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Charleston County, South Carolina Sheriff's Departments
Charleston County - County Jail - South Carolina
Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center

 

About Facility

The Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center, which is the local jail facility for Charleston County South Carolina, is located in North Charleston.  The jail facility opened in 1966 and has been expanded in three times to increase inmate capacity to its current capacity of 1,917.  The jail facility consists of five buildings.  Tower A includes some inmate housing units, two modular units, the Training Division, the Training Room, the Inmate Library, staff gym and showers, and the Environmental/Logistics room.  Towers B and C include the kitchen, the laundry, staff dining, the medical department, administrative offices, conference rooms, the control center, the lobby, the visitation area, the infirmary, and some direct-supervision units.  The fourth building is the work camp facility.  The fifth building is actually located off-campus and is the Juvenile Detention Facility.   

The Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center is a state-of-the-art facility which utilizes technology in its central control center to help ensure accurate monitoring.  There are over 700 cameras monitoring the facility.  All employees and visitors have to pass through a metal detector and a bag scanner to ensure that contraband does not enter the facility.

Jail populations are in constant flux, but recent estimates of the jail population are around 1,340 inmates, with 1,231 male inmates and 109 female inmates.

Facts:

- facility was expanded in 1994,2007, and 2010, each time adding more beds to accommodate the growing prison population
- over 700 cameras monitor prisoners and staff from central control which is also known as the "nerve center"
- facility named after active Sheriff Al Cannon

Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center Addresses

Physical Address

The Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center/ Charleston County Jail is located at:

3841 Leeds Avenue
North Charleston, SC 29405

Mailing Address

The mailing addresses for non-inmate mail are:

Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center
3841 Leeds Avenue
North Charleston, SC 29405

Inmate Mailing Address

Inmate’s Full Name, Inmate Booking Number C/O
Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center
3841 Leeds Avenue
North Charleston, SC 29405

Inmates are allowed to send and receive mail, but, like most correctional facilities, the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center/ Charleston County Jail has some rules that people must follow to send or receive mail to or from inmates.

All mail must have a full return address, including a name and a mailing address.  Any mail that arrives without a return address will be returned to the US Postal Service.  Inmates can only receive letters; they cannot receive any packages.  All mail, both incoming and outgoing, will be inspected for contraband.  Inmate mail that contains contraband will be held by the jail and can serve as the basis for both disciplinary action and criminal charges.

The following items are specifically prohibited from being mailed into the jail by the general population: clothing, food items, cosmetics, toiletries, stationary, pens, pencils, postage stamps, envelopes, cash, personal checks, books, magazine, newspapers, musical greeting cards, electronic greeting cards, rubber bands, glue, paper clips, string, tape, staples, stickers, Polaroid photographs, prepaid phone cards, razor blades, and anything that could be used as a weapon.  This is a non-exhaustive list; inmates may also not receive anything else declared to be Contraband by the Detention Center Administrator or under South Carolina State Law.

While inmates cannot receive books, magazines, or newspapers from individuals, they may receive books, magazines, and newspapers if they are mailed directly from the publisher, book club, or bookstore.  All published materials must be soft-back.

Phone Numbers

The Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center/ Charleston County Jail’s main phone number reaches The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office number is 843-202-1700.  You can reach the public information officer at 843-554-2444.  The fax number is 843-554-2483.

Charleston County Inmate Search

The Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center/ Charleston County Jail has a jail roster, which allows you to search for currently incarcerated inmates and features a checkbox that will allow you to include previously incarcerated but released inmates in your search, as well.   The Al Cannon inmate search feature allows you to enter a number of search parameters in order to conduct your search.  You can search by last name, first name, a range of booking dates, or inmate number.  Once you get the results of your search, you will find all people matching your search terms.  You get an overview of their record on the large search page.  This overview includes: inmate number, name, date-of-birth, booking date, booking time, booking status, gender, race, early release date (if applicable), final due date (if known), and their cell assignment.  If you click on the plus sign in the corner of the record, you may access additional information.  This additional information includes: age, height, weight, confinement reason, arresting agency, charge number, warrant number (if applicable), bond amount (if bond has been granted), charge status, charge description, court, court date, holding agency, holding charge, holding status, and a booking photo.

Locate an Inmate at Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center

Jail Bookings/ Recent Arrests

While the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center/ Charleston County Jail does not have a police blotter or list of recent arrests, it does operate a jail roster, and you can search it by booking date, which returns a list of recent arrests.

Mugshots

Although the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center/ Charleston County Jail does not have a dedicated online mugshot database, it does have mugshots in its inmate information available on its jail roster.

Jail Visitation

Visitation at the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center/ Charleston County Jail Visitation is video visitation. The use of video visitation helps minimize the potential introduction of contraband during the visiting process and to reduce inmate movement. 

Inmates at the jail get to have visitation, but they must be incarcerated for at least 72 hours before they can have their first visitation.  If you want to visit, you need to find out the time and date for the visitation.  Inmates need to schedule visits ahead of time.  Inmates may refuse a visit at any time.

Visitors must present photo i.d. to visit.  Acceptable forms of identification include state or government issued photo identifications.  Examples of this would include driver’s licenses, passports, state-issued identification, or other forms of government identification.  If you are an out-of-state visitor, you may present an out-of-state picture identification and allowed one scheduled visit if space is available.

Any visitors who are coming to the jail will be checked for outstanding warrants before being allowed to visit.  Visitors who have outstanding warrants will be arrested.

Visitation hours are the same for online and on-site visits. 

  • Sunday 8:00am to 10:50am; 1:00pm to 4:25pm; and 6:00pm to 10:00pm
  • Monday 8:00am to 10:50am; 1:00pm to 4:25pm; and 6:00pm to 10:00pm
  • Tuesday 8:00am to 10:50am; 1:00pm to 4:25pm; and 6:00pm to 10:00pm
  • Wednesday 8:00am to 10:50am; 1:00pm to 4:25pm; and 6:00pm to 10:00pm
  • Thursday 8:00am to 10:50am; 1:00pm to 4:25pm; and 6:00pm to 10:00pm
  • Friday 8:00am to 10:50am; 1:00pm to 4:25pm; and 6:00pm to 10:00pm
  • Saturday 8:00am to 10:50am; 1:00pm to 4:25pm; and 6:00pm to 10:00pm

While these are the posted visitation times, some visitation times may be unavailable.  Scheduled visitation times are always subject to the jail’s operational status.

To schedule visits, you need to visit the jail’s visitation scheduling page at: https://videovisit.ccso.charlestoncounty.org/app

The Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center/ Charleston County Jail has very specific rules for visitation.  Visitors must be at least 17 years of age to visit the facility, unless they have consent from an adult to visit the facility.  Children who are visiting cannot be left in the lobby unattended.  Visitors cannot be under the influence of any intoxicating substances when visiting the facility; if you appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs you will not be admitted to the facility.  Visitors are not permitted to bring any type of personal effects into the visitation area.  Personal effects include, but are not limited to purses, smoking materials, cell phones, or other electronic items.  Visitors cannot give any items to inmates during visitation, nor can they get any items from the inmates.  Visitors will be searched before entering the visitation area.  While inmates can refuse to be searched, refusing to comply with a search request will result in a visitor being unable to visit an inmate at the facility.  Clergy are considered regular visitors and must comply with all of the rules for regular visitors.  Visitors may be asked to leave visitation if they engage in any disruptive conduct or behavior.  Visitors cannot enter any of the areas of the jail facility except for areas that have been approved as routes to and from the visiting area.  Visitors cannot take drinks or food into the visitation area.  Inmates must also comply with a dress code.

The dress code for the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center/ Charleston County Jail requires visitors to wear appropriate attire that conforms to “reasonable” standards.  Items that are specifically prohibited include: halter tops, tank tops, fishnet shirts, underwear-type T-shirts, any type of clothing made of see-through fabric. Visitors have to stay fully clothed during the visit.  All visitors must wear shoes and shirts for the entire duration of the visit.  The Visitation Officer is in charge of determining whether or not a visitor’s attire is appropriate; if the officer believes that the clothing is inappropriate, they can deny visitation.

Visitation Information for Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center

Inmate Phone Privileges

Inmates at the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center cannot receive incoming phone calls.  If you have an emergency, which you can verify, and need to make emergency contact with an inmate, you can call the jail and relay the emergency to the guards on duty.  They may then relay the information to the inmate and ask the inmate to return your phone call.  Otherwise, all inmate calls are outgoing phone calls.

Once an inmate has been booked, then inmates will have access to a telephone.  Initially, inmates will be allowed to make free local phone calls in order to let their friends, family, and attorney know that they are in jail.  However, after an inmate has been processed they are no longer allowed to make free local phone calls.  Instead, once an inmate has been booked, then all phone calls are collect in nature.

Inmates can make regular collect phone calls from jail.  However, not all phones can receive collect phone calls.  In fact, many cell phones are unable to receive collect calls or calls from jail.

The jail service telephone provider is GTL.  You can contact GTL at 866-230-7761 to set up an account for jail phone calls.

There are rules related to phone calls from jail.  All non-legal phone calls will be monitored and may be recorded.  Jail calls cannot be forwarded, cannot be three-way calls, and cannot be placed on hold or they may be disconnected.  In addition, the use of any call-waiting features, pressing any numbers on the keypad, or having long pauses during a conversation can result in a call being disconnected.

Inmate Trust Accounts / Commissary

Inmates are permitted to have funds in the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center, but it is a cashless facility. In fact, inmates are not permitted to have cash while in the facility; it is considered contraband.  To handle inmate accounts, inmates in the facility each get an account that lets them make purchases from the commissary or the canteen.  Inmates get to use the inmate number that is on their armband and their date of birth when utilizing the kiosk system in the housing units to place orders through the canteen system.  Inmates are limited to $100 each week for commissary items.  An additional limitation is that all items purchased must be able to be stored in an inmate’s box or bin.

You can deposit money into an inmate’s account in the kiosk at the jail lobby.  You can also send money to an inmate’s trust account through the U.S. Mail.  Any money orders must be mailed to the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center.  The inmate’s name and number should not be placed in the payee section of the money order, but should be on the memo line.  Any money orders that are not filled out correctly will not be deposited, but will be returned to sender.  Money can also be deposited online at www.McDanielsupplyCo.com.

If you want money to be available for an inmate to use for Canteen purchases for the week, it must be deposited before 4:30pm on Sunday of that week.

Inmates are able to purchase a variety of different items using the jail’s commissary services.  These include things such as stationary, snacks, health and beauty products, writing materials, and entertainment materials.

Inmates who are detained can plan to have their property released to a designated individual.  This property includes personal property, money, and valuable property.  This property can be released between the hours of 7:30am to 4:50pm and from 7:30pm to 4:30am.  The inmate has to designate a person to pick up the property.  Inmates will also verify that the correct person is picking up the property by viewing the person’s provided personal identification.  The inmate can then choose to approve or disapprove of the property release.  The inmate signing the Valuable Property/ Cash Release Form serves as the release of the property.  Money is not released in cash, but is released in check form and made out to the inmate’s name.  The jail will not give checks to the inmate to be endorsed.

Send Money to an Inmate at Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center

Bail Information

Bail information for inmates is determined at bond hearings.  Bond hearings are not conducted in person, but are conducted by video conferencing.  Friends or family can attend these bond hearings by going to the Centralized Bond Hearing Office, which is located at 3870 Leeds Ave Suite 106, North Charleston, South Carolina, 29405.

Conclusion

The Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Facility is the local jail facility for Charleston County, South Carolina.  It is located at 3841 Leeds Avenue, North Charleston, SC 29405.  It is a large facility that also has a nearby juvenile detention facility.  The jail is operated by the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office.  It is a large facility with state-of-the-art technology and monitoring, which reduces movement in the facility in an effort to keep inmates and staff safer.  You can contact the jail at 843-202-1700. The jail uses GTL for phone services and handles inmate accounts through McDaniel Supply Co.

 

 


Year Built or Opened: 1966 Warden or Supervisor: Warden Chief Deputy W. Beatty, CJM, CCE Daily Inmate Count: 1,079 Total Capacity: 1,917 Security Level(s): medium

3841 Leeds Ave
North Charleston, SC 29405

Phone Number(s): 843-529-7300
Email Address: [email protected]

3841 Leeds Ave
North Charleston, SC 29405