Whitfield County Jail

The Whitfield County Jail (aka the Whitfield County Detention Facility) is located in Dalton, Georgia and operated by the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office Detention Division. 

The function of this jail is to receive and process adult men and women who have been arrested by county or municipal law enforcement. This includes the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office, Dalton Police Department, Tunnel Hill Police Department, Cohutta Police Department, Varnell Police Department, Georgia State Patrol, G.B.I., F.B.I., and the occasional Federal Agency.

The Whitfield County Detention Facility is a four-story, 146,000 square-foot, 540-bed jail that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It serves as a temporary holding facility, as well as a pre-trial facility to house persons who can't bond out and are waiting for their court date. When someone is arrested in Whitfield county, they are usually given the opportunity to post bond and be released, or they are held until their case is disposed of by the courts. 

The Whitfield County Jail also houses individuals who have been sentenced to serve up to one year of confinement in a local setting, as well as individuals who've been sentenced for more serious crimes and are waiting for bed space to become available within the Georgia Department of Corrections. The average daily population of this jail is 400 inmates.

Inmate Search

To find out if your loved one is being held in Whitfield County, call the jail at 706 278-1233. Be prepared to provide the inmate’s full name and date of birth.

Upon arrival at the jail, the inmate will go through the booking process, which is the same for everyone regardless of the charge. They will either have a bond issued immediately after booking or within 72 hours of their arrest, depending upon the charges. 

Inmates will be given the opportunity to use the telephone once the booking process is completed to contact their family, attorney, and/or a bondsman to arrange a bond. 

Bonding someone out of the Whitfield County Jail

A criminal bond is a financial guarantee that the arrested person will appear in court on a specified date. A BOND IS NOT A FINE. The person you are posting the bond for must appear before a judge to answer criminal charges. 

A fee of $20.00 is charged for every bond that is written by the jail. This fee may be paid in cash and is non-refundable.

If an inmate has bondable charges, he or she can bond out at any time. A bond can be paid with or without a bail bond agent. The method (cash/surety) and amount of money needed for bonding someone out of the Whitfield County Jail depends on their charges. Most crimes, but not all crimes, are bondable offenses.

• Cash Bond

When you pay a cash bond, it is refunded to you when all court appearances have been made and the case is discharged, dismissed, or a not guilty verdict rendered. Failure to appear at the appointed time will result in forfeiture of the bond amount and may result in a Bench Warrant ordered by the judge.

To sign a cash bond, you must bring a photo identification card and enough cash to cover the bond. The sheriff's office only accepts paper money (no change allowed), money order, or cashier’s check. The entire amount of the cash bond must be paid at the bonding office before the inmate is released. 

• Surety Bond

When you use a Bail Bondsman for a surety bond, you will be required to pay a fee (usually equal to 10 to 15 percent of the bond amount) that will not be refunded. Only an approved bondsman may be used. Approved bonding companies in Whitfield County are:

• A-1 Bonding, Inc: (706) 259-3511
• Cohutta Bail Bonding: (706) 277-0095
• Huckabee Bonding Company: (706) 226-5474
• Express Bail Bonding: (706) 529-8560

Prison Insights

Visiting Hours and Rules

Inmates at the Whitfield County Jail are allowed to have visits from family and friends unless  privileges have been restricted for disciplinary or other reasons. Note: All communications with inmates are monitored and recorded.

Visitors must be appropriately dressed in order to visit an inmate. Halter‐tops, tank tops, strapless dresses, and clothing which exposes the bare midriff are not allowed.  Form fitting,  stretch clothing of any type worn in a suggestive manner is not allowed.  

Visitors and inmates are prohibited from displaying themselves in a lewd manner or in states of  undress.  Failure to comply with any visitation rule or verbal order of a facility employee will  result in immediate termination of the visit. 

Each inmate is allowed only one on-site visit each week, but may visit numerous times remotely on the inmate kiosks or tablets. Each visit will be limited to twenty minutes.   

On-Site Visits

Internal (on‐site visitation) is limited to certain dates and times.  On site visitation will not be held on Tuesdays  or Fridays.  Also, the hours are limited to day hours, when inmate meals are not being served. These times are:  

8:00 am ‐ 10:30 am  
1:00 pm ‐ 3:30 pm  
6:00 pm ‐ 9:30 pm

Visitors 16 and older  must  present  a  government  issued photo ID  in  order  to  be  allowed  to  visit.  Contact  visits  are  not  allowed.  Visitors  who  have  criminal  records  or  who  have  been  previously incarcerated may  not  be allowed  to  visit. 

Only three  visitors  per inmate are allowed in  each visiting session, including infants or children. Everyone visiting an inmate must do so at the same time.  Visitors under the age of 17 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. 

All children must  be kept under control at all times: children will not be left unattended in the lobby or anywhere in or around  the facility. 

Intoxicated visitors will not be allowed to visit and may be subject to arrest. 

Food, drink, or the use  of tobacco products are prohibited in the visitation area.   

Visitors are prohibited from communicating in any manner with inmates except in the visitation area. This  includes  any  form  of  communication  from  the  facility  parking  lot.  

Remote Visits

External visits are available from 5:30 am until 11:30 pm each day. 

Friends and family of inmates may login to Jailatm.com to create an account and visit with inmates in custody from the comfort of their own home.  Fees are attached to these transactions.

External visits are subject to the same rules of conduct as internal visitation.  Lewd, inappropriate or disruptive conduct may result in the termination  18 of the visit, disciplinary action and short‐term or long‐term banning  from visitation of any and all individuals involved.

Legal mail is accepted at the jail if it is sent by an attorney of record. Legal mail must be clearly marked “Private Legal Mail” with the inmate’s name and cell location.

Inmate Name/Inmate Number/Cell Block
Whitfield County Jail  
805 Professional Blvd.
Dalton, Ga. 30721

All incoming mail must be delivered via the U.S. Postal System (no private couriers or package delivery). Incoming mail with no return address will not be delivered and will be destroyed. 

All incoming mail is opened and inspected for contraband, money orders, cash, or checks. Incoming mail is scanned into the system electronically,  but will not be read unless circumstances present a compelling reason to do so. 

Any mail containing contraband will not be delivered or returned. Unauthorized items include,  but  are  not  limited  to:

stamps, stationery, writing  instruments, items  containing glue, drawings, computer generated  print‐outs, oversized greeting cards,  credit cards, blank checks, plastic items, jewelry, candy,  food, Polaroid/instant print pictures, sexually explicit photographs, and anything used to conduct a business. 

Mail containing unauthorized items will be destroyed.

How to Call an Inmate

Inmates at the Whitfield County Jail cannot receive incoming phone calls. However, the inmates do have access to phones and can make outgoing calls from the inmate housing area. Phone calls are recorded and may be monitored at any time. 

Whitfield County Jail uses PAYTEL for inmate phone service. Inmates can make a few collect calls, but they need to have money on their Paytel account in order to talk to you when they are out of their cells and using the common area phones. Visit the PAYTEL website to deposit funds for those calls.

Please note: inmates have the ability to transfer funds from their commissary account to their phone account.

How to Send Money

All inmates at the Whitfield County Jail have commissary accounts and are permitted to purchase items from the Jail commissary. Friends and family who wish to put money in an inmate's account may do so 24 hours a day via lobby kiosk or online.

Online

Visit JailATM.com to deposit funds online using a debit or credit card. Or, to order a care package that is delivered to the jail.

Kiosk

A kiosk is located in the lobby of the Whitfield County Jail that accepts commissary and phone deposits by debit/credit card.

Programs For Inmates

Inmate Labor

Select inmates are allowed to assist in the upkeep of the facility as well as providing services to other inmates and the citizens of Whitfield County. This inmate workforce is composed entirely of volunteers and presents many opportunities for inmates to be active and give back to their community. 

These inmates may perform work functions in the Kitchen, Laundry, Runarounds (Internal Inmate General Labor), or Inmate Work Crew (Outside Inmate General Labor). The inmates who work in these details are all hired through a security and medical background process conducted by Inmate Work Crew Personnel.

The jail serves three meals a day to an average of 400 inmates, which equals 438,000 meals per year. Contract food service workers along with inmate labor are used to meet this need. Breakfast and lunch are served hot, while the evening meal consists of sandwiches. 

Outside work details including mowing landscaping and mowing county property as well as providing manual labor for many projects in the community including work on the Miracle Field, cleanup and safety projects at local schools, as well as providing basic maintenance services at the jail, 911 Center, Courthouse, and other locations. 

Outside Work Details include mowing around government buildings, removing trash from county roads, Graffiti removal, setting up and removing voting booths, and placing flags out for civic events, among other tasks. 

In addition, the outside Work Crew has assisted the United Way, Boys and Girls Club, the Green House, the Dalton National Guard Armory, Dalton Police Academy, provided labor for food drives, serviced the local schools, and assisted in servicing the local FairGrounds.

Pictures of Whitfield County Jail

Careers at Whitfield County Jail

If you are interested in a career with the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office and would like more information about the job openings and opportunities at the Whitfield County Jail, click here.

Applications are currently being accepted for detention officers at the jail, with a pay range of $18 -- $20.88 per hour. The pay rate is based on experience. The purpose of this position is to maintain the security and safety of inmates, staff, and the public at the County correctional facility.