Dallas County

The Detention Center

Dallas County Jail — Lew Sterrett Justice Center (North Tower, West Tower, Suzanne Lee Kays Detention Facility)

• Operated byDallas County Sheriff's Department
• County publishes a jail nameYes — the Sheriff's Detention Centers page names each facility
• Address111 West Commerce Street, Dallas, TX 75202
• FacilitiesFour active detention facilities; the North Tower, West Tower and Suzanne L. Kays are adjacent to the Frank Crowley Courts Building and together form the Lew Sterrett Justice Center
• Combined capacityMore than 7,100, staffed by 1,442 detention employees
• Prisoner/case information24-hour line (214) 761-9025
• Closed facilityGeorge Allen is listed as no longer used
• Beds and population, 2026-086,734 people held in 7,364 rated beds

Source: Dallas County Sheriff Department - Detention Centers · checked 2026-08-22

• ✓The jail is named
• ✓Who is in custody
• ✓Beds and daily population
• ✓What it costs taxpayers
• ✗Deaths in custody — not published
• ✗PREA audits — not published
• ✓Independent inspection
• ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
• ✓How to post bond
• ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Dallas County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-08-22. Nothing here says the jail is run well or badly. Every mark moves the moment the county posts the document.

The Building

You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.

• Year builtNorth Tower constructed 1993; Suzanne Lee Kays Detention Facility (South Tower) completed spring 2008
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byNot found
• BedsMore than 7,100 combined. North Tower 3,292 maximum-security with 188 single cells; West Tower 132 tanks and 25 single cells, up to 1,530 male inmates; Suzanne Lee Kays capacity 2,304. Average daily population 6,222 in 2023; 51,000 bookings in 2023.

The Sheriff

Sheriff Marian Brown

• TitleSheriff of Dallas County
• Sworn inJanuary 1, 2018
• Executive Chief DeputyPatrick Bonner
• Detention AdministrationChief Deputy Shane Sowell
• Inmate Housing BureauAssistant Chief Deputy Debra Williams
• ScaleCounty site describes the seventh-largest jail in the United States, over 2,000 employees

Source: Dallas County Sheriff Department - Sheriff Marian Brown · checked 2026-08-22

The Judges

The county's own pages did not display a sitting judge for County Criminal Court No. 11 (listed only as 'Judge Kelly'), so that seat is left out rather than guessed. First-appearance magistration is handled by the Felony Court Magistrates at Lew Sterrett and by the ten Justices of the Peace.

Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-08-22

The County Commissioners

They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.

• What they controlThe detention budget, the building itself, and the agreements that let other agencies rent its beds.
• What they don'tDay-to-day operations. The sheriff is separately elected and answers to voters, not to the board.
• The boardBoard of County Commissioners →
• Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →