Jail & Inmate Information | Shelby County Sheriff's Office (2025)

The Shelby County Jail is an accredited facility with the American Corrections Association. The average daily census for the two facilities for men and women is approximately 2,600 inmates. Yearly bookings average 56,000.

Male inmates are housed in downtown Memphis at 201 Poplar Avenue.The women’s facility is in east Memphis at 6201 Haley Road.

The Youth Justice and Education Center is located at 3420 Old Getwell Road,opened in the summer of 2023. The Youth Justice and Education Center expands the educational opportunities provided by Memphis Shelby County School Hope Academy. The facility houses a total of 146 youth. The center offers educational programs, recreational activities, and therapeutic counseling services to help youth become rehabilitated and reentry into communities. The youth will develop skills necessary to obtain employment and trades. This facility also provide culinary arts training, computer science programs, as well as a green space for youth to participate in gardening.

The Chief Jailer and his staff provide continuous oversight of operations and daily expenses. Monthly and weekly meetings with unit managers track bookings, processing times and inmate program involvement. Click HEREfor the monthly Jail Report Card.

In accordance with the National Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA), the Shelby County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) has a zero-tolerance policy relating to sexual assault, rape and sexual misconduct. If your family member is an inmate in this facility and feels that he/she has been a victim of sexual misconduct, harassment, or assault, it must be reported to a staff member immediately. This can be done by the inmate or family member in several methods. Contact the Sexual Assault Hotline Number at 901-222-4781 for more information. Mental Health staff is also available for crisis care 365 days a year to listen and offer support for the inmates. Click to view policy839 Inmate Sexual Assault (PREA). Click HERE and HERE to view PREA audit reports.

JAIL UPDATES:

The Mayor’s Office and Health Department have spent millions of dollars to provide a mental health team that staffs the Jail 24/7 through its provider. There is a mental health director, full time and part-time psychiatrists, a mental health nurse practitioner, and a team of a team of mental health professionals. There are additional personnel on call.

The Mayor’s Administration has just issued a Request for Proposals for increased mental health services in the Jail.

The Jail has designated housing units within the jail to care for those with mental health issues, those who are detoxing, and those who are suicidal. Those units are staffed by special trained Jail personnel, including counselors who work daily with those with mental health issues. They provide including, but not limited to: Relaxation/music and art therapy, Life Skills/coping mechanisms, and Alcohol and Drug therapy. For patients on psychotropic medications but not housed in those units, they provide including, but not limited to: Anger Management therapy, Domestic Violence treatment, Job Skills/Readiness, Moral Reconation, and Strong Father/Stronger Families,

The Jail is accredited by the American Correctional Association and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, as well as being certified by the Tennessee Correctional Institute.

The Jail is not overcrowded. It is not unclean. It does not have a practice of holding detainees in their rooms 23 hours a day.

The Sheriff’s Office is short-staffed, like every other law enforcement/correctional agency in the U.S. and the Sheriff’s Office is actively recruiting for more personnel. Likewise, the Jail is a very old structure and Sheriff Bonner welcomes every effort by Shelby County Government and the County Commission to build a new facility.