Abingdon Facility Release Outcomes
The Abingdon Facility is one of four jails operated by SWVRJA. Buchanan and Dickenson counties are authority members, and the public JailTracker covers the authority as a whole. A Buchanan charge does not establish that a person was held at Haysi. It may lead to placement at Abingdon based on the authority's operations. The first task is therefore to confirm the facility shown for the relevant custody episode.
Leaving Abingdon has several meanings. Bond, time served, dismissal, or another court-authorized event may return the person to the community. A placement change can send the person to Haysi, Duffield, or Tazewell while regional custody continues. Felony sentencing may result in transfer to VADOC. Another jurisdiction may take the person because of a detainer, which is a hold that preserves or requests custody. Only a record that states the event can separate those paths.
| Recorded event | Likely next check |
|---|---|
| Community release | SWVRJA release entry, Jail VINE event, and Buchanan court order |
| SWVRJA transfer | Shared roster and authority records naming the new facility |
| VADOC transfer | VADOC locator after intake processing |
| Other hold | Release entry and the named receiving agency |
Verify an Abingdon Release
Begin at the official SWVRJA current-facility-inmates page. Its label is exact: current inmates. The linked JailTracker is not a former-inmate archive and does not publish an official 24-hour or 72-hour release list. A match can show present authority custody and the listed site. No match says only that the search did not return a current display. It cannot, by itself, prove release.
- Search the authority roster with the legal name and check the facility field on each possible match.
- Open Virginia Jail VINE, match the person and SWVRJA, and read the exact status and event date.
- Call Abingdon when the question concerns immediate facility status or an active custody episode.
- Request the existing booking-and-release entry for a past event, naming Abingdon and the date range.
- Compare the result with the originating Buchanan court and use VADOC only when state custody or supervision is involved.
Jail VINE provides custody information and alerts from participating jail data. It can report events such as release or transfer, but delays are possible. A court docket can explain bond, sentence, or dismissal without documenting the physical time a person left. A defensible result joins the SWVRJA event to the court action and, when needed, the receiving agency's record.
Abingdon Facility Contact Record
Abingdon has an unusual dual role in the release-record path. Its published telephone and fax are also the contacts used for the authority's centralized FOIA function. That does not erase the need to identify the actual confinement site. A useful request says that the Buchanan detainee was believed to be at Abingdon, supplies an approximate date range, and asks the responsive record to identify the assigned facility.
15205 Joe Derting Drive
Abingdon, VA 24210
Phone: 276-739-3520
Fax: 276-739-3534
Hours: Call for current information
The official SWVRJA contact page lists Abingdon with the other authority sites. No release-record business hours were published in the research. Call before visiting and use a written request when the exact wording, date range, or desired format matters. The phone can help route a question, but the responsive record is the better proof of a past event.
Note: Abingdon's contact number may route both facility and authority business, so state the purpose at the start of the call.
Request Abingdon Release Records
SWVRJA directs formal public-record requests to Melissa White at P.O. Box 279, Meadowview, Virginia 24361; phone 276-739-3520; fax 276-739-3534; and email mmwhite@swvrja.com. The authority's FOIA page links SOP 3.35 and its request form. Ask for existing material rather than answers to broad questions. Agencies need not create a new analysis or compute a date that is not already in a record.
A focused request can seek the booking number, booking date and time, assigned SWVRJA facility, release date and time, release type or authority, and a public transfer destination if recorded. Add the Buchanan court case number when known. Electronic delivery can reduce copying, but reasonable actual charges for search, access, duplication, or supply may still apply. No flat Abingdon release-record fee was found. Ask for an advance estimate if cost matters.
Virginia Code § 2.2-3704 provides the general request and response framework, including the usual five-working-day initial period and lawful response options. Some material may be withheld or redacted. Adult routine-booking photographs have a specific request rule in § 2.2-3706, subject to the statute's limits. A request for the release entry and photo should not assume access to an entire correctional file.
Abingdon Roster Release Limits
The shared JailTracker may show identity, booking information, charges, the assigned facility, and a booking image on an active record. Those fields describe present custody as exposed by the current interface. SWVRJA does not state how long a former record remains online because it does not offer a former-inmate view. It would be inaccurate to turn an observed screen change into a fixed retention rule.
Website visibility and records retention are different. The Library of Virginia's GS-08 schedule lists cumulative booking-and-release records for 20 years after separation and inmate incarceration records for three years after separation, followed by confidential destruction. Those categories do not promise public web access for either span. The current schedule and the correct series must be checked when a request is made.
- Current roster
- A live custody display, not proof of a past release.
- Release entry
- The agency record of how and when its custody ended or changed.
- Transfer
- Movement to another custodian while confinement continues.
- Release authority
- The court order, sentence completion, bond, or other lawful basis staff verified.
Abingdon and Buchanan Courts
A Buchanan court record provides the legal context for an Abingdon custody event. General District Court records cover misdemeanor and preliminary-level proceedings, while Circuit Court records cover felony and circuit matters. A case can move between court levels after certification or appeal. Search the correct portal and compare names, case numbers, charges, disposition, sentence, and later orders.
The docket and jail record answer different questions. A bond or release order can authorize departure but may not show the hour staff finished processing. An SWVRJA entry can show when its custody ended without giving the full history of the case. Match the two. If the record says “transferred,” find the receiving agency instead of describing the event as freedom from all custody. The main Buchanan County release record resource covers the complete court and agency sequence.
Virginia jail standard 6VAC15-40-1090 requires staff to identify the releasee, verify the release authority, and check other-jurisdiction holds. That process explains why a predicted outcome can change after another warrant or hold is found.
Buchanan Jail and Prison Releases
Buchanan County combines two correctional systems. SWVRJA operates Abingdon and the other regional jails. VADOC operates Keen Mountain Correctional Center, a state prison inside Buchanan County. The same county name therefore does not identify the right search tool. Abingdon releases use the regional record, Jail VINE, and originating court. Keen Mountain discharges and paroles use VADOC documents, notification, the locator while its scope still covers the person, and an assigned supervision district.
A transfer from Abingdon to VADOC ends the local custody episode but not confinement. Allow for intake and data processing, then search the VADOC Inmate & Supervisee Locator. Jail VINE and state notification are also distinct. A local registration does not automatically become a VADOC or NAAVI registration when the person enters state custody.
That split is the most important local angle for interpreting an Abingdon disappearance. The place named by the next record decides whether to follow SWVRJA, VADOC, another jail, or a court-authorized community release.
After Abingdon Custody Ends
A true community release can still include supervision. Probation is supervision ordered by a court and may follow a jail term. Parole is conditional release from a qualifying prison term. The VADOC locator may show a covered person under community supervision and identify a district. That status means the person left the cell setting but remains subject to correctional conditions.
For personal knowledge or reconnecting with someone, keep the evidence narrow and current. Record the date and exact label from the source. Save a VINE notice if one is received. Request the jail entry when a durable record is needed. Court action, the release event, and supervision can change at different times, so one screenshot rarely answers every part of the question.
Final verification should name both the agency and the event. “SWVRJA recorded a release from Abingdon” is more accurate than a broad claim about the person's location. When a transfer appears, the next agency must confirm what happened next.