The sheriff operates the Lee County Detention Center at 1900 Frederick Road, Opelika, AL 36801, the same campus as the sheriff's office 334-749-5651).

Auburn's municipal court refers to its defendants as "incarcerated in the Lee County Jail by the City of Auburn," and Opelika's police divisions list no detention unit. So a student picked up near Toomer's Corner and a driver stopped on I-85 go to the same Frederick Road building.

• Auburn Police Division, 141 N. Ross Street, non-emergency 334-501-3100
• Opelika Police Department, 501 S. 10th Street, non-emergency 334-705-5260
• Lee County Sheriff's Office (Smiths Station, Beauregard, Beulah, Salem, Loachapoka and rural roads): 334-749-5651

Smiths Station relies on sheriff's deputies for patrol. Knowing the agency tells you whether there's a city case, a county case, or both, and one arrest can produce two separate bonds.

Open Lee County Inmate Search and enter a surname. It covers everyone in the Opelika detention center, whatever agency brought them. Note the jail ID; mail, deposits and phone setup need it.

Lee also has a sheriff app: Lee app for iPhone, Lee app for Android.

Not necessarily. A Friday night in a college town keeps the booking desk busy, and each new Lee arrival is fingerprinted, photographed, screened by medical and run through warrant databases before showing up online.

Ring 334-737-7050 and give the person's legal name as it appears on an ID, plus their birthday. Ask Lee staff whether booking is finished, whether the person bonded out, went to a hospital, or is being held for Georgia, since Phenix City and Columbus are close by.

City officers often write tickets for minor charges into Auburn or Opelika municipal court, and the person is free to leave. Ticketed people stay off the Lee roster, but a missed court date leads to a warrant. DUI, felonies, domestic violence and anyone who can't be identified get booked.

When Lee officers arrest without a warrant, a judge has 48 hours to agree there was probable cause. Miss that, and Frederick Road has to free the person at the schedule's floor or on a signature, unless Alabama law allows bail to be withheld.

When there is a warrant, an inmate who can't post bond goes before a judge within 72 hours. Auburn's court says most people arrested on a new city charge are released on a signature bond. People held for domestic violence or DUI must wait out a set period of up to about 24 hours, and anyone with a failure-to-appear charge or an out-of-state address may be treated differently.

The amount comes from Alabama's schedule, printed on the warrant, and a judge can raise or cut it. Example: the schedule puts a Lee Class C felony such as theft of a car between $2,500 and $15,000.

Ways to post: paying the whole Lee bond by card or cash, an Opelika bail agent (premium not refunded), real estate, or a judge's signature release. For listed violent crimes, Aniah's Law allows a no-bail hearing. The voter-approved Amendment 1 lets courts refuse bail for attempted-murder charges and firing a gun into a lived-in home, truck or building. That change has applied since on May 19, 2026. Only a judge, after a lawyer's motion, can lower bond; the jail and sheriff can't. Steps are on our Lee bond guide.

Often you can. Lee uses an online cash bond service that takes cards, so you may not need to drive anywhere; ask the detention center at 334-737-7050 whether this bond qualifies and for the correct link.

For in-person payment, Lee circuit court bonds are handled by the clerk's office in the Lee County Justice Center, 2311 Gateway Drive, Opelika, 334-737-3526, weekdays 8:30 to 4:30. City bonds may go through Auburn Municipal Court 334-501-3180) or Opelika Municipal Court 334-705-5190). Alabama's add-on is 3.5% of the bond face, minimum $100 misdemeanor or $150 felony, plus $35; card services add their own fee.

Lee District and Circuit Court sit at the Gateway Drive justice center. The 37th Circuit district attorney, Suite 111 at the same address, 334-737-3446, prosecutes. City cases: Auburn Municipal Court at 141 N. Ross Street, 334-501-3180; Opelika Municipal Court, 334-705-5190, with municipal probation at 334-705-5198.

Notasulga, which lies mostly in Macon County, runs a small town court at 334-257-1454; Smiths Station has no municipal court listed, so its cases go to Lee District Court. Ask Opelika's court whether the person has a city case, a county case, or both. See the Lee court steps.

Ask at the first hearing, or ask the circuit clerk at 334-737-3526. Lee judges assign private attorneys for people who can't pay.

Frederick Road records every inmate call and video session. Talk about the case only with the attorney.

The roster may show short codes. The detention center or the Gateway Drive clerk can explain them and give a case number. In Lee, a felony conviction can mean years in state prison, while misdemeanor sentences top out at twelve months in the county. Lee case files can be viewed free at the clerk or on Alacourt for a fee.

Phone 334-737-7050 and ask for the shift supervisor. Tell the Opelika supervisor what illness the person has, which prescriptions they take, and which pharmacy fills them. Lee's medical team decides on care; emergencies are taken to an area hospital. Report any suicide risk immediately.

Video visits and phone calls share one provider. Lee families can visit from their couch with a smartphone or laptop, or come to the Opelika lobby video stations. Register first and get approved.

Lee's visiting hours shift; the provider's site or a phone call to the detention center gives this week's slots. See Lee visitation and video visits from home.

Register and fund your number with the phone provider so calls from Opelika connect. Two deposit services are used for inmate money, and the automated fee tops out at $3. Email is $0.25 a message.

Our guides: Lee calls, money, email, tablets, commissary.

Write the jail ID and full name on each envelope; never mail cash. Check our Lee mail guide for current rules.

Lee staff hand belongings back when the person walks out. If you need a car key or wallet earlier, ask whether a property release to a family member is allowed.

Release after bond can take a few more hours at a busy Opelika jail. Call before you come.

Prison sentences over twelve months are carried out by the state prison system. For now, they wait in the Opelika jail until the state sends for them. When space opens, they move to a reception prison for check-in. Workers there classify them based on gang links, security risk and physical and mental health. Their final stop is the prison that matches their needs.

Search the ADOC inmate search by name. Our state prison guide covers each prison.

The sheriff at 334-749-5651 can check county warrants, and Auburn or Opelika police handle city warrant questions. A Lee defense lawyer can arrange a planned surrender, often with bond in place.

Minors' records are private and they aren't on the adult roster. Phone the sheriff at 334-749-5651 to locate a minor, then juvenile intake at 334-737-3464, Suite E-129 of the justice center, about the hearing. Intake may release the child to a parent, handle it informally or file a petition.

Held youth go to the Lee County Youth Development Center, 1109 Spring Drive, Opelika, AL 36801, 334-203-1082. A detention hearing comes within 72 hours. A few teens facing the most serious charges may go to adult court.

A federal case usually starts after the Secret Service, IRS Criminal Investigation or the Marshals carry out the arrest. Charges filed here land in the Eastern Division of Alabama's Middle District, in G.W. Andrews Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, 701 Avenue A, Opelika, AL 36801. Clerks aren't in Opelika full time; questions go to the Montgomery clerk at 334-954-3600. Look for an initial appearance before a magistrate judge the next court day. There is no set bail price in U.S. court. A detention hearing decides detention or release, following the 1984 Bail Reform Act. The court gets a short report from pretrial services.

Check Lee County Inmate Search right away, where the hold can be listed. Marshals staff in Montgomery know the location of federal prisoners. Phone 334-922-6960. Its office is at 1 Church Street, Suite A-100, Montgomery, AL 36104. Some federal prisoners wait in a county jail rented by the U.S. Marshals before trial. After sentencing to prison, they is sent to federal prison (the BOP). Locate the person with the federal inmate locator after the move.

• ICE finds out about most arrests by way of fingerprints deputies share. If ICE is interested, it may issue a detainer with the jailers.
• Paying the bond does not cancel the detainer. It only starts the clock.
• The detainer tells the jailers to keep them no longer than 48 hours past their release time. Once the 48 hours end, the hold request expires.
• During the hold, ICE may come to take custody. If they don't come, the jail is supposed to let them go on the local case.
• To learn their location, phone ICE's New Orleans field office: 181 James Drive W, St. Rose, LA 70087, 504-318-2360.
• The ICE locator searches for people with an A-number and birth country. The locator works too with the exact name together with birth country and date of birth when you lack the A-number.
• Where they are sent is ICE's call.

Yes. Click a person in the Lee County roster to see Lee mugshots.

Phone the sheriff's office, 334-749-5651, if you're a reporter seeking a booking photo that isn't posted. The public and the media don't get federal booking photos. Rarely, the Marshals Service releases one: to find someone who escaped, to help a capture or warn the community or for urgent public safety. An ICE booking photo is released after a FOIA request to ICE that ICE approves.

It could. Use only the bond payment link the detention center gives you. Callers who claim to be Lee deputies, Auburn officers or bondsmen and demand gift cards, wires or app payments are scammers. Hang up and call 334-737-7050 yourself.

Call the Lee County Detention Center at 334-737-7050 about custody, bond and visits. For court paperwork, call the circuit clerk at 334-737-3526; for city cases, Auburn 334-501-3180 or Opelika 334-705-5190.