The Covington County Jail is at 290 Hillcrest Drive, Andalusia, AL 36420. The sheriff's office next door at 260 Hillcrest Drive answers at 334-428-2641.

Call the jail line for custody, bond and visit questions. The sheriff's line handles warrants, reports and general business, and can transfer you to the jail if needed.

Covington has three cities with police of their own. Andalusia, the county seat, asks people to use 334-222-1155 for non-emergency police calls. Opp and Florala also run departments that patrol inside their limits; for those two, call the sheriff's main line, 334-428-2641, and staff can route you. Smaller towns such as Red Level, River Falls, Lockhart and Gantt, plus the farm and forest country around Conecuh National Forest, are served mostly by sheriff's deputies. Troopers work U.S. 84, U.S. 29 and U.S. 331.

City officers may hold someone at their station while reports are finished, then transfer adults to Hillcrest Drive. Agency unclear? The sheriff's main line, 334-428-2641, can connect you to the jail and tell you who made the booking.

No Covington roster is posted online, so check VINELink (Covington County) first and call Covington jail staff to be sure.

VINELink (Covington County) lists who's inside. Copy the booking number. The county also keeps its own jail page at covingtoncountyal.gov. Searching in Covington?

New bookings can take a few hours to appear. If someone still isn't listed, call 334-428-2640 with the full name and birth date. VINELink offers free release alerts.

Many minor stops end with a citation and court date instead of jail. Andalusia, Opp or Florala tickets go to that town's municipal court. Make sure the person keeps the date, since a no-show can mean a warrant.

After a warrantless arrest, there's a 48-hour clock for a judge's review, or minimum bond follows. On a warrant without bond paid, three days is the limit for a first appearance. On a domestic charge, bond waits up to 24 hours for a judge.

The judge sets the amount, from the state bail chart. Ask the jail for the total on every charge. The circuit clerk keeps the file at the Covington County Courthouse, 1-K North Court Square, Andalusia, 334-428-2520, weekdays 8 to 5. Aniah's Law allows an Andalusia judge to deny bail for certain violent crimes, after a hearing. Starting May 19, 2026, the state's Amendment 1 now allows a judge to withhold bail in attempted-murder charges as well as for firing into a lived-in house or building.

Ways to post: full cash, a bonding agent, land as security, or a signature if the judge allows. The state's 3.5% fee and $35 apply. Covington judges may hold a few violent-crime defendants with no bail at all. See the Covington bail guide.

Small cases stay in District Court; the grand jury sends felonies up to Circuit. Andalusia and Opp city charges go to municipal court. Our Covington court page explains more.

Defendants without lawyer money speak up at the first Andalusia hearing. The judge looks at income. Families may hire a private lawyer at any time.

Felonies can mean prison for more than a year, while misdemeanors can bring up to a year in the county. View court files free with the clerk, or online through Alacourt for a fee.

Call 334-428-2640 and report prescriptions or injuries to the supervisor. Give drug names and doses. Snap pictures of arrest injuries for whoever defends them.

Covington visiting is screen-based: 20 minutes a session, one a day per the jail's listing, and twenty cents a minute when you log in remotely. Ask the jail whether there are screens on site. Sign-up steps: Covington visits, plus connecting from your couch.

Ask the jail about phone accounts. People inside call out on prepaid accounts, and every call is recorded. Electronic messages cost $0.25. See calls and messages.

Commissary money goes on through a separate store account, which pays for snacks and hygiene items. See commissary and sending money.

Each letter needs the full name and booking number. Covington jail mail: our Covington County guide. Stored items come back on the way out.

Release paperwork takes time. Call before driving to Hillcrest Drive.

Someone who gets more than a year will likely serve that time in an ADOC prison. Before that, they stay in the local jail until the state finds a bed. Once a bed opens, they go to a reception center to be processed. Prison staff sort each person after checking medical and mental health care, custody level, and gang ties. The final step is a prison that fits them.

For their location, open the state inmate search. For each prison, open Alabama state prisons.

The sheriff's office at 334-428-2641 can check, and the clerk at 334-428-2520 can look at court records. A city warrant may be held by Andalusia, Opp or Florala police. A lawyer can arrange a surrender.

Detained youth from Covington go to a contracted bed at the Southeast Alabama Diversion Center in Dothan, approved by the county commission in August 2026. They must see a juvenile judge inside three days. Some older teens charged with serious felonies may go to adult court.

A federal case often starts when teams from the ATF, the Secret Service, the DEA, and the Marshals make an arrest. Federal cases from Covington County land in the Middle District, Northern Division at the courthouse at Montgomery: Frank M. Johnson Jr. U.S. Courthouse Complex, One Church Street, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-954-3600. The first hearing is held within a day or two with a magistrate judge. A pretrial services officer first talks with the person and gives advice to the judge. There is no bail chart in U.S. court. A release hearing works out release or detention, following the Bail Reform Act of 1984.

Start with VINELink (Covington County) to see if they're there. Marshals staff serving Covington County keep records on people in federal custody. Phone 334-922-6960 or visit 1 Church Street, Suite A-100, Montgomery, AL 36104. During the case, the Marshals often house them in a county jail by contract. Once there is sentencing to prison, they is sent to the federal prison system (BOP). Locate the person on the BOP locator.

• At booking, their prints are checked by Homeland Security. ICE sometimes places a detainer (Form I-247A).
• Making bail does not remove the ICE hold. The hold simply begins then.
• This request tells jail staff to detain the inmate no longer than 48 hours past the normal release. Holidays don't extend it; the window is still 48 hours.
• ICE agents often come for them in person within that window. If ICE doesn't show up, that should mean they are released.
• Check the ICE detainee locator by entering an A-number and home country. Don't have the A-number? Enter the exact name plus home country and birth date instead.
• ICE itself picks where they go next, and plans can change.
• Alabama is handled by the New Orleans ERO office: 181 James Drive W, St. Rose, LA 70087, 504-318-2360.

Immigration officials share booking photos only through a FOIA request to ICE, if ICE approves. For a request about a mugshot not yet released, journalists can reach the sheriff's office at 334-428-2641. Federal mugshots aren't given to the press or public. The Marshals Service, which snaps federal mugshots, shares one only in a few cases: for someone who escaped, to aid an arrest or to warn the public or for immediate community safety.

Gift card or app payment demands are scams. Call the jail at 334-428-2640.

The Covington County Jail at 334-428-2640. Court: 334-428-2520.