Allegany County Detention Center

• Allegany County Detention Center, 14300 McMullen Highway, Cumberland, MD 21502, 301-729-8540. This is where adults are booked and held.
• The commissioner who sets release terms works at 123 S. Liberty Street, Cumberland, MD 21502, 301-723-3150.

Someone stopped in Allegany on a Hagerstown or Baltimore warrant may later be driven to that county. The search and the jail line will tell you.

The McMullen Highway jail posts its own inmate search, a list of everyone held there right now. Each record usually shows the name, booking date, charges and bail status. Spell the last name a few ways if nothing appears. Once charges are filed, Maryland Judiciary Case Search adds court dates.

A District Court commissioner, open all day and night at 301-723-3150, decides the first release terms. A judge reviews them at the next court session if the person is still held. Our Allegany bail guide walks through payment and refunds.

Call the Allegany County Sheriff's Office at 301-777-1585 and ask about warrants; its deputies serve the papers both county courts send out, and the office is at 695 Kelly Road, Cumberland. Have the full name and birth date handy. For a case filed by Cumberland or Frostburg officers, those departments can also check (numbers are in the last question).

Someone who wants it settled can turn themselves in at the detention center, 14300 McMullen Highway. Going in with a defense lawyer is the smart way, and a commissioner usually sees the person within hours. For a warrant tied to a missed hearing, phoning the clerk can sometimes get a fresh date instead: Circuit Court, 30 Washington Street, 301-777-5922, or District Court, 123 S. Liberty Street, 301-723-3100.

Online, the Judiciary's court records search shows filed cases, charges and court dates. It does not work as a warrant search, so a blank result does not prove there is no warrant.

The commissioner on Liberty Street sets the first terms, which range from a written promise to return up to a cash or surety amount, or no bail at all. The inmate search usually shows the figure once it is set. If the person is still inside the next court day, a District Court judge reviews it. Payment steps, refunds and bondsman tips are on our the bail set page.

Cumberland's jail feeds its releases to VINELink, a free notice service you can join. Search Maryland, enter the name, and sign up for a phone, text or email alert. It is handy when a release or a transfer to another county happens late at night.

The Liberty Street commissioner in Cumberland sees the person within 24 hours of arrest. That office, 301-723-3150, tells the person each charge, explains the right to a lawyer, checks public defender eligibility and decides release. If police arrested without a warrant, the commissioner first decides whether there was probable cause. Anyone still held afterward goes before a judge at the District Court, 123 S. Liberty Street, 301-723-3100, when it next sits. Our court process guide covers later hearings.

Misdemeanors, traffic charges and first hearings stay in the District Court on Liberty Street. Most felony and jury cases move up to the Circuit Court at 30 Washington Street, where the clerk answers at 301-777-5923. A person charged with a felony who has not been indicted can ask for a preliminary hearing, but must do it within 10 days of the commissioner appearance.

Apply with a District Court commissioner on form DC-099; any commissioner office in Maryland will take it. Bring the charging papers, any trial notice and pay stubs from the last two pay periods, or proof of benefits. Once found eligible, the person still has to contact the Office of the Public Defender at 30 N. Mechanic Street, Cumberland, 301-777-2142. Questions about qualifying: 833-453-9799.

Charges filed in the Liberty Street District Court or the Washington Street Circuit Court show up on Maryland Judiciary Case Search; search by exact first and last name, and add % after the first letters of a last name for a partial match. It shows charges, hearing dates and outcomes in summary form. Dismissed, acquitted and nolle prosequi charges are no longer shown there. For papers in the file, call the Circuit Court clerk at 301-777-5923.

Ask the jail at 301-729-8540 how visits work right now, including whether they are video only, how to sign up and what ID is needed. Our visiting guide explains general rules.

• At the McMullen Highway jail, only the person held can place a call, and every call is recorded. Set up an account using our inmate phone guide.
• Electronic messages may be offered on tablets; see our messaging guide.
• Address letters with the person's full name and the jail address. Our mail guide lists what is allowed.
• Funds for snacks and hygiene items go through the money page and the commissary page.

Cumberland's Sheriff's Office handles booking photo requests; the jail's search is meant to locate people, not to publish photos. Reporters and residents who want a booking photo should call the Sheriff's Office at 301-777-5959. ICE booking photos must be requested through ICE's FOIA office. Federal booking photos are not released to the public or the press, except that the U.S. Marshals Service may publish one while looking for a fugitive.

1. A Cumberland arrest by FBI, DEA or other federal agents is not a jail case on McMullen Highway; Western Maryland federal charges are filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Clerk's offices: Baltimore 410-962-2600, Greenbelt 301-344-0660.
2. A federal magistrate in Baltimore weighs release.
3. Pretrial, the U.S. Marshals (District of Maryland headquarters, 410-962-2220) may lodge federal prisoners at McMullen Highway or other contract jails.
4. Sentenced? The BOP inmate locator shows the assigned prison.

1. Fingerprints taken at booking on McMullen Highway reach federal databases, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement may answer with a Form I-247A detainer.
2. That paper requests custody up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)). A paid bond in Cumberland leaves that request standing.
3. Officers might arrive at McMullen Highway in that window; if they never do, the jail releases the person.
4. Afterward ICE alone picks a center, possibly outside Maryland. Try the ICE detainee locator with an A-number and birth country. The ICE Baltimore Field Office is at 31 Hopkins Plaza, 6th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21201, 410-637-4000.

Once someone leaves the Cumberland jail for a state sentence, find them on the DPSCS inmate locator by name or ID number. Our Maryland state prisons directory lists each prison's address and phone.

Youths are usually handled by the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, 217 E. Redwood Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, 410-230-3100, not booked into the adult jail. A juvenile intake officer decides whether the child goes home or to a youth detention center. Some older teens charged with serious crimes can be charged as adults.

The McMullen Highway jail's own doctor sets each person's medication schedule. No one is refused care or medicine for lack of money; there is a small one-time fee for a sick call request and a low monthly fee for medication. Medication for opioid addiction is given daily to people who need it.

Cash for commissary goes into a kiosk in the Cumberland jail lobby, or money can be sent electronically; see our money guide and commissary page. Commissary sells clothing, hygiene items, stationery and snacks, and people with no funds get basic items free. At release, the jail can give bus tickets and housing referrals when needed. Our mail page explains letters; call the jail at 301-729-8540 about property pickup.

The Allegany Sheriff's Office never collects warrant money by phone, so hang up if a supposed deputy or court worker demands payment by Cash App, Zelle or a prepaid money pack to clear a warrant. Callers can fake the Sheriff's caller ID. Maryland courts never call, text or email asking for payment. Check by calling the Sheriff's Office yourself at 301-777-5959, and report scams to the Attorney General's Consumer Protection hotline, 410-528-8662.

At the McMullen Highway jail, family and friend visits are by video, paid from your own device or free at the lobby station, and the schedule changes by day. Book a lobby visit at the kiosk itself. Lawyers and social workers can meet clients by Zoom. Read our visit guide and call 301-729-8540 before driving out.

• Cumberland Police Department, non-emergency 301-777-1600.
• Frostburg City Police Department, 301-689-3000.
• Allegany County Sheriff's Office, 695 Kelly Road, Cumberland, MD 21502, 301-777-5959 (Alternative number: 301-777-1585).
• Maryland State Police, Cumberland Barrack C, 1125 National Highway, Cumberland, MD 21502, 301-729-2101.

Barton, Lonaconing, Luke, Midland and Westernport have no police department of their own on the state's agency list, so the Sheriff's Office and the Cumberland barrack answer calls there. Emergencies: 911.