The Detention Center
Adams County Jail
- Operated byAdams County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address306 State Street, Natchez, MS 39120
- Also calledAdams County Adult Detention Center (once on the jail page)
- Daily populationAverage population of 90 people per day (sheriff's jail page)
- VisitationNon-contact, once a month, scheduled by the jail administrator
- Inmate moneyLobby kiosk and smartdeposit.com; a convenience fee is charged by the kiosk provider (amount not listed)
- PhoneCollect calls or purchased minutes through Ally Telecom Group; rates not listed
- Rated capacityNot found
- Jail AdministratorCaptain Tony Nichols
Source: Adams County Sheriff's Office — Jail · checked 2026-09-29
Transparency rating
3/10Closed- ✓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 — 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
- BedsNot found
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Travis Patten
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff is the jailer by law (Miss. Code 19-25-71); the jail page is on the sheriff's own site
- 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: Adams County Sheriff's Office · checked 2026-09-29
The Judges
Mississippi's circuit judges are elected state judges who hear felony cases. Bail is often first set at an initial appearance by a justice court judge, elected by district within the county, or by a county or municipal judge.
Who sets bail in Adams County
- Circuit Court: Mississippi's Sixth Circuit Court District, which also serves Amite, Franklin and Wilkinson. Circuit judges are elected district-wide to four-year terms and hear felony cases.
- Justice Court: Adams County's justice court judges are elected by district within the county and often set bail at the first appearance.
- 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 Board of Supervisors
They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.
- What they controlThe county budget, including the sheriff's office and the jail, and the jail building itself. Five supervisors, each elected from a district. In fifteen counties, the county also runs a regional correctional facility that holds state prisoners under a contract with the Department of Corrections.
- What they don'tDay-to-day operations. By law the sheriff is the jailer of the county and hires the jailers (Miss. Code 19-25-71). No state agency inspects the jail.
- NoteThe board's page on the county site gives its office (the historic jail building, 314 State Street) but links no minutes, agendas or budget.
- The boardAdams County Board of Supervisors
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- County site (adamscountyms.net) and sheriff's site (adamscosheriff.org) both opened and both name Sheriff Travis Patten.
- Sheriff's Jail page names the Adams County Jail, gives an average daily population of 90, visitation, mail, deposit and phone arrangements.
- The sheriff's portal (adamscosheriff.net/portal/jail) shows a current inmate list with charges and bond amounts.
- Deposit convenience fee and phone vendor are mentioned but no rates are given — fees scored no. The only dollar figure is a $15 fingerprinting charge.
- No bond/bail guidance, PREA, deaths or contract information found on the jail, FAQ or MDOC-release pages.
- County Bookkeeping and Chancery Clerk pages post no budget or board minutes.
- State inspection/oversight: Mississippi has no state agency that inspects county jails. The State Department of Health's jail inspections ended when the Legislature stopped funding them in 2017.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Adams 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. So are the supervisors who pay for the jail, and the judges who set bail.
Names verified 2026-09-29 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered