Find Work Release Discharges

Work Release Remains Custody

The Knox County Work Release Center is a KCSO custodial facility. An approved participant may leave for authorized activity under program rules, yet KCSO still holds legal and physical control through the program. The phrase "work release" describes the form of custody. It is not the same as release from the sentence or from every county obligation.

That difference shapes every search. Seeing someone outside for approved work is not a public record of discharge. A temporary absence should not be reported as a community release. Likewise, removal from the center can mean return to Roger D. Wilson or another secure KCSO unit. Only a custody-ending KCSO record, supported when useful by the court or VINE, can establish completed discharge from the county system.

Work Release Center Outcomes

A participant who completes custody may return to the community. Other paths remain possible. A court action can change the governing sentence. KCSO can transfer the person back to a secure unit. Another case or detainer can lead to another jail, TDOC, federal, or immigration custody. Thus, leaving the Work Release Center building does not by itself answer where the person went.

Use careful language. "Completed release from the Knox County Work Release Center" should refer to an actual event. "Transferred from the center" should name the next custodian when that fact is public. Never convert a roster change into a community-release claim.

Confirm Work Release Discharge

The KCSO current Inmate Population is a present-custody check. A positive, correctly matched result indicates that the person remains within KCSO custody as displayed. An absent result does not prove that the work-release term ended. Data lag, a facility move, transfer, record change, or actual discharge can all produce a different display.

1. Match the person on the KCSO population page using date of birth, IDN, charge, and facility, not a name alone.
2. Check TN SAVIN/VINELink for a source-agency event and distinguish release from transfer.
3. Call the KCSO general detention number at 865-281-6700 with the participant's identifiers and last known facility.
4. Review the sentencing court record for the order, credit, sentence, or other authority behind the expected discharge.
5. Request the existing KCSO release or transfer sheet when a final date, type, and destination are needed.

The Knox County Work Release Center has no separately published phone number on the KCSO corrections page, so the researched route is the general detention line. Staff may limit details. Ask whether KCSO still holds the person and which records unit can provide written confirmation. The Knox County released-inmate lookup supplies the next steps if TDOC or federal custody becomes relevant.

Note: A no-result from the live county list is inconclusive until an official source states what ended or replaced KCSO custody.

Work Release Discharge Records

KCSO Support Services and Records handles the county records path. Give the full name, date of birth, IDN or booking number if known, approximate dates, and Knox County Work Release Center. Ask to inspect or receive an electronic copy of the existing booking and release records. Do not ask the agency to calculate a new list from changing roster snapshots.

A focused request can seek the booking sheet, commitment or release sheet, actual release date and time, release or disposition type, releasing facility, and any public destination or transfer-agency field. If the person moved back to a secure KCSO jail, request the movement or facility field that already records that change. If the sentence ended in the community, the actual release field is stronger than a predicted due-out time.

Request an estimate before chargeable work. KCSO's posted 15-cent page price and three-working-day language apply to incident reports and should not be promised for a work-release file. Tennessee law generally allows inspection without a fee and supplies a seven-business-day response framework when prompt production is impractical. Exempt parts may be redacted, but the requester can ask for the legal basis and for reasonably separable public portions.

Work Release Records Contacts

The facility address identifies the custodial site. The general detention number is the published KCSO route because no separate center number was located. The records office is the best destination for a retained release document, while the Clerk supplies the order or sentence that governed the participant's term.

When calling, give the person’s name, date of birth if known, IDN, and the center name. Ask only for present KCSO custody, the public type of last event, and the records route. Protected residence, medical, victim, and security information may not be disclosed.

Work Release Court Record

A court record can explain the legal timeline. Useful items include the judgment, sentence, jail-credit or time-served notation, probation order, revocation order, and completion or discharge entry. These documents can show why a person was eligible to finish the custodial term or why custody changed. They do not always prove the exact minute the center processed the release.

The Knox Criminal Court Clerk daily docket is a schedule search, not a complete historical disposition system. Its paid storefront covers General Sessions Criminal and Fourth Circuit cases filed since November 2017, subject to sealed and unscanned-record limits. It became prepaid or subscription-only on July 1, 2026. Paper inspection remains important, and direct Clerk contact may be needed for Criminal Court felony or older material.

Work release

Custody that permits approved outside activity under program rules.

Discharge

The documented end of the controlling custody or supervision term.

Transfer

A move from one custodial setting or agency to another.

Detainer

A hold or transfer request issued by another authority.

A probation order can place a person in the community under court supervision. That differs from work-release custody. Likewise, parole concerns release from state confinement under supervision and is not the standard label for a county work-release participant unless the underlying TDOC record actually says so.

Work Release Transfer Checks

When KCSO records a transfer, follow the receiving system. TDOC's Felony Offender Information Lookup can show incarceration, parole, probation, or inactive status for a person in current or former state felony custody or supervision. FOIL does not confirm the release of a county participant who never entered TDOC. A transfer from KCSO followed by an incarcerated FOIL match means continued confinement, not community discharge.

BOP's locator is for sentenced federal prisoners. USMS has no public pretrial release locator, so a federal court order, source facility, or sufficiently specific records request may be needed. ICE's locator covers immigration detention and a limited recent-release window. An ICE handoff ends county custody but begins immigration custody. Use each source only for the system it owns.

TN SAVIN/VINELink can report source-fed custody changes for Knox County participants. Release, transfer, escape, and death are different events. Only release should be described as release, and a VINE alert is best paired with KCSO's underlying record when the exact time or method matters.

Note: FOIL, BOP, and ICE are transfer follow-ups, not substitutes for the Knox County Work Release Center record.

Work Release Record Accuracy

Common names require strong identity matching. Compare date of birth, middle name, suffix, IDN, court case, charge, and last facility. A photo may assist, but it is not a stable legal identifier. If records conflict, check their timestamps and ask the originating office. The court may show an order before KCSO completes it, or VINE may report a change from one agency before a receiving locator updates.

An error should go to its creator. KCSO handles its custody and release fields. The Clerk handles the judgment and docket. TDOC handles FOIL or TOMIS. Supply the exact record, identifier, disputed field, and supporting document. Sealed, expunged, juvenile, active-investigation, safety, and personal information may be restricted, and the lack of public detail should never be turned into a claim of release.

The reliable conclusion is narrow and time-stamped: KCSO held the person in work-release custody, KCSO recorded a completed community discharge, or KCSO transferred the person to a named custodian. That vocabulary protects the vital distinction built into this facility's role.