Houston County Jail Overview
Houston County Jail is operated by the Houston County Sheriff's Office. It serves as the county custody endpoint for local arrests, pretrial detention, county sentences, municipal arrests delivered to the sheriff system, and people waiting for transfer to another authority. The sheriff's public jail pages connect the Houston County Jail roster with visitation, phone and video services, commissary deposits, personal mail rules, and court clothing rules, which makes the sheriff site the strongest official starting point for jail service questions.
Sheriff Donald Valenza leads the agency, and the official command staff page names Captain David Asbill as Jail Commander and Kelita Moore as Assistant Jail Commander. The sheriff's contact directory lists the jail phone as 334-712-0762, the main sheriff directory as 334-677-4882, Criminal Investigations and Records as 334-677-4809, and Communications as 334-677-4808. The sheriff's public office address is 411 N. Foster Street in Dothan. Public jail listings and map references commonly use 901 East Main Street for Houston County Jail, but the research did not locate a sheriff page that plainly publishes that jail street address, so visitors should confirm the entrance before travel.
Official county sources reviewed did not publish a rated bed count or current average daily jail population for Houston County Jail. Third-party listings often repeat a bed count, but that number is not used here as an official figure. The more reliable local population fact is functional: the jail holds recent arrests and short-term county custody, while state-sentenced inmates move to Alabama Department of Corrections custody and federal inmates move through federal channels.
Houston County Jail Roster Lookup
The official Houston County Jail inmate search runs through Southern Software Citizen Connect, labeled as "Inmate Confinements" for the Houston County Sheriff's Office. The sheriff also links users from its Inmate Listing page to the same roster system. Use Current Confinements for someone believed to be in custody now. Use Admits by Date Range for a recent booking and Releases by Date Range when a person may have bonded out or been released.
- Open the sheriff inmate listing or the Citizen Connect roster, then choose Current Confinements for a live custody check.
- Search by first, middle, or last name when spelling is known. Last name alone can help when the first name is uncertain.
- Use Admits or Releases by Date Range for recent movement, keeping any custom date span to 31 days or less.
- Filter by charge or arresting agency when a name search is unclear. Local options include Houston County SO and Dothan Police Department.
- Call Houston County Jail at 334-712-0762 when the roster is delayed, blocked, or does not explain a transfer or release.
| Roster Search | Best Use |
|---|---|
| Current Confinements | Current Houston County Jail custody. |
| Admits by Date Range | Recent bookings, with a 31-day range limit noted by the portal. |
| Releases by Date Range | Recent releases, bond-outs, or other exits from county custody. |
| Name | First, middle, and last name searches. |
| Charges | Charge keyword searches when the name is not enough. |
| Arresting Agency | Agency filters such as Houston County SO, Dothan PD, Ashford PD, Cottonwood PD, and U.S. Marshals. |
For a broader custody search, Houston County jail inmate records separate current county custody from court, state prison, federal, and immigration systems. That matters when a person has just moved out of the jail roster.
Houston County Jail Contact
Use the jail phone for current custody, bond status, release timing, housing, visitation, or service questions. Use Criminal Investigations and Records for jail record questions that are not answered by Citizen Connect. The sheriff's office also has a public counter during weekday business hours, but jail-specific visits, deposits, and court clothing have their own rules.
Houston County Jail
Jail entrance address should be confirmed before travel
Dothan, AL
334-712-0762
Current custody, visitation, bond, release, and jail service questions
Houston County Sheriff's Office
411 N. Foster Street
Dothan, AL 36303
334-677-4882
Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Houston County Jail Visitation
The Houston County Jail visitation page states that face-to-face visits are non-contact and must be scheduled by phone. Walk-in visits are not allowed. The inmate must complete a visitation list within 30 days of booking, and the list is checked before visits begin. Each list may hold 8 names and is updated on the January and July cycle, with new lists taking effect in February and August.
Visitors age 16 and older need a current government photo ID. Younger visitors need a birth certificate or Social Security card. The jail limits visits to two people per day, including children, and does not allow split visits. People who are not visiting may not wait in the jail lobby, and children cannot be left unattended. All visitors are checked for warrants. A visitor with an active arrest warrant can be arrested on arrival.
The official visitation rules are shown on the Houston County Sheriff's Office visitation page, which is also the source for this facility image.
The page is useful because the same rules affect both family planning and attorney scheduling, especially the Friday scheduling deadline.
| Visit Rule | Houston County Jail Detail |
|---|---|
| Visit type | Face-to-face, non-contact visitation. |
| Scheduling | Call 334-712-0762. No walk-ins. |
| Deadline | Schedule no later than 3 p.m. Friday before weekend visits. |
| Length | One 30-minute visit on the designated weekend. |
| Visitor count | Two people per day, including children. |
| Devices | No electronic devices of any type inside the jail. |
Houston County Jail Calls
Phone and remote video service is handled through ICSolutions. Houston County Jail documents one free two-minute call upon initial booking. After that, calls are prepaid collect or debit calls, may be monitored and recorded, and are capped at 15 minutes. The jail bans call forwarding and three-way calling. The inmate's initial phone setup uses the inmate ID plus date of birth month and day, then the inmate creates a passcode.
| Service | Published Cost or Rule |
|---|---|
| Scheduled remote video | $7.50 for a 30-minute visit. |
| On-demand video | $0.35 per minute, with a 30-minute average of $10.50. |
| Electronic message | $0.25 per message through VVS stations. |
| Video message | $1.00 per 30-second video message. |
| Local prepaid or debit call | $0.21 per minute. |
| Prepaid account fee | $3.00 online or by phone, $5.95 through a live representative. |
Confirm current rates before funding an account because vendor fees can change. The research source was the sheriff-linked ICSolutions pricing sheet.
Houston County Jail Mail
The Houston County Jail personal mail page has unusually strict format rules. Personal mail must be a single folded sheet of 8.5 by 11 inch card stock, taped on both edges and the top. Nothing may be inserted inside the folded card stock. The jail does not accept hand-delivered mail, packages, photocopies, photographs, crayon, foreign substances, stains, aromas, or apparent contraband. The envelope must show the sender's full first and last name, full address, inmate number, and pod location. Nicknames are not enough.
Commissary deposits are handled through InmateCanteen, while phone accounts use ICSolutions. Friends and family need the inmate name, inmate number, Houston County Jail as the location, and a credit or debit card for InmateCanteen. The jail lobby kiosk is available during normal business hours and requires a valid driver license or ID. A service fee applies to each transaction.
| Service | Houston County Jail Detail |
|---|---|
| Personal mail | Single folded 8.5 by 11 card stock only, with full sender and inmate data. |
| Commissary | InmateCanteen online or by phone at 1-706-298-4974. |
| Phone account | ICSolutions online or 1-888-506-8407. |
| Lobby kiosk | Available during normal business hours with valid ID and transaction fee. |
Houston County Jail Court Clothing
The jail publishes a separate court clothing page for trial or court appearance clothing. Clothing may be dropped off the week before court, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. During the week of trial, only an attorney or attorney representative may drop off clothing. The person dropping off items must show a driver license or valid ID and receives a receipt.
The jail lists accepted items and rejects clothing that does not meet its rules. Clothing must be picked up within two weeks after the court case term ends. If it is not picked up, the jail says it will be disposed of. For formal charges, dates, and case status after booking, use the Houston County Circuit Clerk or Alacourt rather than the jail roster alone.
Houston County Jail Directions
Map services commonly route Houston County Jail visitors to 901 East Main Street in Dothan. Because the official sheriff pages reviewed list the Sheriff's Office at 411 N. Foster Street but do not plainly publish a jail street-address block, call 334-712-0762 before traveling for the correct entrance, parking, and visitor instructions. East Main Street is a main east-west Dothan corridor. From the courthouse area on North Oates Street, most routes move east toward East Main Street. From Ross Clark Circle or US-231, use current traffic directions for the final approach.
Note: Confirm custody, visit approval, and the public entrance with Houston County Jail before leaving for Dothan.
Houston County Jail Transfers
Not every Houston County arrest remains on the county jail roster. A person sentenced to state prison should be searched through the Alabama Department of Corrections inmate search, which lists current ADOC inmates only and excludes Youthful Offender Act inmates. Federal sentenced inmates are searched through the Federal Bureau of Prisons locator. Immigration detainees are searched through ICE ODLS. Very new Dothan arrests may also require a call to the Dothan Police Docket Division before county booking is visible.
Houston County Community Corrections and work release are separate from normal jail roster custody. The Houston County Community Corrections Center / Work Release Facility page covers that office, its program history, and its lookup limits.