The Hopkins County Jail in Madisonville, Kentucky the county jail facility for Hopkins County, Kentucky.  The Hopkins County Jail is run by the Hopkins County Jailer, Mike Lewis.  In Kentucky, the position of jailer is an elected position.  It is different from a sheriff or warden, but is a designated position that is in charge of the jail.

The Hopkins County Jail does not separate misdemeanor offenders from felony offenders or pretrial inmates from post-conviction inmates.  Instead, it uses an objective classification system designed by the National Institute of Corrections and permitted by the Kentucky Department of Corrections.  The system takes a holistic approach to prisoner classification in order to determine appropriate cell block and cell assignments.  This holistic approach incorporates an inmate’s current and past charges, behavior during prior or current incarcerations, and other issues such as mental or physical health challenges.  Inmates who are charged with sexual offenses against minors are placed in either protective custody or a segregation cell.  Inmates may be offered protective custody if: you are charged with sexual offenses with non-minors; you are charged with an infamous crime; you are a confidential informant or witness; you were a member of law enforcement; or you have another need for protection from general population.

The Hopkins County Jail has several programs available for inmates in order to provide self-improvement opportunities.  One of them is the Get a Life Substance Abuse Program (SAP), a six-month program that lasts 40 hours a week.  This course includes several sub-parts including: Recovery Dynamics, a 12-step program similar to Alcoholics Anonymous; Criminal Thinking Errors is a program aimed at helping criminals recognize differences in the thinking between offenders and non-offenders; Rational Behavioral Training helps people understand the relationships between perceptions and how emotions drive behavior; Substance Abuse Education teaches people about drugs and how drugs impact the body; Alcoholics Anonymous; Narcotics Anonymous; Relapse Prevention; Group Counseling covering a wide variety of topics; Religious Services; Malachi Dads, a spiritual program that hopes to develop fathering skills; Great Banquet Religious Retreat; Parenting; WorkKeys, a program aimed at helping increase an inmate’s work skills; GED classes; Conquering Chemical Dependency; Driving Under the Influence classes; and Anger Management classes.

Inmates have access to a variety of different religious services.  However, upon intake an inmate is given the option of providing a religious preference.  This option can be changed up to every three months, but no more frequently than that.  The jail may limit inmate attendance at religious services to those religions that the inmate has identified as the preferred religion.

Inmates do not have a choice with their housing assignments, but may be eligible to change cells if a conflict exists.  If you develop a conflict with a cell mate or someone in your housing unit, you can request a change in housing assignment.  A conflict is not any type of disagreement, but a specific type of disagreement that increases the risk or violence between the parties if forced to interact.  To allege a conflict, an inmate must provide specific details sufficient to support the belief that a high probability of violence exists between the parties.  Statements should be verifiable and false claims of conflicts are a violation of jail rules and can impact an inmate’s future classification status and work assignments.

Hopkins County Jail Addresses:

Hopkins County Jail
2250 Laffoon Trail
Madisonville, KY 42431

Mailing Address:

The Hopkins County Jail mailing address is:

Hopkins County Jail
P.O. Box 1030
Madisonville, KY 43431

Phone Numbers:

There is a main contact number for the Hopkins County Jail: 270-821-6704.

Inmate Mailing Address:

To send inmate mail via the U.S. Postal Service, you send it to the following address:

Inmate Name and CD#
Hopkins County Jail
P.O. Box 1030
Madisonville, KY 43431

Inmates can send mail to and receive mail from individuals.  Mail is picked and delivered every weekday, but not on holidays or weekends.  All incoming mail is sorted and scanned for contraband, so that is it delivered to inmates the day after receipt.  Legal mail and certified mail is delivered the same day and is not inspected prior to delivery to inmates.

Unlike some jail facilities, the Hopkins County Jail does permit inmates to receive mail from other jails and prisons.

Outgoing mail must be ready to send by 7:00AM.  All outgoing mail must have a full return address:

Inmate Name
Hopkins County Jail
P.O. Box 1030
Madisonville, KY 43431

Outgoing mail cannot have any drawings, signs, or symbols on them.

All incoming mail must have the sender’s name and return address; mail without a return address will be refused.

Hopkins County Jail Inmates Search:

The Hopkins County Jail has an inmate search tool that they call the JailTracker program.  This inmate search tool actually lists all of the inmates by name, alphabetically.  The first screen provides you with: a last name, a first name, middle name, and booking date.  There are three other tools in the search tool: inmate activities, mugshot, and victim notification.

Once you have located an inmate, you can then select the inmate’s record.  The record has a mugshot.  It provides the inmate’s full name, age, a physical description including: height, weight, age, hair color, eye color, and race. It lists the inmate’s address.  It also provides booking details, such as the booking date, booking number, and offense type.  If the inmate has been sent to court, the record also provides court information.  That information includes case number and court date.

Inmate Bookings / Recent Arrests:

Hopkins County Jail’s inmate search tool, the JailTracker program, lists all of the inmates by name, alphabetically.  The first screen provides you with: a last name, a first name, middle name, and booking date.  There are three other tools in the search tool: inmate activities, mugshot, and victim notification. You can also choose to list inmates by booking date and not by name.  This can allow you to search for all bookings by a specific date.  This type of search would also allow you to look for most recent arrests.

Mugshots:

The Hopkins County Jail’s JailTracker Program has a Mugshot Lineup program, but it does not always work.  However, you can search for the inmates by booking date or name, and, once you click on the record you can see the inmate’s mugshot/booking photo.

Jail Visitation:

All inmates at the Hopkins County Jail are allowed a single thirty-minute non-contact visits each week.

Visiting hours for male inmates are:

Sunday 1:00PM to 5:00PM
Tuesday 9:00AM to 10:30AM, 1:00PM to 2:30PM
Wednesday 9:00AM to 10:30AM, 1:00PM to 2:30PM
Thursday 9:00AM to 10:30AM, 1:00PM to 2:30PM
Visiting hours for female inmates are:
Monday 9:00AM to 10:30AM, 1:00PM to 2:30PM
Saturday 9:00AM to 10:30AM, 1:00PM to 2:30PM

Maximum Security Inmates, male and female, are only allowed visits by appointment.  To schedule that appointment, call 270-825-5000.  You can call Monday through Friday, 8:00AM to 4PM.  Available times for male maximum security inmates are Friday 1:00PM to 2:00PM and Saturday 8:00AM to 9:00AM; and for females Friday 2:00PM to 2:30PM and Saturday 10:30AM to 11:00AM.

Protective Custody Inmates and Special Needs Inmates, male and female, are only allowed visits by appointment.  To schedule that appointment, call 270-825-5000.  You can call Monday through Friday, 8:00AM to 4PM.

All visitors must follow visitation rules.  Violating the rules can result in the visitor or the inmate no longer having visitation privileges.

Visitors must follow a dress code that is both modest and ensures that inmates and visitors will not be mistaken for one another.  The admitting officer is responsible for determining whether a visitor’s attire complies with or violates the dress code.  If a visitor is not dressed appropriately, they will not be allowed to visit.  The visitors are expected to keep on all clothing during the visit.  Modest attire includes dresses, skirts, blue jeans, pantsuits, blouses, and shirts.  Shorts cannot be more than six inches above the knee.  Skirts and dresses cannot be more than four inches above the knee.  All visitors must wear appropriate undergarments.  Prohibited clothing items include: halter tops, tank tops, hot pants, short-shorts, mini-skirts, muscle shirts, see-through clothing, midriff clothing, and cleavage revealing clothing.  All visitors must wear footwear at all times.

Inmate Phone Privileges:

Inmates can place outgoing calls, but cannot receive incoming calls.  If you have an emergency and you feel like the inmate needs to be contacted, you can contact the jail, but the jail will not take messages for inmates and generally will not relay information to inmates.

Inmate phone privileges at Hopkins County Jail are significant more restricted than they are at most facilities.  Inmates have a right under Kentucky Jail Standards to one (1) five (5) minute phone call per week.  These calls are not free, and must be paid for either by the inmate or by the person receiving the call (a collect call).  However, while inmates are only guaranteed one five-minute phone call, they generally have access to more phone communication.

The Hopkins County Jail has an in cell phone system.  Inmates are permitted to make as many calls as they want when the phones are on, and can use their PIN number to provide funds for those calls.

Inmates are only permitted to talk to people at the number they are directly contacting.  Three way calls are call-forwarding are both prohibited and may result in loss of phone privileges. The person assisting you in making your three-way call will have their number removed from the system as well as the number the call is forward to.

All phone calls are monitored automatically by the phone system.  Calls may be recorded.

Recipients who fail to pay for their phone calls may be blocked from receiving additional calls.

Inmates may have their phone privileges revoked or suspended for violating jail rules.  Inmates who are in disciplinary segregation only have one phone call per week.

The Hopkins County Jail’s phone service provider is Combined Public Communications.  You can reach Combined Public Communications at 1-800-849-6081.  Inmates can also purchase phone cards for $10 from the commissary.

Inmate Trust Accounts / Commissary:

Inmates at the Hopkins County Jail do have access to inmate accounts that they can use for commissary purchases.  Commissary items and their prices are shown online.  Commissary purchases allow inmates to purchase items that are not provided by the jail.  The Hopkins County Jail is committed to providing items that an inmate needs for daily living, including clothing, toiletries, food, and hygiene items.  Commissary purchases may include other types of or additional sets of clothing, specific hygiene items that are not available for free from the jail, snack foods, writing materials, and other options.  Inmates can use funds from their inmate trust accounts, also known as commissary accounts, to purchase things that are not provided by the jail. The Hopkins County Jail has a very large selection of commissary items, ranging from food items to stationary to clothing and personal hygiene items.

There are three ways to put money onto inmate accounts.  You can deposit money with a money order.  You can mail money orders to the inmates.  You can also drop them off at the jail between 8:00AM to 4:00PM.  If you deposit money via money order, the money order needs to be filled out as follows:

Pay to the order of: Hopkins County Jail & Inmate Name or HCJ & Inmate Name

Sender or Purchaser: The purchaser/sender’s full name.

There is also a kiosk in the front lobby that accepts cash, debit, and credit cards for inmate deposits.  It is available during normal business hours and during the weekends during visitation hours.  There is a fee associated with deposits using the lobby kiosk.

Bail Information:

In Hopkins County, Kentucky, bonding is handled through the jail.

There are several types of bonds:

Own Recognizance (OR) Bond- this type of bond does not require securing by financial means, but merely a defendant’s promise to appear at a later court date.

Surety Bond- a surety bond does not require an upfront financial promise.  Instead, the judge chooses someone to sign, usually a defendant’s spouse or parent.  If the defendant fails to appear, then the surety (the person who signed the bond) owes a specified amount to the court.

Unsecured Bond- like a surety bond, an unsecured bond has a monetary amount assigned to it.  However, an unsecured bond does not require anyone to sign at the time of a defendant’s release.  It can be signed by the person being released.

Cash Bond- a cash bond has a monetary amount assigned to it that must be paid before a defendant will be released.

Partially Secured- a partially secured bond has a monetary value assigned to it.  A percentage of the monetary value must be paid before a defendant will be released.  Both the total amount of the bond and the percentage that must be paid are determined by a judge.

Property Bond- a property bond has an assigned monetary value, which is secured by real property.  If a defendant fails to appear at court, the property that was posted as security is subject to lien and may be seized or sold.

With the exception of property bonds, which are paid at the courthouse, all bonds are paid at the jail.  All payments for bonds must be in cash and must be in exact change.  To post a bond, you will need a picture identification.

All persons bonding out of jail must pay a $40 booking fee, a $5 jail bond fee, and a $40 room and board fee for each day of incarceration.

Kentucky uses a hybrid system to determine bonds.  Some offenses come with a pre-set bond amount, while others must be set by a judge.  For offenses with no pre-determined bond, a defendant will meet with pre-trial services with 12 hours of being booked in to help determine the appropriate bond.

If you need the services of a bondsman, you can find one in the Yellow Pages or online.  Neither the jail nor the county will recommend any particular bondsman or bond company.

Conclusion

The Hopkins County Jail, located at 2250 Laffoon Trail, Madisonville, Kentucky, is the county jail for Hopkins County.  It is overseen by the Hopkins County Jailer.  It is pre-trial and post-conviction facility that holds both felony and misdemeanor offenders, as well as male and female offenders.