How Alabama jails are organized
Each county in Alabama runs its own jail, and each has its own page here. Birmingham sits in Jefferson County, not “Alabama jail.” Mobile is Mobile County on the bay. Huntsville is Madison County. Montgomery’s city lockup and Montgomery County are different doors. Tuscaloosa, Hoover, and Dothan each feed their own sheriff’s jail, not a statewide roster. Montgomery is the state capital, but arrests are booked in the county where they happen.
Alabama county jails are sheriff-run. The Alabama Department of Corrections (Kilby, St. Clair, Limestone, Tutwiler) is a sentenced prison system with no public name search like a county booking log. A night in a city lockup is not the county roster you search here. This site currently has live roster pages for 24 of 67 counties (24 jail pages, 8,234 records tracked). The other 43 counties have a jail information page with lookup steps and contacts; until a roster feed is connected, the sheriff or detention center is the official source for who is in custody there.
Finding someone in an Alabama jail
Many Alabama sheriffs publish a current inmate list with charges and bond. Coverage on this site is county by county, not a single list for the whole state. If a county is marked as a gap, use the sheriff’s own site until we have a live feed. If you know the county, open its roster above and search by name or charge. If you only know the city of arrest, find which county the city is in first.
Circuit and district courts sit in the county seat. Jefferson has Birmingham and Bessemer divisions that families mix up. A municipal court in Hoover does not set the Jefferson County Jail visiting list. The courthouse and the jail are often in different buildings. Confirm the facility name on the booking paperwork or with the attorney before you travel.
Bond, visits and money in Alabama
Bond is set by a magistrate or judge, often cash/surety. County jails take bondsmen who work that jail — a Mobile bondsman cannot walk Jefferson’s window. Property bonds follow Alabama procedure, not a Florida form. Bond amounts shown on a roster can change after the first court appearance. CurrentPrisonList does not post bail or accept payments.
Alabama county jails set their own visit days, video vendors, and dress codes. Do not copy a Jefferson schedule onto Madison or Houston. ID at the door is the sheriff’s rule, not ADOC’s. Dress codes, video-visit providers and appointment times are set by each jail. Check the sheriff's website on the day of the visit.
Travel and common mistakes in Alabama
BHM, MOB, HSV, and MGM still leave a county road. Jefferson’s jail is not Five Points South. Mobile’s is not the USS Alabama parking lot. Atlanta’s airport is a Georgia trip if the warrant is Alabama. Take the jail address from the sheriff's website or from the contact section of the county page, not from a generic map search.
A common mistake: searching “Alabama inmate” and expecting one list, or driving to Kilby because the arrest was in Montgomery. County jail and ADOC are different agencies. Neighboring states have their own state pages on this site.