Mobile County Jail Capacity Overview
The Mobile County Sheriff's Office operates Mobile County Metro Jail. The official Metro Jail page says the facility houses an average of 1,500 inmates per day and serves Mobile County and the City of Mobile. The complex includes a main jail facility and a minimum-security barracks. The barracks supplies inmate labor to parks, facilities, and events around the county and is described by MCSO as saving taxpayers more than $1.5 million each year.
| Facility | Rated Capacity | Current Population |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile County Metro Jail (overall) | Rated bed number not published by MCSO | Average 1,500 inmates/day |
| Main jail facility | Part of Metro Jail; capacity not located | Included in overall average |
| Minimum-security barracks | Capacity not located | Houses inmates in the labor program |
Official MCSO sources we reviewed did not list a rated bed count. For an official rated capacity, request the figure from MCSO directly.
Average Daily Population
The official MCSO average daily population (ADP) figure is approximately 1,500 inmates per day. That figure includes pretrial detainees, sentenced misdemeanants serving short jail time, probation-revocation holds, and safe-keeping holds for other agencies. Year-over-year change figures and a multi-year trend line were not published on the Metro Jail page at the time of our review.
For an authoritative national comparison, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) publishes annual jail data; researchers at the Vera Institute publish county-level jail trends. Those sources should be cited as state and national context rather than as Mobile County totals.
Demographic Breakdown
Official MCSO pages we reviewed do not publish demographic breakdowns by race, sex, age, or pretrial status on the public Metro Jail page. The current inmates report does not include sex, race, age, or date of birth columns. For demographic figures, the Sheriff's Office, county budget books, BJS annual jail reports, and Vera county trends are the standard sources. The table below is a placeholder structure to be populated when official Mobile County figures are obtained.
| Group | Percent of Population |
|---|---|
| Male | Not published by MCSO; request from Sheriff |
| Female | Not published by MCSO; request from Sheriff |
| Adult (18+) | Confirmed; Metro Jail does not house juveniles in general population |
| Juvenile | Handled separately at Strickland Youth Facility, not Metro Jail |
Pretrial vs. Sentenced Population
The public roster's charge text suggests the Metro Jail population includes pretrial detainees awaiting trial, probation-revocation holds, other-agency safe-keeping, and federal marshal safe-keeping. Sentenced misdemeanants typically serve in county jail; sentenced felons typically transfer to the Alabama Department of Corrections. Precise pretrial-versus-sentenced shares for Mobile County were not published in the official sources we reviewed.
| Status | Source |
|---|---|
| Pretrial detainees | Indicated in roster charge text; share not officially published |
| Sentenced (county jail) | Misdemeanor terms served at Metro Jail |
| Safe-keeping (federal/state) | Marshal and other-agency holds appear in roster charges |
| Probation revocation | Holds awaiting court action |
Misdemeanor vs. Felony Population
The Metro Jail roster includes charge labels for a wide mix of offenses. Charges seen on the public inmate report include murder, assault, controlled substance, probation violation, DUI, theft, robbery, burglary, safe-keeping, and federal/U.S. Marshal safe-keeping labels. Some entries carry court prefixes such as CC for circuit criminal (typically felony) and DC for district criminal (typically misdemeanor and preliminary felony). The mix shifts day to day; a precise misdemeanor-to-felony ratio is not published on the official pages.
Mental Health and Medical Population
Medical care at Mobile County Metro Jail is contracted through NaphCare. The Sheriff's medical line at 251-574-3368 is the public point of contact for inmate medical inquiries. Specific shares of the population receiving mental health services or chronic medical care were not published on the Metro Jail page at the time of our review. For mental health commitments under Alabama probate law, Mobile County Probate Court handles the judicial side; those cases are restricted records and not part of the public jail roster.
National and State Context
National jail population context comes from BJS annual reports and from the Vera Institute's county jail trend data. Alabama-specific jail counts come from BJS and Vera. Reporting "per 100,000" comparisons requires careful attribution because county jail populations include pretrial, sentenced, and safe-keeping holds, which complicates comparisons to state or national rates. Use the table below as a structure for citing comparison figures from named official sources.
| Level | Jail Population per 100k |
|---|---|
| Mobile County | Cite from BJS or Vera county data |
| Alabama | Cite from BJS state total |
| National | Cite from BJS annual jail census |
Population Trends Over Time
An official five-year Mobile County jail population trend line was not located on the Metro Jail page or in MCSO annual reports during our review. Trend research should pull MCSO annual data when published, county budget books for staffing and cost lines, BJS jail reports for state and national context, and Vera Institute county trends for cross-county comparison. Note that small Metro Jail design or program changes can shift trend lines noticeably year to year.
Where the Data Comes From
For Mobile County jail data, the primary source is the Mobile County Sheriff's Office. The Metro Jail page at mobileso.com/metro-jail-2 publishes the ADP and facility description. The Sheriff homepage at mobileso.com is the navigation hub. The public roster at all.mobileso.com exposes name, date, charges, and bond. The MCSO Access menu links the jail portal and bonding portal. For state and national comparison, BJS and Vera Institute are the standard third-party data sources.
Charge Mix in the Mobile County Roster
The Mobile County current inmates report shows a wide range of charge labels. Inspected entries include murder, assault, controlled substance, probation violation, DUI, theft, robbery, burglary, safe-keeping, and federal or U.S. Marshal safe-keeping labels. Some entries carry court prefixes such as CC25-2821 for circuit criminal, DC25-908658 for district criminal, M for municipal, or GJ for grand jury matters. That mix is a snapshot, not a long-run share, and it shifts day to day as bookings, releases, and transfers move through the system.
Reading the roster for population insight requires care. A single person can appear with several charges and several bond lines. Some entries are pretrial detainees still awaiting trial; others are people on holds for other agencies. Sentenced state felons usually transfer to the Alabama Department of Corrections rather than stay at Metro Jail, so the roster understates the full justice-system footprint for Mobile County residents.
Staffing and Cost Notes
Official jail budget, cost per inmate per day, correctional officer staffing ratio, and overtime totals were not published on the MCSO Metro Jail page at the time of our review. For these numbers, the Mobile County Commission budget books and MCSO annual reports are the standard sources. The minimum-security barracks at Metro Jail does carry one published cost figure: MCSO says the barracks labor program saves taxpayers more than $1.5 million each year by supplying inmate labor to parks, facilities, and events.
For a deeper comparison, the BJS publishes per-inmate costs for state prisons but jail-specific cost lines come from county budgets. Mobile County's annual budget is the right document if you need a precise figure.