The Detention Center
Gilchrist County Jail
- Operated byGilchrist County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address9239 S US Hwy 129, Trenton, FL 32693
- Jail phone(352) 463-3490
- RoleBooking and intake location for all law enforcement agencies in Gilchrist County; holds men, women, and juveniles charged as adults
- StaffingCorrectional captain, 2 lieutenants, 4 sergeants, 18 correctional deputies and 1 registered nurse (Corrections Division page)
- VisitationVideo and onsite visits scheduled through NCIC (kiosk, website or app)
- Phone providerNCIC; all calls collect
- CommissaryDeposits via lobby kiosk or jailatm.com
- Rated capacityNot found
Source: Gilchrist County Sheriff's Office — Corrections Division · checked 2026-09-28
Transparency rating
2/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✗Beds and daily population — not published
- ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
- ✗Deaths in custody — not published
- ✗PREA audits — not published
- ✗Independent inspection — not published
- ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
- ✗How to post bond — not published
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year builtNot found
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- BedsNot found
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Bobby Schultz
- Runs the jailYes — the Gilchrist County Sheriff's Office runs the Gilchrist County Jail through its Corrections Division
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- In office sinceElected 2012; re-elected 2016, 2020 and 2024 (per the sheriff's own page)
- Name noteListed as Robert D. Schultz in the FDLE Sheriff's Office Directory (2 Sep 2025); the sheriff's own site uses Bobby Schultz
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Gilchrist County Sheriff's Office — About the Sheriff · checked 2026-09-28
The Judges
Florida's circuit and county judges are elected state judicial officers, not county officials. A judge sets the first conditions of release at first appearance, within 24 hours of arrest.
Who sets bail in Gilchrist County
- Circuit Court: Florida's Eighth Judicial Circuit, which also serves Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Levy and Union (Fla. Stat. 26.021). Circuit judges are elected circuit-wide to six-year terms and hear felonies.
- County Court: the Gilchrist County Court. County judges are elected countywide to six-year terms and hear misdemeanors.
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-28
The Board of County Commissioners
They pay for the jail. In most counties the sheriff runs it; in some, the county does.
- What they controlThe sheriff's budget, including its separate line for corrections and detention: the sheriff submits it by June 1 and the board may amend, increase or reduce it (Fla. Stat. 30.49). The board also owns the jail building, and it decides by ordinance whether the sheriff or a county corrections department runs the jail (Fla. Stat. 951.061).
- What they don'tDay-to-day operations where the sheriff runs the jail. The sheriff is separately elected, and can appeal the board's budget cuts to the Governor and Cabinet sitting as the Administration Commission. No state agency inspects the jail; peer inspectors from other sheriffs' offices do.
- NoteThe county website (gilchrist.fl.us) is linked from the sheriff's site but could not be opened in this session; minutes URL not confirmed.
- The boardGilchrist County Board of County Commissioners
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- Old lead gilcso.org could not be opened; the current official site is gcso.us, confirmed Gilchrist County, Florida.
- The sheriff's own site names Sheriff Bobby Schultz; the FDLE directory lists Robert D. Schultz.
- Jail page links an 'Inmate Finder/Jail Logs' search on the sheriff's own subdomain (inmate.gcso.us/SmartWEBClient), which opened with the Gilchrist County Sheriff's Office header.
- Corrections Division page gives staffing, visitation, commissary and phone-provider details (NCIC, collect calls) but no rates, capacity, bond guidance, PREA or inspection material.
- Finance page describes the finance function but posts no budget document. Office of Professional Standards says internal-investigation summaries are available only by public records request.
- What was tried: http://www.gilcso.org and https://www.gilcso.org/ refused (PROVENANCE_REQUIRED); https://gilchrist.fl.us/ refused (PROVENANCE_REQUIRED). 1 WebSearch used.
- State inspection/oversight: Florida requires every county jail to meet the Florida Model Jail Standards and to be inspected each year, but the inspectors come from other sheriffs' offices, not a state agency, and state law does not require the reports to be published.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Gilchrist County and what it costs the people who live here. Nationally, almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 had not been convicted of anything, and suicide was the leading single cause of those deaths (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019).
How much is your sheriff — and your judge — costing you?
Your VOTE is POWERFUL.
The sheriff is elected. So are the county commissioners who pay for the jail, and the judges who set bail.
Names verified 2026-09-28 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered