The Detention Center
Colbert County Jail
- Operated byColbert County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address107 W. 4th St., Tuscumbia, AL 35674
- Built1962, to house 62 prisoners (per the sheriff's jail page)
- In custodyRoster header showed 101 on 29 Sep 2026
- Who is heldMen; women are held at the Tuscumbia City Jail
- CommissaryLegacy Commissary Services (named on the page)
- PhonesCombined Public Communications (named on the page)
- Jail AdministratorMarcus Rutland, Chief Administrator (named on the sheriff's jail page)
Source: Colbert County Sheriff — Jail · checked 2026-09-29
Transparency rating
4/10Partial- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✓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
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year built1962
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds62 (original design, per sheriff's jail page)
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Eric Balentine
- Runs the jailYes — the jail page is on the sheriff's own site; the sheriff has legal custody by law (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: Colbert County Sheriff AL (home page) · 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 Colbert County
- Circuit Court: Alabama's Thirty-First Judicial Circuit, which serves Colbert County alone. Circuit judges are elected circuit-wide to six-year terms and try felony cases.
- District Court: the Colbert 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.colbertcounty.org) could not be opened by our reader; agendas/minutes not read.
- The boardColbert County Commission
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- Sheriff's own site colbertsheriff.net (found by search) confirms Colbert County, Alabama and names the sheriff on its home page.
- Jail page gives the address, 1962 build and 62-prisoner design, administrators, commissary and phone systems, and cash/property/bondsman bond steps.
- Jail page says women are held at the Tuscumbia City Jail.
- Live inmate roster showed 101 in custody on 29 Sep 2026 — above the 62-prisoner figure the page gives for 1962.
- Page lists a $35 court fee on bonds but no phone, video-visit, commissary or booking fee rates.
- No PREA, deaths, inspection or contract material found on the pages opened.
- What was tried: guessed domain colbertcountysheriff.com does not resolve; departments-and-services and message sub-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 Colbert 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