County gave up custody and identifies the legal reason or next custodian. A person may therefore disappear from the first source yet require the second source before any sound conclusion can be made.
| Situation | Best source | Safe conclusion |
|---|---|---|
Still shown as IN | Clay sheriff feed and direct confirmation | The live system reports current county custody. |
| Not shown in the feed | Sheriff release log, VINE, and court | Absence alone does not identify release or transfer. |
| Transferred to state prison | Clay transfer entry and IDOC profile | County custody ended, but community release did not occur. |
| Released from IDOC | IDOC status, parole date, location, and PRB material | State-prison release may begin parole or MSR, not final discharge. |
County and state records cover different custody stages. Federal BOP and ICE systems have their own scope. A negative result in one system should be documented as a negative search, not converted into proof that the person is free.
Clay Pretrial Release Payment Warning
Clay County has a named Office of Statewide Pretrial Services contact. OSPS supports court-ordered pretrial supervision, which is not the same as completing a sentence. Its Clay County office page also warns that OSPS does not charge for GPS devices or supervision. An unsolicited demand that family pay for “release” or a special monitoring plan should be checked through the published office before money or personal data is sent.
The court order establishes the terms of pretrial release. The sheriff record establishes execution time. Even after a judge acts, jail processing or another hold may delay departure. OSPS is a procedural and fraud-verification contact, not a public locator for arbitrary names.
Clay Release Feed Limits
The official Clay inmate data shows why the label matters. Sampled entries were current-custody records with an IN code. They contained booking and custody timestamps, physical descriptors, reporting-agency data, and image references, but no release interval or archive. The successful manifest image captures that actual current-custody feature.
View the official source represented in the capture before interpreting its fields.
The capture documents the system available to the public. It does not create a same-day release list or prove what happened after a name left that dataset.
Clay Sheriff Release App Limits
The sheriff provides dedicated iOS and Android apps. An iOS version note describes an inmate-feed rebuild, and the official Apple listing confirms the Clay County IL Sheriff app. Neither official app description promises a recent-release view. The app draws from the county feed, so access through a phone does not change current-custody data into a release archive.
The official app image confirms the source and inmate feature.
Use the app to check what the sheriff currently displays. Use the sheriff's release record, VINE event, and court order to prove who left custody today.
Note: No official Clay release time, exit point, property process, or transport procedure was verified in the reviewed sources.
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