The Detention Center
Early County Jail
- Operated byEarly County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address18610 East South Blvd., Blakely, GA 39823
- Rated capacity74-bed detention facility
- VisitationSaturday (last names A-J) and Sunday (K-Z), 2:00-4:00 pm
- CommissaryCommissary sales; kiosk in front lobby for inmate calls
- Jail AdministratorMia Wallace (Assistant Jail Administrator)
Source: Early County Sheriff's Office — Detention · checked 2026-09-29
Transparency rating
2/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗Who is in custody — not published
- ✓Beds and daily population
- ✗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
- Beds74
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff William Price
- CurrentNamed in the Georgia Sheriffs' Association 2026 Directory; not confirmed on a county page
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff's office site describes the jail as a 74-bed detention facility operated by the sheriff's office
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Georgia Sheriffs' Association 2026 Directory · checked 2026-09-29
The Judges
Georgia's superior court judges are elected state judges who hear felony cases. For most charges a county magistrate sets bail soon after arrest; for the most serious felonies only a superior court judge can.
Who sets bail in Early County
- Superior Court: the Pataula Judicial Circuit, which also serves Clay, Miller, Quitman, Randolph, Terrell and Seminole. Superior court judges are elected circuit-wide in nonpartisan elections to four-year terms and hear felony cases; for the most serious felonies only a superior court judge can set bail.
- Magistrate Court: the Early County Magistrate Court. For most charges a magistrate sets bail soon after arrest.
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-29
The Board of Commissioners
They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.
- What they controlThe county budget that funds the sheriff's office and the jail, and the jail building itself. Some small counties have a sole commissioner; consolidated governments such as Athens-Clarke, Augusta-Richmond, Columbus and Macon-Bibb have a commission instead.
- What they don'tDay-to-day operations. By law the sheriff is the jailer of the county and appoints the other jailers, subject to the governing authority's supervision (O.C.G.A. 42-4-1). No state agency inspects the jail.
- NoteCounty government site not opened; board and minutes not found.
- The boardNot found
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- What was tried: https://earlycountysheriff.com and https://www.earlycountysheriff.com refused (robots/SSL); one search used; sheriff sub-pages then opened over http.
- Opened: Detention.html, detention-.html, department.html, probation_division.html on earlycountysheriff.com; index.html refused.
- No opened sheriff page names the sheriff; directory lead used.
- Jail pages show visitation and commissary only; no roster, bond, fee rates, PREA or inspection material found.
- County government site was not found or opened, so budget and minutes were not checked there.
- State inspection/oversight: Georgia law makes the sheriff the county's jailer. The Georgia Sheriffs' Association, an association of the state's sheriffs rather than a state agency, publishes jail standards and a statewide monthly jail report.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Early 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 commissioners who pay for the jail, and the judges who set bail.
Names verified 2026-09-29 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered