The McCracken County Jail at 400 Clarence Gaines Street, Paducah, KY 42003 also holds Livingston and Lyon County inmates. Call 270-444-4730. Before calling, have the inmate's legal name and birth date at hand.

Use the roster for current inmates. VINELink reports custody and can notify you of a release or move. Charges and dates show on KYeCourts public access. If the arrest was recent, booking may not be finished, so try again later.

All visits are by video. Onsite visits are free; online visits cost 40 cents a minute. Each lasts up to 20 minutes, and inmates get two onsite visits a week. Make an account on the family account website (877-998-5678) and schedule at least 24 hours ahead; visits can also be booked by phone at 866-340-7879. See our visitation guide.

Onsite hours are weekdays 9 to 4:30 and weekends noon to 4. Up to two adults at a time; bring ID; anyone under 18 must have an adult. Phones, cameras, food and drinks are not allowed. Our visit guide has dress and conduct tips.

Bond is cash only at the circuit clerk in the courthouse. The jail adds a $5 bond fee. Before heading to the clerk, phone the jail to verify the figure and any holds. See our bail guide for refunds and conditions.

Leave money at the lobby kiosk, through an online deposit service, or by mailing a postal money order only (no wire transfers). If the inmate owes the jail, 25 percent of each deposit goes to those fees. Care packs are sold through the same online service. See our money guide.

Commissary is once a week on Wednesday, and money must be on the account by noon Sunday. A deposit that arrives after the deadline waits for the following order day. See our commissary guide.

The jail's phone provider offers collect calls, prepaid calls to one number, PIN debit and calling cards. Buy online, at the lobby kiosk or at 877-570-4268; questions go to the provider at 877-998-5678. Prepaid local calls cost 15 cents a minute. See our phone guide and messaging guide.

Personal mail should carry the inmate's first and last name and ID number and go to McCracken County Jail, PO Box 76550, Highland Heights, KY 41076. Legal mail goes with the inmate's name to McCracken County Jail, 400 Clarence Gaines Street, Paducah, KY 42003. Do not mail magazines. See our mail guide.

The jail lists a $30 booking fee, a $5 bond fee and medical costs charged to the inmate. Money left at release goes to fees owed. People sentenced in District Court also pay $20 a day. Ask at 270-444-4730 about a balance.

Qualifying defendants get the Paducah Trial Office of the public defender (405 Clarence Gaines Street, Paducah, KY 42003; 833-895-0577). The judge reviews finances at the first appearance. With the case number, relatives can ask that office which attorney is on the case. See our court guide for each step.

Yes. The jail here holds people from neighboring counties, and with I-24 running through town, cases from Graves, Marshall and southern Illinois turn up regularly. Ask the sheriff's office at 270-444-4719 about this county's warrants. Kentucky cases elsewhere appear statewide on the courts' free guest case search, and Illinois courts cover Massac or Pulaski.

A warrant that survives release is best handled with a planned surrender at the McCracken County Jail, timed by a defense lawyer who has already raised bond. The circuit clerk, 300 Clarence Gaines St., Paducah, KY 42003, answers at 270-575-7280.

A Paducah juvenile case goes to the district court's juvenile session; ask the clerk's office (270-575-7272) for the date. The statute allows a youth accused of a public offense to be held only in a secure juvenile detention facility or a nonsecure setting the state approves, with a hearing inside 48 hours, except weekends and holidays (KRS 610.265). The Department of Juvenile Justice (502-573-2738) places youths and informs parents.

See if the roster shows one. If it does not, the jail answers open records requests for a mugshot, and reporters from news media often go through the sheriff's office. ICE photos go through the ICE records request form. Federal mugshots are withheld except when the Marshals publish one to find a fugitive.

Federal arrests here go to the U.S. District Court, Western District of Kentucky, 501 Broadway, Paducah, KY 42001, 270-415-6400. The initial appearance is before a magistrate judge, who may order a detention hearing. The Marshals pick housing, which may be this jail. After sentencing, search the federal prison locator. The U.S. Marshals keep a Paducah office in this county; its number is 270-415-1706.

Call the jail (270-444-4730) to learn if a detainer is attached; for the immigration case itself, ICE's Louisville office is at 502-625-6202.

1. ICE sends the jail Form I-247A.
2. When state custody ends, 8 CFR 287.7(d) lets ICE ask the jail to hold a McCracken prisoner up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.
3. ICE completes pickup in that window, or the hold ends.
4. The person may be moved to an ICE center elsewhere.
5. Search the ICE finder.

Corrections assigns prisons after intake and classification. A few short felony terms are served in county jails. Look up state inmates with the KOOL lookup, and see our prisons in Kentucky for prison contacts.

Livingston arrests come here, but the other neighbors book people in their own jails. West of Paducah is the Ballard County Detention Facility in Wickliffe, 270-335-3691, which also takes Carlisle arrests. South is the Graves County Jail in Mayfield, 270-247-9829, and east is the Marshall County Detention Center in Benton, 270-527-4760. Search VINELink by name to see which one has the person.

Paducah's county attorney office, 270-444-4709, carries misdemeanor, traffic and juvenile cases and the early felony stage in District Court. Indicted felonies are tried by the 2nd Circuit Commonwealth's Attorney, 270-575-7402. For Livingston or Lyon County inmates held here, the prosecutor sits in their home county instead.

The weekly jail count from the Department of Corrections for October 8, 2026 listed 353 people against 343 beds at the main jail on Clarence Gaines Street, slightly over its rating. Its 128-bed restricted custody center held 43 that week. Those totals include the Livingston and Lyon County inmates the jail houses.

It can. The jail's inmate services page says 25 percent of deposits goes toward fees the person owes, such as the $30 booking fee and the $5 bond fee. People sentenced in District Court are also billed $20 a day. Read our money guide before sending a large amount. Commissary orders are taken on Wednesday, and deposits must post by noon Sunday to count for that week; our commissary guide covers ordering.

The circuit clerk's office at the courthouse, 300 Clarence Gaines Street, Paducah, KY 42003, has separate lines. Criminal District cases answer at 270-575-7272, Circuit at 270-575-7280, juvenile at 270-575-7274, traffic at 270-575-7271 and bookkeeping at 270-575-7383. Using the right line saves a transfer when you need a court date or case status.

Paducah Police are at 1400 Broadway, Paducah, KY 42001 (270-444-8548). Non-emergency dispatch answers at 270-444-8550, and another listed line is 270-444-8551. The McCracken County Sheriff's Office (270-444-4719) and Kentucky State Police Post 1, 8366 U.S. Highway 45 North, Hickory, KY 42051 (270-856-3721), patrol outside Paducah, including the McCracken part of Kevil.

For an emergency, call 911.