The Detention Center
Holmes County Jail
- Operated byHolmes County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address3207 Lonny Lindsey Rd., Bonifay, FL 32425
- Rated capacityNot found
- PhonesCollect calls through AmTel Communications; phone time also sold on commissary
- Depositsjailatm.com and jail kiosk; 10% fee for credit/debit card deposits
- Jail AdministratorCaptain Roy Wade, Jail Administrator
Source: Holmes County Sheriff's Office — Jail · checked 2026-09-28
Transparency rating
3/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗Who is in custody — not published
- ✗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
- ✓Phone, video and commissary rates
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 John Tate
- Runs the jailYes — the Holmes County Sheriff's Office runs the Holmes County Jail
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- TenureSheriff's own page says he has served as sheriff for the past 10 years
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Holmes County Sheriff's Office — Meet 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 Holmes County
- Circuit Court: Florida's Fourteenth Judicial Circuit, which also serves Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Jackson and Washington (Fla. Stat. 26.021). Circuit judges are elected circuit-wide to six-year terms and hear felonies.
- County Court: the Holmes 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.
- NoteCounty government site could not be opened; board page not confirmed.
- The boardHolmes County Board of County Commissioners
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- The sheriff runs the Holmes County Jail; the jail page names Captain Roy Wade as jail administrator.
- Bond page: cashier's check, certified check or money order payable to the Holmes County Clerk of Courts; people held without bond 'will routinely appear before a judge within 24 hours after arrest'; jail staff cannot recommend a bondsman.
- Fees: the only published rate is a 10% fee for card deposits to inmate accounts (inmate-funds page); no phone or video rates are posted.
- No roster, capacity, budget, PREA, death-in-custody, inspection or contract material found on the sheriff's jail, records, administration or public-information pages.
- County seat (Bonifay) not confirmed on an opened county page — seat_source left blank.
- What was tried: holmescosheriff.org (opened after search), w.holmescosheriff.org/jail.html (certificate error), holmescountyfl.org (connection failed). One 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 Holmes 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