Woodson County, Kansas Inmate Search

Contact the Woodson County Sheriff’s Office directly to check whether someone is currently held in the Woodson County jail — no confirmed public online roster exists for this county. The Sheriff’s Office is located at 105 West Rutledge Street, Yates Center, KS 66783. Woodson County is a small, rural county in southeast Kansas, part of the 31st Judicial District, and its jail population is managed by the elected county sheriff.

Looking for someone booked tonight? See If someone was just booked tonight for phone-first contact info.

How to find an inmate in Woodson County

Call the Woodson County Sheriff’s Office to confirm whether a specific person is in custody. The office is at 105 West Rutledge Street, Yates Center, KS 66783. No confirmed public online roster for the Woodson County jail appears in the county’s official web presence. Phone contact with the Sheriff’s Office is the most direct path to a current custody answer.

When you call, search by the person’s full legal name and, if known, date of birth. Booking date and charge information can help staff locate the record faster, particularly if the name is common. Kansas law treats jail inmate rosters as open records, so the Sheriff’s Office is required to respond to a public records request — though booking photos and certain investigation records may be withheld at the agency’s discretion. The Woodson County Courthouse, where the Sheriff’s Office is located, is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, with a midday break from noon to 1:00 PM. Confirm hours before visiting.

What the roster does (and doesn’t) show

Juvenile bookings do not appear on any public jail roster in Kansas. Sealed records, expunged records, and cases involving juveniles are withheld by law. Federal detainees held under an intergovernmental agreement may or may not appear depending on the arrangement. Anyone booked on a municipal ordinance charge — rather than a state charge — may be held at a city facility rather than the county jail, and that record would not appear in a county-level search.

Kansas VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday) provides statewide custody notifications and can confirm whether a person is in a Kansas county jail, including Woodson County. VINE operates around the clock and does not require a phone call to the jail. Court case information — charges filed, hearing dates, case numbers — is separate from jail custody status and lives in the Kansas Judicial Branch’s CaseSearch, which covers district court cases statewide but does not include municipal court cases. A new booking can take time to appear in any online system, which matters most when the arrest happened within the last several hours.

If someone was just booked tonight

The Woodson County jail is operated by the Woodson County Sheriff’s Office, located at 105 West Rutledge Street, Yates Center, KS 66783. That’s where your person is most likely being held. Calling the Sheriff’s Office is the right move right now — they can confirm custody and tell you when the first appearance before a judge is scheduled. That’s a hard night, and the uncertainty makes it worse.

Bond is set by a judge at the first appearance, not by the arresting officer and not by the jail. Calling the Sheriff’s Office tonight confirms custody and gets you the timing of that hearing — it won’t give you a bond amount yet, because no judge has set one. Under Kansas law, unless a magistrate orders otherwise, a bond on a felony or misdemeanor against a person carries a no-contact condition with the alleged victim for at least 72 hours — but the magistrate can modify that at the first appearance.

Visitation at the Woodson County jail is not available the night of booking. Call the Sheriff’s Office the next morning to ask about visitation hours and procedures. If you need a licensed bondsman after bond is set, the Kansas Department of Administration maintains a list of licensed bail bondsmen statewide.

Morning actions, in order: call the Woodson County District Court Clerk — Lisa Page, Woodson County Courthouse, 105 W. Rutledge, Yates Center, KS 66783 — to get the case number and hearing date once charges are filed. Attend the first appearance if you can. If the person needs an attorney and cannot afford one, the Kansas Board of Indigents’ Defense Services handles public defender appointments in Woodson County. Confirm numbers and hours before visiting or calling any office.

If the person isn’t on the Woodson County roster

A missing name most often means the booking hasn’t yet processed through to whatever record is visible — or that the person was released after booking on a cite-and-release or signature bond before the roster was updated. Both are common in a small county jail where processing can lag behind the physical booking.

• Released after booking: Kansas allows cite-and-release for many lower-level offenses, and a judge can set a signature bond (own recognizance) at first appearance. The person may have been released before you searched.
• Transferred to state custody: If the person was sentenced or transferred to a Kansas Department of Corrections facility, search the KDOC KASPER offender search. Note that KASPER reflects historical records and people already released — it is not a live list of current prison population.
• Held in a neighboring county: Charges originating in Allen, Wilson, or Neosho County — all part of the 31st Judicial District with Woodson — may result in custody in a different county jail.
• Federal custody: Federal charges or immigration detainers result in transfer to a federal facility. County rosters never show federal detainees.
• Statewide custody notification: Check VINELink for custody status across Kansas county jails. VINELink is available around the clock and does not require knowing which facility holds the person.

For inmates in other counties or states

A nationwide records search may help surface custody records in other Kansas counties, neighboring states, or federal facilities that local rosters never display. Coverage varies by jurisdiction and the tool is one source among several — results may include records not reflected in any single county portal.

Sponsored: Nationwide Records Search (we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you).

This tool is not a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA and may not be used to screen anyone for employment, housing, credit, or any other purpose covered by that law.

Woodson County inmate search — resource comparison