Locate Coastal State Prison Inmates

Coastal State Prison Overview

Coastal State Prison is a Georgia Department of Corrections medium-security prison at 200 Gulf Stream Road in Garden City. GDC describes it as a state prison for adult male felons, with diagnostic intake services for the Strategic Intervention Program and supportive living housing for ADA inmates. It is also the host facility for Coastal Transitional Center.

This facility is separate from Chatham County Jail. A person may first appear in the Chatham County booking feed after a local arrest, then later move into GDC custody after conviction, sentencing, or revocation. Once the person is in state prison custody, the Chatham booking feed is no longer the right lookup system. Use GDC records and the prison facility page for the state custody stage.

Coastal State Prison Capacity

The official GDC facility page lists Coastal State Prison as constructed in 1981, opened in 1981, renovated in 1999, and classified as medium security. It lists a capacity of 1,836. The research also notes a GDC Hurricane Dorian release from September 3, 2019, reporting 1,670 Coastal State Prison offenders evacuated before the storm. That storm figure is historical emergency-operation context, not a current population count.

Search Coastal State Prison Inmates

Use GDC Find an Offender for Coastal State Prison inmate lookup. GDC says users can search by name, description, ID, or case number. Georgia guidance also references age and other identifying information. GDC warns that the service is for public convenience and safety, that it makes no warranty about accuracy or completeness, and that users should verify important information by written correspondence with Inmate Records and Information at PO Box 1529, Forsyth, GA 31029.

1. Open the GDC Find an Offender page.
2. Search by name, GDC ID, case number, or other available identifying information.
3. Confirm that the facility location is Coastal State Prison if the profile returns a match.
4. Use the GDC warning to verify key facts by written correspondence when custody status matters.
5. If the person was just arrested in Chatham County, check the county booking feed first, then court records, then GDC after sentencing.

GDC notes that offender photographs, if available, display automatically. That state prison photo policy is different from the Chatham County Jail booking feed, which did not show mugshot images in inspected booking entries.

Coastal State Prison Locator Fields

The GDC locator is a state sentenced-offender tool, not a local jail roster. It is most useful after a Chatham County case has moved through court and the person has entered state custody. The research cautions that GDC county jail search results may not show added county jail detail and that GDC does not provide exact transfer dates for security reasons.

Coastal State Prison Contact

The GDC page lists the physical address and a mailing address. For inmate concerns and questions, GDC lists its main inmate concerns/questions number. Because state prisons have state-controlled rules, contact the facility or GDC before relying on a web entry for travel, mail, or money decisions.

Coastal State Prison Visitation

GDC lists Coastal State Prison visitation for Saturdays, Sundays, and state holidays. State prison visits require GDC and facility rules, including approval and scheduling procedures where applicable. A web locator result should not be treated as permission to visit. Confirm the incarcerated person's current facility and the current GDC visitation instructions before travel.

Coastal Prison Mail Money

The Chatham County Jail mail addresses and JailATM deposit rules do not govern Coastal State Prison. Coastal State Prison is a GDC facility, so mail, phone, and money rules should be confirmed through GDC and the prison's current instructions. The official facility page lists a P.O. Box mailing address, while the GDC locator page warns users to verify records by written correspondence with GDC Inmate Records in Forsyth.

Coastal Prison Housing Programs

GDC's Coastal State Prison details are unusually specific. The prison has twelve housing units. Six units include 36 cells each, divided into 12 two-man cells and 24 four-man cells, totaling 720 beds. Four open-bay dorm units total 846 beds. Another 184-bed unit includes Faith and Character and Incentive inmates. The facility also has a 74-bed segregation unit and a 12-bed infirmary.

Programs and work details include GED, ABE, literacy, Motivation for Change, Matrix early recovery skills, RSAT, Detour, MRT, Active Parenting, Re-entry, Thinking for Change, library, recreation, worship and Bible study, and vocational or on-the-job programs in food service, maintenance, barbering, warehouse, clerk work, custodial maintenance, and grounds keeping.

Those details matter for record reading because a GDC profile confirms state custody, but it does not explain every housing assignment or program track to the public. Coastal State Prison's own facility description gives the local context behind a state locator result. A person may be housed in a dorm, cell unit, segregation unit, infirmary bed, supportive living area, diagnostic unit, or program setting, and family members should confirm current status with GDC before sending mail or making visitation plans.

Work details also show why Coastal State Prison should not be described as a county jail. GDC lists Department of Transportation and Garden City details along with institutional maintenance, grounds, warehouse, food service, laundry, sanitation, janitorial, barber, library, education aide, and Career Center clerk assignments. Those are state prison work and program structures, not recent booking features from the Chatham County Jail feed.

Chatham Jail to Coastal

A Chatham County defendant may move from local jail custody to GDC after conviction, sentencing, or revocation. The record trail usually starts with the Chatham booking feed, continues through Chatham Courts or re:SearchGA, and then moves to GDC Find an Offender after state custody begins. For current local booking facts, use Chatham County jail records. For state prison placement, use GDC.

GDC's statewide prison overview says judges may sentence offenders directly to prison or offenders may be sent to prison because of revocation proceedings. The Chatham County booking feed may show the initial arrest, a state hold, or a probation violation line, but it does not prove the final sentence or prison placement. Court records supply the charging and sentencing path, while GDC supplies the state custody location after transfer.