Where VMDC Releases Go
Sheriff Curtis Skaggs's Union County office may originate the arrest record, while VMDC records the jail event.
Vigil-Maldonado Detention Center is the physical jailkeeper for many people arrested or charged in Union County. Under the current Colfax-Union confinement agreement, Colfax County may accept qualifying Union detainees when space and the agreement allow. The Union County Sheriff or court may start the case, but VMDC keeps the booking and physical custody chronology. That split explains why a search limited to Clayton can miss the record that shows when the jail door actually opened.
A VMDC departure may be a true community release on bond, recognizance, dismissal, time served, sentence completion, or another court order. It may instead be a transfer to the New Mexico Corrections Department, another county jail, U.S. Marshals, ICE, a hospital, or another custodian. A transfer ends VMDC custody without ending custody itself. The final release entry should be read with its disposition and receiving destination.
| VMDC departure | Meaning | Next check |
|---|---|---|
| Bond or court order | Physical release may be to the community while the case continues. | Union County court docket and VMDC release time |
| Time served or completion | The local custodial term may have ended. | Judgment, credit order, and final VMDC entry |
| NMCD transfer | The person left county detention but remained confined. | NMCD Offender Search |
| Federal or ICE transfer | Another agency assumed custody. | BOP, federal court, or ICE channels |
Note: Preserve VMDC's exact departure code because a transfer and a community release lead to different follow-up records.
Confirm a VMDC Release
No public roster, recent-release feed, photo archive, or online release history was found on the official VMDC page during the July 2026 research. Call the facility for a current check, then request the existing booking and release record when written proof matters. Staff may limit what can be stated by phone. A narrow request gives the records custodian a clear event and date range to locate.
- Match the person with a full name, date of birth if known, approximate booking dates, Union arresting agency, and court case number.
- Ask whether VMDC still holds the person. If not, request the release date and time, coded disposition, and destination or receiving agency.
- Open the New Mexico Courts Public Case Lookup and match the case number, charge, and order date.
- If the jail entry says transfer, search the receiving system. Do not translate a transfer into community release.
- Use a written IPRA request for the final booking and release record when a durable copy is needed.
A missing roster name is not release proof. It can reflect transfer, a data delay, a different identifier, or removal from a live list.
VMDC Union Release Records
A purpose-neutral records request should ask for an existing record, not ask the agency to create a conclusion. Identify the detainee and date range, then request the booking and release timestamps, booking number, charges and case number, disposition, bond or court authority, destination or receiving agency, and any releasable booking photograph. Research found no official VMDC field dictionary, so these are focused request items rather than a promise that each field exists or can be disclosed.
New Mexico's Inspection of Public Records Act permits oral or written requests, but the enforcement procedures attach to a written request. Under Section 14-2-8, a written request identifies the requester and the records with reasonable particularity. If inspection cannot be immediate, the custodian generally provides a written explanation within three business days. The ordinary response period is 15 calendar days, subject to the statute's rule for broad or burdensome requests.
Protected content can be redacted while nonexempt parts are produced. Ask for electronic copies where an electronic record exists. If VMDC names a transfer destination, that destination should be traced before calling the event a release to the community.
Keep the labels from each source intact. A court order date can precede the time VMDC completes release processing, and a supervision record can begin after the jail event. Those differences do not automatically signal an error. Preserve the order date, facility release time, data-update time, and supervision start as separate facts. A focused record note should identify the person, the custodian, the event, and the destination so that later readers can see exactly what was confirmed.
Online visibility is also separate from retention. The research found no official VMDC archive period and no public release history, but that does not mean the underlying government record vanished. A written IPRA response is a stronger source than a failed web search. If a request receives a denial, ask for the cited legal basis and for any nonexempt portion that can be separated from protected material.
- Disposition
- The facility's recorded reason or type for ending its custody.
- Transfer
- A move to another custodian, not unrestricted community release.
- Recognizance
- A court-authorized pretrial release without a cash bond payment.
- Detainer
- A notice that another agency may take custody when the current hold ends.
VMDC Release Contact Details
The official Vigil-Maldonado Detention Center page is the source for the facility address, telephone, fax, hours, and basic description. Confirm office access before traveling because the official page does not establish release-processing hours, weekend practice, property pickup rules, or an online archive.
Vigil-Maldonado Detention Center
444 Hereford Street
Raton, NM 87740
Phone: 575-445-3691
Fax: 575-445-3692
Office: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The official page shown below confirms the contact route but does not display a Union County release feed.
That absence makes direct verification and a written request the appropriate local path, rather than an unsupported claim about a 24-hour list.
Union Release Records Cross Counties
Union County lacks its own adult jail. This creates a record chain across two counties: the Union County Sheriff may hold the arrest and transport report, the Union courts hold the legal orders, and Colfax County's VMDC holds the physical booking and release entry. A correct answer can require all three. Calling only the sheriff may yield no jail release record because that office did not operate the bed.
The Union County District Court and Clayton Magistrate Court share a location but serve different case roles. The magistrate record may show misdemeanor proceedings, preliminary felony events, and bond. District court preserves felony disposition and sentence. A signed order explains legal authority, while VMDC confirms when staff processed the departure. Conflicting dates can therefore be legitimate.
Use the Judiciary IPRA portal when the needed order is not available through the public case view. Select the court that holds the case and identify the case number and document, such as a bond order, dismissal, judgment and sentence, probation order, or filed discharge. The court record can explain why custody should end, but only the jail's final entry establishes when VMDC carried out that action.
Record the number called, date, office, and any limit staff describes. If the agency says another custodian holds the record, redirect the request instead of treating “no record here” as proof that no release event exists.
Note: A court order explains release authority, while the final VMDC entry establishes when that facility actually ended custody.
About VMDC Custody Records
VMDC is owned and operated by Colfax County. The official page describes a 42-bed detention center built in 1989 and named for longtime local officials Joe Vigil and Jim Maldonado. It is a county detention facility, not a New Mexico state prison. Its population may include qualifying Union County detainees under the space-available agreement.
This classification controls the search path. An ordinary VMDC booking does not appear in the NMCD offender system merely because the case arose in New Mexico. NMCD covers people imprisoned by the state or supervised by its Probation and Parole Division. If VMDC transfers a sentenced person to state custody, the NMCD record begins a separate correctional chapter.
VMDC Release to ICE
A VMDC record marked “release to ICE” describes an agency transfer. It does not establish that the person entered the community. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator System with the nine-digit A-number and country of birth, or the exact name and country of birth. Date of birth can refine the name search.
ICE states that ODLS covers current detainees and people released from ICE custody during the prior 60 days. That narrow period makes prompt follow-up important. After it expires, no result is inconclusive. The Detention Reporting and Information Line at 1-888-351-4024 can assist on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
The ICE released-person coverage explanation is pictured below.
The limited window reinforces the need to preserve VMDC's destination field and search the receiving agency without delay.
For the full local custody and records path, the Union County released inmate search separates county, state, federal, and immigration systems.