Lauderdale County Detention Facility Inmate Lookup

Lauderdale County Detention Facility Overview

The Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office detention page identifies the jail as the county's secured long-term detention facility, and the county detention center page places it at 2001 5th Street in Meridian. The jail is operated by the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office under Sheriff Ward Calhoun III, with Major Melissa McCarter listed as Jail Administrator or jail commander in the county and sheriff sources. It holds pre-trial suspects awaiting court, short-term convicted offenders awaiting lawful release, and state prisoners waiting for transfer.

The sheriff's facility page gives unusually specific building detail for a public jail page. It describes an authorized capacity of 290 inmates, 12 pods, 144 holding cells, four special-needs cells, one medical area cell, and one suicide-prevention cell. All processing, booking, and testing occur inside the secured facility. The county page also says the jail has a fully staffed medical department available around the clock, which matters for intake, medical screening, and people assigned to medical or special housing.

The county detention center screenshot in the image below comes from the county's official facility page at lauderdalecounty.org/county-departments/detention-center.

Use that county page for the facility address and administrator listing, then use the sheriff roster and 24-hour jail phone line for current custody, bond, and booking questions.

Lauderdale County Detention Facility Capacity and Population

The sheriff's detention page, inspected in June 2026, lists the facility as authorized to house 290 inmates. The official current roster at lauderdaleso.org/roster.php showed "Inmate Roster (207)" when inspected on June 18-19, 2026. That is a point-in-time web roster count, not an average daily population and not a yearly booking total. Using those two sourced figures, the visible roster count was about 71.4 percent of authorized capacity on that inspection date.

A historical Prison Policy Initiative/BJS row lists 333 prisoners for "Lauderdale County Jail And Honor Farm" on December 31, 2013, but that older historical row should not be treated as the jail's current count. The research did not locate an official Lauderdale County average daily population dashboard, annual booking total, length-of-stay report, or demographic breakdown for the jail population.

How to Look Up an Inmate at Lauderdale County Detention Facility

Use the official Lauderdale County roster chooser for people believed to be in LCDF custody. The chooser separates "Current Inmates" from "48 Hour Release," and the released list covers people released from the facility within the last 48 hours. The sheriff roster is the correct channel for county jail bookings, but it is not the correct channel for sentenced people already moved to Mississippi Department of Corrections custody or federal custody.

1. Open the roster chooser and select Current Inmates for someone believed to be held now, or 48 Hour Release for a recent release.
2. Use the roster's name search, or sort by booking date when the exact spelling is uncertain.
3. Open the profile link and compare the booking number, booking date, age, city/state address, arresting agency, charges, bond amount, and mugshot.
4. Call the detention center at 601-482-9801 before posting bond or relying on charge, bail, or case-number information.

The public profile sample inspected in the research showed a booking number, age, gender, race, city/state address, arresting agency, booking date and time, charges, bond, mugshot, and a VINELink icon. It did not show date of birth, height, weight, housing pod, warrant number, court date, magistrate, projected release date, or per-charge bond breakdown. The roster also warns that charges and bail may change after court appearances.

Lauderdale County Detention Facility Address and Contact

The jail address used by the county detention center page is 2001 5th Street, Meridian, MS 39301. The broader sheriff public office address is also listed as 2500 Courthouse Blvd, Meridian, MS 39301, so visitors should distinguish the detention facility from the sheriff's public administrative listing. For custody, bond, current charges, case numbers, or release status, the sheriff FAQ points users to the 24-hour jail information line at 601-482-9801. The county detention page lists 601-482-9800, and the sheriff detention page lists Major McCarter at 601-482-9896 for jail administration.

The Sheriff's Office general website is lauderdaleso.org. The sheriff contact form is suitable for non-urgent public inquiries, but the research notes that email is not monitored 24/7 and should not be used for sensitive personal information. For a booking record that is no longer visible online, use the sheriff's phone, in-person records channel, general inquiry form, or a Mississippi Public Records Act request.

Visiting Someone at Lauderdale County Detention Facility

Lauderdale County has conflicting official visitation information across time. The county detention page says family and friend visitation uses a two-week rotation, each inmate receives 30 minutes, and callers should use 601-282-3064 for the proper date and time. The newer sheriff visitation and communication page is more restrictive: in-person visitation is limited to attorneys and authorized staff, approved alcohol or drug rehabilitation center representatives may be allowed for assessments with prior Director of Corrections approval, and other contact visits are allowed only in rare, specifically approved circumstances.

Because the current sheriff page is more recent and more specific, treat video visitation and direct jail confirmation as the practical rule. Do not travel for a family visit until LCDF confirms that the person is eligible, the visit type is available, and the visitor has completed any required scheduling or identification step.

Mail, Phone, and Money at Lauderdale County Detention Facility

The sheriff FAQ and visitation material document several inmate-service channels. Mail must come through USPS, include the sender's full name and complete return address, and may not include stamps, photos, or currency. Books must be mailed from a bookstore; once received, books become LCDF property unless a disallowed book is released through a signed property-release form. Phone service is listed through Ally Telecom Group, and prepaid accounts may be set up at ALLYTG.com or 1-800-943-2189. The research also found video visitation through ViaPath Communications at $0.25 per minute and visitor accounts through ConnectNetwork.

The sheriff FAQ also mentions VendEngine/CorrectPay for visitation and inmate messaging, with no-charge on-site visitation when selected during scheduling and free messages unless the inmate responds or initiates the message. Because vendor references can change, verify the active provider before depositing funds. The research intentionally avoids publishing an inconsistent Florence, Alabama money-order address found in one source because the Lauderdale County FAQ gives the Mississippi jail mail address.

Booking and Intake at Lauderdale County Detention Facility

LCDF is the intake point for people arrested by the Sheriff's Office, Meridian Police Department, other local agencies, or on warrants and holds when they are booked into county custody. The sheriff detention page states that processing, booking, and testing happen inside the secured detention facility. The usual public-record path is arrest, transport to the jail, identification, property inventory, booking photo, fingerprints or testing, medical screening, classification, and placement in the general jail population or a holding, special-needs, medical, or suicide-prevention cell when appropriate.

A new booking may not appear on the public roster immediately, and the sheriff does not publish a refresh interval. Once visible, the roster card may show the name, booking number, booking date, charges, bond, and mugshot. Bond and charges can change after court appearances, so the jail phone line is the control point for current bail amount, charges, holds, and case numbers. A posted bond may not release someone if a probation/parole hold, other-county warrant, state DOC hold, federal hold, or ICE detainer is active.

About Lauderdale County Detention Facility

The facility is part of Lauderdale County's Meridian-centered custody system, near the courthouse and related public offices. The sheriff detention page lists three detention officer shifts, jail-support roles such as Classification, NCIC, Transport, Legal Claims Adjudicator, Inmate Records, LCDF Administrative Assistant, and Facilities Supervisor, and state-mandated jail officer training through Mississippi's Board on Jail Officer Standards and Training. County sources also describe around-the-clock medical coverage.

Programs publicly identified in the research are limited. Approved alcohol and drug rehabilitation center representatives may conduct assessment visits with prior approval, clergy visits are listed Monday-Friday from 9-11:30 a.m. and 1-2:30 p.m. after approval, and the detention page lists a JSCWP Supervisor without enough public detail to expand the abbreviation. A June 26, 2024 WTOK report said a Lauderdale County grand jury again recommended more police training and a new county jail, which should be read as local news context rather than an official construction approval.

The Lauderdale County Sheriff MS mobile app is documented in the Apple App Store and Google Play. Store text describes tips, public safety news, and communication features, but the research did not confirm an app-only inmate roster, warrant search, mugshot search, or records-request feature.