The security for Jefferson County Jail - Birmingham AL is classified as medium as it's standards are created similar to maximum security without the tower structures. The building is solid concrete with limited access to fresh air, with heavy guard-to-inmate ratios. There are adjacent cage-like structures that inmates may use to get some limited exercise (basketball hoop and dip bars) for an hour every other day. Most of the time spent is in their pod or 2-man cells. Movements are strictly supervised. There is a library, a commissary, a gym, a barber shop and a chapel. The inmates are all awaiting sentencing, trial or transfer, there are no long term inmates.
Jefferson County Jail - Birmingham AL is a County Jail used by the jurisdictions of Jefferson to confine inmates for short periods while awaiting trial or processing. As inmates are staying for usually less than one year, therefore it has fewer amenities than a jail or prison. Inmates do, however, have access to limited recreation, a library, the telephone, as well as bathroom facilities and with three square meals per day. Use the inmate search feature to find an inmate here. This jails is operated by the county government's sheriff.
Many inmate detainees are delivered daily. A considerable number of people arriving at a jail are actively or recently drunk or high, arrive with injuries from fights/assaults that led to their arrest, and/or are mentally ill with no other place for law enforcement to deliver them. Some may stay less than one day or only for a few days, until they are released in a court proceeding after putting up bail. These offenders are released to a pretrial services caseload, and are placed under supervision by the probation office, or released on their own recognizance - a tacit agreement to make every court appearance.
Like most county jails this is designed in "pods" with a large common area where the tables are affixed to the floor along with attached seats. There are individual cells usually on two levels. There are times where the inmates must remain in their cells, and other times where the inmates all congregate in the pod playing cards, games, reading or watching television. The inmates do not leave the pod unless they are escorted by unarmed correctional officers (COs) - whether it is a trip to the commissary, the library or the recreation area, there is constant supervision. The county jail is considered a less stressful environment than prison.
