Find St. Mary's County 24 Hour Booking
St. Mary's County offers one of the more accessible 24 hour booking search options in southern Maryland. The Sheriff's Office runs an online inmate roster that includes mugshots, charges, and custody details for people held at the Detention and Rehabilitation Center in Leonardtown. You can also call the facility any time of day for quick status checks. This page explains how to search for booking records in St. Mary's County, what information those records contain, and how to get copies through free tools or formal written requests. Several statewide databases also cover this county and let you search without picking up a phone.
St. Mary's County Online Booking Roster
St. Mary's County is one of the Maryland counties that posts its inmate roster online. The Sheriff's Office website has a section for detention services. Go to the Sheriff's site, click on Detention Center, and then find the Inmate Lookup page. The roster shows names, mugshots, charges, and booking dates. It updates regularly as new people come in and others are released.
The online roster is free. No account needed. No fees. Just type a name and search. This is the fastest way to check 24 hour booking records for St. Mary's County without making a phone call. The data comes straight from the detention center in Leonardtown.
If the online tool is down or you need more detail, call (301) 475-4200 ext. 1600. That line runs 24 hours a day. Staff can confirm custody status and give you basic booking information over the phone at any time, even on weekends and holidays.
What St. Mary's County Booking Records Include
The booking records kept at the St. Mary's County Detention and Rehabilitation Center are thorough. Each record includes the person's full legal name and any known aliases. Date of birth is listed along with gender and race. Physical details like height, weight, and identifying marks go into the file. A booking photo (mugshot) is taken at intake. Fingerprints are captured and run through databases.
Beyond the basics, the record also tracks:
- Inmate ID number assigned at booking
- Date and time of admission to the facility
- Arresting agency and current charges
- Bond or bail amount and type
- Court information and scheduled appearances
- Sentence details if convicted
- Release information when applicable
All of this is public record under Maryland law. The online roster shows a portion of it. For the full file, you would need to submit a written request under the Maryland Public Information Act, General Provisions Section 4-101.
How to Search St. Mary's County Booking Data
You have four main ways to search for 24 hour booking records in St. Mary's County. The first is the online inmate lookup on the Sheriff's website. Quick, free, and available any hour. Second is the phone line at (301) 475-4200 ext. 1600. Staff answer around the clock and can give basic custody info. Third is in-person visits to the facility. The Detention and Rehabilitation Center sits at 41880 Baldridge Street, Leonardtown, MD 20650. Walk-in hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM.
The fourth option is a formal written request. Send a letter under the Maryland Public Information Act to the Records Custodian at the facility address. Include the person's name, date of birth, and the records you want. The first two hours of search time are free. After that, copy fees may apply. Most responses come back within 30 days.
Note: The Sheriff's Office phone number is (301) 475-8008 for general questions not related to the detention center.
24 Hour Booking Steps in St. Mary's County
The booking process in St. Mary's County follows Maryland standards. It starts the moment an arrested person arrives at the Leonardtown facility. Staff check identification. They take fingerprints and run them through state and federal systems. A mugshot is captured. Medical staff do a health screening. Personal belongings are catalogued and locked away. All of this gets logged into the booking record with the exact date and time.
Maryland Rule 4-212(f) says every arrested person must see a District Court Commissioner within 24 hours. Commissioners work around the clock in St. Mary's County. They review the charges, inform the person of their rights, and make a bail decision under Maryland Rule 4-216. The commissioner can set bail, release someone on their own recognizance, or hold them without bail for the most serious offenses. That decision gets recorded in the booking file too.
The whole intake process can take a few hours. Fingerprint checks sometimes cause delays. But the 24 hour clock for the commissioner hearing runs from the moment of arrest, not from when booking is finished.
Free Search Tools for St. Mary's County
Beyond the Sheriff's own inmate lookup, several free tools cover St. Mary's County. The DPSCS Incarcerated Individual Locator searches people in state prison. It picks up inmates after they leave county custody and enter the state system. This is helpful for sentenced individuals who are no longer held at the Leonardtown detention center.
The Maryland Judiciary Case Search covers court records from St. Mary's County. Type a name and see charges, hearing dates, bail amounts, and case outcomes. It runs 24 hours a day and costs nothing. VINELink also tracks inmates in participating Maryland facilities and lets you set up free custody change alerts by phone, text, or email.
Expungement of St. Mary's County Records
Maryland law allows some booking records to be erased. Under Criminal Procedure Section 10-103, arrests that do not lead to charges are automatically expunged within 60 days of release. This covers arrests made on or after October 1, 2007. For arrests before that date, you need to contact the agency yourself.
Dismissed cases, acquittals, and nolle prosequi outcomes can be expunged on request. Probation before judgment records become eligible three years after completion of probation. The Maryland Courts expungement page has forms and step-by-step guides. The Second Chance Act allows shielding of certain misdemeanor convictions, keeping them off public searches while still visible to law enforcement under Criminal Procedure Section 10-301 through 10-306.
Nearby Counties and Booking Access
St. Mary's County is at the southern tip of Maryland where the Potomac meets the Chesapeake Bay. Two neighboring counties are worth checking if you are unsure where someone was booked. Calvert County is directly to the north. Charles County sits to the northwest. Both have their own detention centers and booking systems.
Arrests near county borders can lead to booking in either jurisdiction. If a search in St. Mary's County comes up empty, try Calvert or Charles County next. The statewide DPSCS and VINELink tools search across all jurisdictions at once, so those work well when the booking location is not clear.
The image above shows the DPSCS Incarcerated Individual Locator portal. This statewide tool supplements St. Mary's County booking searches by tracking people who have moved from county detention into the state prison system.