Benzie County Jail Records Overview
The Benzie County Jail is operated by the Benzie County Sheriff's Office Corrections Division. Official county pages describe the jail as the local detention facility for lawfully arrested and incarcerated people from the sheriff's office and other law enforcement agencies operating in the county. The research found no official Benzie County public roster, booking report, or jail inmate search portal on the sheriff or corrections pages. That means a reader should not rely on unofficial roster websites as though they were county systems.
Sheriff Kyle Rosa is named on the official sheriff pages, and the county's sheriff FOIA page is the key written request path when a jail record is not available by phone or counter contact.
The practical Benzie County inmate records chain starts with direct jail contact. For current custody, call the sheriff non-emergency number at 231-882-4484 and ask for jail or corrections information. For visitation coordination, the official visitation PDF lists 231-882-0052 for the control room. If staff cannot release the record informally, use the sheriff FOIA process for booking records, jail records, booking photos, and historical material that is not available by phone or counter.
Use Benzie County Inmate Lookup Channels
Because no official public roster was located, Benzie County inmate lookup is an access-channel process. Bring enough identifiers before making a call or request. A full legal name is the baseline. A date of birth, approximate arrest date, arresting agency, known case number, and spelling variants can prevent a false miss, especially when the question involves a common name or a recent transfer.
- Call 231-882-4484 and ask for the jail or corrections desk when the person may be in Benzie County Jail.
- Use 231-882-0052 for visitation or lobby video visit coordination once custody is confirmed.
- Search Michigan VINE for custody or case notifications in participating Michigan systems.
- Search MiCOURT Case Search after charges have been filed in District or Circuit Court.
- Search MDOC OTIS, BOP, or ICE ODLS when the person is no longer a local jail matter.
Benzie County Inmate Search Fields
The following table reflects what the research actually found. Benzie County did not expose a roster form with public fields, so the table focuses on the identifiers needed for phone and FOIA channels and the separate state locator fields used after sentencing.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official Benzie County jail roster | n/a | n/a | No official public roster or search form was located. |
| Full legal name | Verbal or written | Strongly recommended | Use for jail calls, VINE, MiCOURT, and FOIA. |
| Date of birth | Verbal or written | Staff dependent | Helps distinguish people with similar names. |
| Arrest date or agency | Verbal or written | Optional | Helpful for locating a booking event or incident record. |
| FOIA record description | Written text | Yes | State that it is a FOIA request and describe the records sought. |
| OTIS last name or offender number | Online form | Yes | OTIS requires at least a last name or offender number, except absconder category searches. |
Benzie County Jail Record Fields
No official public Benzie inmate profile was available for inspection, so public copy should not state that a county web profile shows a mugshot, bond amount, housing unit, release date, or booking number. Those are records a requester may ask about. The county jail still creates booking and intake records as part of its processing function, and the corrections officer job description confirms booking, processing, supervision, care, custody, and health duties.
| Field | How to Treat It |
|---|---|
| Name and identifying details | Use as request targets for phone, counter, VINE, court, or FOIA searches. |
| Booking date | Request from jail or FOIA if not confirmed by staff. |
| Charges or holds | Confirm formal filed charges through MiCOURT, not just booking allegations. |
| Bond or release status | Call the jail or court because holds and warrants can block release. |
| Housing or classification | May be limited for safety and security reasons. |
| Booking photo | Use the sheriff FOIA process if staff does not release it informally. |
Benzie County Booking Record Requests
The sheriff FOIA page is the main written-record path for Benzie County inmate records that are not published online. Requests may be submitted in writing, by email to LEvans@Benzieco.Gov, by fax to 231-882-5814, or in person at 505 S. Michigan Avenue, Beulah, MI. The FOIA coordinator phone listed in the research is 231-882-4484 x231. The request should say it is a FOIA request and should describe the booking record, incident report, jail record, or booking photo as clearly as possible.
Michigan FOIA does not mean every item is released in full. MCL 15.231 states the public policy for access, MCL 15.233 covers inspection and copying, and MCL 15.234 allows permitted fees. The sheriff page says most requests are completed within the five-business-day FOIA timeframe unless more time is needed for search or compilation.
Benzie County Jail vs Other Custody
The most common error in inmate records work is searching the wrong system. Benzie County Jail covers local jail custody. MDOC OTIS covers people under Michigan Department of Corrections jurisdiction. BOP covers federal inmates, and ICE ODLS covers immigration detention. Michigan VINE can supplement custody notifications but does not replace the jail for urgent same-day booking questions.
| Custody | Where to Look | What It Usually Shows |
|---|---|---|
| Local arrest or short sentence | Benzie County Jail phone, counter, FOIA, VINE | Custody, visitation, bond, and requestable booking details |
| Filed court charges | MiCOURT, 85th District Court, 19th Circuit Court, County Clerk | Case number, charges, hearing dates, status, disposition |
| State sentence or supervision | MDOC OTIS | Offender number, status, location, sentence fields, parole dates |
| Federal sentence | BOP Inmate Locator | Name, register number, age, sex, race, release date, location |
| Immigration detention | ICE ODLS | Search by A-number/country or biographical data |
Benzie County Jail Contact Card
The only adult detention facility identified in Benzie County is the county jail at the sheriff's office. The official sheriff page gives the public office hours as Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., excluding holidays. The jail operates as a detention facility outside office hours, but public counter access should be confirmed before travel.
Benzie County Jail
505 S. Michigan Avenue
Beulah, MI 49617
231-882-4484
Visitation/control room: 231-882-0052
Benzie County Booking Process
A Benzie County arrest can be made by a sheriff's deputy, Michigan State Police trooper, Frankfort officer, conservation officer, or another agency with authority in the county. If local custody is needed, the person is transported to the jail at 505 S. Michigan Avenue. Intake includes identification, booking, property handling, search, screening, records creation, and classification. The jail's direct-supervision design and 47-person capacity frame how housing and supervision work.
After booking, the path depends on the legal issue. A person may be released on personal recognizance, cash bond, surety bond, or court conditions. A no-bond hold, probation or parole hold, bench warrant, detainer, or another jurisdiction's hold can keep the person in custody even if a local charge has a bond. Court records after filing should be checked through Benzie County court records after a jail arrest.
Benzie County Jail Visitation
Official visitation rules use CIT Net video visitation and two free lobby portals at the sheriff's office. Remote users create an account and purchase data for a video visit. Lobby visitors use the portals at 505 S. Michigan Avenue and call the control room when they arrive to say who they want to visit. Visits are limited to two visitors, including infants. Visitors under 17 must be with a legal guardian.
| Day | Hours | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Any day | 8 a.m.-12 p.m. | CIT Net remote or lobby video when available |
| Any day | 1 p.m.-5 p.m. | CIT Net remote or lobby video when available |
| Any day | 6 p.m.-7:15 p.m. | CIT Net remote or lobby video when available |
Benzie County Jail Mail and Funds
Official county pages reviewed did not publish a full inmate mail format, commissary vendor, deposit provider, kiosk instruction, phone-pricing table, or current fee schedule. The research found a budget reference to a Sheriff's Inmate Trust Fund, which confirms inmate funds exist, but user-facing deposit instructions were not located in official sources. Call the jail before mailing anything or sending money.
Note: Confirm custody and current jail rules before scheduling a visit, mailing property, or sending inmate funds.