Check WKCC Release Status

WKCC Release Destinations

Western Kentucky Correctional Complex is a Kentucky Department of Corrections state prison. Its prisoners remain in the state system regardless of the county of conviction. The Lyon County Sheriff does not operate WKCC and is not the source for its offender or discharge records. KOOL, KY DOC Daily Releases, VINE, and written DOC records form the correct release route.

Release from incarceration may be parole, mandatory reentry supervision, conditional discharge, shock probation, or a minimum-expiration event. Several of those outcomes retain legal supervision. A detainer may send the person to another custodian. A transfer to Kentucky State Penitentiary or another DOC institution leaves the person incarcerated. The release type and “Released From” field must be read together.

Confirm a WKCC Release

Use the Kentucky Offender Online Lookup first. A DOC number gives the most precise match. A name search also works, but extra filters can hide the right record. Compare the photo and identifiers, then read the current location, offender type, sentence, Projected Release Date, supervision fields, and parole information. Those fields do different roles.

Projected, proposed, and eligibility dates are not actual release dates. A Projected Release Date reflects sentence computation. A Proposed Release Date belongs to a parole action, while a Next Parole Eligibility Date marks review timing. KY DOC also cautions that information less than 120 days old may not be finalized. A recommendation or date should not be reported as an exit until a transaction confirms it.

1. Find the correct KOOL record by DOC number or name.
2. Check whether the location names WKCC, Ross-Cash, another institution, or community supervision.
3. Open the Daily Releases archive for the likely date.
4. Read both the release type and the “Released From” institution.
5. Check VINE, then request DOC records when dates or labels remain unclear.

The Daily Releases archive is organized by exact date and can show the DOC number, name, type, and releasing facility. It separates a WKCC transaction from a release processed at another institution or county jail. The Lyon County release search explains when a named-person inquiry belongs to a local, state, or federal custodian.

WKCC Records and Contact

The institution can route operational questions and connects with Region 1 reentry staff, but an official record is the sound basis for an exact release claim. The current facility details published by KY DOC are:

The Region 1 reentry listing identifies releasing and programming contacts through the same institution number. Such contacts address planning and programs. They do not replace the offender status screen, dated release report, or final agency file.

For a written file, use the KY DOC open-records route. Email correctionsopenrecords@ky.gov and include a mailing address, or mail Kentucky Department of Corrections, Division of Public Affairs, Attn: Open Records Coordinator, P.O. Box 2400, Frankfort, KY 40602. Fax is 502-564-9575. Include the full name and date of birth or offender number.

Request WKCC Release Records

Ask for named existing documents. Useful items include the final release or discharge record, actual date and type, “Released From” facility, sentence-calculation sheet, credits awarded or lost, minimum and maximum expiration, final parole or mandatory-reentry order, supervision discharge, transfer destination, detainer notation, or an identified offender photograph.

KY DOC states a charge of ten cents per paper page, one dollar for a CD plus postage, and about $2.50 for a USB drive plus postage. A payment notice comes first. Its public page cites a five-business-day response framework under KRS 197.025. Check the current page before relying on a fee or processing rule.

Discharge

The end of the correctional status or sentence named in the record.

Parole

Community release before sentence completion under supervision.

Detainer

A request by another authority to receive or continue holding the person.

Transfer

Movement between custodial placements without community release.

A narrow request is easier to route than a general question. Ask the record to show the physical departure, release classification, and next authority. If the event involves parole, request the final Kentucky Parole Board order as a separate record. A hearing entry or recommendation is not proof of completed release processing.

Ross-Cash Release Records

Ross-Cash is part of the WKCC complex for this search. The official history says the operation began as a KSP satellite in 1968, became a separate farm center in 1977, and adopted the WKCC name in 1990. Ross-Cash became a separate operation in 2015, then rejoined WKCC in 2016. It should not be treated as a fourth, independent Lyon County facility.

KY DOC currently describes a medium-custody facility and a 200-bed minimum-custody Ross-Cash unit with separate male and female populations. A move between those components is an internal placement change. It does not show that the person returned to the community. KOOL location data and the actual release transaction should settle the distinction.

Likewise, an offender image or program listing establishes neither current custody nor release. Read the source date and purpose. For release proof, return to the dated report, current KOOL status, VINE result, or written DOC file.

Lyon State Prison Geography

Lyon County contains WKCC and Kentucky State Penitentiary, while its local county-jail entry is labeled closed. This rare mix makes the operator more important than the county name. A WKCC offender belongs to KY DOC even if the conviction came from another county. A person arrested by a Lyon agency may instead be held in another county's jail.

The absence of a name from a Sheriff roster cannot answer a WKCC question because the Sheriff publishes no such Lyon roster and does not operate the prison. In the same way, KOOL is not the only source for a brief local arrest that never became a state correctional case. Match the custody type first, then select the records office.

The KSP offender-search route uses the same statewide systems but a separate institution identity. A transfer between KSP and WKCC remains custody. A Daily Releases entry naming WKCC, by contrast, documents that KY DOC processed a release transaction from this complex.

Note: Ross-Cash belongs in the WKCC record path; it is not a separate current facility page or a release destination by itself.

Read WKCC Release Types

“Mandatory Reentry Supervision – In State” means release from prison into a supervised status under Kentucky law. It is not final sentence discharge. “Discharged – Minimum/Detainer” means the minimum portion of the DOC sentence ended while a hold may have delivered the person to another authority. Neither label should be shortened to a vague “free” result.

VINE can corroborate a departure from the reporting institution and may provide a release date. Yet it cannot by itself rule out a later booking, transfer, detainer, parole, or other supervision. If records conflict, preserve each date and label. A Board order may precede prison processing, and KOOL can update after the dated PDF.

For physical departure, favor the dated Daily Releases transaction or final DOC release record. For legal basis, use the final court, Board, or DOC order. For present supervision, use KOOL and the assigned Probation and Parole office. Together, those sources show what occurred at WKCC and what followed.