On the official inmate search, a surname is enough to start. Long result lists shrink once you add the first name. Then check the age or birth date, the booking date and the charges before you trust the match. Write down the jail ID number, because almost every service at the jail asks for it.

The roster changes all day as people are booked, moved or released. Treat it as a first clue, not the final word. If something on it looks wrong or confusing, call the jail at 256-332-8425 and give the full name. The desk can confirm if the person is still held at 748 Walnut Gate Road, Russellville, AL 35654.

A booking takes time. Before a name reaches the roster, officers bring the person to Walnut Gate Road, take fingerprints and a photo, run a warrant check and finish forms. On a busy Saturday that stretches out. Spelling trips people up as well, so also search under any maiden name, nickname or hyphenated surname.

Sometimes nobody is booked. For minor offenses, officers often hand over a citation that names a date to appear. Still nothing? Ring the jail at 256-332-8425, and after that the arresting department. Sign up with VINELink to get a text if the person is released.

The sheriff's detention center opened in March 2008 and holds about 220 people. It sits at 748 Walnut Gate Road, Russellville, AL 35654, the same address as the sheriff's office. Key numbers:

• Jail and bond questions: 256-332-8425
• Sheriff's non-emergency line, open around the clock: 256-332-8820
• Administrative office, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.: 256-332-8811

The sheriff's detention page has the rules for visits, mail and money. Have the inmate's full name and jail ID ready before you call. For an emergency, always dial 911.

Yes. Mugshots appear next to each name on the sheriff's roster with mugshots, though some photos load slowly. A mugshot only shows that someone was booked. It is not proof that they did anything wrong.

Reporters who want a photo that is not shown can ask the sheriff's office at 256-332-8820. Federal booking photos are handled differently. The U.S. Marshals release one only for special reasons, such as a wanted fugitive or a public safety warning. For an immigration photo, use ICE's online records request. Sites that charge to scrub a photo cannot change official records, so skip them.

During the holding period, which lasts at least 72 hours, the jail accepts a short list of new items in their original packages:

• One medium clear storage container
• Six solid white t-shirts, six pairs of white underwear and six pairs of white socks
• Six solid white bras with no underwire
• One white towel and one white washcloth
• One toothbrush, one clear deodorant stick, and clear bottles of shampoo and body wash

Anything else is refused. Once the person moves to general population, nothing from outside is taken, and they must buy items from commissary. Call 256-332-8425 to ask whether the holding period is still open.

Each inmate gets two free 30-minute visits per week, or one hour in all. After those are used, every extra visit costs $7.50, paid at the Telmate kiosk in the jail lobby. Visits can be cancelled when the inmate or the whole housing pod is on lockdown.

A newly booked person cannot have visitors until booking is complete and they are placed in a cell. The sheriff also points families to the govisits app. Read our visiting guide and video visit page before you go, and call 256-332-8425 to confirm your time.

After booking, each inmate gets a commissary account and number. Any cash they had at arrest goes into it. Families can add money three ways:

• Send a money order, with the inmate as payee, to 748 Walnut Gate Road, Russellville, AL 35654.
• Tap through the touch-screen machine in the lobby, starting with the inmate's name.
• Go online with a credit or debit card, create an account, then pick Alabama, the sheriff's office and the inmate.

Orders go in on Tuesday and arrive Wednesday. Commissary sells snacks, hygiene items, stamped envelopes and some clothing. See our deposit guide and commissary page.

Viapath runs the jail phones, and its customer line is 866-516-0115. After booking, each inmate gets a six-digit PIN for the phone account and should keep it private. Families can add money in three ways:

• By phone with a credit card
• Online through the provider's website
• In person at the lobby machine, which accepts bills or plastic. New users open an account and show a driver's license there.

Assume every call is recorded, so never talk about the case. Our phone guide and messaging page explain the options. Ask the jail at 256-332-8425 which message services work at this facility.

Start with the inmate's complete name and jail ID on top. Then add:

• Franklin County Detention Center
• 748 Walnut Gate Road
• Russellville, AL 35654

Every envelope needs a sender name and return address, since mail missing them may be destroyed. Letters are not forwarded if the person moves to another jail, so check the roster before you mail anything. Books must be new and shipped straight from the seller. Our mail guide has more tips, and the jail at 256-332-8425 can answer questions.

Staff reject anything that could hurt safety or health. Leave these out:

• Greeting cards, blank paper and blank envelopes
• Padded or bubble envelopes
• Perfume, powder, hair or body fluids, and kissed letters
• Staples, clips, glue, tape, glitter, stickers, labels, highlighter or correction fluid
• Crayon, marker or gel pen; use pencil, pen or typing
• Stained, colored or tightly folded paper, origami and coloring sheets
• Food, gum or wrappers
• Nude or violent pictures, gang art and tattoo drawings
• Cash and personal checks

Cross out a mistake with one line. Questions go to 256-332-8425.

The jail has medical staff on site. Does your loved one rely on insulin, seizure pills, heart medicine or another daily drug? Call 256-332-8425 and speak with whoever supervises that shift. Share the full name and birthday, every medication with its strength and schedule, the prescriber's name, and any allergies or recent injuries.

Privacy law may stop staff from sharing much with you, but your warning still goes into the record. Do not mail or drop off pills. If the problem is not fixed, tell the defense lawyer. Outside the jail, a true emergency means calling 911.

The sheriff names three routes. First, cash for the whole bond, paid at the clerk's window, 410 N. Jackson Avenue, Russellville, AL 35653, phone 256-332-8861. Second, land shown on a Revenue Commissioner printout. Third, a locally licensed bondsman, who keeps 10 percent. Every bond also needs a $35 money order for the filing fee, made out to the Franklin County Circuit Clerk.

For some violent charges, a judge can hold a person with no bail after a hearing under Aniah's Law. Since May 19, 2026, that includes attempted murder and shooting into an occupied place. Our bond guide and the Alabama bail rules page explain more.

The timing depends on how the arrest happened. With no warrant behind the arrest, there are 48 hours for a judge to approve keeping the person locked up. If the person was arrested on a warrant and cannot meet the bond terms, the first court date comes within 72 hours.

People charged with domestic violence may wait up to a full day before they can bond out. Weekends can make the wait feel longer. The circuit clerk at 256-332-8861 keeps the hearing calendar and can look the person up by name.

State cases go to the courthouse on Jackson Avenue, 410 N. Jackson Avenue, Russellville, AL 35653. District Court handles misdemeanors and the early part of felony cases. Circuit Court holds felony trials. A charge written by Russellville, Red Bay or Phil Campbell officers for breaking a city law goes to that town's municipal court instead.

Ask the circuit clerk at 256-332-8861 to name the court and its next session. Felonies can lead to prison, while misdemeanor jail time is always under a year. Our court guide explains each step from first hearing to appeal.

The court does, whenever jail is possible and the person truly cannot pay. The judge asks about income, property and bills, then decides whether to appoint counsel. A family can still hire someone privately if it prefers.

Remind your loved one to request counsel the first time a judge appears, and to stay quiet about the case on recorded calls. The local file is kept by the circuit clerk in the courthouse at 410 N. Jackson Avenue, Russellville, AL 35653, 256-332-8861. The state Office of Indigent Defense Services, 100 North Union Street, Suite 680, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-242-7059, oversees the appointed lawyer program.

Call 256-332-8820 any time, and deputies can check. The sheriff's Most Wanted page shows faces behind a short notice. Statewide, the ALEA wanted list searches by name, and Alacourt Access sells case files with $9.99 name lookups. Surrenders are booked at 748 Walnut Gate Road, Russellville, AL 35654, and a lawyer can have bail ready. For a missed date or unpaid fine, the clerk at 410 N. Jackson Avenue, Russellville, AL 35653, 256-332-8861, may say what is owed. Our first hearing guide explains what follows.

The wallet, keys, phone and other things bagged at booking are returned to the person at discharge. If they are moved to another jail or prison, ask whether their property goes with them or must be picked up.

Release can take a few hours even after bond is posted, while staff check papers and look for holds. Call the jail at 256-332-8425 before driving to Walnut Gate Road. Collecting property for another adult? Ask which ID and signed permission the desk wants. Anything kept as evidence is a separate matter, so ask the defense lawyer about it.

A child goes to juvenile court, not the adult jail roster. Call juvenile probation at 256-332-8877. Intake runs through that office, and staff there know the child's location and court date. A child held overnight gets a detention hearing within three days.

The nearest youth detention center on the state DYS list is Tennessee Valley Juvenile Detention Center, 2216 Missouri Street, Tuscumbia, AL 35674, 256-381-3520. Ask probation if the child was taken there. A 16- or 17-year-old accused of a major felony may be tried as an adult, so get a lawyer involved early.

Federal cases often come from the ATF or the DEA. This county is in the Northern District's Northwestern Division, so hearings are in Florence at the John McKinley Federal Building, 210 North Seminary Street, Room 202, Florence, AL 35630, 256-760-8415. Staff are not in Florence every day; the clerk's main line is 205-278-1700.

Pretrial services interviews the defendant, and soon after that a magistrate judge runs the opening hearing. There is no price table in federal court. During the case, the U.S. Marshals, 1729 5th Avenue North, Room 240, Birmingham, AL 35203, 205-829-6611, decide which contract jail holds the person. After sentencing, use the BOP inmate locator.

• Prints taken during booking are run through federal databases, which can prompt ICE to file a detainer.
• Bond money leaves the detainer untouched. Its countdown begins at the ordinary release time.
• The extra hold can last 48 hours, and Saturdays, Sundays and holidays are included in it.
• Officers often pick the person up inside that window. If nobody comes, the jail must let them go.
• To search, use the ICE locator. One route uses the A-number with birth country; the other asks for full name, birthday and birth country.
• Help comes from ICE's New Orleans Field Office, 181 James Drive W, St. Rose, LA 70087, 504-318-2360.
• Only ICE chooses the detention center, and plans can change.

A long sentence usually means state prison. Until a bed opens, the person waits at the Russellville jail. Next stop is a state intake unit. There, staff screen for risk, physical and mental health, and gang ties. The final stop is the prison that fits those results.

Track the move with the ADOC online search, by name, or by AIS number once one is assigned. Write down the new AIS number when it appears. For visits and mail at the new prison, open our Alabama prison guide. Not sure the van has left yet? The jail at 256-332-8425 can tell you.

VINE is a free alert service. Open VINELink, choose Alabama, and search by name or jail ID number. Once the correct record appears, register your phone or email, and VINE will reach out by call, text or message after a release, a transfer or another change.

Alerts help, but they can lag. Before driving to Walnut Gate Road for a pickup, call the jail at 256-332-8425 to confirm the release time. Keep your sign-up details private. If you are a victim worried about safety, VINE alerts are a good first step, and you can also speak with the district attorney's office.

Treat it as fraud. Hang up without paying, and phone the Walnut Gate Road jail at 256-332-8425 using a number you found yourself. Real bonds in this county are paid in cash at the clerk's office, by a property bond, or through a licensed bondsman. The filing fee is a money order. Nobody official will ask for a gift card, a payment app or a wire transfer.

Scammers may know the inmate's name and charges because that information shows on the roster. Do not trust a caller just because they know details. If you lost money, report it to the sheriff's office at 256-332-8820.

Town arrests still bring adults to the county jail for booking, but the arresting agency holds the report:

• Russellville Police Department, 400 N. Jackson Avenue, Russellville, AL 35653, 256-332-2230
• Phil Campbell police, through City Hall at 580 Railroad Street, Phil Campbell, AL 35581, 205-993-5313
• Red Bay police: for a Red Bay arrest, start with the sheriff's line, 256-332-8820, which can reach the right agency

Deputies patrol Vina, Hodges and rural roads, and state troopers cover U.S. 43. An arrest close to the Colbert, Lawrence, Marion or Winston line might put the person in that county's jail instead:

• Colbert County Jail, 201 North Main Street, Tuscumbia, AL 35674, 256-383-0741
• Lawrence County Jail, 242 Parker Road, Moulton, AL 35650, 256-974-2550
• Marion County Jail, 842 Industrial Drive, Hamilton, AL 35570, 205-921-7433
• Winston County Jail, 11 Blake Drive, Double Springs, AL 35553, 205-489-5205