Columbia Prison's Sullivan Release History
Official Sullivan County minutes from December 6, 2022 approved an arrangement for 2023 placements at Columbia County Prison. The stated rate was $80 per day, with additional costs for medical care, outside supervision, rehabilitation, and transportation, plus a renewal option. This is dated evidence of an available destination. It does not prove that the arrangement is active now.
The history explains why Columbia can appear in an older Sullivan custody trail. It also shows why current custody cannot be inferred from an old directory. Sullivan has documented other county prisons across later periods. The admission record, not the agreement, establishes whether Columbia accepted a named person. The discharge record establishes how that Columbia booking ended.
A renewal option is not proof that renewal occurred. Check later county actions and the individual commitment rather than extending the 2023 terms by assumption. Contract charges also describe the arrangement between counties, not a fee owed by the detained person and not a public-record search charge. Keep financial terms separate from the release facts.
Confirm Columbia County Prison Release
Start with the Pennsylvania UJS criminal docket. Choose Sullivan County and review commitment, bail, sentence, credit, disposition, and later order entries. The shared 44th Judicial District does not change the county filter. A docket can explain legal authority but usually cannot provide the exact minute Columbia processed an exit.
- Match the person through a docket number, OTN, booking number, or another stable identifier.
- Ask the Sullivan sheriff whether Columbia was the destination and request the transport date.
- Ask Columbia's current records custodian for the matching admission and discharge entries.
- Compare a PA SAVIN event if Columbia reported one, preserving its exact wording and update time.
- Check the named destination for a new admission when Columbia recorded a transfer.
A missing current entry is not a historical release record. It can mean the person was never held there, the booking aged out of public view, data changed, or access is restricted. Use the Sullivan County release record workflow when the correct receiving jail is still unknown.
Columbia Prison Release Record Fields
A focused request should seek records, not ask the custodian to research a broad question. Provide legal name, aliases, date of birth if allowed, booking number, Sullivan docket or OTN, and approximate dates. Ask for electronic production and a fee estimate.
| Requested field | What it resolves |
|---|---|
| Booking identifier | Links the release to one Columbia admission. |
| Admission timestamp | Confirms when Columbia accepted the person. |
| Discharge timestamp | Shows when Columbia ended physical custody. |
| Release type or reason | Distinguishes bail, sentence action, or transfer. |
| Releasing authority | Points to the court, board, or order behind the exit. |
| Destination agency | Separates community release from continued custody. |
| Charges and holds | Shows whether another matter controlled the next step. |
Property or account closure can help confirm the end of the booking. Request any booking photograph separately. The image and the administrative discharge fields may receive different access decisions.
Note: A release date without its type and destination is incomplete when transfer among agencies is possible.
Columbia Prison Records Contact
The supplied Sullivan research does not state a current Columbia County Prison address, telephone number, or public records hours. Do not use the Laporte courthouse address for Columbia. Resolve the current official Columbia County prison and open-records contacts before sending a request.
Custodian for Columbia booking and discharge entries
Current address, phone, and hours: verify through Columbia County's official channel
Historical Sullivan placement source: county commissioners' minutes
The official December 2022 Sullivan minutes support the dated agreement. For a person-level record, contact the current Columbia custodian. The Sullivan sheriff can separately address transport, while the Sullivan court office controls commitment and order records.
Columbia Release or Custody Transfer
“Released” can describe the end of Columbia's control without proving a community exit. A transfer to another county prison, PA DOC, USMS, BOP, or ICE starts or continues custody elsewhere. A writ or court return also is not freedom from custody. The receiving-agency field is the key bridge.
| Columbia record | Follow-up |
|---|---|
| Bail or recognizance | Confirm the order on the Sullivan docket and the physical discharge. |
| Time served or sentence served | Compare sentence-credit language and any other holds. |
| State transport | Search PA DOC by DOC number or verified name. |
| Another county jail | Request the next facility's admission and later discharge. |
| Federal or ICE destination | Use the named federal locator or agency inquiry. |
PA SAVIN through VINELink may provide a reported movement or release event. Treat it as corroboration. Columbia's discharge transaction remains the better evidence of exact time, reason, and destination.
Avoid False Sullivan Jail Records
Sullivan County does not operate a correctional institution listed in PA DOC's county-prison materials. Commercial directories often label the courthouse and sheriff address in Laporte as a jail. Sending a Columbia request there can produce a response that Sullivan lacks the record, even though Columbia created it.
The correct sequence is commitment, transport, admission, discharge, and destination. The Sullivan sheriff can identify a transport. Columbia can verify its booking. The court can explain the order. This facility-identification process is especially important for historical research because county contracts and capacity arrangements change over time.
Do not turn the absence of a Columbia roster entry into a release claim. Current lists are built for present custody. Historical discharge records and dated court orders answer a past-release question.
Request Columbia Discharge Records
Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law governs many local-agency records, subject to other laws, privilege, and exemptions. The Office of Open Records forms help frame a request. Ask for existing non-investigative custody fields and request segregation of any nonexempt portion if other material is withheld.
An agency ordinarily responds within five business days by granting, denying, or invoking a permitted extension. The extension can add up to thirty calendar days without further requester agreement. A denial should identify reasons and appeal rights. Keep all submission and response records.
Use separate routes for separate custodians. Columbia receives the jail request. Sullivan receives a transport-record request. Judicial orders go to the court custodian. A general demand sent to all three can delay the answer because each agency may possess only one part of the timeline.
Ask for a written estimate before paper copying, postage, certification, or specialized media costs accrue. Electronic delivery can reduce cost. If a response denies the full record, review whether administrative admission, discharge, and destination fields can be separated from exempt investigative, medical, security, juvenile, or personal information.
Match Columbia Release Identities
Historical names can be incomplete or duplicated. Match at least two stable identifiers, such as the booking number, full date of birth, docket number, OTN, middle name, or a later DOC number. Preserve the source and date for each identifier. Never merge records merely because names resemble each other.
- Admission record
- Proof that Columbia accepted physical custody for one booking.
- Discharge record
- The dated facility entry ending that booking and naming its result.
- Disposition
- The court outcome on a charge, which may not end other custody.
- Transfer
- Movement to a new custodian rather than release to the community.
When dates conflict, ask each creator about its own record. An order time, transport time, jail discharge time, and next admission time can all differ without one being false.
Older records also require source dates. Note when the Columbia entry was created, when the public copy was obtained, and whether a later court order changed the case. A historical agreement should be cited by its meeting date and covered year. This prevents a current search result from being merged with a past placement simply because both concern Sullivan County.
If an agency corrects a field, retain the response and identify which derived notes require the same change. Columbia can correct its booking data, Sullivan can address transport data, and the court can address its docket. No single custodian controls all three records.