Howard County Work Release Overview
Howard County Work Release is operated through Howard County Community Supervision / Community Corrections. It is a standalone residential facility at 623 S. Berkley Rd. in Kokomo. Research identifies it as a local community-corrections facility for court-sentenced participants and Indiana Department of Correction community-transition or work-release reentry participants. It should not be described as the same thing as the Howard County Criminal Justice Center, and it should not be treated as a public current-inmate roster for new arrests.
Work release is still custody. A participant may be allowed to leave for approved employment and other activities, but the person remains under staff control and must follow program rules. Howard County sources say the program supervises moderate- to high-risk offenders convicted of Level 6 through Level 2 felonies. The population can include people sentenced directly from local courts and people returning through IDOC transition channels.
The Howard County Community Supervision page is the source for the work-release capacity, local supervision structure, and program description.
That source places Work Release within the county's unified probation and community-corrections system.
Howard County Work Release Capacity
The official Community Supervision source states that Howard County Work Release can house up to 80 males and 40 females. That is a program capacity for the residential work-release facility, not a live public population count. The research did not locate a daily participant roster or a current headcount for Work Release. For a participant's present status, the better path is to confirm the court order, contact Community Supervision, check MyCase, or use IDOC if the placement is tied to state transition.
Capacity also helps separate this facility from the main jail. Howard County Criminal Justice Center is a 364-bed county jail for pretrial custody and local jail sentences. Howard County Work Release is a smaller residential community-corrections setting focused on structured employment, case planning, and reentry.
Howard County Work Release Lookup
A Howard County Work Release lookup should not start with an assumption that the person will appear on the sheriff's Current Inmates page. The sheriff roster covers current county jail custody. Work Release placement is driven by a court order, Community Supervision status, or IDOC community-transition placement. If a person was newly arrested, the Howard County Criminal Justice Center roster may still be relevant. If the person is serving or transitioning through Work Release, the lookup path changes.
Use Indiana MyCase to check public court terms, sentencing entries, hearings, and active criminal cases. Use IDOC offender locator when the person is in state custody or was placed in community transition through IDOC. County materials also include an in-home detention and work-release transfer application, which shows the local transfer route for eligible placements.
- Check the court case in MyCase for sentencing, community-corrections, work-release, or reentry-court language.
- Call Howard County Work Release or Community Supervision for program contact routing when the order points to residential placement.
- Search IDOC if the person is a state transition participant or recently transferred from state custody.
- Use the sheriff current-inmate roster only if the person may have been booked into the main jail after a new arrest or violation.
- Use Indiana SAVIN for custody or release notification, not as the only official status source.
For ordinary jail booking searches, the Howard County inmate records page explains the sheriff roster and county jail fallback chain.
Howard County Work Release Contact
The work-release contact block is separate from the main jail. The official Howard County Work Release application PDF lists the Berkley Road address, phone number, and fax number. That distinction matters for families, employers, attorneys, and court staff. Calling the main jail for a work-release scheduling question may add delay because Community Supervision manages the program.
Howard County Work Release
623 S. Berkley Rd.
Kokomo, IN 46901
765-456-2946
Fax: 765-319-2751
Howard County Community Supervision
Community corrections and probation umbrella
Kokomo, IN
Use county Community Supervision contacts
Program status, case plans, and approved activity routing
Howard County Work Release Custody
Howard County Work Release is for a different population than a police holding cell or general jail intake. Research states that the program supervises moderate- to high-risk offenders convicted of Level 6 through Level 2 felonies. Participants may come directly from local courts or through IDOC community transition and work-release reentry. A participant remains incarcerated in the program, even though approved work and activities can take the person into the community.
Several terms are easy to confuse. A Level 6 felony is the lowest felony level in Indiana, while Level 2 is much more serious. Community transition is an IDOC-linked reentry path that can place a person under local supervision before full release. Work release is a residential custody status that allows limited approved movement for employment, services, or other staff-authorized needs.
- Community Corrections
- A county-level supervision system that can include residential work release, home detention, treatment, and court programs.
- Case Plan
- A supervision plan based on risk level, needs, court terms, treatment, employment, and behavior.
- Community Transition
- An IDOC-linked reentry process for eligible people moving from prison custody toward local supervision.
Howard County Work Release Programs
Howard County Community Supervision was formed on February 8, 2018, by unifying Probation and Community Corrections through county judges, commissioners, and council. The larger system includes Adult Probation, Juvenile Probation, Home Detention, Work Release, Alcohol and Drug Services, Pretrial Services, and Victim Assistance. The stated mission is to promote positive changes in attitudes, thinking patterns, and behaviors, with a goal of reducing recidivism and supporting community safety.
Work-release residents receive case plans based on risk level and individual needs. Research lists evidence-based programming, life-skills programming, peer support groups, employment, and community-based services. County material also lists home-detention components, continual alcohol monitoring, community service, and classes such as Financial Peace University, Prime for Life, and Moral Reconation Therapy for home-detention clients. Problem-solving courts include Drug Court, Mental Health Court, Re-Entry Court, and Veterans Treatment Court.
| Program Area | Howard County Detail |
|---|---|
| Residential custody | Work Release facility with staff-approved trips |
| Employment | Approved work is a core feature of the placement |
| Case planning | Plans are tied to risk level and individual needs |
| Reentry | Can include IDOC community-transition participants |
| Problem-solving courts | Drug, mental health, reentry, and veterans treatment tracks are listed under Community Supervision |
Howard County Work Release Visits
The research did not locate an official public visitation schedule for Howard County Work Release. That gap should not be filled with jail visiting hours or assumptions from other counties. Work release is structured around approved employment, programming, and custody rules, so family contact, visits, passes, and schedule limits may be handled through the participant's program plan and facility rules.
The most accurate path is direct confirmation with the Work Release office before any visit, drop-off, or attempt to meet a participant. Ask whether the participant is eligible for contact, whether visits are allowed, what identification is required, whether property can be accepted, and whether a court or program restriction applies. Employers should also confirm any reporting or schedule communication through staff rather than relying on the participant alone.
| Visit Topic | Published Status | Best Action |
|---|---|---|
| Public visit schedule | Not found in inspected official sources | Call 765-456-2946 |
| Participant eligibility | May depend on case plan and program standing | Confirm with staff |
| Property or clothing | No public work-release rule found in research | Do not bring items without approval |
| Employment contact | Core program issue | Coordinate through Work Release staff |
Note: Do not use the main jail's visitation gap or schedule assumptions as Work Release rules.
Howard County Work Release Mail and Money
The research did not locate public mail-format rules, commissary instructions, phone vendor details, or money-deposit fees for Howard County Work Release. That is a meaningful difference from Howard County Criminal Justice Center, where inmate-account methods and commissary timing were published. For Work Release, payment, property, transportation, employment, and program costs may be handled through Community Supervision rules or a participant's court and program documents.
| Service | Howard County Work Release Detail |
|---|---|
| Mail Address | 623 S. Berkley Rd., Kokomo, IN 46901, but confirm required participant format before mailing. |
| Phone / Contact | Call 765-456-2946 for approved communication rules. |
| Money / Fees | No public fee or deposit schedule found in research. |
| Property | Confirm with staff before bringing clothing, tools, documents, or personal items. |
Howard County Work Release Records
Indiana public access rules may help when a record is not available through a public portal. The Access to Public Records Act, IC 5-14-3, controls inspection and copying of many public records, while exemptions can apply to confidential, investigatory, juvenile, medical, security, or other protected material. For Work Release, the most useful public records are often court orders, sentencing entries, violation filings, and docket events in MyCase, because those records state why a person was placed under community corrections.
Program details may not all be public. A case plan can include treatment, risk, employment, health, or supervision information that may not be released to a third party. When the question is whether a person is under a work-release sentence, start with MyCase, the Howard County court landing page, and Community Supervision. When the person has moved from state custody, add IDOC and Indiana SAVIN. When a new arrest or violation may have sent the person back to the main county jail, search the sheriff current-inmate roster.
For the court side of a placement, use Howard County court records after jail arrest to separate charges, sentencing records, and jail custody records.