Lawrence County Inmate Population
Lawrence County does not run an ordinary adult jail in Louisa. Local arrests are routed to Big Sandy Regional Detention Center, a regional jail in Paintsville that serves Johnson, Lawrence, Magoffin, and Martin counties. That point shapes every Lawrence County inmate population number. The jail count is a shared regional count, not a Lawrence-only head count, and a booking on the public roster may be tied to any of the four counties served by the jail.
The Lawrence County inmate population changes when arrests are booked, when judges set or modify bond, when local sentences begin, when state inmates are picked up by the Kentucky Department of Corrections, and when holds from other agencies clear. BSRDC is the custody facility for local jail questions. The Lawrence County Sheriff's Office remains the local arresting and records agency for sheriff arrests, while court charges are handled through the Lawrence County Judicial Center and Kentucky Court of Justice systems.
Lawrence County Inmate Population Statistics
The best current official source for bed and population columns is the KDOC weekly jail report archive. Those reports track Kentucky local jails with columns for beds, reported population, sex breakdown, Class D inmates, controlled intake, parole violators, federal inmates, under or over capacity, security, and custody status. The research file did not locate a current official rated capacity for BSRDC, so this build does not state one.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Date |
|---|---|---|
| Regional jail serving Lawrence County | Big Sandy Regional Detention Center | Official BSRDC site, inspected June 2026 |
| Historic local population point | 215 | Prison Policy Initiative Census 2020 correctional populations, dated Dec. 31, 2013 |
| Average population, June 2021-Jan. 2023 | About 240 | Mountain Citizen, Nov. 5, 2025 |
| Average population since Jan. 2023 | 208 | Mountain Citizen, Nov. 5, 2025 |
| Six-month average population | 216 | Mountain Citizen, Sept. 24, 2025 |
| November 2025 average | 241 | Mountain Citizen, Dec. 30, 2025 |
| Reported count | 225 | Mountain Citizen, Dec. 18, 2025 count in Dec. 30, 2025 report |
The same research notes $33,549 in Lawrence County billed housing revenue for November 2025, but that is a finance figure, not a jail population figure. It helps explain why regional jail counts matter to county budgets. It should not be read as a count of Lawrence County inmates.
Lawrence County Jail Population Trends
Recent reporting describes a regional jail count that has moved up and down with state-inmate pickup, controlled-intake litigation, staffing, and county billing pressure. A jail administrator described about 240 average inmates between June 2021 and January 2023, followed by an average of 208 after January 2023. Later 2025 reports showed a rebound, with a November average of 241 and a count of 225 on December 18.
| Period | Population / ADP | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dec. 31, 2013 | 215 | Historic facility point count. |
| June 2021-Jan. 2023 | About 240 | Reported as stronger revenue period with more state inmates. |
| Since Jan. 2023 | 208 average | Reported decline tied to fewer state inmates and pickup changes. |
| Six months before Sept. 2025 | 216 average | Board update also gave a current count of 188. |
| November 2025 | 241 average | Later board report. |
| Dec. 18, 2025 | 225 | Count had fallen from November average. |
Who Is in Lawrence County Jail Custody
The BSRDC population can include pretrial detainees, local sentenced inmates, state inmates housed in county or regional jail beds, parole violators, controlled-intake inmates, and possible federal inmates when weekly reports show that category. Because BSRDC serves four counties, the public roster must be read with the agency and county context in mind. A Lawrence County arrest may be listed next to bookings from Johnson, Magoffin, or Martin counties.
No official BSRDC race, age, or detailed demographic table was located in the inspected sources. KDOC weekly jail reports provide male and female population columns and custody categories, but those reports should be checked for the latest week when an exact current breakdown is needed. Do not infer a Lawrence-only demographic split from the regional jail's total count.
- Pretrial detainee
- A person held before final case disposition, often after first appearance or bond review.
- Controlled intake
- A Kentucky state-prison intake category that can leave sentenced people in local jails before transfer.
- Class D inmate
- A Kentucky felony class that may be housed in county jail when eligible under state rules.
- Detainer
- A hold or request from another agency that can affect release even when local bond exists.
Lawrence County Inmate Population Laws
Kentucky law controls both public access and jail operations. The open-records statutes define public records and inspection rights, while jail statutes and administrative rules govern county responsibility, full-service jail standards, security, and prisoner rights. These laws do not make every field public in every context. They create the access path and the limits that agencies apply.
Key Statutes:
KRS 61.870 defines public records and key Open Records Act terms.
KRS 61.872 gives eligible Kentucky residents the right to inspect public records subject to exemptions.
KRS 441.025 makes county government responsible for jail custody through operation, regional participation, or contract.
KRS 441.055 authorizes jail minimum standards.
501 KAR 3:060 sets security and control standards for full-service jails.
Search Lawrence County Inmates
The official local lookup path is the BSRDC inmate-search frame, which loads the JailTracker public roster. JailTracker covers current BSRDC inmates and, when enabled, released records. It is not the same as a court docket, a statewide prison locator, or a federal detainee search. A person sentenced to KDOC custody may move out of the jail roster and into KOOL.
- Open the official BSRDC inmate-search page or the embedded JailTracker public roster.
- Search by last name first, then add first or middle name if the result list is too broad.
- Use intake date, release date, type, agency, offender ID, or permanent ID when those fields are visible.
- Open the inmate detail for status, intake date, image availability, agency, and other displayed sections.
- If no match appears, call BSRDC or check KOOL, BOP, ICE, VINELink, and court dockets based on the custody type.
The successful manifest includes a screenshot of the official BSRDC frame. The BSRDC roster page shows how the older jail site points visitors into the newer JailTracker shell.
That screenshot is useful because Lawrence County users may see both the BSRDC page and the Public Safety Cloud roster during the same lookup.
Lawrence County Roster Fields
JailTracker exposes more than a simple name box. The exact fields can change with agency configuration, but the inspected app schema showed the following search controls. All fields were optional during inspection, and the app initialized to Active for the type filter.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Name | Text | No | Use with last or middle name to narrow matches. |
| Last Name | Text | No | Usually the best first filter. |
| Middle Name | Text | No | Optional narrowing field. |
| Gender | Dropdown | No | Appears if the agency enables the list. |
| Offender Id | Text | No | Local JailTracker offender identifier. |
| Permanent Id | Text | No | Persistent JailTracker identifier. |
| Intake Date Range | Date fields | No | Filters by booking or intake dates. |
| Release Date Range | Date fields | No | Appears when released searching is enabled. |
| Type | Dropdown | No | All, Active, or Released when enabled. |
| Agency | Dropdown | No | Useful when the four-county roster exposes agency filters. |
Lawrence County Inmate Record Details
A BSRDC JailTracker detail can show the person's name, agency, VINELink link when configured, intake date, release date, status, gender, offender ID, permanent ID, and an image when available. Parsed detail sections may include charges, bonds, identifiers, holds, or related booking data, depending on how the facility publishes a record. The live inspection did not return a complete sample, so exact per-charge labels should be verified on the current roster.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Name | First, middle, and last name as published in the roster. |
| Agency | The agency or county context when multi-agency display is enabled. |
| Intake Date | The booking or intake date tied to the jail record. |
| Release Date | Release date when a released record is shown. |
| Status | Active, released, or similar custody status. |
| Photo/Image | Booking image when BSRDC publishes one, or an image-not-available fallback. |
Lawrence County State and Federal Search
Use Kentucky Online Offender Lookup for sentenced KDOC custody, supervision status, or state records after transfer. KOOL can show DOC/PID numbers, current location, offense counts, photo availability, and custody or supervision status. It is broader than the BSRDC jail roster and can include county detention centers as a location type.
Federal custody is separate. Use the BOP inmate locator for people in Bureau of Prisons custody from 1982 to present, and use ICE ODLS for immigration custody. USP Big Sandy is nearby in Martin County, but it is not the Lawrence County jail. VINELink is available through VINELink for custody notifications, not as the only official roster.
| Custody Type | Lookup Channel | Use When |
|---|---|---|
| Regional jail | BSRDC JailTracker | Current Lawrence County arrestees and local jail custody. |
| State prison or supervision | KDOC KOOL | Sentenced prisoners, probation/parole, and state custody. |
| Federal prison | BOP locator | Federal inmates in BOP custody. |
| Immigration detention | ICE ODLS | ICE detainees, using A-Number or biographical search. |
Lawrence County Detention Facility
The facility map resolves one detention facility page for this project. BSRDC is the primary jail for Lawrence County arrests and should be used for custody, visitation, commissary, phone, and roster questions. No state prison, federal prison, or ICE detention facility is physically located in Lawrence County.
- Big Sandy Regional Detention Center - regional jail for Lawrence County and three neighboring counties, holding pretrial detainees, local sentenced inmates, state inmates in local jail beds, and other categories shown in jail reports.
Lawrence County Booking Follow-Up
After a booking, court dates and filed charges move through the Kentucky Court of Justice rather than the jail roster. Use the Lawrence County court records after jail arrest page for the arrest-to-case path. Booking photos are a separate issue because JailTracker supports images when BSRDC publishes them, while Kentucky law also addresses commercial use of booking photographs. The Lawrence County jail mugshots page covers that photo-specific path.
The Kentucky Court of Justice docket search uses county, division, date, courtroom, and subdivision fields. The tool says it is not the official docket and may lag or contain errors, so important case dates should be verified with Circuit Court Clerk Jodi L. Parsley at the Lawrence County Judicial Center.
Lawrence County Inmate Population FAQ
Where is the Lawrence County jail?
Lawrence County ordinary adult detention is handled through Big Sandy Regional Detention Center in Paintsville. The county seat and court offices are in Louisa, but the jail roster, visitation, commissary, and jail phone information point to BSRDC.
How large is the Lawrence County inmate population?
The public figures in the research are regional BSRDC figures, not Lawrence-only totals. Recent reporting gave a six-month average of 216 before September 2025, a November 2025 average of 241, and a count of 225 on December 18, 2025.
Does the roster show released inmates?
JailTracker supports release date fields and released search when enabled by the agency. If a released person does not appear, use a written open-records request to the agency that maintains the booking record.
What if the inmate is not on BSRDC JailTracker?
Call BSRDC for custody confirmation, then check KOOL for state custody, BOP for federal prison custody, ICE ODLS for immigration custody, and the Kentucky Court of Justice docket for case dates.