The Cleburne County Inmate Population
The Cleburne County inmate population is held at one facility, the Cleburne County Jail at 140 Lambert Drive in Heflin. The Cleburne County Sheriff's Office runs the jail and publishes a public roster of people in current custody. Most of the people counted are pre-trial detainees, people held on warrants or failures to appear, and inmates serving short local sentences. Municipal prisoners from Heflin and Ranburne may also be held or served through the sheriff's jail operation.
The count is not fixed. New bookings push it up, and releases, bond, and transfers pull it down. When a person is convicted of a felony and sentenced to prison, that person leaves the county count and joins the state prison population under the Alabama Department of Corrections. So the Cleburne County inmate population reflects mostly pre-trial and short-sentence custody, while long sentences are served in the state system.
Cleburne County Inmate Population Statistics
The clearest live figure is the roster count. On the inspection date in May 2026, the official Cleburne County roster showed 44 public rows, which is a point-in-time count rather than a capacity or daily average. A rated bed capacity was not published in the official sources reviewed, so no capacity number is claimed here. County and statewide figures below give context around that local snapshot.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Live roster count | 44 rows | Cleburne County Sheriff's roster, May 2026 |
| Rated bed capacity | Not published | Official sources reviewed, 2026 |
| Cleburne County residents | 15,905 | U.S. Census estimate, 2024 |
| ADOC statewide inmates | 27,601 | ADOC inmate search page, May 2026 |
The statewide ADOC total of 27,601 inmates, made up of 25,007 males and 2,592 females, is where sentenced Cleburne County residents are counted after transfer. It is a state prison figure and not a Cleburne County jail count.
Who Makes Up the Cleburne County Inmate Population
The official sources do not publish an aggregate breakdown of the jail population by sex, race, age, or charge level. The public roster does list those details for each person, so the makeup can be read row by row even though no summary table exists. The categories below describe how the county jail and the state divide custody.
- Pre-trial detainees and short-sentence inmates - the jail holds people awaiting court and those serving short local sentences; an exact split was not published.
- Warrant and failure-to-appear holds - people booked on warrants or for missing court make up part of the count.
- Municipal prisoners - inmates from Heflin and Ranburne may be held or served through the sheriff's jail, with a municipal feeding allowance noted in the county audit.
- Sentenced felons - counted by the state, not the county, once transferred into Alabama Department of Corrections custody.
Because no gender or charge-type totals were located, the safest reading is general. Most of the Cleburne County inmate population is adult and local, with felony defendants moving to the state count after sentencing.
Cleburne County Jail Capacity and Conditions
A rated capacity or bed count was not located in the official county or sheriff sources, so the live roster count is the best available size signal. The sheriff has legal charge of the county jail and the custody of county prisoners. The 2025 state audit of the sheriff's office covered July 2021 through March 2025 and reported no significant instances of noncompliance in the tests performed, while documenting jail-store, prisoner-money, and municipal-feeding accounts.
No current overcrowding lawsuit, consent decree, death-in-custody report, or new-jail construction project was found in the official sources reviewed. Note: a live roster count rises and falls daily and should not be read as a fixed capacity or an average daily population.
Laws Governing the Cleburne County Inmate Population
Alabama law sets a presumption that public writings can be inspected and copied, and it specifically requires the sheriff to keep a public record of jail prisoners. It also protects juvenile, expunged, and sealed records. For the Cleburne County inmate population, that mix is why the roster, charges, and bond text are public while certain records stay restricted. The statutes below frame what is open and how access works.
Key Statutes:
Alabama Code § 36-12-40 - gives Alabama citizens a right to inspect and copy public writings unless a law provides otherwise.
Alabama Code § 36-22-8 - requires the sheriff to keep a public record of county jail prisoners, including identity, reason, and release information.
Alabama Code § 14-6-1 - gives the sheriff legal charge and custody of the county jail and its prisoners.
Alabama Code § 41-13-1 - defines public records to include materials made or received by public officers in public business.
Alabama Code § 15-27-1 - sets expungement eligibility for certain records, which can remove an arrest or case from public access.
These rules explain why the sheriff posts a public roster with booking photos and charges, and why an old arrest may disappear from public view after an expungement order.
Cleburne County and the State Prison Population
No Alabama Department of Corrections prison or work center sits inside Cleburne County on the current ADOC facilities list. Sentenced felons from the county are transferred into state custody and then counted statewide. After sentencing and intake, the county roster no longer shows that person, and a search there will come up empty even though the person is still incarcerated.
At that point the ADOC inmate search becomes the correct locator. ADOC lists only current state inmates and excludes Youthful Offender Act inmates. The underlying court case stays with the Cleburne County Circuit Clerk even after the person moves to prison.
How to Search the Cleburne County Inmate Population
The fastest way to search the Cleburne County inmate population is the official sheriff's roster, which lists people in current jail custody. The roster uses a sortable, searchable table, and clicking a row opens a detail page with the mugshot, charges, and bond text. If the person was sentenced to state prison, use the ADOC locator instead, since the county roster does not track prison custody.
Before you start, have the person's full name ready, plus an age and an approximate booking date to tell apart similar names.
- Open the Cleburne County jail roster and read the "Last Updated" line at the top.
- Use the table search box to filter by name, or sort columns such as Last, First, or Booking Date.
- Compare age, sex, race, height, weight, and booking date to confirm the right person.
- Click the row to open the detail page with the mugshot, charge list, and bond status.
- If the person is not listed, call the jail at 256-463-7336; for a sentenced prisoner, search the ADOC locator.
Current Inmate Lookup in Cleburne County
The live roster shows people currently in Cleburne County Jail custody. It carries a last-updated timestamp, and the inspected version sorted rows by booking date. The table below lists the fields shown for each person in the roster table, before the detail page adds charges and bond. The roster does not include a booking number, arresting agency, or court date.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photo | Image | n/a | Mugshot thumbnail; larger image on the detail page. |
| Last / First / Middle | Text | n/a | Name columns, sortable; middle name may be blank. |
| Age | Text | n/a | Age in years; no date of birth shown. |
| Sex / Race | Text | n/a | Sex code and single-letter race code. |
| Booking Date | Text | n/a | M-D-YYYY format. |
| Height / Weight | Text | n/a | Feet and inches, and pounds. |
| Search box | Text filter | No | Client-side search that filters the displayed rows. |
A missing roster entry does not always mean a release. The person may still be in booking, may have just been sentenced and transferred, or may be in another county or in state or federal custody.
Past and Released Inmate Records
The roster is built around current custody, and the sheriff's site does not state whether released inmates stay visible, so a released person may drop off the list. There is no public archive of old county bookings to browse. The court file is the better trail, since a criminal case can stay searchable after release through the Cleburne County Circuit Clerk, the public access computer in the courthouse, or Alabama's Just One Look portal.
For an older booking record, contact the sheriff's office for jail records, or use the county public-records request form for Commission records, which requires Alabama residency proof and in-person submission. If the person was sentenced to state prison, the ADOC locator shows current custody, since ADOC does not post historical data online. Note: do not assume a person was released just because no roster result appears, because new bookings and transfers can lag the last update.
The Cleburne County circuit clerk duties page explains the court records, divisions, and Just One Look access behind released-inmate case research.
That case file often remains the only lasting record after a person leaves the county inmate roster.
What a Cleburne County Inmate Record Shows
The Cleburne County roster gives more than identity. The table row carries the basics, and the detail page adds the mugshot, a charge list, and bond text inline after each charge. It does not show a booking number, arresting agency, warrant or case number, court date, statute code, or housing unit. The table below walks through what does appear.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Photo | A booking-photo thumbnail in the roster and a larger image on the detail page. |
| Last / First / Middle | The inmate's name; detail page formats it as "Last, First Middle." |
| Age / Sex / Race | Age in years, a sex code, and a single-letter race code. |
| Height / Weight | Height in feet and inches, weight in pounds. |
| Booking Date | The roster booking date; the public detail page shows date only, not time. |
| Charges | A bullet list of charges on the detail page. |
| Bond | Bond text shown inline with each charge, such as "No Bond" or a bond amount. |
Booking photos for current inmates are covered further on the jail roster mugshots page, which explains what is and is not public.
County Jail vs. State Prison: Where to Look
Readers often mix up the county jail and state prison, which sends them to the wrong tool. Pre-trial detainees and short-sentence inmates stay in the county jail. Sentenced felons move to a state prison run by ADOC, which keeps its own locator. The comparison below shows which system covers which part of the inmate population.
| County Jail | State Prison (DOC) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who Is Held | Pre-trial and short sentences | Sentenced felons |
| Run By | Cleburne County Sheriff's Office | Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) |
| Where to Look | Cleburne County online roster | ADOC inmate search |
| How to Find | Search or sort the roster table by name | Search by AIS number or name |
The ADOC inmate locator exposes the AIS, first, and last name fields and statewide population statistics for the state-prison side of this split.
A sentenced Cleburne County resident shows here, not on the county jail roster, which tracks only local custody.
State and Federal Inmate Search
Each level of custody has its own locator, and each covers a different slice of the inmate population. Sentenced state prisoners appear in the ADOC search. Federal inmates appear in the Bureau of Prisons system, and immigration detainees appear in the ICE locator. None of these is a county jail roster, so use the one that matches the person's situation.
- State prison: the ADOC inmate search for currently incarcerated Alabama prisoners.
- Federal prison: the Federal BOP inmate locator for federal inmates held from 1982 to the present.
- Immigration: the ICE detainee locator, which needs a full name with A-number or date of birth and country of birth.
- Notification: Alabama VINE through VINELink for custody-status and release alerts.
Note: Cleburne County sits in the U.S. Marshals Northern District of Alabama for federal pretrial custody, and BOP warns that release dates can change under First Step Act reviews.
The Federal BOP inmate locator offers number and name search tabs for anyone in federal custody from a Cleburne County case.
Federal detainees never appear on the county roster or the ADOC locator, so this is the system to use for them.
Cleburne County Detention Facilities
The Cleburne County detention map is simple. There is one custody facility, the Cleburne County Jail, tied to the sheriff's office in Heflin. No state prison, federal prison, or ICE facility sits inside the county. The municipal police departments in Heflin and Ranburne do not run their own public rosters; their prisoners route into the sheriff's jail operation.
- Cleburne County Jail - the county jail for pre-trial detainees, warrant and failure-to-appear holds, short local sentences, and municipal prisoners from Heflin and Ranburne.
Cleburne County Inmate Population FAQ
How big is the Cleburne County inmate population?
On the inspection date in May 2026, the official sheriff's roster showed 44 public rows, which is a point-in-time count rather than a capacity or daily average. A rated bed capacity was not published in the official sources reviewed, so no capacity figure is claimed here. The roster count changes every day as people are booked and released. To learn how many people are held on a given day, the most reliable step is to read the live roster or call the jail at 256-463-7336.
How do I search the Cleburne County inmate population?
Open the official Cleburne County jail roster, which lists people in current custody. Use the table search box to filter by name, or sort columns such as Last, First, or Booking Date. Click a row to open the detail page with the mugshot, charges, and bond text. Compare age, sex, race, height, and weight to confirm the right person. If the person was sentenced to state prison, use the ADOC inmate search by name or AIS number instead.
Can I look up a released or past inmate?
The roster is built around current custody, and the site does not state whether released inmates stay visible, so a released person may drop off. There is no public archive of old county bookings. The court case is the better trail, since it can stay searchable after release through the Cleburne County Circuit Clerk, the courthouse public access computer, or Alabama's Just One Look portal. A person moved to state prison shows current custody in the ADOC locator.
Does the Cleburne County roster show charges and bond?
Yes. Unlike some county rosters, the Cleburne County detail page lists charges in a bullet list and shows bond text inline after each charge, with values such as "No Bond" or a bond amount. It does not show a booking number, arresting agency, warrant number, court date, or housing unit. Initial booking charges can also differ from the formal charges a prosecutor later files, so confirm court status with the Circuit Clerk.
What is the difference between the county jail and state prison count?
The county jail count covers pre-trial detainees and short-sentence inmates held locally by the sheriff. The state prison count covers sentenced felons in Alabama Department of Corrections custody after transfer. A Cleburne County resident sentenced to prison leaves the county count and joins the statewide ADOC total, which stood at 27,601 inmates when the ADOC page was reviewed in May 2026.
Are booking photos public in Cleburne County?
Yes, for current inmates the roster shows a booking-photo thumbnail and a larger image on each detail page. Alabama public-records law and the sheriff's duty to keep a public prisoner record support that practice, with limits for juvenile, expunged, sealed, or protected records. There is no separate recent-bookings gallery, and federal locators like BOP and ICE are status tools, not mugshot galleries.