The Detention Center
Clarke County Jail
- Operated byClarke County Sheriff's Department
- Jail address149 Clark Street, P.O. Box 913, Grove Hill, AL 36451
- Jail phone(251) 275-8156
- Capacity"The jail accommodates up to 200 inmates" (county page)
- Other dutiesThe Sheriff's Department also keeps security at the Clarke County Courthouse
- Juvenile facilityThe same page links documents for the Clarke County Short Term Juvenile Detention Facility
Source: Clarke County — Sheriff's Department · 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
- BedsUp to 200 inmates (county Sheriff's Department page)
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff DeWayne Smith
- CurrentNamed on the county's Sheriff's Department page
- How he took officeAppointed by Governor Kay Ivey on 28 June 2021 (county page)
- Runs the jailYes — the county page says the jail is maintained by the Sheriff's Department; by law the sheriff has legal custody of the county jail (Ala. Code § 14-6-1)
- 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: Clarke 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 Clarke County
- Circuit Court: Alabama's First Judicial Circuit, which also serves Choctaw and Washington. Circuit judges are elected circuit-wide to six-year terms and try felony cases.
- District Court: the Clarke 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.
- NoteThe county site has an Office of County Commission page, but it was refused by our reader; agendas, minutes and budget not read.
- The boardClarke County Commission
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- Examined in the rescue pass (29 Sep 2026): search found the county's own Sheriff's Department page on clarkecountyal.com (confirmed Clarke County, Alabama; Grove Hill). Its full link list was read.
- The page names the Clarke County Jail, 149 Clark Street, Grove Hill, and says it accommodates up to 200 inmates. It names Sheriff DeWayne Smith, appointed by the Governor in June 2021.
- PREA 'yes' with a caution: the page posts a PREA contact email and links titled 'Prison Rape Elimination Act', 'PREA Audit report' and 'PREA Audit Report – October 2017', grouped with documents for the Clarke County Short Term Juvenile Detention Facility. The PDFs were refused by our reader, so it is not confirmed whether they cover the adult jail or only the juvenile facility.
- Inspections 'no': the PREA audit reports could not be opened and may be for the juvenile facility, not the jail.
- No roster, visitation, phone, commissary, bond, deaths or contract material on the page.
- Budget 'no' is qualified: the county's Office of County Commission page was refused by our reader.
- What was tried: first pass — clarkecountysheriff.com and www.clarkecountyal.com (refused). Rescue pass — one search; clarkecountyal.com/sheriffs-department/ (opened); commission page and the PREA PDFs (refused). Facebook result ignored.
- PREA: links to PREA documents appear beside the county's juvenile detention material, but the PDFs could not be opened, so it is not confirmed that they cover the adult jail; not credited.
- 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 Clarke 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