Former Annex Release Records
An older Charles County record may say “county jail,” “Annex,” or refer to work or school release at the older building. Those descriptions belong to different periods in the same local corrections history. They do not identify a second active jail today. A release from that historical operation may have meant return to the community under program rules, completion of a local custody event, or movement to another facility. Only the archived record can settle the event for a named person.
CCSO is the proper starting agency because it operated the jail and Annex. A current Maryland DOC locator search will not reconstruct an old local discharge. Maryland VINE is most useful for present or recent custody events, not as a guaranteed archive for past Annex activity. The court file can still establish an order, sentence, or disposition, but it may not contain the actual time the Annex processed a person out.
Trace an Annex Release
Begin with the date range. The building’s role changed, so the year helps CCSO distinguish a record from the original county jail, the later Annex, or an unrelated later patrol reference. The Charles County release-search path can help with current systems, while this archive workflow stays centered on historical material.
- Record the person’s full legal name, date of birth if known, and the closest possible admission or release dates.
- Copy the exact facility wording from the old document, news item, court paper, or family record.
- Use Maryland Case Search to locate the matching Charles County criminal case and collect its case number.
- Ask CCSO Records for existing booking, program-placement, transfer, and release entries tied to that person and date range.
- Request the court’s release, sentencing, commitment, or disposition order when the legal basis matters.
- Compare dates before concluding that an Annex exit was a community release rather than transfer.
A precise search avoids asking CCSO to research a life history or create a narrative. Public-records law generally addresses existing records. It does not require an agency to compile a new historical “released inmates” database.
Annex Archive Contact
The former Annex has no current correctional contact card because presenting one would imply an operating jail. Submit the historical request through the CCSO Access Public Records page. The Records Section can route a defined request based on the name, date, historical site description, and case or booking number.
CCSO Records Section
6915 Crain Highway
P.O. Box 189
La Plata, MD 20646
Records: 301-609-6404
Main: 301-609-6400
For a current custody question, contact the active Charles County Detention Center instead. Its official detention page lists 301-932-3101, while the CCSO contact directory and county facility directory list 301-932-3100. Neither number should be described as the phone for a present-day Annex.
Charles County Annex Timeline
The current CCDC opened in 1995. The prior building had served as the county jail from 1981 until that move. Historical CCSO material says the older structure reopened as an Annex in 2007. It later housed work-release participants. CCSO’s account of the site’s conversion says that program ended before the building became South Patrol District One.
| Period | Documented role | How to interpret a record |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 to 1995 | County jail | An old jail release belongs to the prior facility era |
| From 2007 | Reopened Annex | An Annex reference may concern program or custody operations |
| Later period | Work-release use | Program movement still requires its own record |
| Current use | South Patrol District One | Not an inmate holding or release site |
This chronology is the distinctive local fact that prevents a false match. A search result mentioning an Annex can be accurate historically even though no such correctional facility operates now.
Define the Annex Record
A useful request names the existing items sought. Ask for the booking or admission entry, work-release or school-release placement if relevant, the release or transfer entry, and the recorded destination or receiving agency if maintained. Add the court case number and approximate dates. If a photograph is relevant to identifying the correct event, request the identified booking or intake image rather than an undefined photo collection.
| Detail supplied | How it narrows the archive search |
|---|---|
| Legal name and birth date | Separates people with similar names |
| Approximate year | Identifies the jail, Annex, or later era |
| Case or booking number | Connects agency and court records |
| Exact source wording | Preserves the historical facility label |
| Requested event | Focuses on release, transfer, or program placement |
Ask for nonexempt portions if a file contains protected material. A partial lawful disclosure can still show a date, authority, or destination. Do not assume that the age of a record makes every part public.
Annex Work Release History
Historical CCSO reports describe work and school release at the Annex, along with reentry efforts such as STARS, GED activity, and reentry fairs. These sources add context to a past record. They do not establish that every Annex resident joined a program, that a person left confinement without conditions, or that any named program remains active.
Work release usually describes a structured status that permits approved activity outside a facility while custody or program obligations continue. It should not be labeled a final discharge without the person’s actual record. A daily departure for approved work, return to the Annex, transfer to another placement, and completion of the program are distinct events.
- Program movement
- An approved absence tied to work, school, or another authorized activity.
- Community release
- An exit from physical detention, possibly with court or supervision conditions.
- Transfer
- Movement into another agency’s custody rather than freedom from confinement.
- Discharge
- The recorded end of the relevant custody or supervision term.
Annex Court Record Checks
Maryland Judiciary Case Search can help locate a matching Charles County case by party name, date of birth, case number, charge, or disposition. Docket entries may identify bond review, sentencing, commitment, modification, probation, or a release order. The online entry is a court summary, not a jail gate log.
Older records also face display limits. Some favorable dispositions may no longer appear remotely even when lawful courthouse access remains. Expunged, sealed, shielded, juvenile, and otherwise protected records are not publicly available as the law provides. A missing online case is therefore not proof that a person was never held at the Annex.
When the summary is not enough, request the specific order from the clerk using the case number. Then pair its legal date with the CCSO release or transfer entry. The order explains authority. The agency record explains what happened in custody.
Current CCDC Release Search
Anyone asking about present Charles County detention should use the active CCDC release-record page. The current center at 6905 Crain Highway houses pretrial and sentenced adults under the CCSO Corrections Division. It is the county’s sole verified operating adult correctional facility.
Current release confirmation still requires care. CCSO offers no verified public jail roster or recent-release feed. Maryland VINE, a direct CCDC inquiry, the court order, and a narrow CCSO records request form the local route. If DPSCS, BOP, or ICE shows the person after leaving CCDC, the event may have been a transfer.
Do not route a current family inquiry to South Patrol District One merely because an old article calls the site an Annex. The same name can describe a real historical operation and still be wrong for current custody.
Read Annex Release Evidence
Historical confirmation works best when each source answers one question. The court order identifies legal authority. The CCSO booking and release entries identify the local custody event. A receiving agency record identifies a transfer. Program material explains the setting but cannot prove one person’s discharge.
Source dates also matter. A later article about the patrol-station conversion can prove that the Annex closed as a corrections site. It cannot fill in an individual release date from years earlier. Likewise, a historic annual report may establish that a program existed, but only the person-level file can show participation.
Keep the final conclusion narrow: the record may prove release from the Annex, transfer out of the Annex, completion of a program, or a court-authorized change in status. It should not be stretched into a claim that all custody ended unless the connected agency records support that result.
The same care applies to names. “Annex” in an old file may describe the historical building, a program assignment, or an agency shorthand. Quote that wording in the request and let the dated CCSO material identify the exact operation.