The Detention Center
Forrest County Adult Detention Center
- Operated byForrest County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address55 Arena Drive, Hattiesburg, MS 39401
- Jail phone(601) 545-6148 (county page)
- Juvenile facilityThe sheriff also runs a Juvenile Detention Center and an Evaluation Center
- VisitationTuesday only; sign up by phone 8:15-11am
- Jail AdministratorMajor David Ward — oversees the Corrections Bureau (adult facility, juvenile center, evaluation center, transport)
Source: Forrest County Sheriff's Office — Correctional Facility · checked 2026-09-29
Transparency rating
1/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗Who is in custody — not published
- ✗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 — 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 Charlie Sims
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff's office operates the Adult Detention Center under Major David Ward's Corrections Bureau
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- Took officeSheriff's site says he was elected in 2019
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Forrest County Sheriff's Office — About Us · 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 Forrest County
- Circuit Court: Mississippi's Twelfth Circuit Court District, which also serves Perry. Circuit judges are elected district-wide to four-year terms and hear felony cases.
- Justice Court: Forrest 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.
- The boardForrest County Board of Supervisors →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- County site forrestcountyms.us and the sheriff's own site forrestcountysheriff.com both opened.
- Roster: the sheriff's Inmate Roster page links a JailTracker portal for Forrest_County_MS; it returned only an error when opened, so roster not credited.
- Bond: the jail page lists only the hours bonding is available, not how to post bond; not credited.
- Phone/video run through CityTelecoin and money deposits through inmatefinancial.com ($150/day limit); no rates posted.
- Board of Supervisors minutes are posted (latest August 17, 2026); no county budget found on the Comptroller or minutes pages.
- No capacity, PREA, deaths, contracts or inspection material found on either site.
- 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 Forrest 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