The sheriff runs the detention facility at 225 South McDonough Street, Montgomery, AL 36104, and its main line is 334-832-4985. An expansion that began in 2006 brought total space to 1,290 beds. Intake, release and records fill the first floor; the medical unit and women's housing are on the second; men's housing takes up the third and fourth floors.

The sheriff's administrative office sits in a separate building at 115 South Perry Street, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-832-4980. Keep in mind that the city runs a jail of its own for some city charges and city warrants. Questions about a person there go through the main entrance of police headquarters on North Ripley Street, or to the city police non-emergency line at 334-625-2651.

1. Open the sheriff's current inmate list.
2. Type the last name. If you are unsure how it is spelled, try just the first few letters.
3. Match the record by first name and age or birth date.
4. Open the record and read what it shows.
5. Write the booking number on paper you will keep.

That number, sometimes called the MCDF number, belongs on letters, deposits and bond papers. Two people with the same name can both be listed, so if you have any doubt, phone the jail at 334-832-4985 and confirm you picked the right person before sending anything.

A name missing from the list does not always mean someone went home. Ask the jail about each of these:

• Booking is still going on: fingerprints, photos, health questions and warrant checks.
• Bond was already posted.
• The person was taken to a hospital.
• A city charge put them in the city jail.
• Another county, maybe Elmore or Autauga, is holding them.
• They are under 18. Juvenile cases are kept off the adult list.

The McDonough Street desk at 334-832-4985 can sort it out once it has a full name and birthday. Ask whether you should be calling city police or another county instead.

That happens often. Lots of minor offenses inside the city end with a ticket instead of a ride to jail. Someone who was ticketed will not be on the county jail list. The ticket carries a court date at Municipal Court, 1001 Madison Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-625-2776.

Read the ticket closely and mark that date on a calendar. Skipping it brings a warrant, and then an arrest can follow. If the ticket got lost, call the court and give the person's name and birthday to learn the date and the amount owed. The court offers ways to pay traffic and parking tickets online, by phone or by mail, and staff can walk you through each.

Alabama Rule 4.3 sets two deadlines. For a warrantless arrest, the probable cause question goes to a judge, and the outside limit is 48 hours. With a warrant, a person unable to satisfy the release terms must reach a judge or magistrate by the 72-hour point, so by about day three.

Family violence arrests take a little longer, since Alabama holds the accused for 24 hours before setting bail. That first appearance focuses on release terms and getting a lawyer, not on guilt. To learn when it is scheduled, ask the jail at 334-832-4985 or the circuit clerk at 334-832-1260.

Most bonds here follow Alabama's suggested schedule, and a Lawrence Street judge can raise or lower them. Families can pay the full amount, hire a bail agent, pledge real estate, or ask for a signature release. Posting a bond adds 3.5% of the bond and $35.

The jail line, 334-832-4985, gives bond amounts and fees. The circuit clerk takes state bonds at 251 South Lawrence Street, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-832-1260, until 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. Before you go, ask which payment types McDonough Street accepts once the clerk closes. A "no bond" listing means a judge must act first. For Alabama's own rules on bail, open our state bail laws page.

State misdemeanors go to District Court and felonies to Circuit Court, both inside the courthouse at 251 South Lawrence Street, Montgomery, AL 36104. Phone the circuit clerk, 334-832-1260, to learn which court has it, its case number and the next hearing. The 15th Circuit district attorney's office prosecutes state cases and can be reached at 334-832-2550.

City charges go to Municipal Court on Madison Avenue instead, 334-625-2776. Children start in juvenile court at the youth facility on Air Base Boulevard. Federal cases go to the federal courthouse on Church Street. For a walk through each hearing, use the criminal court steps page, which follows a case from this jail onward.

Two offices can: the jail and the circuit clerk. Request the charges and the case numbers from either. The jail can read what was booked, and the clerk has what was actually filed with the court, which can change later as prosecutors review the case.

Files can be read for free on terminals in the clerk's office at 251 South Lawrence Street, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-832-1260. Online, Alacourt Access costs money for each case. A felony can lead to state prison time, while a misdemeanor sentence ends within twelve months. Knowing the exact charge also tells you which bond range applies and which court will hear the case.

The county has a full-time public defender office at 305 South Lawrence Street, Montgomery, AL 36104. Call 334-265-1783 or the toll-free line, 844-457-8053. A judge assigns its cases, which is why the person needs to say at the first hearing, out loud, that paying for a lawyer is impossible. A sworn form about income and bills helps the judge decide.

The clerk at 334-832-1260 can explain how the request works. Jail calls are recorded, so the details of what happened should go only to the lawyer, never over the jail phone. Relatives can pitch in ahead of that first court date by collecting pay stubs and bills.

A medical and dental unit takes up part of the jail's second floor. It holds a waiting area, 27 single cells, padded and observation cells, a pharmacy, exam rooms and offices. Decisions about treatment belong to jail medical staff, and real emergencies are sent out to a hospital in the city.

If a prescription or illness has you worried, phone 334-832-4985 and request the medical unit. Give them every drug name and dose, any diagnoses, and the pharmacy that fills the prescriptions. If you fear the person could harm themselves, say so on that very call, plainly and early, so staff can watch closely.

One outside company runs both visits and calls here, and an online sign-up comes before any first visit. Inside the building, every men's housing unit includes a visitation area. Video visits may be offered from home, or on kiosks at the jail itself.

Schedules get revised now and then, so look online or check with the jail at 334-832-4985 before planning a trip, and keep the booking number nearby. The rules are collected on our visitation page, while our video visit page covers connecting from a phone or computer. Read the provider's rules ahead of time so nothing catches you off guard on visit day.

Phone calls go through the same company that runs visits, so the account you set up for visiting is where calling starts as well. Calls from the jail are recorded. Talking about the charges on those lines can hurt the case, so stick to family news and save case talk for the lawyer.

Messages and tablets may come through that provider as well. Each one has its own guide on our site: jail phone calls, messages and tablets. If calls stop out of nowhere, a transfer or a release may be the reason, so look at the inmate list again and phone the jail at 334-832-4985.

Commissary money lands in a store account, and that account is kept apart from phone funds. Ask the jail at 334-832-4985 which deposit choices are open today. Put the booking number on every deposit so the money is credited to the correct person.

Our sending money page walks through the deposit methods, and the commissary page explains the store. Hold on to each receipt. A deposit into a jail account pays nothing toward bond and will not open the door. Mailing cash causes problems, and so does sending funds to a stranger who phones claiming to collect for the person.

Mail travels to a post office box rather than to the building on McDonough Street. Address it in three lines:

• First line: the person's full name and booking number (MCDF)
• Second line: Mac Sim Butler Detention Facility
• Third line: P.O. Box 4599, Montgomery, AL 36103

Include a return address too. Never tuck money inside. Subscriptions to magazines or newspapers use that same box. Before mailing photos, cards or anything out of the ordinary, check the current rules on our jail mail page, so the letter actually gets delivered to the person you are writing.

After a bond posts or a sentence runs out, release at a jail this large can stretch over several hours. Staff go through the paperwork, make one final warrant check and return whatever was taken at booking. Call 334-832-4985 for a rough time before you head downtown, and expect some waiting.

Bring a charged phone and a plan for the ride home. A hold from ICE or another county can turn a release into a transfer, so ask about holds first. For an automatic heads-up when the status changes, sign up on VINELink: choose Alabama and enter the name or booking number.

Click a name in the sheriff's current inmate roster to see the person's record and mugshot. If a photo is missing, ask the jail.

Booking photos missing from the roster come from the sheriff's office; reporters can call 334-832-4980. Federal mugshots are mostly kept private from the public and the press. The Marshals can make an exception for a wanted fugitive, for an urgent public-safety need, or to alert the community. Photos taken by ICE are available only through a records request with ICE, and the agency decides whether to release them.

Most sentences over one year mean state prison. While waiting for space, the person remains at the county jail, 225 South McDonough Street, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-832-4985, sometimes for weeks. Next comes a reception prison. There, classification staff review physical and mental health, security level and any gang links, then pick the permanent prison.

Look the person up with the state corrections department's inmate search, using a name or the AIS number. That search does not include youthful offender records. For details on each prison, see our Alabama state prisons pages.

The fastest check is the sheriff's online warrant search; the warrants desk also answers at 334-832-2516. Outside this county, ALEA's fugitive page lists people wanted around the state. Court records statewide are on Alacourt Access for $9.99 a search. Anyone with a warrant can turn themselves in at the jail, 225 South McDonough Street, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-832-4985, ideally after a lawyer has planned the bail. For a new court date on a missed hearing, contact the clerk's counter at 251 South Lawrence Street, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-832-1260. City warrants come from Municipal Court at 334-625-2776.

Anyone under 18 goes to the Montgomery County Youth Facility, 1111 Air Base Boulevard, Montgomery, AL 36108, 334-261-4100. Juvenile court and juvenile intake work from the same building, and the county expanded the facility to hold up to 52 young people.

Because juvenile records stay private, no child shows up on the adult inmate list. A parent can phone the facility with the child's name and birthday and find out when the hearing falls. Letters can go to the child's first and last name in care of the facility at the same Air Base Boulevard address. In the most serious cases, 16- and 17-year-olds may be moved to adult court.

Federal arrests come from agencies like the FBI, the ATF or Homeland Security Investigations, often working alongside local officers. Cases then go to the federal court at the Frank M. Johnson Jr. U.S. Courthouse Complex, One Church Street, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-954-3600. Within a day or so, the person sees a federal magistrate judge. No price list applies in federal court. Pretrial services interviews the person, and a brief hearing under the Bail Reform Act settles any conditions.

Check the county roster, because federal prisoners are sometimes placed in local jails by the U.S. Marshals. You can also call the Marshals at 334-922-6960, 1 Church Street, Suite A-100, Montgomery, AL 36104. After a prison sentence, the BOP locator shows where the person is.

• Most arrests reach immigration officers through the fingerprints taken at booking. ICE may then send a detainer.
• Posting bond does not erase it; it only starts the clock.
• The hold lasts 48 hours at most beyond the normal release time. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays are counted inside those hours.
• Agents frequently arrive during that stretch to take custody. If nobody comes, the person is released.
• Where they go next is ICE's decision and may change.
• For help, call the New Orleans field office, 181 James Drive W, St. Rose, LA 70087, 504-318-2360.
• Search for the person on the ICE detainee locator. An A-number with native country works best; otherwise try the name with date and country of birth.

Some callers claim to speak for the jail or a court and press families to pay at once by gift card, payment app or wire. Real offices here do not collect money that way, and pressure to hurry is a warning sign on its own.

Money should go only to the jail, the Lawrence Street clerk or a licensed bail agent that your family selected. The county public defender's office has said it never accepts bond money. When a stranger rings asking for payment, hang up, then reach the jail at 334-832-4985 on your own to learn the truth. Do not read out card numbers or personal details to anyone you did not call first, and skip any payment link sent by text.

Inside the city, arrests are usually made by the city police department, whose headquarters is on North Ripley Street downtown; the non-emergency line is 334-625-2651. The sheriff's office, 115 South Perry Street, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-832-4980, covers the rest of the county, including Pike Road, which has no police department. Pike Road Town Hall answers at 334-272-9883.

If the person is not on this county's list, a neighboring jail may have them:

• Elmore County Jail, 8955 US-231, Wetumpka, AL 36092, 334-567-5441
• Autauga Metro Jail, 136 North Court Street, Prattville, AL 36067, 334-361-2600
• Lowndes County Detention Facility, 653 AL-21, Hayneville, AL 36040, 334-548-2222
• Bullock County Jail, 217 North Prairie Street, Union Springs, AL 36089, 334-738-2670
• Macon County Jail, 246 County Road 10, Tuskegee, AL 36083, 334-727-2503
• Pike County Jail, 1322 North Three Notch Street, Troy, AL 36081, 334-566-4347
• Crenshaw County Jail, 186 Justice Avenue, Luverne, AL 36049, 334-335-3860