The Detention Center
Cherokee County Detention Center
- Operated byCherokee County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address110 Cedar Bluff Road, Centre, AL 35960
- OpenedOctober 1996; renovated 2004
- Who is heldAdult men and women for the county, municipalities, the state and the US Marshals Service
- MedicalSouthern Health Partners (named on the page)
- VisitationVideo visitation only, 7 days a week
- In custodyRoster header showed 93 on 29 Sep 2026
- Jail AdministratorSierra Wilks, Chief of Corrections (named on the sheriff's detention facility page)
Source: Cherokee County Sheriff — Detention Facility · checked 2026-09-29
Transparency rating
3/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✗Beds and daily population — not published
- ✗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
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year built1996 (opened October 1996)
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- BedsNot found
Since then
- Renovated 2004
The Sheriff
Sheriff Jeff Shaver
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff has legal custody of the county jail by law (Ala. Code § 14-6-1)
- CurrentNamed in the Alabama Sheriffs Association directory; not confirmed on a county page
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term; seat on the 3 November 2026 ballot
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Alabama Sheriffs Association directory · 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 Cherokee County
- Circuit Court: Alabama's Ninth Judicial Circuit, which also serves DeKalb. Circuit judges are elected circuit-wide to six-year terms and try felony cases.
- District Court: the Cherokee 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 site (listed as www.cherokeecounty-al.gov) could not be opened by our reader; agendas/minutes not read.
- The boardCherokee County Commission
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- Sheriff's own site cherokeecountyalsheriff.com (found by search) confirms Cherokee County, Alabama.
- Detention facility page names the jail, address, opening year, bond types and hours, commissary and phone deposit methods.
- Live inmate roster on the sheriff's own site showed 93 in custody on 29 Sep 2026.
- Page lists a $50 fingerprinting fee but no phone, video-visit, commissary or booking fee rates.
- No rated capacity, PREA, deaths, inspection or contract material found on the pages opened.
- Sheriff not named on the pages that opened; name taken from the Sheriffs Association directory.
- What was tried: guessed domains cherokeecountysheriff.com/.org, cherokeeso.org, cherokeecountyal.gov/.org, co.cherokee.al.us refused by reader; sheriff home, contact and press-release pages refused; county site not openable.
- Budget and commission minutes not examined — county site not openable.
- 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 Cherokee 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