Colwell Probation Detention Center Inmate Search

Colwell Probation Detention Center Overview

Colwell Probation Detention Center is operated by the Georgia Department of Corrections at 189 Beasley Street in Blairsville. It is physically in Union County and near the Union County Jail, but it is a state probation detention center rather than a sheriff-run jail. The facility serves adult male probationers in a short-term, secure, work-oriented setting.

GDC materials describe probation detention centers as minimum-security facilities for probationers. They are used as sentencing alternatives to jail or prison, as direct sentencing options, or as revocation and Probation Options Management sanctions. The research source says PDCs normally hold probationers for 60 to 120 days, are designed around 60 to 180 days, and have an average stay of about 90 days. Colwell opened in 1989 and its host facility is Lee Arrendale State Prison in Alto.

The official GDC Colwell Probation Detention Center page identifies Colwell as a probation detention center and gives its Blairsville address and phone number.

That GDC source is the correct facility page for Colwell-specific identity and contact information, while the statewide offender locator is the better search channel for individual custody.

Colwell Probation Detention Center Capacity and Population

Colwell has a designed capacity of 271, reported in both the GDC probation detention center fact sheet and the 2024 PREA audit. The PREA audit gives more detailed facility statistics: current population 246 in the facility-information table, first onsite audit day population 212, 12-month average daily population 198, and 7 housing units. The audit also reported that the facility was not over capacity during the prior 12 months.

The same 2024 audit identifies the resident population as male probationers with an age range of 18 to 70 and custody level of probationer. It also reported 57 staff who may have contact with inmates, 10 contractors, and 37 volunteers. Those are facility-operation figures, not a roster of individuals, and they should not be confused with the Union County Jail count.

How to Look Up an Inmate at Colwell Probation Detention Center

Use Georgia Find an Offender for a person assigned to Colwell Probation Detention Center. Georgia.gov describes the GDC search as a free statewide tool for adult offenders currently serving in Georgia Department of Corrections facilities. It supports searches by name, ID, case number, age, and other identifying information. Georgia.gov also notes that county-jail inmates should be checked through the county, which is why this page does not send Colwell searches to the Union County Jail roster or jail phone.

The Georgia Find an Offender page is the statewide entry point for GDC custody searches, including a person assigned to Colwell when the locator has current facility information.

Use the locator first for state custody, then call Colwell at (706) 745-3610 for facility-specific questions such as visitation, mail, program assignment, or whether a listed person is currently available for approved contact.

1. Open Georgia Find an Offender and search through the GDC offender search tool.
2. Search by full name, GDC ID, case number, age, or other identifying information when available.
3. Review the result for current facility assignment and confirm whether Colwell is listed.
4. Call Colwell at (706) 745-3610 if the locator result is unclear, recently changed, or needs facility-rule confirmation.

Colwell Probation Detention Center Address and Contact

Call Colwell for facility-specific questions after confirming state custody through GDC. The facility phone is the practical channel for visitor approval, current scheduling rules, mail formatting, deposit provider, package restrictions, and program questions. For broad GDC inmate concerns, the research file also lists GDC inmate concerns/questions at (404) 656-4661, but Colwell's direct number should be used for local operational details.

Do not use the Union County Jail's JAILATM rule, no-in-person-visitation rule, or jail-account instructions for Colwell unless GDC confirms them. Colwell is a state facility with state visitation, mail, and money rules, even though it is located in the same Blairsville area as the county jail.

Visiting Someone at Colwell Probation Detention Center

The official Colwell location page did not publish a Colwell-specific visiting schedule in the research source. Because the facility is operated by GDC, use GDC Friends & Family visitation guidance and call Colwell to confirm current approval, appointment, identification, dress code, arrival, and cancellation requirements. A probation detention center may have different contact rules from a county jail because the residents are state probationers in a structured sanction program.

Before traveling, confirm whether the visitor must be approved in advance, whether the visit is by appointment, and whether program status or disciplinary status affects visitation. The absence of a published Colwell schedule is not permission to assume county jail rules apply.

Mail, Phone, and Money at Colwell Probation Detention Center

Use GDC statewide mail and money procedures for Colwell, then verify the current facility-specific details by phone. The research file did not locate a Colwell-only mail format, package rule, deposit provider, or phone vendor on the official Colwell location page. Because Colwell is state-operated, it is not appropriate to use the Union County Jail's money-order, JailATM, Combined Public Communications, or InmateSales instructions for this facility.

When calling, ask whether mail must include a GDC ID number, whether the return address must be formatted a certain way, whether printed photos or publications are allowed, which deposit system is active, and whether the resident's program status affects phone access. Those details can change more quickly than the facility profile.

Booking and Intake at Colwell Probation Detention Center

Colwell intake is not street-arrest booking. A person is generally placed there after a court or supervision decision sends the probationer into a GDC probation detention center sanction or sentencing alternative. The GDC PDC fact sheet says local sheriff's offices transport probationers to each facility, which creates a connection between county custody and state PDC admission, but the custody system changes once the person is received by GDC.

At Colwell, the focus is classification into a short-term, work-oriented program rather than bond or first appearance. The resident is in a minimum-security environment with structured schedules and work requirements. A family member who only knows that a person was arrested in Union County should first determine whether the person remains in the Union County Jail or has moved into state custody before searching GDC.

About Colwell Probation Detention Center

Colwell is one of Georgia's probation detention center facilities. GDC describes PDCs as secure, safe, work-oriented environments with highly structured schedules, supervised unpaid work, and military-style discipline. Work areas may include food service, horticulture, auto-body, building and grounds maintenance, janitorial work, laundry, utilities, maintenance, and sanitation. Community work details may include road work, cleaning public buildings and schools, recycling centers, landfills, and maintenance of prison or civic buildings.

Programs may include Motivation for Change, substance-use counseling, AA/NA, Life Skills, Job Readiness, Group Counseling, Personal Health, and GED or Adult Basic Education, depending on facility resources and court requirements. These programs fit Colwell's role as a short-term probation sanction and reentry-oriented discipline setting, not as a county pretrial jail.

The 2024 PREA audit provides unusually specific facility context. It reported 45 standards met, 0 exceeded, and 0 not met. It also noted S.A.F.E., Inc. has an MOU with the facility to provide victim advocacy and 24-hour crisis-line support for detainees reporting sexual abuse, and that S.A.R.T. conducts forensic exams on site when requested with SANE nurses available.