Clarke Scheduled vs Actual
A release date can be a past event, a projected computation, or a tentative review point. A Clarke County Jail release date is a past jail event recorded in a booking/release entry. An ADOC Minimum Release Date is a forward-looking prison field. A parole consideration date is a tentative Board date, not a guaranteed release. A BOP date can be projected if it is in the future. The first task is to identify which system last held the person.
Scheduled is not final. A computed or tentative release date can change before the person physically leaves custody.
For Clarke County Jail, ask the jail for a release date and release reason if the person has already left. If the person is awaiting trial, there may be no set release date. Bond, court orders, dismissal, sentence, probation, warrant action, or transfer can all change the answer. For a sentenced state prisoner, ADOC definitions and records become the primary source.
ADOC Minimum Release Date
Alabama's key ADOC term is "Minimum Release Date." ADOC defines it as the earliest scheduled date an inmate can be released to probation or end of sentence. ADOC also says that date can change if the inmate receives disciplinaries that take away good time, if the circuit clerk sends new cases, or if the current sentence changes. That is the state-specific term to use for a Clarke County state-prison release-date lookup.
The ADOC inmate search is useful for current state-prison custody, but it has limits. ADOC says its online database contains currently incarcerated inmates and that historical data is not available online. The AIS six-digit number takes precedence over name fields, and name searches are open-ended. A search can show up to 50 matching records, and Youthful Offender Act inmates are excluded from the public search and population totals.
The ADOC inmate search appears in the manifest for projected-release work. Source: ADOC Inmate Search.
The source supports using ADOC only for current state-prison custody and related date fields.
Lookup Clarke Release Date
Release-date work should follow custody. A person in Clarke County Jail on a local arrest has a different record path than a person sentenced to ADOC. A person in federal or immigration custody has another path. Start with the most local source that can answer the custody question, then move outward only when the record points there.
- Call Clarke County Jail at 251-275-8156 for local custody and ask whether the person is currently held or already released.
- If released from jail, ask for the release date, release time, release reason, booking number, and transfer destination if any.
- Check the Clarke County Circuit Clerk or Alacourt for bond orders, sentence orders, dismissal entries, probation orders, or warrant actions.
- If sentenced or transferred to ADOC, search by AIS number when possible, then review the Minimum Release Date and related sentence fields.
- Use ABPP for parole consideration, parole results, mandatory supervision, and local Grove Hill supervision routing.
- Use VINE for notification alerts, BOP for federal inmates, and ICE for immigration custody when those systems match the custody path.
For an alert after a projected date changes, use VINE Inmate Check. For proof that a person has already left Clarke County Jail, use the release-record workflow on Clarke County released inmates.
Alabama Good-Time Rules
Alabama correctional incentive time is governed by Ala. Code Section 14-9-41. The research source identifies Class I, Class II, Class III, and Class IV treatment, with no correctional incentive time for Class IV. It also identifies exclusions, including Class A felony conviction, deadly-weapon death offense, life or death sentence, sentence over 15 years, and child sex offense as defined in Alabama law. Those rules can affect a state-prison release computation.
Good time should not be used as a simple guess. ADOC's definitions separate "Good Time Received" from "Good Time Revoked." Disciplinary action can take away credit. New cases from the circuit clerk can change the sentence picture. Sentence corrections can also move the date. For Clarke County cases that became ADOC sentences, jail credit is especially important because ADOC defines Jail Credit as county-jail time before sentencing and says the sentencing county's circuit clerk prepares that time.
- Good Time Received
- Credit applied under ADOC sentence computation rules.
- Good Time Revoked
- Credit removed after disciplinary action.
- Jail Credit
- County-jail time before sentencing, prepared by the sentencing county circuit clerk.
- Total Term
- The controlling sentence length used in the computation.
Why Clarke Dates Change
Release dates change because custody records change. ADOC's own definitions say the Minimum Release Date can change because of disciplinaries, good-time loss, new cases from the circuit clerk, or sentence changes. ABPP parole timing can add another layer. Mandatory supervision has its own eligibility rules. County jail release dates can change quickly after a judge signs an order, a bond posts, or another agency places or clears a hold.
| Factor | Effect on release date |
|---|---|
| Discipline or good-time loss | Can move an ADOC Minimum Release Date later. |
| New cases from the circuit clerk | Can add or alter the sentence computation. |
| Sentence correction or order | Can change term length, jail credit, or release path. |
| Jail credit recalculation | Can affect ADOC time served after a Clarke County sentence. |
| Parole decision or home-plan review | Can affect release timing after Board action. |
| Transfer or hold | Can end Clarke County custody while another agency keeps custody. |
Parole Date Is Different
ADOC defines "Parole Consideration Date" as a tentative date set by the Parole Board. ABPP says parole eligibility is calculated under Ala. Code Section 15-22-28(e), considering sentence, crime, jail credit, ability to earn good time, time served, and court orders. That means a parole consideration date is a review point. It is not a promise that the person will be released on that date.
ABPP also explains that after parole is granted, the agency verifies the home plan and coordinates with ADOC to schedule release on parole. Because of that coordination, a result of granted can still require more steps before the physical release occurs. Clarke County supervision is locally tied to the ABPP Grove Hill Field Office, so the Post-Release Supervision page is the better place for local ABPP office details.
The ADOC definitions page is the source for Minimum Release Date, Parole Consideration Date, Parole Status, Jail Credit, and related terms. Source: ADOC Definitions.
The definitions source supports using ADOC's exact terminology rather than a generic projected-date label.
Mandatory Supervision Date
Mandatory supervision is separate from parole consideration and separate from a county jail release. ABPP says mandatory release under Ala. Code Section 15-22-26.2 applies to eligible offenses committed on or after January 30, 2016. It excludes child sex offenses and life sentences. ADOC determines the mandatory release date and coordinates with ABPP for release to supervision.
For Clarke County, this matters when a local case became a state-prison sentence. The jail release may be a transfer to ADOC. The later mandatory supervision date belongs to ADOC and ABPP. The Clarke County Circuit Clerk may still matter because sentencing orders and jail credit are part of the computation.
ADOC Records Request
When the ADOC public search is not enough, ADOC has a formal public-records process. The ADOC contact and public-records policy states that requests to inspect or copy records must be submitted in writing on ADOC Form 23-A with the processing fee to the Public Records Coordinator. The ADOC address is 301 S. Ripley Street, P.O. Box 301501, Montgomery, AL 36130-1501. The main number is 334-353-3883, toll-free is 1-855-WE-R-ADOC, and Central Records is 334-353-9738.
Use the records request when a current-inmate search does not answer a state-prison release-date issue, when a historical detail is needed, or when a state record must be matched to a court sentence. Ask for the releasable sentence and release-date records tied to the person, using AIS number if known. If the question is jail credit from a Clarke County sentence, also check with the Clarke County Circuit Clerk.
A useful ADOC request identifies the person by full name, AIS number if known, date of birth if available, sentencing county, and the release-date field being requested. Ask for records that show the Minimum Release Date, sentence date, jail credit, good time received, good time revoked, parole consideration date, parole status, and discharge or release event if releasable. If ADOC says a fee or prepayment is required, follow the agency's written instructions before expecting production.
ADOC's public-records source is captured in the manifest. Source: ADOC contact and public-records policy.
The policy source supports the written Form 23-A route for ADOC release-date records.
Clarke Jail Date Limits
Short county jail releases are not calculated like ADOC prison minimum release dates. For Clarke County Jail, the useful documents are the booking/release record and the court order or sentence. If the person served a short jail sentence, the release entry and case-action summary should show the sentence-completion or release event. If the person left by bond, the court docket should show future case activity. If the person was transferred, the receiving agency's system becomes the next source.
No official Clarke County online roster, 24-hour release list, 72-hour release list, or release-date filter was verified. For a local jail release date, direct contact is the official route: Clarke County Jail, 149 Clark Street, P.O. Box 913, Grove Hill, AL 36451, 251-275-8156. Ask for the release date/time, release reason, booking number, court case number, and transfer destination if maintained and releasable.
The sheriff's page also lists the sheriff's office at 114 Court Street, P.O. Box 913, Grove Hill, AL 36451, with phone 251-275-4254. Use that office when the jail directs a release-date request to sheriff records. If the answer depends on a court order, use the Circuit Clerk and Alacourt. If the answer depends on a state-prison calculation, use ADOC. Keeping those lanes separate prevents a county release date from being confused with a state Minimum Release Date.
For short stays, ask whether the date is based on release from the jail, transport out of the jail, or final sentence completion. Those are not always the same event.
Note: A person can be out of Clarke County Jail and still be under court, ADOC, ABPP, federal, or immigration custody control.