Richmond County Inmate Population Overview
Richmond County's main jail population is centered at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center, which the Richmond County Sheriff's Office describes as the Jail Division campus for inmate supervision, classification, transport, medical care, mental-health care, dental services, food service, and visit scheduling. The same local system also uses the Walton Way jail and Law Enforcement Center for intake, release, bonding, and court-clothing issues. Those two county-jail access points are different from the sentenced state-felon population at Richmond County Correctional Institution and Augusta Transitional Center.
The Richmond County inmate population rises or falls as arrests are booked, bond is posted or denied, first appearances are held, local sentences are served, and state-sentenced people are moved or assigned into Georgia Department of Corrections custody. A person can be in the county roster during booking and pretrial custody, then later appear in the GDC locator after sentencing. Federal defendants and immigration detainees follow still another path, since no public BOP prison or ICE detention facility was found inside Richmond County.
Richmond County Inmate Population Statistics
Two current sources give the strongest local statistics. The RCSO Jail Division page reports the Webster campus FY2024 average daily population and bed capacity. The Georgia Sheriffs' Association jail report gives monthly jail-report snapshots, including a May 2026 Richmond County count, capacity, and custody-status categories. Those sources use different dates and slightly different capacity figures, so the numbers should be read as source-specific, not merged into one figure.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Date |
|---|---|---|
| Charles B. Webster Detention Center average daily population | 1,165 | RCSO Jail Division, FY2024 |
| Charles B. Webster Detention Center total bed capacity | 1,050 | RCSO Jail Division, inspected June 2026 |
| Richmond County jail population snapshot | 1,378 inmates | Georgia Sheriffs' Association, May 2026 |
| Richmond County jail snapshot capacity | 1,066 beds, 129.3% of capacity | Georgia Sheriffs' Association, May 2026 |
| Local jail-rate estimate | About 667 per 100,000 residents | Calculated from GSA May 2026 count and Census 2025 estimate |
Richmond County Inmate Population Trends
The Richmond County jail population has been above stated capacity in the most recent local snapshots captured in the research. RCSO reported FY2024 average daily population above its own stated bed capacity and also noted expansion planning that may add inmate beds and more kitchen, service, and storage space. GSA snapshots show the same pressure across 2024, 2025, and 2026, with the May 2026 point-in-time count reaching the highest listed percentage of capacity in the research file.
| Source Date | Population / Capacity | Custody Note |
|---|---|---|
| July 2024 GSA | 1,172 inmates / 1,066 capacity | 109.9% of capacity, 1,042 awaiting trial |
| December 2024 GSA | 1,215 inmates / 1,066 capacity | 114.0% of capacity, 1,037 awaiting trial |
| July 2025 GSA | 1,352 inmates / 1,066 capacity | 126.8% of capacity, 1,108 awaiting trial |
| December 2025 GSA | 1,286 inmates / 1,066 capacity | 120.6% of capacity, 1,096 awaiting trial |
| May 2026 GSA | 1,378 inmates / 1,066 capacity | 129.3% of capacity, 1,097 awaiting trial |
The local SPLOST reporting captured in the research fits that trend as background only. It described jail-expansion funding requests and local concern about crowding, while the official RCSO and GSA figures remain the primary numeric sources for the Richmond County inmate population.
Who Makes Up the Richmond County Inmate Population
The May 2026 GSA snapshot shows that most people in the Richmond County jail count were awaiting trial. That category does not mean every person had the same case posture, bond status, or hold type. It means the reporting category counted them as awaiting trial at that point in time. The county roster gives person-level race, sex, and age on each booking result, but the research did not locate a current public aggregate table for race, age, sex, charge class, bond status, or length of stay in the county jail.
- Awaiting trial: GSA listed 1,097 people, or 79.6% of the May 2026 Richmond County jail count.
- State-sentenced in jail: GSA listed 80 people in this May 2026 category.
- Serving county sentence: GSA listed 63 people serving county sentences in the same snapshot.
- State facilities: RCCI and Augusta Transitional Center hold adult male state offenders, not the same public population as the county jail roster.
For broader context, the research captured a Census QuickFacts 2025 Richmond County population estimate of 206,559. That resident population number is useful for rate estimates, but it should not be treated as an inmate demographic breakdown.
Richmond County Jail Capacity
Capacity is one of the main reasons the Richmond County inmate population needs source-by-source reading. RCSO states that the Charles B. Webster Detention Center had 1,050 beds and FY2024 average daily population of 1,165. The GSA May 2026 snapshot lists 1,066 capacity and 1,378 inmates. Older Augusta staff-directory language says the Phinizy Road facility originally opened as a 552-bed pod-style facility and later had a daily population exceeding 600. Those older figures are history, not the current capacity benchmark.
RCSO says plans are underway for an expansion that may add 300 inmate beds plus more kitchen, service, and storage space. The jail division has more than 200 employees and operates on an approximately 50-acre maximum-security campus. That does not remove the need to verify daily custody status. It explains why a roster result, a bond call, and a facility-location check can all matter when the jail is operating near or above capacity.
Laws Governing Richmond County Inmate Records
Georgia law frames public access to jail, booking, and court information, but it also sets limits. Open records are broad, not unlimited. Pending investigations, juvenile information, identifying details, and booking photographs can be treated differently depending on the request, the case status, and the statute involved. Richmond County request routes also matter because Augusta's general open-records portal excludes sheriff records and court records from that city portal.
Key Statutes:
O.C.G.A. 50-18-70 treats Georgia public records as open for inspection and copying unless an exemption applies.
O.C.G.A. 50-18-72 lists open-records exemptions, including several law-enforcement and pending-case limits.
O.C.G.A. 35-1-19 restricts how booking photographs may be posted or released for certain website uses.
Georgia Title 42, Chapter 4 contains county jail provisions that help separate jail custody from state-prison custody.
Richmond County State Prison Population
The county jail roster is not the state-prison locator. The Georgia Department of Corrections Offender Query is the correct search path for people in GDC custody, including people assigned to Richmond County Correctional Institution or Augusta Transitional Center. GDC lists Richmond County Correctional Institution capacity as 220, while Augusta's institution profile lists operating capacity of 350 Level II medium/minimum adult male inmates. Both are source-specific facility figures.
Augusta Transitional Center is a separate GDC minimum-security facility with a listed capacity of 230. It serves adult male felons in transition, work release, permanent worker, and reentry programming roles. A person in one of these state facilities may have a Richmond County conviction or local connection, but the lookup is through GDC, not the RCSO Inmate Inquiry.
Search Richmond County Inmates
The official county roster path starts on the RCSO Inmate Inquiry disclaimer page. After accepting the disclaimer, the Augusta-hosted inmate inquiry opens as a custom public application. It loads active bookings, offers a Recent Bookings button, and supports first-name or last-name search. The roster is free and does not require a login, but the research found the Recent Bookings method was unstable during inspection.
Use the roster for current county jail custody and recent county booking data. If the person has been sentenced to state custody, transferred to a GDC site, placed in BOP custody, or moved into immigration detention, a different locator is needed.
- Open the RCSO Inmate Inquiry page, read the disclaimer, and choose Agree to open the official application.
- Review the active-booking list, or type at least one character in Last Name or First Name.
- Use last name first when possible, since first-name-only searches can return broad results.
- Change Records Per Page to 5, 10, or 20 if the result list is long.
- Open the name result to view booking number, arrest date, charges, bond rows, and disposition fields.
- If no result appears, call the Booking Desk or check GDC, BOP, ICE, and VINELink as the case type requires.
Current Richmond County Inmate Lookup
The public roster interface is narrower than many jail search tools. It does not expose booking-number search, date-of-birth search, facility filters, court-date filters, or housing-unit filters in the inspected public form. Results show last name, first name, race/sex/age, and arrest date. The detail popup then shows the booking profile and charge rows.
The RCSO Inmate Inquiry source page is shown in the official screenshot from the Richmond County Sheriff's Office inmate inquiry disclaimer.
That disclaimer matters because it is the gateway to the Augusta-hosted roster and states that users should report discrepancies to the Sheriff's Office.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recent Bookings | Button | No | Visible in the app, but one inspection returned a server error for this method. |
| Last Name | Text | Conditional | Search button enables when last or first name has input. |
| First Name | Text | Conditional | Helpful with last name, but broad alone. |
| Records Per Page | Dropdown | No | Options are 5, 10, or 20, with 10 as the default. |
Past Richmond County Inmate Records
RCSO did not publish a roster retention period or archive window in the inspected pages. If a released person no longer appears in the public roster, use the Records Bureau and open-records route instead of assuming the record does not exist. RCSO asks requesters to email open-records requests with the requestor name, phone number, return address, specific records sought, names, dates, times, locations, and case numbers when available.
Augusta's own open-records routing page says sheriff records and court records are not handled through the general city portal. That local routing split is important. Jail booking information, arrest reports, and sheriff records go through RCSO. Superior, State, and Juvenile Court case documents go through the Clerk of Court.
Richmond County Inmate Record Fields
A Richmond County inmate record on the public roster is a booking profile, not a full criminal-history report. The sample detail captured in the research showed a booking number in the `YYYY-000#####` format, full name, arrest date, race, sex, age, charges, per-charge bond where listed, and disposition fields. The public detail did not show date of birth, height, weight, housing unit, projected release date, court date, warrant number, or statute code.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Booking Number | Public booking identifier, such as the observed `2026-00004815` format. |
| Full Name | Last, first, and middle name when available. |
| Arrest Date | Date shown in M/D/YYYY format. |
| Race / Sex / Age | Compact fields in the list and full labels in the detail popup. |
| Charges | Repeating charge rows with charge text and a number. |
| Bond / Disposition | Per-charge bond amounts or blank fields; disposition may also be blank. |
County Jail vs State Prison Lookup
Richmond County searches often fail because the person is in the wrong system for the search being used. The county roster is for local jail booking and custody. GDC is for sentenced state offenders and state facilities. BOP is for federal inmates after designation or BOP custody, while USMS may hold federal pretrial detainees without a public roster. ICE ODLS covers immigration detention and excludes records for people under 18.
| County Jail | State Prison / GDC | |
|---|---|---|
| People covered | Pretrial detainees, local jail inmates, intake/release custody | Sentenced adult state offenders and transitional-center residents |
| Run by | Richmond County Sheriff's Office | Georgia Department of Corrections |
| Where to search | RCSO Inmate Inquiry | GDC Offender Query |
| Facility examples | Charles B. Webster Detention Center, Walton Way jail access point | Richmond County Correctional Institution, Augusta Transitional Center |
State and Federal Inmate Search
For sentenced Georgia offenders, use the GDC Find an Offender page or the direct GDC query. The state form allows name, demographic, institution, sentence-status, offense, conviction-county, active/inactive, GDC ID, and case-number searches. Photographs display automatically if available, and GDC tells users to verify information in writing with Inmate Records and Information in Forsyth.
For federal custody, use the BOP inmate locator for people in BOP custody from 1982 to present. For immigration custody, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator System with either A-number and country of birth or exact biographical data. For custody-change notice, use VINELink, which Georgia has made available for victim notification.
- Booking
- Jail intake after arrest, including identity, property, screening, and record creation.
- Detainer
- A hold or notice from another agency that can affect release even when local bond is listed.
- DOC
- The state prison system for sentenced offenders, separate from the county jail roster.
- Work release
- A custody status or facility role that allows approved people to work outside a facility.
Richmond County Detention Facilities
Richmond County has four practical custody locations in the research file. They should not be treated as one jail. The facility name tells the reader which search tool, visit rules, phone vendor, and records route applies.
- Charles B. Webster Detention Center - the primary county jail campus for pretrial detainees, local jail inmates, classification, transport, and medical services.
- Richmond County Jail / Law Enforcement Center - the Walton Way intake, release, bond, and court-clothing access point.
- Richmond County Correctional Institution - an Augusta-Richmond County correctional institution under the GDC framework for adult male state felons and work details.
- Augusta Transitional Center - a GDC minimum-security transitional center for adult male felons, work release, and reentry programming.
Richmond County Inmate Population FAQ
How large is the Richmond County inmate population? RCSO reported FY2024 average daily population of 1,165 at the Webster campus. The GSA May 2026 snapshot listed 1,378 inmates against 1,066 capacity for the Richmond County jail report.
How do I search the Richmond County inmate population? Start with the RCSO Inmate Inquiry for current county jail custody. If the person has been sentenced to state custody, search GDC. If the case is federal or immigration-related, use BOP, USMS routing, or ICE ODLS as appropriate.
Can I find a released Richmond County inmate? The research did not locate a public roster retention period. If a released person is no longer listed, use RCSO Records Bureau or the RCSO open-records email with names, dates, case numbers, and the record sought.
Does Richmond County publish full jail demographics? The public roster shows race, sex, and age for individual bookings, and GSA gives custody-status categories. The research did not locate a current public aggregate table for jail race, sex, age, charge class, or length of stay.