The Detention Center
James C. Morgan Chambers County Detention Facility
- Operated byChambers County Sheriff's Office
- LocationCity of LaFayette, Chambers County, Alabama
- Rated capacity256 inmates (sheriff's site)
- Security levelMedium to maximum security (county site)
- StaffingJail administrator and a warden, 10 support personnel and 24 detention deputies (sheriff's site)
- Jail AdministratorMajor Tommy Sims (Jail Administrator)
Source: Chambers County Sheriff — Detention Facility · checked 2026-09-29
Transparency rating
2/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗Who is in custody — not published
- ✓Beds and daily population
- ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
- ✗Deaths in custody — not published
- ✗PREA audits — not published
- ✗Independent inspection — not published
- ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
- ✗How to post bond — not published
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year builtNot found
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds256
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Jeff Nelson
- Runs the jailYes — county page says the Sheriff's Office 'is responsible for the professional care and custody of those confined in our jail' (Ala. Code 14-6-1)
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- Office2 South LaFayette Street, LaFayette, AL 36862
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Chambers County — Sheriff's Department · checked 2026-09-29
The Judges
Alabama's circuit and district judges are elected state judges. A district judge or magistrate usually sets bail soon after arrest; felony cases are tried in circuit court.
Who sets bail in Chambers County
- Circuit Court: Alabama's Fifth Judicial Circuit, which also serves Macon, Randolph and Tallapoosa. Circuit judges are elected circuit-wide to six-year terms and try felony cases.
- District Court: the Chambers County District Court. District judges are elected countywide to six-year terms; a district judge or magistrate usually sets bail soon after arrest.
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-29
The County Commission
They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.
- What they controlThe county budget that funds the sheriff's office and the jail, and the jail building itself.
- What they don'tDay-to-day operations. By law the sheriff has legal custody and charge of the jail and everyone held in it (Ala. Code 14-6-1). No state agency sets and enforces standards for the jail.
- NoteCounty commission page, budget and minutes not opened (chamberscountyal.gov root refused).
- The boardChambers County Commission
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- County site chamberscountyal.gov (sheriff and detention-facility pages) and sheriff's site chamberscountysheriff.com found by search; both confirmed Alabama (LaFayette).
- Sheriff's site states 'a constitutional jail with a capacity of 256 inmates'; the facility name comes from the sign pictured on that page.
- County sheriff page says inmate search, phone, video visitation and commissary are offered through the sheriff's mobile app; no rates, roster page or bond guidance on the pages opened. Sheriff's site links to commissary/deposit vendors (inmatecanteen, ncic) without rates.
- What was tried: chamberscountyal.gov root and chamberscountysheriff.com/administration refused, so county seat, budget and commission minutes were not recorded. Searches used for this county: 1 (group cap of 4 then reached).
- State inspection/oversight: Alabama has no state agency that sets and enforces standards for county jails. The law that once gave a state agency jail-inspection duties was repealed in 2015.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Chambers County and what it costs the people who live here. Nationally, almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 had not been convicted of anything, and suicide was the leading single cause of those deaths (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019).
How much is your sheriff — and your judge — costing you?
Your VOTE is POWERFUL.
The sheriff is elected — every Alabama sheriff's seat is on the November 2026 ballot. So are the commissioners who pay for the jail, and the judges who set bail.
Names verified 2026-09-29 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered