The Madison County Detention Facility is at 815 Wheeler Avenue, Huntsville, AL 35801, near the city's public safety complex. Its administrative office is at 100 Northside Square, Room 206, 256-532-3412.

Huntsville police, Madison police, sheriff's deputies, state troopers and the smaller towns all book adults into this Wheeler Avenue facility.

• Huntsville Police Department, 815 Wheeler Avenue, non-emergency 256-722-7100
• Madison County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff's Annex, 705 Wheeler Avenue, non-emergency 256-722-7181

Unincorporated areas like Meridianville, Harvest, Hazel Green and Toney are sheriff's territory. The agency matters because Huntsville city charges, Madison city charges and county charges each have a different bond office.

Use Madison County Inmate Search and enter the last name. It covers the Wheeler Avenue facility. Copy the booking number for bond, deposits and mail. Need help with names?

The Madison sheriff's free app is on the Madison app for iPhone and on Madison app for Android.

Huntsville books a lot of people, so a Friday or Saturday arrest can sit in processing for hours: prints, photos, a health screen, property, and warrant checks across Alabama and Tennessee.

Ring the jail line, 256-519-4800, spelling the name as it appears on their license and giving the birthday. Ask whether Wheeler Avenue staff finished the booking, whether bond was already posted, or whether the person went to a Huntsville hospital.

For many minor offenses and traffic charges, city officers in Huntsville and Madison write a citation into municipal court instead of booking. Those people go home and never appear on the Madison County roster. Skipping the date lets Huntsville or Madison issue a city warrant. DUI, felonies and domestic violence mean booking.

Huntsville-area arrests made without a warrant require a probable-cause decision by a judge or magistrate inside 48 hours. If it doesn't happen, Wheeler Avenue must release the person at the schedule's minimum or on a signature, unless the charge is one Alabama lets judges hold without bail.

Warrant arrests where the person can't post bond reach a Madison County judge within 72 hours. On a Huntsville domestic violence charge, a judge alone sets bail, and Wheeler Avenue may wait as long as a day for that.

Use the office that matches the arresting agency: - Huntsville city misdemeanors: the Huntsville magistrate at 815 Wheeler Avenue, 256-427-7817 - Madison city misdemeanors: the Madison magistrate, weekdays 8:00 to 4:30, 256-772-5617 - Sheriff arrests and any felony: the District Court Clerk's bond window, courthouse Room 200, 256-532-3373, weekdays until 3:30 - Some cash bonds can be paid online through the court system's payment site; ask the jail or clerk for the right link before paying

Huntsville bondsmen and Madison County property bonds also work. Alabama adds 3.5% of the bond amount (the floor is $100 for a misdemeanor and $150 for a felony) and $35, and online payment sites add their own charge. See our Madison bond guide.

Most amounts come from Alabama's bond schedule. For a Huntsville Class A felony such as first-degree burglary, the chart lists anywhere from $10,000 to $60,000. A judge or magistrate can raise or lower it.

Ways to post include full cash, a licensed bonding company (non-refundable fee), a property bond, or release on signature. Under Aniah's Law, Madison prosecutors can seek a no-bail hearing for listed violent crimes. Effective May 19, 2026, Amendment 1 allows the court to deny bail for attempted-murder charges and also firing into an occupied building, home or car. Lowering a Huntsville bond takes a court order, after a defense motion.

Madison County District and Circuit Court are at the courthouse on Northside Square; the circuit clerk is at 100 North Side Square, Room 217, Huntsville, 256-532-3300. The 23rd Circuit district attorney is at 100 Northside Square, 256-532-3460.

Municipal courts: Huntsville at the public safety complex, 256-427-7810; Madison at 100 Hughes Road, 256-772-5617; Gurley 256-776-3313; New Hope 256-723-2616; Owens Cross Roads City Hall, 9032 US-431, 256-725-5165; Triana 256-772-0151. Read the Madison court steps.

Huntsville judges appoint lawyers for Madison people who can't pay. Ask a Huntsville judge at the first appearance.

Wheeler Avenue phone calls and video sessions are recorded. Talk about the charges only with the lawyer.

The roster may list abbreviated charges. Call the jail or the district clerk for the case number. A felony in Alabama can lead to prison; Madison misdemeanor sentences are limited to a year in jail. Northside Square's clerk shows Madison case files free; the Alacourt website costs money.

Call 256-519-4800 and request Wheeler Avenue's medical staff. Tell them the illness, each prescription, and where it's filled. The facility's medical staff decide care; emergencies go to a Huntsville hospital. If you fear suicide, say so immediately.

Inmates get three visits that last 30 minutes to an hour, and special privileges can add more. Madison video visits work from a home device or from screens inside the Wheeler Avenue lobby. Visitors register and are approved.

Times shift, so check online or call 256-519-4800 for this week's Wheeler Avenue visiting hours. See our Madison visitation guide and remote visit page.

Calls use a prepaid account. Deposits can go through either of two services, and the automatic fee is never above $3. A single email costs a quarter.

Guides: phones, deposits, e-messages, tablets, commissary.

Address Madison County jail letters with the inmate's name and booking number, and keep cash out. Check our Madison mail guide for current rules.

Property comes back at release. Ask Wheeler Avenue staff about letting a relative pick up keys or a phone sooner.

Release after bond can take a few hours at a big jail. Call 256-519-4800 before you come.

A sentence of more than a year is usually served in an Alabama prison run by ADOC. The person waits in the Huntsville jail for a state transfer. Their first ADOC stop is a reception prison. Workers there classify everyone by health care needs, including mental health, their risk level and gang ties. The last stop is the prison that suits their needs.

To find them, check the ADOC inmate search. Our Alabama state prison page has each prison.

Call 256-519-4800 or the sheriff's non-emergency line, 256-722-7181. A Huntsville attorney can schedule a turn-in at Wheeler Avenue with the bond worked out first.

Held minors go to the Madison County Juvenile Detention Center, 817 Cook Avenue, Huntsville, whose intake desk is at 256-532-0300.

Juvenile probation's intake desk screens every complaint and decides whether the child goes home, is diverted to a program, or is held. Youth cases go to the juvenile judges of District Court. Cook Avenue youths get a detention hearing within three days, and Madison prosecutors can ask to try certain 16- and 17-year-olds as adults.

Officers from agencies including IRS Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the DEA handle federal arrests, sometimes with Huntsville officers. Madison County is part of the Northern District's Northeastern Division, and cases happen at the federal courthouse in Huntsville: 660 Gallatin Street SW, Huntsville, AL 35801, 256-534-6495. The first appearance happens fast with a magistrate judge. The judge reads a short report from pretrial services on risk. Don't expect a bail schedule for federal charges. A short hearing sets if they stay locked up, under the Bail Reform Act of 1984.

Search for them on Madison County Inmate Search first. Some federal defendants wait in the Huntsville jail paid for by the Marshals until sentencing. Otherwise phone the Northern District's Marshals office in Birmingham at 205-829-6611 (1729 5th Avenue North, Room 240, Birmingham, AL 35203). After sentencing to prison, they transfer into federal prison (the BOP), often weeks later. Find them with the BOP locator.

• Jail fingerprints are checked through national systems that ICE uses. ICE may then send a detainer at the jail.
• Instead of leaving, the person can stay as long as 48 more hours for ICE. A holiday doesn't pause the count.
• Even with bond paid, this hold stays in place.
• Immigration officers often come for them within that window. If ICE misses the deadline, the jail is supposed to release them.
• The agency sets the detention center.
• For help, call the New Orleans field office: 181 James Drive W, St. Rose, LA 70087, 504-318-2360.
• The ICE locator looks up people by the A-number plus country of birth. Anyone without the A-number can enter the exact name, along with birth country and date of birth.

Yes. The Madison inmate roster shows Madison County mugshots for people booked now. A released person may drop off the Madison list.

Media that want a booking photo that isn't public can contact the sheriff's office, 256-722-7181. Federal mugshots are kept private. Any release comes from the U.S. Marshals, who allow it only to find a wanted fugitive, when the community must be warned quickly or when sharing it speeds the search or a public warning. Any ICE mugshot is only released after an ICE records request and ICE's approval.

Only pay through links the jail or clerk gives you. Callers claiming to be Huntsville officers or bondsmen who push for gift cards, wire transfers or payment-app transfers are frauds. Hang up and call 256-519-4800.

Call the Madison County Detention Facility at 256-519-4800. For bond offices: Huntsville magistrate 256-427-7817, Madison magistrate 256-772-5617, District Court bond window 256-532-3373.