Current Madison County Jail Roster Count
The Madison County Sheriff posts a live roster count. On May 18, 2026, the roster showed about 1,192 current inmates at the Madison County Detention Facility. The number moves throughout the day. The Sheriff page warns that data may change after a court appearance. This roster total is a real-time operational snapshot, not an official average daily population.
The roster total is the simplest jail population number to find. Open the official inmate roster, select Current, and view the page count at the top of the result list. Multiply by the per-page total to get the live count. Use the Released tab for past bookings.
Madison County Jail Capacity Overview
Official capacity for the Madison County Detention Facility was not located in the harvested official text. Non-official jail pages list a capacity around 1,200 to 1,220, but those sources are not the official county. A county courthouse and detention feasibility study has been linked on the Madison County site and may include capacity and space-program data, but the full text was not extracted in this research pass.
| Facility | Address | Official Capacity | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madison County Detention Facility | 815 Wheeler Ave, Huntsville, AL 35801 | Official capacity not located | (256) 519-4800 |
The live roster count near 1,190 in May 2026 sits close to the unofficial capacity figure. Local public-safety coverage links the high count to county growth and the need for a new courthouse.
What the Public Roster Shows
Madison County's public roster gives a tight set of fields. Each entry shows a mugshot, name, booking number, booking time, gender, race, age, charge description, bond amount, and holds. Profiles list arresting agency, court type, statute, and bond fields. The Sheriff page warns that bond may change after a court appearance.
- Current roster total (live).
- Released roster total (recent).
- Booking time and order.
- Gender, race, and age fields per inmate.
- Charge description and statute on each profile.
- Bond type and bond amount.
- Holds, arresting agency, and court type.
What the Public Roster Does Not Show
The roster is intentionally limited. Detailed operations data does not appear on the public page. Use this list when planning research or media requests so you know which numbers require a formal information request or a federal report.
- Housing unit, pod, tower, or floor placement.
- Medical or mental-health flags on the inmate.
- Suicide watch and protective-custody status.
- Detailed demographic breakdown reports.
- Pretrial versus sentenced split.
- Average length of stay.
- Annual bookings and turnover figures.
- Staffing ratios.
- Cost per inmate per day.
Note: Operational jail data not on the roster usually requires an Alabama public records request to the Sheriff or a published audit report.
Pretrial vs Sentenced Population
The public roster does not publish a pretrial versus sentenced split for the Madison County jail. The Bureau of Justice Statistics tracks national jail populations and reports that pretrial detainees often make up two-thirds of local jail populations in the United States. Without a Madison County-specific count, the build agent should not infer a local split. Use BJS and Vera Institute reports for state and national benchmarks rather than local guesses.
| Custody Status | Madison County | National Context |
|---|---|---|
| Pretrial | Not published in roster | BJS reports a high pretrial share nationwide |
| Sentenced (jail term) | Not published in roster | State-prison transfers go to ADOC after sentencing |
| Holds for other counties or states | Shown per profile on roster | Holds vary by case and agency |
Misdemeanor vs Felony Population
The Sheriff roster lists statutes on each charge, which lets users sort some entries into misdemeanor and felony categories on a profile-by-profile basis. A bulk misdemeanor versus felony split is not published. The Circuit Clerk handles felony case data in Circuit Court, while District Court handles most misdemeanor and traffic dockets. Local reporting for 2024 listed 12,072 Circuit Court filings and 29,341 District Court filings in the 23rd Judicial Circuit, which gives a sense of relative court workload.
Mental Health and Medical Custody
The Sheriff jail page covers medical and mental-health processing but does not publish daily counts of inmates flagged for medical or mental-health care. Madison County operates a Court Mental Health Program in the 23rd Judicial Circuit. The Alabama Department of Mental Health reports that this program typically serves 300 to 400 people each year, in partnership with the City of Huntsville and WellStone as the clinical partner.
The 23rd Judicial Circuit also runs an Adult Drug Court. Judge Claude E. Hundley has presided over the Adult Drug Court since his appointment to the bench in 2011, according to his official biography. Treatment-court enrollment is one path that can lower the jail population without removing accountability for the underlying charges. Court mental-health and drug-court referrals do not appear on the public roster.
State and National Context
For state and national benchmarks, use the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Vera Institute. BJS reports a national local-jail rate per 100,000 residents. Vera Institute publishes county-level incarceration trend data. Madison County had a 2020 Census population of 388,153 and ranks as the third-most populous county in Alabama. That population context shapes how the local roster total compares with other Alabama counties.
| Metric | Source | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Live roster total | Madison County Sheriff roster | ~1,192 on May 18, 2026 |
| County population (2020) | U.S. Census via 23rd Circuit page | 388,153; third in Alabama |
| Court filings (2024) | 23rd Judicial Circuit | 12,072 Circuit; 29,341 District |
| National jail rate per 100k | Bureau of Justice Statistics | Annual report; check current edition |
The U.S. Census QuickFacts page for Madison County provides the latest official population estimates.
Population Trends and Growth Pressure
Official five-year jail population reports for Madison County were not located in the harvested source. Local reporting in October 2025 cited public safety as a top county priority and listed 41,413 circuit court cases for 2024 and 29,193 through August 2025. The same coverage estimated a new Madison County courthouse could cost around $150 million. Growth, court workload, and jail population sit at the center of those discussions.
News reports in late 2025 and early 2026 also tracked a proposed Madison County Public Defender's Office. The proposal stalled after the indigent defense board met. Until that office opens, appointed counsel from the Court Administrator's indigent-defense list handles indigent cases. Public defender capacity, court capacity, and jail capacity tend to move together; tracking one helps explain the others.
Local Growth and Jail Demand
Madison County's jail demand is tied to a fast-growing population centered on Huntsville. The county hosts Redstone Arsenal, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, and a strong defense and technology base. Growth in the past decade has stretched downtown court and public-safety operations. The 23rd Judicial Circuit's volume reflects that growth, with 41,413 cases reported in 2024 by local news coverage and 29,193 cases through August 2025.
The downtown Madison County Courthouse at 100 North Side Square is the focal point of the system. The Sheriff's courthouse office, the Court Administrator, jury rooms, and most judges sit in the same building. The Detention Facility is two blocks away on Wheeler Avenue. The Probate Judge operates primarily from the Service Center on North Memorial Parkway, with historic archives in Owens Cross Roads.
Where the Data Comes From and Data Gaps
The roster total comes directly from the Madison County Sheriff. Demographic and capacity breakdowns require formal records requests or third-party reports. Federal reports from BJS and Vera Institute give state and national context, but they do not always include Madison County-specific tables in every release year. Build researchers should flag local numbers without a clear official source and verify before publishing.
For related records, see Madison County inmate records, released inmates, and warrant records. For ADOC and BOP custody transfers, see the relevant search portals on the inmate records and released-inmates pages. For Census data behind the population context on this page, see the Census QuickFacts page. Census QuickFacts is the official source the 23rd Judicial Circuit also cites for the county population total.