La Plata County Released Inmates
A La Plata County jail release means custody at the local jail ended. It does not always mean the person walked out without further conditions. The La Plata County Detentions Division says the sheriff operates the county detention facility for people arrested on misdemeanor and felony charges by law enforcement agencies in the county, including people held for the Federal Marshals. The same facility can hold pretrial defendants, people serving county jail sentences, and people sentenced to the Colorado Department of Corrections.
That mixed population makes the release path important. Someone may leave after bond, time served, sentence completion, dismissal, pretrial services, electronic monitoring, work release, transfer to CDOC, federal custody, another county, or ICE. A released person usually drops from a current-custody jail search, but the durable proof may be in a sheriff records request, a Sixth Judicial District court record, Colorado VINELink, CDOC Offender Search, the BOP inmate locator, or ICE ODLS depending on what happened next.
Local custody route: La Plata County's official inmate-search page points users to VINELink for county jail custody, CDOC for state custody, and ICE for immigration custody. That official split is the best starting framework for any released-inmate lookup.
How La Plata County Custody Ends
There is no single release label that fits every case at the La Plata County Detention Facility. The public record should be read against the court case, bond paperwork, jail booking record, and any receiving agency record. Colorado's public-records framework also treats pretrial and posttrial release from custody as part of official action, as summarized by the Colorado Attorney General.
| Release type | What it means | Where to verify next |
|---|---|---|
| Bond or personal recognizance | The person leaves jail while the case continues. | VINELink status, sheriff record, court bond order, and docket. |
| Time served or sentence completion | The county jail sentence or court-ordered custody period ended. | Sheriff release record and County Court or District Court disposition. |
| Probation or pretrial services | The person is out of the jail building but may have court conditions. | La Plata Probation, docket, bond order, and ATI or monitoring records where applicable. |
| Transfer to CDOC | The local jail custody ended because state prison custody began. | CDOC Offender Search and, after release, parole supervision records. |
| Federal or ICE transfer | The county release is a transfer to another custody system. | USMS or BOP for federal cases, and ICE ODLS for immigration custody. |
What a La Plata Release Record Shows
A local release record is usually assembled from several pieces instead of one public webpage. The sheriff's Application for the Release of Criminal Justice Records includes request choices for records of official action, other criminal justice records, and booking sheet/mugshot. The form also asks for incident number, date and time, location, involved people, date of birth, and requestor contact information.
| Field or document | What it can show |
|---|---|
| Booking sheet | Jail booking identity, charges or agency notes, booking event, and sometimes the booking photograph. |
| Release date or time | When local jail custody ended, if the releasable record includes that detail. |
| Release reason or custody disposition | Bond, sentence completion, court order, dismissal, transfer, or another custody outcome when available. |
| Court case number | The case used to check bond, sentence, probation, dismissal, warrant recall, mittimus, or disposition. |
| Receiving agency | Whether the person moved to CDOC, USMS, BOP, ICE, another jail, or a community supervision path. |
For a state-prison case, CDOC records add different fields. CDOC search tips say DOC number is the department's primary identifier, and public results commonly use estimated parole eligibility and mandatory release terminology. The parole-board rules define Parole Eligibility Date as the earliest possible parole application date calculated by CDOC, while Mandatory Release Date is a parole release date over which the Board has no discretion.
How to Obtain a La Plata Release Record
The records fallback is essential because La Plata County does not publish a county-hosted recent-release archive in the sources reviewed. The Sheriff's Office Records Department is listed at 283 Girard Street, Durango, CO 81303, with office hours Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., phone 970-247-1157, and fax 970-259-4595. The county's CORA / CCJRA page says criminal justice records, including arrest and jail information, use the public-records release form and typically require photo identification.
- Identify whether the record is a county jail release, a court disposition, a CDOC state-prison record, a federal record, or an ICE custody question.
- For a La Plata County jail release, use the sheriff's records-release form and request records of official action, booking sheet/mugshot, release date or time, release reason, charges, court case number, and bond information if relevant.
- Include the incident number if known, or provide the date, time, location, names, date of birth, and contact information requested on the form.
- Check the court record through the Colorado Judicial Branch when the needed proof is bond, sentence, probation, dismissal, mittimus, or warrant status.
- Use CDOC, BOP, or ICE records when the county jail event was actually a transfer to another custody system.
Local fees are source-specific. The sheriff's records page lists hard copies at $0.25 per page and staff time at $41.37 per hour. The county CORA / CCJRA page lists incident reports at $7.50 for the first five pages and $0.25 for each additional page, with possible extra research costs. The sheriff also says if staff contacts a requestor to clarify scope and receives no response within ten business days, the request is closed and a new request is required.
Colorado Law and Release Records
Colorado separates general public records from criminal justice records. The Colorado Attorney General explains that the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act covers criminal justice records and defines official action to include arrest, charging, disposition, pretrial or posttrial release from custody, judicial determinations, and decisions to grant, order, or terminate probation or parole. That is why a La Plata County release can be a records issue even when the county does not post a rolling list of names online.
Court visibility can change after release. The Colorado Judicial Branch explains that sealing hides criminal records from public view while the records still exist for law enforcement and authorized access. CBI's sealing information and C.R.S. 24-72-703 advisement rules are relevant because eligible records may become harder for ordinary public users to see after dismissal, sentencing, probation, parole termination, or a later sealing order.
How to Find a Released La Plata County Inmate
The practical search starts with a narrow question: released from which custody? A person who left the La Plata County Detention Facility after bond is not searched the same way as a person transferred to CDOC, a federal prisoner later released by BOP, or an immigration detainee moved to ICE. La Plata County's own inmate-search page uses that same division by linking county custody to VINELink, state custody to CDOC, and immigration custody to ICE.
- Check the official county inmate-search page and follow the VINELink route for a person in La Plata County jail custody.
- If the person is not in the county custody route, do not assume community release. Check spelling, aliases, date of birth, court records, CDOC, ICE, and BOP as appropriate.
- Use the CDOC Offender Search for a felony defendant who may have become a state prisoner, parolee, or discharged state offender.
- Use court records for bond, sentence, probation, dismissal, warrant recall, or mittimus information. La Plata County is in Colorado's Sixth Judicial District.
- Use the sheriff records request when an exact jail release date, release reason, booking sheet, or booking photo is needed.
Why a name disappears: a person dropping off a current-custody path may mean release, transfer, data lag, different spelling, state or federal custody, or a record restriction. Confirmation comes from matching the jail status to the court and agency record.
For same-day and short-window context, see Jail Releases: 24 Hours and Jail Releases: 72 Hours. Those pages should be read with the local caveat that no official county-hosted 24-hour or 72-hour release feed was found in the reviewed La Plata County sources.
CDOC Offender Search for Released Inmates
CDOC Offender Search is the statewide public lookup for people in Colorado Department of Corrections custody, parole, or discharge pathways. It is not a county jail release list. A La Plata County detainee who bonds out from a misdemeanor case may never appear there, while a felony defendant sentenced to state prison may stop appearing in county jail custody and later appear in CDOC as incarcerated, paroled, or discharged.
| Search field | CDOC guidance |
|---|---|
| DOC number | CDOC search tips identify this as the primary identifier, numeric, and up to six characters. |
| Last and first name | Name searches return records beginning with the typed letters, and the record may use the arresting or prosecuted name. |
| Date of birth | CDOC tips state that date of birth must use mm/dd/yyyy format when used. |
| Gender | The public search screen includes gender as a search field. |
Use CDOC dates cautiously. CDOC's disclaimer says its database may contain inaccurate information and directs users to contact CDOC to confirm all information. If a projected date affects a court deadline, travel plan, custody handoff, or supervision issue, confirm through CDOC or the supervising parole office. For date-specific guidance, use Projected Release.
La Plata Jail Releases and Recent Releases
No official La Plata County page reviewed for this project publishes a separate county-hosted 24-hour release list, 72-hour release list, jail-booking archive, or rolling recent-release feed. The official inmate-search page instead routes current county custody checks to VINELink. The correct public finding is absence plus fallback: use VINELink for custody-status changes, request sheriff records for exact release documents, and check court records for the legal reason the person left custody.
The county does publish practical bond-out information. The bond page says money can be loaded to an inmate's account to bond out through TouchPay online or through the jail lobby kiosk, and it lists the La Plata County Detention Center facility ID as 781303. Colorado law also requires bond setting as soon as practicable and no later than forty-eight hours after arrival at a jail or holding facility, under C.R.S. 16-4-102.
Probation and Parole After Release
Probation and parole are different records paths. Probation is a court sentence or supervision order handled through the Colorado Judicial Branch. La Plata Probation is listed at 1060 East Second Ave, Suite 107, Durango, CO 81301, phone 970-247-0982, email D06_JD_Probation@judicial.state.co.us. Parole follows a CDOC prison sentence and involves CDOC supervision and Colorado State Board of Parole decisions. CDOC lists the Durango Parole Office at 1073 Main Avenue, Durango, phone 970-259-1536.
La Plata County also has release-adjacent alternatives through the sheriff's Alternatives to Incarceration page, including Pre-Trial Services, Electronic Home Monitoring, GPS or alcohol monitoring, and Work Release services. The page says those offices at 742 Turner Drive are closed Fridays and regular services are Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For a focused supervision path, see Probation & Parole.
Property, ID, and Leaving Jail
Property release is one concrete local detail after jail custody changes. La Plata County says an inmate may release property to an outside party by submitting a Property Release request through the detention center's in-house request program, and the named recipient will be called when the property is ready. For CDOC state prisoners, the State ID Program is a separate release-preparation channel that can help some people leave state custody with identification. That is a CDOC process, not a county jail process.
County Court, District Court, and Release Proof
The court layer is often the durable proof for La Plata County released inmates. The Sixth Judicial District Attorney's court-information page explains that County Court handles misdemeanor criminal cases, traffic citations, and other limited matters, while District Court handles felony criminal cases and other major case types. A misdemeanor jail release may be traceable through County Court bond or sentence records, while a felony that turns into a state-prison sentence points toward District Court and CDOC.
The La Plata County Courthouse is listed at 1060 East Second Ave, Suite 106, Durango, CO 81301, with court operations phone 970-247-2304 and email laplataclerk@judicial.state.co.us. The Colorado Judicial Branch access guide says case-specific information can be obtained from the court where the action was filed, through an online records request, or through a register-of-actions search, while document copies come from the court or records request.
VINELink, ICE, and Federal Releases
La Plata County uses VINELink as the public county-custody lookup route. Colorado VINELink is a status and notification tool, not a permanent historical archive. A released result may show released or no-current-custody status, or the person may no longer appear in a current-custody search depending on the feed. A VINE alert should be reconciled with the sheriff or court record when the exact release reason, bond status, transfer destination, or booking-photo record matters. For one-person searches and alerts, use VINELink Inmate Search.
Federal and immigration custody are separate. La Plata County says its detention division houses people for the Federal Marshals, and the official inmate-search page links to ICE for immigration custody. If someone leaves the county jail on a federal or ICE hold, the county release may be a custody transfer, not community release. Use BOP's inmate locator for federal prison release records from 1982 forward and ICE ODLS for adults currently in ICE custody.
Getting Home After Release
Release logistics should be verified instead of guessed. The jail contact page gives the facility address as 742 Turner Drive, Durango, CO 81303. Durango Transit says fixed routes operate seven days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. year-round, and the bus-stops page says drivers pick up only at marked stops and riders should arrive five minutes early. If a released person does not have a ride, verify the nearest marked stop and current route rather than assuming pickup at a jail door.
Released vs Still in Custody
Current-custody systems and release records answer different questions. The table below is the simplest way to keep a La Plata County released-inmate search from going down the wrong path.
| System | Best for | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| VINELink through La Plata County | Checking county custody status or registering for release notifications. | Not a complete long-term release archive. |
| Sheriff records request | Booking sheet, official action, release date, release reason, and booking-photo request path. | May require ID, fees, scope clarification, and review before release. |
| Colorado Judicial Branch | Bond, disposition, sentence, probation, dismissal, warrant, and document-copy records. | Suppressed, juvenile, sealed, or protected records may be restricted. |
| CDOC Offender Search | State prison custody, parole, discharge, and estimated release-date fields. | Does not cover ordinary county jail-only releases. |
| BOP or ICE | Federal prison release dates or current immigration detention. | Separate systems that do not prove a local county community release by themselves. |
La Plata County Detention Facility
The primary local facility for this project is the La Plata County Detention Facility / La Plata County Jail at 742 Turner Drive in Durango. The sheriff describes it as the largest detention facility in Southwest Colorado. A 118-bed, seven-cell-block addition completed in March 2009 brought capacity to 297. A 2018 Durango Herald report about a jail-capacity event and judicially ordered release of 19 low-level offenders is useful historical context, but it is not a current release procedure.
The official La Plata County Detentions Division page is the source for the facility role, capacity, and custody categories.
That facility page is useful because it explains why a La Plata jail release may be a local release, a sentence path, or a transfer to another custody system.