The Coffee County Inmate Population
The Coffee County inmate population is split across two official facilities. The Coffee County Jail in New Brockton is the local detention center, run by the Coffee County Sheriff's Office. It holds people arrested in the county, municipal prisoners, short-sentence inmates, and people awaiting court action. A 2024 state audit also shows the jail handles some state-prisoner activity and municipal-prisoner housing.
The second facility is a state prison, the Elba Community Based Facility and Community Work Center, run by the Alabama Department of Corrections. It holds sentenced male state inmates in minimum custody, not local arrests. Because the two systems count different people, the Coffee County inmate population should be read as two separate groups: local jail custody and state work-center custody. When a person is convicted of a felony and sentenced, that person leaves the county count and joins the state count.
Coffee County Inmate Population Statistics
The county jail's rated capacity and daily population were not published in the official county or sheriff sources reviewed, so no jail capacity number is claimed here. The clearest official figures come from the state work center in Elba. Its 2024 PREA audit gives a designed capacity of 250 and a current population of 229, with an average daily population of 238 over the prior year. The ADOC facility page listed 222 when inspected in May 2026. The numbers below keep the two systems clearly separate.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee County Jail capacity | Not published | Official county and sheriff sources, 2026 |
| Elba work center designed capacity | 250 | 2024 PREA audit |
| Elba work center population | 229 | 2024 PREA audit |
| Elba average daily population | 238 | 2024 PREA audit (prior 12 months) |
| Elba live bed occupancy | 222 | ADOC facility page, May 2026 |
The work center population covers sentenced state inmates from across Alabama, not only Coffee County. It should not be read as the local jail population, and the two counts should never be combined into one figure.
Who Makes Up the Coffee County Inmate Population
The official sources do not publish a sex, race, age, or charge-level breakdown for the county jail. The state work center's audit gives a few facility-wide details, which describe the state population in Elba rather than the local jail. The categories below show how the two custody systems divide the people counted.
- Local jail detainees - county arrests, municipal prisoners, short-sentence inmates, and people awaiting court action at the county jail.
- State work-center inmates - sentenced male state prisoners in minimum custody at Elba, with an audit age range of 21 to 73.
- Minimum-custody classification - the Elba facility is classed as minimum-community and minimum-out, geared toward work release and reentry.
- Sentenced felons statewide - counted by the state, not the county, once transferred into Alabama Department of Corrections custody.
Because no aggregate breakdown was located for the county jail, the safest reading is general. The local count is mostly adult and local, while the Elba count is sentenced state inmates from across Alabama.
Coffee County Jail Capacity and Conditions
A rated capacity, daily census, or pod chart for the county jail was not located in the official sources, so no jail capacity figure is published here. The 2024 state audit confirms the sheriff operates the jail and handles custody and feeding of county, municipal, and some state prisoners. It also notes the sheriff ran a work-release program but suspended it in fiscal year 2020.
The state work center reports more detail through its 2024 PREA audit, which lists a designed capacity of 250, seven housing units, and a population not over capacity in the prior year. Note: the Elba figures describe a state prison and should not be read as the Coffee County Jail population, since the two facilities count different people. No current overcrowding lawsuit or new-jail construction project was found in the official sources reviewed.
Laws Governing the Coffee 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 sets timelines for handling records requests and protects juvenile, expunged, and sealed material. For the Coffee County inmate population, that framework decides what custody data is public and how to request it. The statutes below frame the rules.
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 § 36-12-44 - sets acknowledgment and response timelines for standard and time-intensive public-record requests.
Alabama Code § 36-22-8 - requires the sheriff to keep a public record of county jail prisoners, including identity, reason, and release information.
Alabama Court-Record Privacy Rules - keep court records generally public while restricting sealed, juvenile, and protected material.
Alabama Code Title 15, Chapter 27 - allows expungement of certain records by court order, which can remove an arrest or case from public access.
These rules support a public prisoner record at the county jail even without an online roster, and they explain why an old arrest may disappear from public view after an expungement order.
Coffee County and the State Prison Population
Coffee County is unusual because a state prison sits inside it. The Elba Community Based Facility and Community Work Center holds sentenced male state inmates in minimum custody, with employment in welding, assembly, construction, and local work projects. It is not a county booking jail, so local arrests are not held there. People at Elba are searched through the state locator, not the county jail.
Sentenced felons from Coffee County are transferred into state custody and counted statewide, and some may be assigned to Elba. After sentencing and intake, the ADOC inmate search becomes the correct locator. ADOC lists only current state inmates and excludes Youthful Offender Act inmates. The court case stays with the Coffee County Circuit Clerk even after transfer.
How to Search the Coffee County Inmate Population
Start with the custody level, because it decides which tool to use. No official online county jail roster was located in the sources reviewed, so a current Coffee County inmate search begins with a phone call to the jail. If the person was sentenced to state prison, use the ADOC locator instead. Federal and immigration custody use separate federal systems.
Before you call, gather a few identifiers. A full legal name is the minimum, and a date of birth, an arrest date, and the arresting agency all help.
- Call the Coffee County Jail at (334) 894-6200 and ask whether the person is in current custody.
- Give the full legal name, approximate arrest date, date of birth if known, and arresting agency if known.
- Ask whether bond has been set and whether a court date is scheduled.
- If the jail says the person is not there, ask whether they bonded out, were released, were transferred, or were moved to state prison.
- For a sentenced state prisoner, search the ADOC inmate locator by AIS number or name.
The Coffee County Sheriff app download page links the Apple and Google versions the sheriff's office uses for alerts and contact.
The app is a contact channel, not a roster, so a current Coffee County inmate search still starts with the jail phone line above.
Current Inmate Lookup in Coffee County
Because no public county roster was located, the live lookup for current jail custody runs through the jail phone line, not a search box. The table below records what an online roster form would normally contain and marks it as a negative finding for the county jail. For sentenced state inmates, the ADOC search does expose real fields and is the right tool after transfer.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| No official Coffee County online jail roster located | n/a | n/a | The sheriff and county sites publish jail contact details but no public search form, buttons, or sample profile. |
| ADOC AIS # | Text | No | Six-digit Alabama Institutional Serial number; if entered, it takes precedence and name fields are ignored. |
| ADOC First Name | Text | No | Open-ended; can be used alone or with last name on the state locator. |
| ADOC Last Name | Text | No | Open-ended prefix search; capped at 50 displayed results. |
The ADOC inmate search covers currently incarcerated state inmates only and does not show county jail bookings. Its results list AIS number, name, race, sex, birth year, institution, and release date.
Past and Released Inmate Records
Without a county roster, there is no online archive of old bookings to browse. The court file is the better trail, because a criminal case can stay searchable after a person leaves the jail. The Coffee County Circuit Clerk keeps the case record, and Alacourt Access, also called Just One Look, offers paid trial-court searches by name or case number.
For a historical booking record or public prisoner record, request it from the sheriff's office or jail; Alabama law requires acknowledgment of a records request within set timelines and may ask for proof of Alabama residency. If the person was sentenced to state prison, the ADOC locator shows current custody, since ADOC says historical data is not posted online. Note: do not assume a person was released just because no result appears, because custody and transfer status can change quickly.
The Coffee County 12th Judicial Circuit Clerk site is the starting point for the court file behind a released-inmate case.
That case record commonly outlasts any trace of the original booking in the county inmate population.
What a Coffee County Inmate Record Shows
No official public county jail profile was available to inspect, so the county jail fields below are request topics, not promises that each item appears online. The state locator does return a fixed set of fields for sentenced inmates. The table shows both, so readers can tell the county jail gap from the state locator's real output.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Name (county jail) | Needed for phone and written requests; no official online profile was found. |
| Booking date (county jail) | Not visible online; ask the jail or request the public prisoner record. |
| Charges and bond (county jail) | Not posted online; call the jail, and check court records once a case opens. |
| AIS number (state) | The six-digit Alabama Institutional Serial number for a sentenced inmate. |
| Institution (state) | The current state facility, which may be Elba for a work-center assignment. |
| Race, sex, birth year (state) | Demographic fields shown in the ADOC result. |
| Release date (state) | Listed in the ADOC result, subject to change. |
Booking photos are covered on the jail roster mugshots page, which explains what is and is not public for Coffee County.
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 or work center run by ADOC, which keeps its own locator. The comparison below shows which system covers which part of the inmate population in Coffee County.
| County Jail | State Prison (DOC) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who Is Held | Pre-trial and short sentences | Sentenced state inmates |
| Run By | Coffee County Sheriff's Office | Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) |
| Where to Look | Jail phone, (334) 894-6200 | ADOC inmate search |
| Local Facility | Coffee County Jail, New Brockton | Elba Community Based Facility, Elba |
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, including those at Elba.
- 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: the Alabama Victim Notification System for custody-status alerts after a state sentence.
Note: Coffee County sits in the U.S. Marshals Middle District of Alabama for federal pretrial custody, and ICE does not list anyone under 18.
The Federal BOP inmate locator provides a search form for anyone in federal custody from a Coffee County case.
Federal detainees never show on the county jail records or the ADOC locator, so this is the right system for them.
Coffee County Detention Facilities
Coffee County has two official detention facilities, and they sit in different towns and use different lookup systems. The county jail in New Brockton handles local arrests, while the state work center in Elba holds sentenced state inmates. No federal or ICE facility was located in the county. Each facility below holds a different part of the inmate population.
- Coffee County Jail - the local jail in New Brockton for county arrests, municipal prisoners, short sentences, and people awaiting court action.
- Elba Community Based Facility and Community Work Center - a state prison in Elba for sentenced male inmates in minimum custody and work release, searched through the ADOC locator.
Coffee County Inmate Population FAQ
How big is the Coffee County inmate population?
It depends on which system you mean. The county jail's capacity and daily population were not published in the official sources reviewed, so no jail figure is claimed here. The state work center in Elba lists a designed capacity of 250 and a population of 229 in its 2024 PREA audit, with the ADOC facility page showing 222 in May 2026. Those Elba figures describe sentenced state inmates from across Alabama, not the local jail. To learn the current jail count, call the jail at (334) 894-6200.
How do I search the Coffee County inmate population?
For someone in current county jail custody, call the Coffee County Jail at (334) 894-6200, because no official online roster was located. Have the full name, date of birth, and arrest date ready. If the person was sentenced to state prison, use the ADOC inmate search by name or AIS number, which may show Elba as the institution. Federal and immigration detainees use the BOP locator and the ICE detainee locator, which are separate systems from the county jail.
Can I look up a released or past inmate?
There is no online archive of past county bookings to browse. The court case is usually the better trail, since it can stay searchable after release through the Coffee County Circuit Clerk or Alacourt Access. For an old booking or public prisoner record, request it from the sheriff's office, and expect Alabama records-request timelines to apply. A person moved to state prison shows current custody in the ADOC locator.
Is the Elba work center a county jail?
No. The Elba Community Based Facility and Community Work Center is an Alabama Department of Corrections facility for sentenced male state inmates in minimum custody. It is not a booking jail, so local Coffee County arrests are not held there. People at Elba are found through the ADOC inmate search, not the county jail phone line. The facility focuses on work release and reentry, with jobs in welding, assembly, construction, and local community projects.
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 in New Brockton. The state prison count covers sentenced inmates in Alabama Department of Corrections custody, including those at the Elba work center. A Coffee County resident sentenced to prison leaves the county count and joins the statewide ADOC total. The two counts come from different sources and should never be combined into one figure.
Does the Coffee County jail post mugshots online?
No official online booking-photo gallery or recent-bookings feed was located on the county or sheriff site. Under Alabama law, the sheriff keeps a public prisoner record, but that supports basic custody information more than online mugshot posting. A booking photo may be requestable from the sheriff unless it is sealed, expunged, juvenile, or protected. The state ADOC locator does not show a photo, and federal locators are status tools, not mugshot galleries.