Shelby County Jail
County Jail | Shelby County County — Alabama | Shelby County Alabama Sheriff’s Office
Status: Active
Location: Columbiana, Shelby County, Alabama
Address: Intake and release occur at 380 McDow Road, Columbiana, Alabama.
Mailing Address:
Shelby County Correctional Facility
P.O. Box 1240
Columbiana, AL 35051
Phone Number: 205-669-3938 and 205-669-4181 (administration); inmates cannot receive phone calls
Fax Number: 205-669-3868; Inmates cannot receive faxes
Email: [email protected]
Warden: Sheriff John Samaniego; Captain Jay Fondren
Employees: The Shelby County Jail is staffed by 65 employees.
Offender Gender: male and female
Security Level: Security ranging from misdemeanor offenses to capital murder; inmates may not be classified according to risk and security level when they first enter the Shelby County Jail facilities, but will be classified at the IRC when they enter and are subject to reclassification during their stay as additional charges or changes to existing charges may occur.
Distinguishing Feature: Although smaller than many other county jails or county jail systems, the Shelby County Jail is one of the most technologically advanced county jails in the nation and its podular design has been replicated numerous times because it allows for more consistent supervision of inmates and for separation of inmates into different risk groups in the same jail facility.
The Shelby County Jail’s podular system is considered to be one of the nation’s most efficient types of systems. Inmates are designated into pods and are supervised by officers and first-line supervisors who work 12-hour shifts. Inmates are supervised in person and through a video surveillance system. In addition, Shelby County Jail uses digital imaging to help manage inmate populations. The use of technology throughout the jail streamlines its operations, and the jail is connected through state-of-the-art court teleconferencing, telephones, intercoms, radios, fingerprint systems, and computerized jail management systems.
Shelby County Jail Data & Statistics:
| Total Confined | 513 |
| Full-Time Employees | 68 |
*Source: U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities, 2019. State and federal prison facilities only.
The population at the Shelby County Jail includes multiple types of state, local, and federal offenders: individuals who did not post bail and are awaiting court (pre-trial detainees); individuals who had court and have been sentenced and are awaiting transfer to a state or federal facility (post- conviction transfer detainees); individuals who have been sentenced and will serve their sentence at the jail facility (post-conviction detainees) and individuals who are currently incarcerated in another detention facility, but have been summoned to appear in an Shelby County court.
The inmate handbook helps explain some of the living conditions that inmates can expect to encounter at the Shelby County Jail, in addition to the inmate’s rights and responsibilities while incarcerated.
The prison programming available depends on availability but may include educational, religious, and self-help programming. In addition to availability, inmate behavior helps determine eligibility for programming.
Shelby County Jail is not associated with any production, but inmates are responsible for providing in-jail services and inmates may qualify for outside-worker status. Inmates are responsible for cleaning their own cells, common areas, restrooms, and other jail areas as directed by jail staff. Outside workers provide services for Shelby County and associated municipalities. In addition, offenders may be sentenced to outside worker status as part of their sentences with associated municipalities.
The Shelby County Historical Society maintains a very in-depth page describing the history of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, including the Shelby County Jail.
Inmate Mailing Address:
Inmate Name and Resident Number
C/O Shelby County Correctional Facility
P.O. Box 1240
Columbiana, AL 35051
Find an Inmate: The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office inmate locator tool allows you to search for an inmate by first or last name, or age. In addition, it lists all current inmates, most of them with their mugshot or booking photo.
Send Money to an Inmate: You may deposit money into an inmate trust account in a number of ways, including machines located in the lobbies of some of the jail facilities, online, and in the lobby of the Sheriff’s Department. Shelby County Sheriff’s Office also offers a variety of ways to post bond payments. Bond payments may be made in a variety of different ways and Shelby County actually offers its own property bonding services.
Visit an Inmate: Visitation must be scheduled. You can go online to schedule visitation or schedule the visit in person or at a Kiosk at the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. Visits are video visits from the lobby of the Sheriff’s Office. Visitation times are Monday-Friday from 7:20PM to 9:35PM; and Saturday-Sunday from 8:00AM to 11:25AM, 1:00PM to 4:30PM, and 7:20PM to 9:35PM. Visits are 30 minutes long. Visits may be scheduled the same day at the lobby kiosk, but may not be available and can be scheduled up to two weeks in advance. Juveniles may not visit unless accompanied by an adult, unless the visit is pre-approved by a supervisor.
Receive calls from an Inmate: Inmates can place collect phone calls and can set up advanced pay accounts with provider NCIC in order to place phone calls to numbers that cannot receive collect phone calls. If you do not wish to receive a call from an inmate, you will be given several options including rejecting the call, blocking a call from that inmate, or blocking all inmate calls from Shelby County Jail.
Many correctional facilities let families send books and magazines to an inmate — but almost all of them require the items to be brand-new and shipped directly from the retailer. Anything sent secondhand or repackaged at home is usually rejected at the mailroom. Ordering from a retailer that ships direct is the standard way to get reading material in.
- Must ship new, directly from the retailer — you can't forward it yourself.
- Softcover / paperback only at most facilities (hardcovers are commonly banned).
- No used or third-party marketplace sellers — new copies only.
- Limits on quantity per package and how many packages may be pending.
- Address it to the inmate's full committed name and ID number.
- Use the facility's mailroom address, which can differ from the public address.
As an Amazon Associate, JailData earns from qualifying purchases. These are advertising links; we don't control or guarantee any facility's acceptance of a given item.
Sponsored and Powered by our Partner TruthFinder