Welcome to The Corrections Division
The Corrections Division of the Sheriff's Office is responsible for housing incarcerated persons who are awaiting trial or transfer to the State of Alabama's Department of Corrections, or who have been sentenced to serve time less than one year. The DeKalb County Jail houses inmates arrested by some of our county’s municipal police departments as well, including Fort Payne, Fyffe, Sylvania, Rainsville, Geraldine, Henagar, Collinsville, Crossville, Powell, Valley Head, and Hammondville. We also house municipal prisoners from the City of Guntersville, Alabama, for which we receive $25.00 per day.
Last year, the Sheriff’s Office entered into a contract with the United States Marshal’s Office to house federal inmates from the Northern District of Georgia, based in Rome, and we expect to soon house additional federal inmates from the Western District of Tennessee. In return for housing these federal inmates, the County receives $47 per day, per inmate. The money received for federal inmate housing is funneled directly back into the county’s law enforcement budget.
The Corrections Division processes approximately 2,400 inmates in and out of jail annually, and maintains an average population of 190. There are 45 staff members assigned to the Detention Center facility. The staff, headed by Chief Jail Administrator Tony Durham, is dedicated to providing a safe and secure environment for inmates, as well as for visitors to the facility. It is our goal to treat everyone in a respectful and professional manner.
The Detention Center has an on-site medical unit staffed by a full-time registered nurse and a part-time contracted medical doctor. Both Nurse Allen Kay and Dr. Robert Theakston are APOSTC certified law enforcement officers.
The Detention Center has a fully equipped law library and on-site video conferencing. Preliminary hearings and some other court appearances may be held on-site, without the necessity of transporting inmates to the courthouse.
The Detention Center also has video terminals set up for scheduled inmate visitation. To visit an inmate, you must MAKE AN APPOINTMENT with the Jail Secretary the DAY BEFORE the inmate’s scheduled visit. Visits are scheduled according to the first letter of the inmate’s last name. A-F visits are on Tuesdays, G-L are on Wednesdays, M-R are on Thursdays, and S-Z are held on Fridays. Each inmate is limited to 3 visitors per visit, and each visit is limited to 15 minutes.
The Sheriff’s Office operates two Inmate Work Crews out of the Detention Center, and has an additional crew on standby. The Work Crews travel many miles per week, cleaning up DeKalb County roadways, collecting an average of 1,400 pounds of garbage per day. They also maintain county property by mowing grass and doing other miscellaneous tasks at county offices such as the County Commission Office, the DeKalb County Courthouse, and the DeKalb County Library. Additional inmate workers maintain the Sheriff’s Office and Jail property, inside and out. All of our inmate workers are non-violent offenders.
Other non-violent, sentenced inmates participate in a Work Release Program, in which they leave the facility in the morning, work all day for an outside employer, and return in the evening.