Get Free Access to Bay County Mugshots (Search Databases)

Look up someone’s arrest photograph for free through a Bay County mugshot search, using the most trusted resources.

The Florida Freedom of Information Act has given citizens the right to access public records – except for information deemed confidential or that’s been expunged. Available public information includes arrest and criminal records with mugshots.

Reviewing the content of this article helps record seekers achieve their goal of finding mugshots of individuals through online and offline resources from official agencies – ranging from city-level to state and even federal lookups – with great accuracy and efficiency.

How To View Mugshots in Bay County Without Any Fees

Mugshots can be found from the arrest and criminal record of an offender. These records can be taken from several official agencies with different ranges of authority.

The police departments are responsible for patrolling their specific city or village and arresting individuals who have committed either a misdemeanor or felony offense to maintain the safety of the community.

In Bay County, the department that manages the safety of the community and supervises the county jail is the sheriff’s office. The Bay County Sheriff’s Office has an online database where records of all locally arrested individuals can be found.

At the state level, the Florida Department of Corrections manages all correctional facilities statewide; these facilities house felons sentenced to more than a year of incarceration. An online search tool is available to view various offenders with different custody statuses.

Lastly, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) supervises all federal inmates within the agency’s facilities throughout the United States. A federal inmate locator is available to view the list of both released and in-custody inmates starting from 1982.

For these agencies, other than the online database they offer to the public, record seekers may also run a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) record request by way of call, email, mail, or visiting them in-person to get more information about the inmate in question.

Ways To Look Up Bay County Mugshots for Free

There are various options to view inmate mugshots in Bay County, Florida.

Within Bay County, inmate mugshots can be viewed through the jail roster provided by the sheriff’s office. This inmate search tool can be searched by providing the last, first, and middle name of the subject; this will immediately show the matching individuals’ mugshots, booking number and date, inmate information (full name, race and sex), charges and bonds.¹

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office’s press media also releases news of arrests within the county with the offender’s mugshot.²

Interested individuals may also process a public record request and background check and send it to the record custodian of the sheriff’s office with the appropriate fees.

Bay County Sheriff’s Office
3421 North Highway 77
Panama City, FL 32405

Phone: 850.747.4700
Fax: 850.914.2093
Email: [email protected]

Another method to view mugshots is through VINELink, a third-party service used to view the custody status of an offender.³

For more information, review the process for retrieving arrest records within Bay County, Florida.

Services & Support for Inmates in Detention

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office Jail has an average daily population of about 1100 inmates. To assist these inmates, the county jail offers various services, as outlined below.

Posting Bond: A preset bond and a child support purge can only be paid in cash or a money order that should be payable to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. A regular bond, on the other hand, can be paid in cash at the Bay County Jail Facility, Warrant Division or through a Bail Bondsman. A credit card payment can also be made with valid identification, such as a driver’s license or state ID card.

Jail Commissary: Inmates are allowed to purchase any of the 156 approved items of several types from the commissary supplied by ARAMARK, Inc.

Inmate Accounts: All inmates have their own account that can be used to pay for their purchases from the commissary and other services during their stay in jail.⁴ This account can be funded through money orders delivered in person or via mail; through a kiosk machine located in the lobby of the Bay County Jail Facility with the use of credit cards, debit cards, and cash; or through Touch Pay via phone or online.

Any remaining funds left in an inmate’s account will be refunded through a check that can be picked up during regular working hours at the front lobby with a valid identification photo taken from the Department of Motor Vehicles & Driver’s License (DMV) or through the mail for out-of-town checks.

Inmate Visitation: The Bay County Jail uses an online video visitation service through ViaPath Technologies for family, friends, and other entities of eligible inmates for the visit while following visitors’ policies to avoid any violations of rules and visit disqualification. Scheduling a video visit can be done by calling ViaPath Technologies at +1.888.516.0115 or by setting up an online account.

Inmate Communications: Inmates can’t receive phone calls, but can place collect calls to eligible phone numbers. Any individual who wants to receive calls from an inmate will need to set up an account with Via Path Technologies +1.877.650.4249 and provide a facility number of 15773.

Inmate Mail: Routine letters and family pictures are generally accessible to inmates and must be addressed to the incarcerated individual following the format below. These mails will be scanned into the Kiosk system for any restricted items (for security purposes) before being sent to the inmates, while legal paperwork from attorneys is opened directly in the presence of the inmates.

Name of Facility, State
Inmate Full Name, Inmate Identifier
Post Office Box 247
Phoenix, Maryland 21131

The Bay County Jail Facility also offers other services, such as a lifeline program, medical facility, kitchen, and property inventory.⁵

Retrieving Arrest Photos From Local Municipal Police Departments in Bay County FL

As the arresting agencies of cities and villages, police departments do have limited information about the arrestees within a specific location. These records, together with a police photograph or mugshot, can be requested by interested individuals through various methods.

Record seekers may first contact the specific police department if they allow the public to access the mugshots of various arrestees, or if they have some requirements for an individual to access a record. Once verified, record seekers may process a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request online, by mail, or in person.

The table below lists all police departments within Bay County, each with its own record request process, address, and contact information.

Accessing Prison Mugshots via Federal & State Correctional Facilities in Florida

The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) has 128 facilities that supervise incarcerated offenders convicted and sentenced for more than a year. Mugshots of prisoners placed in various state correctional facilities can be obtained from the FDC.

To find the mugshot of a specific felon, record seekers may search through the Offender Information Search tool maintained by the FDC, which contains records of inmates in custody, supervised population, inmate releases, escapees, and absconders/fugitives.⁷ Each of these types of offenders also has separate databases that record seekers may run a search on.

Searching through these tools may be done by providing the offender’s first and last name and/or the inmate’s assigned DC number. Some filters are also available, such as checking the option of including aliases.

The results will show matching profiles with the following information: mugshot, full name, DC number, sex, race, release date, current facility, birthdate, and a hyperlink (found in the number or name of the offender) that will route to a specific offender’s record with more details.

Offenders who committed federal offenses also have their records made available to the public by the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). The BOP agency has various facilities throughout the United States – eight within Florida, supervising and assisting federal offenders with their rehabilitation and re-entry.

The Bureau of Prisons has an inmate locator, which interested individuals can search by entering the BOP inmate number or the full name of the offender.⁹ The results will show each matching offenders’ full name, register number, sex, race, age, release date, location, and custody status.

To find other records – such as warrants, vitals (marriage, divorce, and birth), and court information of an individual – check out the instructions for obtaining public records in Bay County, Florida.

Public records, including arrest and criminal records, are open to the public following the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).¹⁰ However, using these publicly available records has its limits and restrictions: these records cannot be used to harm, stalk, or discriminate against anyone, either in a professional or personal setting.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) provides the summary of the right use of records and is implemented by the Equal U.S. Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and U.S. Housing & Urban Development (HUD).¹¹

Responsible use of the records taken from any Bay County mugshot search will be the best for both the custodian of records, the user, and the individual being searched.