Wrangell City and Borough Booking Releases

Wrangell City and Borough Booking Releases cover arrests made by the Wrangell Police Department in this small Southeast Alaska community. The department runs 24 hours a day and handles all municipal law enforcement duties, from patrol to investigations to jail operations. Wrangell operates a temporary holding facility, but longer-term inmates transfer to Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau. You can search Wrangell City and Borough booking releases through the DOC offender tool, the DPS records portal, and the state court system. This page lays out the contacts, links, and steps for pulling booking records from Wrangell.

Wrangell Borough Booking Release Basics

The Wrangell Police Department is the main law enforcement agency in the borough. The office sits at 215 Front Street, Wrangell, AK 99929. Call (907) 874-3304 to reach the department. Police Chief Doug McCloskey leads the force. The department handles patrol, investigations, and jail operations around the clock. Because Wrangell is a consolidated city-borough, there is no separate sheriff or borough police. The WPD covers everything.

Wrangell does not operate a long-term jail. The city jail is a temporary holding facility. When someone faces more than a brief stay, they get transferred to Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau. The trip requires a ferry ride or a flight. Weather in Southeast Alaska can delay transfers, so a Wrangell City and Borough booking release may not appear in the state DOC system right away.

In 2019, the Wrangell PD reported 13 crimes total. Two were violent offenses, both rapes. Eleven were property crimes. That low count reflects the small size of the community. Wrangell has fewer than 2,500 people year round. Booking releases come in a trickle here, not a flood, but each one still goes through the same state systems.

Search Wrangell Booking Records

Arrest records are public under Alaska Statute 40.25.110 through 40.25.220. Requests for Wrangell booking releases should be submitted in writing to the Wrangell Police Department. Send your request to PO Box 1168, Wrangell, AK 99929. Fees apply for copying and research time. Mugshots and booking photos can be obtained through the same public records request process.

Online records are not kept at the local level in Wrangell. The department does not run a web portal for booking data. All electronic lookups go through the state DOC offender locator or the Alaska Court System. For a paper copy of a Wrangell booking sheet, the written request is the only route. Staff pull the file and mail it back or hold it for pickup.

The Wrangell Cooperative Association, a federally recognized tribe, keeps limited public safety coordination with the borough. Tribal records stay with the tribal office and do not appear in the state system. Call the tribal office for village-level matters. Most serious Wrangell Booking Releases cases still route through the police department and the state court.

Wrangell Booking Releases in the DOC System

The Alaska DOC offender locator covers every state jail. Type a name at doc.alaska.gov and the system shows the current facility, the expected release date, and the case status. Wrangell inmates who transfer to Lemon Creek Correctional Center will appear in this tool. The DOC site also has a public records request form for the full booking sheet.

VINE tracks the same data in real time. Search by name at vinelink.vineapps.com/search/AK. Sign up for free release alerts at vinelink.com so you get notified when a Wrangell booking status changes. Transfers from the Wrangell city jail to Lemon Creek will trigger a VINE notification if you have an alert set up.

Alaska State Troopers and Wrangell Arrests

While the WPD handles most calls in the borough, Alaska State Troopers also serve the region from a post in Petersburg or Ketchikan. Trooper arrests from Wrangell appear on the Daily Dispatch at dailydispatch.dps.alaska.gov. Each entry shows the name, age, town, and charge.

For a formal copy of a trooper arrest report, file a request through the DPS portal at dpsalaska.justfoia.com. Name the date, the location, and the person. The DPS routes it to the right post. For WPD-specific arrest files, contact the Wrangell Police Department directly since they keep their own records.

Court Records for Wrangell Borough Arrests

After a booking, charging papers go to the Alaska Court System. Cases from Wrangell are heard in the local court. Run a search at courts.alaska.gov/main/search-cases.htm. The tool shows charge lists, hearing dates, bail, and case status. A second search sits at public.courts.alaska.gov with a fuller docket view.

Court forms for bail and release are on the forms page at courts.alaska.gov/forms/index.htm. Wrangell City and Borough booking releases tie to cases filed in the Wrangell court district.

Wrangell Booking Records Access Law

Wrangell City and Borough Booking Releases are public under the Alaska Public Records Act, AS 40.25.110 through AS 40.25.220. Anyone can file a request. You do not need to be a relative. Online databases are not routinely maintained at the local level in Wrangell, so a written request to the WPD is usually the best route for local booking files.

Read the full Alaska Public Records Act at law.alaska.gov/doclibrary/APRA.html. Juvenile records stay sealed. Some victim and medical info gets redacted. Under AS 12.62, the DPS Records and Identification Bureau runs name-based background checks for $20 and fingerprint-based checks for $35.

The Wrangell Cooperative Association is a federally recognized tribe that maintains limited public safety coordination in the borough. Tribal records are separate from the WPD files and may not be subject to the same public records laws.

Note: Most APRA requests to the WPD get a response within 10 working days. Booking sheets and mugshots tend to be the fastest records to return.

Federal Booking Records Near Wrangell

Some arrests near Wrangell fall under federal law. Crimes in the Tongass National Forest, marine offenses, and drug cases may go through the U.S. District Court for Alaska. To track a federal booking, use the BOP Inmate Locator at bop.gov/inmateloc. Type a name or BOP register number to find current housing and release date.

Wrangell sits surrounded by Tongass National Forest land, so federal jurisdiction comes into play more often than you might expect for a small community. Forest Service law enforcement and the U.S. Coast Guard can both make arrests in the area that route through the federal system instead of the WPD.

Local Resources and Contacts

Key contacts for Wrangell City and Borough Booking Releases:

• Wrangell Police Department: (907) 874-3304
• WPD Mailing: PO Box 1168, Wrangell, AK 99929
• Alaska DOC: doc.alaska.gov
• VINE Inmate Search: vinelink.vineapps.com/search/AK
• DPS Records Portal: dpsalaska.justfoia.com

For a local arrest file, contact the WPD directly. For inmate status at Lemon Creek, use the DOC offender locator. For case info, use the court system. Wrangell is small enough that the police department is usually the fastest path to a booking release record.

Legal help is available through the Alaska Public Defender Agency. The court appoints counsel when the defendant cannot pay. The Alaska Bar Association runs a referral line for private lawyers who take Southeast Alaska cases.