The Detention Center
Cullman County Detention Center
- Operated byCullman County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address1900 Beech Ave SE, Cullman, AL 35055
- Jail phone256-735-2400
- Rated capacity553 beds (sheriff's warden page)
- OpenedMay 2005
- Staffing44 detention officers plus medical and maintenance personnel (per warden page)
- ProgramsWork-release program for male and female inmates
- VisitationRemote and on-site visitation scheduled through the phone vendor
- Jail AdministratorCaptain Todd Reynolds (Warden)
Source: Cullman County Sheriff's Office — Meet the Warden · 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 builtOpened May 2005
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds553
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Matt Gentry
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff's site publishes the Cullman County Detention Center pages; by law the sheriff has legal custody of the jail (Ala. Code 14-6-1)
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Cullman County Sheriff's Office — Meet the Sheriff · 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 Cullman County
- Circuit Court: Alabama's Thirty-Second Judicial Circuit, which serves Cullman County alone. Circuit judges are elected circuit-wide to six-year terms and try felony cases.
- District Court: the Cullman 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 website co.cullman.al.us could not be opened by our reader, so the commission and its minutes were not confirmed on a county page.
- The boardCullman County Commission
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- Sheriff's site cullmansheriff.org opened and confirmed Alabama (Cullman).
- Detention Center Information page names the jail and explains visitation, commissary kiosk deposits and phone accounts through vendors; no fee rates, roster, bond guidance or PREA material shown.
- Warden page gives 553 beds and a May 2005 opening.
- Seat recorded as Cullman from the sheriff's office and detention center addresses; the county site could not be opened to confirm.
- What was tried: cullmancountysheriff.org (no such host), cullmancountysheriff.com, cullmancountyal.gov (no such host), cullmancountyal.org, cullmancounty.org, co.cullman.al.us and co.cullman.al.us/publications.html (refused by our reader); one web search.
- Budget not checked: the county site holding publications could not be opened, so budget is unverified rather than confirmed absent.
- 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 Cullman 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