The Detention Center
Smith County Detention Center
- Operated bySmith County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address206 Courthouse Square, Raleigh, MS 39153
- HoldsPre-trial and sentenced adult inmates
- VisitationNon-contact, Saturdays on a rotating schedule
Source: Smith County Sheriff's Office page · checked 2026-09-29
Transparency rating
2/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✗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 Joel Houston
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff's page describes the Smith County Detention Center (sheriff is jailer by law, Miss. Code 19-25-71)
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- In officeSworn in January 2020, re-elected 2023 (per sheriff's page)
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Smith County Sheriff's Office page · 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 Smith County
- Circuit Court: Mississippi's Thirteenth Circuit Court District, which also serves Covington, Jasper and Simpson. Circuit judges are elected district-wide to four-year terms and hear felony cases.
- Justice Court: Smith 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.
- NoteBoard page lists meetings (1st and 3rd Monday, 9 a.m., courthouse in Raleigh) but posts no minutes, agendas or budget.
- The boardSmith County Board of Supervisors
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- County site smithcountyms.gov opened; sheriff page names Sheriff Joel Houston and the Smith County Detention Center.
- Sheriff page links an inmate roster (bluhorse.com, ID=SMITHMS) and a commissary deposit site; the roster itself refused our reader (certificate error).
- No capacity, bond guidance, fee rates, PREA, deaths or contract material found on the sheriff page.
- Board of Supervisors and Chancery Clerk pages opened: no minutes, agendas or budget posted.
- Sheriff also has a Facebook page (not scored).
- What was tried: guessed root https://www.smithcountyms.gov/ refused (PROVENANCE_REQUIRED) before search; sub-pages from search opened.
- 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 Smith 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