Most people stay at the Madison County Detention Center, 107 West Irvine Street, Richmond, KY 40475. The office answers 859-624-4710 weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It holds county, state and federal inmates and offers home incarceration and work release. Overflow goes to the Three Forks Regional Jail, 2221 Fairground Ridge Road, Beattyville, KY 41311, 606-464-2598.

Start with the roster. VINELink shows custody status at either jail and offers alerts by text or phone when a release or transfer happens. KYeCourts public access lists charges and court dates. Spell the name exactly as it would appear on an ID.

Call 859-624-4710 for current visit rules, since schedules can change. If the person is at Three Forks as overflow, call 606-464-2598 instead. Bring a photo ID and arrive early. Our visitation guide explains common rules for dress, children and video visits.

The courthouse clerk on West Main Street, not the jail, collects bond. Call the jail first to confirm the amount. Our bail guide covers bond types, pretrial release and what happens if court is missed.

Fund an account or order from commissary through the online service named on the county jail website. Ask the jail at 859-624-4710 about other ways to add money. Keep receipts for every deposit. See our money guide.

Online orders reach inmates on Tuesdays and Fridays. In-house commissary is handed out daily, with orders due by 8 a.m. Items include snacks and hygiene goods. Money must be on the account before ordering, and orders over the account balance are not filled. See our commissary guide.

Ask the jail at 859-624-4710 about the current phone service and rates. Calls are recorded, so never talk about the case. Inmates call out; they cannot take incoming calls. See our phone guide and messaging guide.

Confirm mail rules with the jail before sending anything, because items that break the rules are returned or thrown away. Put the inmate's full name on the envelope and your return address in the corner. See our mail guide for general tips.

The Richmond Trial Office of the public defender (116 North Second Street, Richmond, KY 40475; 833-895-0580) serves eligible defendants. The judge reviews finances at arraignment. Relatives may phone that office, give the case number, and hear who was appointed. See our court guide for the stages of a case, from arraignment through sentencing.

Yes. The county sits on I-75 between Lexington and Berea, and people with cases in Fayette, Clark or Estill pass through the local jail regularly; when it's crowded, some go to Three Forks in Beattyville. The sheriff's office can look up local warrants at 859-623-1511, and one statewide name search on the courts' free guest case search covers the other counties.

A person freed with a warrant still open can go back to the Madison County Detention Center once counsel has picked a date and raised bond. The circuit clerk at 101 W. Main St., Richmond, KY 40475, answers at 859-624-4713.

Juveniles must be kept apart from adults. A youth in custody goes before a judge within 48 hours, weekends and holidays excluded (KRS 610.265). The Department of Juvenile Justice (502-573-2738) arranges placement and tells the family. Parents should bring ID and any school or medical details to the first hearing.

Check the roster for a photo. Anyone can also file an open records request with the jail, and news media often get a mugshot from the sheriff's office. ICE photos require the ICE records request form. Federal booking photos usually stay private; the Marshals may share one only while hunting a fugitive.

Federal arrests in Madison go to the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky, 101 Barr Street, Lexington, KY 40507, 859-233-2503. A magistrate judge holds the initial appearance and may schedule a detention hearing. The Irvine Street jail holds federal inmates, so a federal defendant may stay right in Richmond; the U.S. Marshals make that call, and their Lexington office, 859-436-6750, can confirm the placement. A state case number will not work in the federal docket search. After sentencing, search the federal prison locator.

A Form I-247A detainer for a Madison inmate first goes to the detention center on West Irvine Street (859-624-4710), and ERO Louisville (502-625-6202) is the nearest ICE office. Then, after the Richmond case stops requiring custody, ICE may ask the Irvine Street jail to keep a Madison inmate up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released in Richmond (8 CFR 287.7(d)). ICE handles pickup within that window, or the hold ends. The person may go to an ICE center in another state, so search the ICE finder with the person's name and country of birth, or with the A-number if you have it.

State prison assignments come from Corrections. After sentencing, a person is screened and classified, then moved to a matching prison; some serve short terms in county jails. Check the KOOL lookup for the current prison and our prisons in Kentucky for addresses. Release dates and parole hearings are set under state law, not by the county jail.

Then the person was probably booked by that county. Lexington arrests go to the Lexington-Fayette County Detention Center, 859-425-2700. Neighbors to the north and west use the Clark County Detention Center in Winchester, 859-745-0270, and the Jessamine County Detention Center in Nicholasville, 859-885-4558. To the south are the Rockcastle County Detention Center in Mt. Vernon, 606-256-2178, and the Jackson County Detention Center in McKee, 606-287-4551. Estill arrests share Three Forks in Beattyville with Madison overflow, and Garrard sends people to the Boyle County Detention Center in Danville, 859-238-1100. VINELink searches all of them by name.

1. Check the roster, and if the name is missing, the overflow jail.
2. Read the charge and first hearing date in KYeCourts public access.
3. Ask the circuit clerk, 859-624-4713, about bond, then read the bail guide.
4. Call the jail office on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. for other questions.

The Madison County Attorney, 135 West Irvine Street, Suite 202, Richmond, KY 40475, 859-624-4777, handles misdemeanors and early felony hearings. Once a grand jury indicts, the case belongs to the 25th Circuit's Commonwealth's Attorney, 101 North First Street, Richmond, KY 40475, 859-624-4728, who also covers Clark County.

Yes. The detention center runs home incarceration and work release programs as well as housing county, state and federal inmates. A judge must approve home incarceration, and not every charge qualifies. Ask the defense lawyer or the jail office at 859-624-4710 whether the person can apply.

The Irvine Street building is small for a county this size. The Department of Corrections weekly jail report for October 8, 2026 counted 313 people held in a jail rated for 184 beds. That is why overflow inmates go to Three Forks, and why the roster may not show everyone charged in a Madison case.

Richmond Police are based at 1721 Lexington Road, Richmond, KY 40475 (859-623-1162), and non-emergency dispatch is 859-624-4776. Berea Police work from 212 Chestnut Street, Berea, KY 40403, where the officer line is 859-623-1248 and records and administration answer at 859-986-8456. Deputies of the Madison County Sheriff's Office patrol everywhere else along with state troopers, and the sheriff answers at (859-623-1511) and Kentucky State Police Post 7, 699 Eastern Bypass, Richmond, KY 40475 (859-623-2404).