Access Athens-Clarke County Diversion/Transition Center Custody

Athens-Clarke County Diversion/Transition Center Overview

Athens-Clarke County Diversion/Transition Center is operated by the Athens-Clarke County Corrections Department at 2725 Lexington Road in Athens. ACCGov source material uses both Diversion Center and Transition Center language. The original Diversion Center role was tied to non-violent offenders sentenced to work release who did not need to be housed in the main jail complex. Later county language describes the facility as a Transition Center for returning citizens completing Georgia Department of Corrections sentences.

That history makes the facility different from both the Athens-Clarke County Jail and the Athens-Clarke County Correctional Institution. The sheriff's jail is the local booking and pretrial custody point. The Correctional Institution is a county correctional institution for sentenced GDC offenders. The Diversion/Transition Center focuses on work release, transition, employment stability, economic independence, and self-sufficiency before release.

Readers should not assume the sheriff current-prisoner listing covers this facility. A GDC-sentenced transition resident may be found through GDC Find an Offender. A local work-release or transition question may require a direct call to the center or the Corrections Department.

Athens-Clarke County Diversion/Transition Center Capacity

Capacity figures for Athens-Clarke County Diversion/Transition Center come from different official contexts. The ACCGov SPLOST Project 33 page says the facility opened with 50 single beds and was designed to expand to 80. The FY2026 approved budget gives a state-inmate contract maximum of 170 total across the Correctional Institution and Transition/Diversion Center, with 65 assigned to the Transition/Diversion Center side and 105 assigned to the Correctional Institution side.

Those numbers should not be blended into one current headcount. The 50-bed expandable-to-80 figure describes the project design. The 65-person figure describes a state-inmate contract maximum in the FY2026 budget. Neither source turns the center into a public booking roster like the county jail. The center's role is closer to controlled reentry, work release, and GDC-linked transition than street-arrest intake.

Note: Use these figures by source and date because the research did not locate a separate daily population dashboard for the center.

Athens-Clarke County Diversion/Transition Center Lookup

Lookup depends on why the person may be at the center. For a returning citizen completing a GDC sentence, start with GDC Find an Offender. GDC search records can be filtered by name, GDC ID number, case number, conviction county, most recent institution, sentence status, physical descriptors, and active or inactive record scope. That statewide locator is the better match for GDC-sentenced transition residents.

For a local work-release question, call the Diversion/Transition Center at 706-613-2022 or route through the Athens-Clarke County Corrections Department. Do not rely on the sheriff's current jail roster unless the person is actually in the Athens-Clarke County Jail. A person may move through the jail, court, GDC, county correctional institution, and transition systems at different points, so the search path should match the custody stage.

1. Decide whether the person is likely a new jail booking, a sentenced GDC offender, or a work-release or transition resident.
2. Use the sheriff current jail roster only for local jail custody at the Athens-Clarke County Jail.
3. Use GDC Find an Offender for GDC-sentenced residents and check active and inactive records.
4. Call 706-613-2022 for local work-release or transition-center questions that are not answered online.
5. Use court records or open-records channels when the question is about case history rather than current custody location.

Athens-Clarke County Diversion/Transition Center Contact

The center's contact point is separate from the jail phone. The research identifies the Diversion/Transition Center at 2725 Lexington Road with phone 706-613-2022. The broader Corrections Department, which operates both the Correctional Institution and Diversion Center, uses the 2825 County Farm Road office contact and has a separate office line. Jail booking questions still route to the sheriff jail line.

Athens-Clarke County Diversion/Transition Center Visits

The research file did not locate a separate public visitation schedule for the Diversion/Transition Center matching the level of detail published for the county jail's JailATM video visits or the Correctional Institution's Sunday and county-holiday schedule. Because the center handles work-release and transition residents, visit rules may depend on resident status, program requirements, custody level, and current facility policy.

Call the center before traveling. Do not apply the Athens-Clarke County Jail video-visit schedule, JailATM pricing, or jail intake timing to the center unless staff confirm it. Also do not apply the Correctional Institution Sunday and holiday visitation schedule unless Corrections confirms the same rule for the transition setting. The center is a separate work-release and transition facility with its own operating purpose.

Athens-Clarke County Diversion/Transition Center Mail

The research did not locate a dedicated public fee table for Diversion/Transition Center commissary, deposits, phone accounts, or mail scanning. The Athens-Clarke County Jail has detailed JailATM, Pay Tel, mail-scanning, account-cap, and commissary rules, but those jail rules should not be copied into the transition-center page as if they govern work-release residents. The safer route is to call the center and ask for current mail, phone, package, property, and money instructions for the specific resident status.

For GDC-sentenced residents, GDC offender records can help confirm identity and facility assignment. Facility staff remain the correct source for current local restrictions, especially where work release, employment movement, transition programming, and resident status affect routine contact. If the question concerns a court case, charge, warrant, bond, or booking history, use court records, sheriff jail records, or open-records channels instead of the center phone.

Athens-Clarke County Diversion/Transition Center Intake

Intake at the Diversion/Transition Center is program-based, not new-arrest booking. The original SPLOST project purpose was to house non-violent offenders sentenced to work release who did not need to be held in the main jail complex. Later transition-center language focuses on returning citizens completing GDC sentences and preparing for release. That means the center is tied to sentence stage, work-release eligibility, and transition planning rather than initial booking charges.

A resident may have a public trail in several places. The jail roster may show a prior local booking. The court docket may show the case and sentence. GDC Find an Offender may show the current or recent GDC-linked location. The center phone can answer facility-specific questions that the public databases do not cover. For people still in the county jail before sentencing, use Athens-Clarke County Jail and the sheriff roster instead.

Work release

A sentence or program status where a resident may work in the community while living in a controlled facility.

Transition center

A reentry-focused facility for people nearing release from a correctional sentence.

Returning citizen

A person preparing to return to the community after incarceration.

GDC sentence

A Georgia Department of Corrections sentence that may place a person in a prison, county institution, or transition setting.

Athens-Clarke County Diversion/Transition Center Programs

The strongest local detail for this center is its reentry purpose. ACCGov describes the facility as supporting returning citizens as they complete GDC sentences, maintain employment, build economic independence, and become self-sufficient before release. Those goals explain why the facility is not a simple public roster page. It is a custody and reentry setting where location, program status, work-release eligibility, and release planning may all matter.

ACCGov announced in May 2026 that the Corrections Department operates both the Correctional Institution and the Diversion Center under department leadership. That news release helps place the center inside the local corrections structure while keeping it distinct from the sheriff jail. The research also notes the Corrections Department's PREA contacts and reporting path, including separate coordinator roles for correctional and diversion facilities.

Clarke County Custody Paths

The three Clarke County facilities serve different stages. Confusing them can send a family member to the wrong phone number or search tool. The sheriff's jail is for new arrests and local jail custody. The Correctional Institution is for sentenced GDC offenders. The Diversion/Transition Center is for work release and returning citizens in a reentry or transition role.