Bradford Projected and Actual Release
A projected date is a forecast. An actual release date records a completed custody exit. For a Florida Department of Corrections prisoner, the public scheduled-release detail uses the label Current Release Date. Florida Statutes § 944.275 calls the computed forecast the tentative release date. The eventual FDC Release Date and Date Out-Custody are historical fields. Those labels should not be treated as interchangeable.
A Bradford County Jail record may show Estimated Release for some people. That is a county record estimate, not FDC's statutory calculation. A person held before trial often has no date that can be computed. A bond order may permit release, but staff may still need the written order, identity checks, payment verification, and resolution of holds. A transfer to FDC or another agency ends the county jail stay without proving a community release.
- Current Release Date
- The public label on an FDC scheduled-release detail.
- Tentative release date
- The statutory FDC forecast based on gain-time granted or forfeited.
- Estimated Release
- A separate field that can appear in Bradford SmartWEB county records.
- Date Out-Custody
- A historical FDC field showing when state custody ended.
Find Bradford Projected Release Dates
Start with the facility. Bradford County contains a county jail and several state institutions, so a Starke, Raiford, or Lawtey reference does not identify the right database by itself. The FDC Inmate Release Information Search includes state prisoners already released or scheduled for release. It excludes people sentenced only to county jail or county probation.
- Determine whether Bradford County Jail or FDC holds the person. Use the court sentence when the facility is unclear.
- For state custody, search FDC by DC number when possible. A name search supports aliases and begins-with matching.
- Open the detail record. Read Current Release Date, any warning beside it, sentence history, and custody history.
- For a county sentence, check SmartWEB for an estimate, then call Bradford County Jail for the operative calculation.
- Compare the forecast with the court docket for jail credit, sentence changes, and other orders.
- After the date passes, verify the historical release timestamp or FDC Date Out-Custody rather than assuming release occurred.
The FDC current-population form is useful for confirming present state incarceration, but it is not the released-first search.
The separate population and release forms show why one FDC query cannot answer both current custody and completed discharge.
Bradford County Jail is at 945-A North Temple Avenue in Starke and lists 904-966-6250 for jail information, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The sheriff's jail page specifically says to contact the jail for release dates. For a durable record, BCSO Records can provide nonexempt booking-and-release material.
Bradford Release Date Label Differences
Three public labels can appear in a Bradford County search, and each belongs to a different record. FDC's public result says Current Release Date. Section 944.275 says tentative release date. Bradford SmartWEB can say Estimated Release for a county sentence. None proves that the jail or prison has completed the release. This local distinction is especially important because the county's state-prison complex and county jail are close in geography but governed by different systems.
An FDC record can also show TO BE SET. That phrase means the date is pending review, not that release is immediate or that the term has no end. If the listed date is in the future, it remains scheduled. If the date is in the past, compare it with Release Date and Date Out-Custody. A person can leave prison and begin parole, conditional release, or another supervision term.
The official FDC scheduled-release example includes the Current Release Date label and its warning that the date can change.
The warning is part of the record and should travel with any date quoted from it.
Bradford State Release Date Calculation
For an FDC sentence, § 944.275 begins with the maximum sentence expiration date. FDC reduces the imposed term by lawful credit, including credit established for physical incarceration. It then establishes a tentative release date based on gain-time that has been granted or forfeited. An award or restoration can move the forecast earlier. A forfeiture can move it later, though it cannot pass the maximum expiration date.
For qualifying offenses committed after October 1, 1995, subsection (4)(b)3 permits up to ten days per month of incentive gain-time, subject to offense exclusions, eligibility rules, and actual FDC awards. Subsection (4)(f) prevents gain-time from producing release before at least 85 percent of the imposed sentence has been served for an inmate in that category. Court-awarded credit for physical incarceration counts toward the floor.
The 85 percent rule is a minimum service floor, not an exact-date shortcut. It does not mean every qualifying prisoner leaves after precisely 85 percent. Monthly awards, statutory exclusions, disciplinary forfeitures, mandatory minimums, sentence corrections, and other lawful changes can make the actual term longer. A life sentence remains life unless pardon or clemency changes it.
The official § 944.275 text supplies the tentative-date, gain-time, and 85 percent provisions.
The statute supports a framework, but it does not support a homemade release calculator for an individual sentence.
Bradford County Jail Release Estimate
A county sentence follows a different path. Florida Statutes § 951.21 separately authorizes good-conduct commutation for county prisoners. That authority is not the FDC tentative-release system, and the state-prison 85 percent formula should not be applied to every Bradford County Jail sentence. SmartWEB's Estimated Release field can help frame a question, but the jail's sentence calculation and court record control.
Ask the jail or Records Unit for the sentence-and-release calculation when the displayed estimate is unclear. Useful facts include the booking date, sentence date, court-awarded jail credit, sentence length, and any other case or hold affecting release. The Bradford court docket can establish the sentence or later order, but it does not prove the moment jail staff completed release processing.
Pretrial detention is different again. A person who has not been sentenced has no good-time-based sentence endpoint to calculate. BCSO holds first appearance daily around 10:00 a.m. and warns that bond information may remain unavailable until the judge's written order reaches jail staff. A blank bond field shortly after booking is not a projected release result.
Note: An Estimated Release entry should be confirmed with Bradford County Jail before travel, pickup plans, or any time-sensitive decision.
Why Bradford Release Dates Change
A date may change because the facts used to calculate it change. Some causes alter sentence credit. Others prevent a physical exit even when one case reaches its endpoint. A public forecast should therefore be read as a snapshot from the named custodian.
| Factor | Possible effect | Best record |
|---|---|---|
| Gain-time award or restoration | May move an FDC tentative date earlier | FDC sentence and release detail |
| Gain-time forfeiture | May move the FDC date later | FDC record |
| Corrected jail credit or sentence | Can change the base calculation | Court order and custodian record |
| Concurrent or consecutive terms | Changes how multiple terms combine | Judgment and FDC calculation |
| Mandatory minimum or exclusion | May limit available gain-time | Statute, judgment, and FDC record |
| Another hold or detainer | May cause transfer instead of community release | Jail release destination and receiving agency |
| Parole or Commission action | May establish, alter, defer, or rescind a date | Written FCOR action |
A transfer within FDC is not release. This warning matters in Bradford County because Florida State Prison, FSP West Unit, Lawtey Correctional Institution, and the New River legacy site can all appear in older or current records. A location change within that network may only reflect reassignment.
Bradford Release Search Field Guide
FDC separates current population, release, supervision, and absconder records because each answers a different time-based question. A projected release date belongs in the release detail, not in a conclusion drawn from absence in the current-population results. The release database is updated nightly and includes people already released as well as people scheduled for release. The complete population information refreshes weekly, while location changes and release dates update nightly.
| Record or field | What it answers | Important limit |
|---|---|---|
| Inmate Population | Whether FDC currently records incarceration and location | Absence alone does not prove release |
| Current Release Date | The scheduled date shown on an FDC detail | Subject to gain-time and review changes |
| Release Date | The recorded FDC release event | Read with Date Out-Custody |
| Supervised Population | Whether the person is outside prison under state supervision | Excludes county-only probation |
| SmartWEB Estimated Release | A county-jail estimate when displayed | Not an FDC forecast or completed exit |
The FDC form accepts last name, first name, and DC number, supports an alias search, and permits photo filtering. Open the detail instead of relying on a result-row excerpt. FDC warns that public information can change quickly and may not reflect the true current location, status, or release date. When the field is urgent or conflicts with a court order, contact the Bureau of Admission and Release rather than calculating a new date from the sentence alone.
Confirm Bradford County Release Timing
Use the FDC unit tied to the disputed field. The Bureau of Admission and Release handles release information at 850-488-9167 or dc.release@fdc.myflorida.com. Central Records handles population data at 850-488-9859 or central.classification@fdc.myflorida.com. State supervision questions go to Probation and Parole Field Services at 850-717-3444 or co-supervision@fdc.myflorida.com.
For the county jail, call 904-966-6250. A records request can ask for booking and release date and time, release type or code, releasing authority, destination or receiving agency, and hold disposition. BCSO Records is at 945-B North Temple Avenue, Starke, and lists 904-966-6312 in its contact block. Records are handled on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding holidays.
VINE can send a custody-change alert, but an alert may describe a transfer rather than a community release. Its value is strongest when registration occurs before the expected event. The Bradford County VINELink check explains the one-person search and notification steps. After an alert, compare the wording with FDC, BCSO, or the receiving agency.
For a completed event, prefer the historical jail release timestamp or the FDC Release Date paired with Date Out-Custody. The Bradford County release record path also shows how court disposition and custodian records answer different parts of the same question.