Houston County Jail Roster
The Houston County Sheriff's Office points jail lookup traffic to its Inmate Listing page and to Southern Software Citizen Connect. The Citizen Connect page is labeled "Inmate Confinements" and shows Houston County Sheriffs Office as the agency. Public search tabs were visible without an account during the research capture, although the live site is dynamic and may block automated traffic. Use it as the first official source for a person who may be in Houston County Jail now or who was recently admitted or released.
The sheriff's inmate listing page is the local launch point for jail lookup links and jail-service pages.
That source matters because it separates the county jail roster from related jail topics such as visitation, commissary, personal mail, and ADOC lookup.
The county roster does not replace every other custody system. Sentenced state prisoners belong in ADOC, federal prisoners in BOP, and immigration detainees in ICE ODLS. If the arrest began with Dothan Police and is still in the city docket stage, the Dothan Police Docket Division may have the first status answer.
Houston County Roster Steps
Start with Southern Software Citizen Connect when the goal is to look up Houston County inmates online. The portal supports current custody and recent activity searches, so it is useful both when a person may still be confined and when a family member is trying to confirm a recent release.
The Citizen Connect roster exposes the tabs and filters used for Houston County inmate searches.
The tab layout is important because a name search is not the only way to find a booking. Recent admits, releases, charge words, and arresting agency can all narrow the search.
- Open the sheriff's Inmate Listing page or go directly to Citizen Connect.
- Choose Current Confinements first for a person believed to be in Houston County Jail right now.
- Use Admits by Date Range for new bookings or Releases by Date Range for recent releases. Keep a custom date search to 31 days or less.
- Search by First Name, Middle Name, and Last Name when known. Last Name alone can help when the first or middle name may be misspelled.
- Use Arresting Agency when the agency is known. Local examples include HOUSTON CO SO, DOTHAN POLICE DEPT, ASHFORD POLICE DEPT, COTTONWOOD PD, GORDON POLICE DEPT, KINSEY POLICE DEPT, TAYLOR POLICE DEPT, WEBB POLICE DEPT, DOTHAN REGION AIR PD, and U.S. Marshals.
- Try the Charge search if a name is unknown but an offense keyword is known.
- Call Houston County Jail at 334-712-0762 when the portal does not show the person or when the arrest just happened.
Houston County Search Fields
The roster field set is stronger for search controls than for public profile details. The research capture verified the search tabs, name fields, date-range controls, charge field, and arresting-agency dropdown. It did not capture a full named inmate profile from the official portal, so visible profile fields should be confirmed in the live roster or with jail staff before relying on them for a records request, bond question, or court follow-up.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current Confinements | Tab/filter | No | Loads the current Houston County Sheriff's Office confinement list. |
| Admits by Date Range | Tab/filter | No | Searches people admitted or booked during selected dates. |
| Releases by Date Range | Tab/filter | No | Searches people released during selected dates. |
| Start date / End date | Date fields | Conditional | Used for admit and release searches; the portal states a 31-day date-range limit. |
| Last 24 hours / Last 7 days | Quick filters | No | Shortcuts for recent admit or release activity. |
| First, Middle, Last Name | Text | No | Name fields can be used together; a last-name-only search may catch spelling uncertainty. |
| Charge | Text | No | Searches by charge keyword when an offense term is known. |
| Arresting Agency | Dropdown | No | Includes Houston County SO, Dothan Police, local municipal agencies, ADOC, Pardons and Paroles, U.S. Marshals, and many other options. |
Houston County Record Fields
Alabama sheriff records law requires the sheriff to keep a public record of prisoners in the county jail. The Alabama Legislature-hosted sheriff handbook cites Alabama Code 36-22-8 for a jail record containing the prisoner's name, physical description, reason for being held, authority for confinement, confinement date, and release date. The Houston County Citizen Connect research did not capture a full profile screen, so the table below separates verified search-interface fields from prisoner-record fields supported by Alabama law.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Name | Identifies the prisoner or search subject. Confirm spelling in the live roster, especially for middle names and aliases. |
| Physical description | Core jail-record law refers to a physical description, but the exact online display must be verified live. |
| Reason held / Charge | The arrest or custody reason listed by jail, law enforcement, prosecutor, or court. Court charges may later differ. |
| Authority for confinement | The warrant, court order, agency authority, or hold that supports detention. |
| Confinement date | The jail intake or custody start date. Citizen Connect also supports admit-date searching. |
| Release date | The exit date when a person is released, transferred, or otherwise leaves county custody. Citizen Connect supports release-date searching. |
| Arresting agency | The agency filter can show which law-enforcement agency made or delivered the arrest. |
| Research gap | A full named profile was not captured from the official source during this run. Do not assume bond, housing, booking-photo, or profile fields until the live page or jail confirms them. |
Houston County Access Chain
Use the roster first, then move through the contact chain based on the custody path. For current jail custody, call Houston County Jail at 334-712-0762. Records questions can go to HCSO Criminal Investigations / Records at 334-677-4809. In-person records questions route to the Sheriff's Office at 411 N. Foster Street during 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. business hours, but jail-specific requests may still need jail staff.
The HCSO contact directory lists the sheriff's office, jail, records, civil, and communications lines in one place.
The directory is the best local fallback when an online roster search is unclear, delayed, or blocked by a recent transfer.
| Need | Channel | Use It For |
|---|---|---|
| Current county custody | Citizen Connect or jail phone 334-712-0762 | Current confinements, admits, releases, names, charges, and arresting agency. |
| Records question | HCSO Records 334-677-4809 | Booking-record or public-record questions when the roster is not enough. |
| Counter help | Sheriff's Office, 411 N. Foster Street | In-person records questions during posted business hours. |
| Dothan city stage | Docket Division 334-615-4635; Records 334-615-4650 | Someone arrested by Dothan Police and still tied to city docket or police-report channels. |
| Victim notice | VINELink | Statewide victim-notification checks when available for Alabama custody events. |
| Sheriff app | Houston Co Sheriff's Office AL | Public-safety information, tips, and news. The Google Play text does not itself confirm roster, warrant, or mugshot tools, so verify app-only features live. |
County State Federal Search
Houston County Jail is the local path for pretrial detainees, short local sentences, people awaiting transfer, and municipal arrestees delivered by local agencies. It is not ADOC, BOP, ICE, or court records. If a person leaves the roster after sentencing, search ADOC. If a federal case is involved, BOP may not show custody until the person enters BOP control, while U.S. Marshals may control pretrial routing.
The ADOC inmate search is the statewide source for current Alabama Department of Corrections inmates.
ADOC differs from the county roster because it covers current state-prison custody, not a new Houston County arrest or Dothan city holding status.
The BOP inmate locator is the federal prison lookup channel for people in Bureau of Prisons custody.
BOP can show federal inmates from 1982 to the present, but a "Released" or "Not in BOP Custody" result may still leave state, county, USMS, or ICE possibilities to check.
| Custody Type | Where to Look | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| County jail | Houston County Citizen Connect | Current and recent county jail confinement, admits, releases, charges, and agency filters. |
| State prison | Alabama Department of Corrections locator | Current ADOC inmates only; historical data is not online, and Youthful Offender Act inmates are excluded. |
| Federal prison | BOP inmate locator | Covers federal inmates in BOP custody from 1982 to present. |
| Federal pretrial | USMS Middle District Dothan contact 334-702-6977 | Useful when a federal case exists but BOP does not show custody. |
| Immigration detention | ICE ODLS | Requires A-number or full name, date of birth, and country of birth; contact ICE ERO if no result appears. |
Houston County Facilities
Houston County custody can involve more than one local step. The county jail handles county inmates and many municipal arrestees after booking. Community Corrections and work release serve eligible low-risk, nonviolent offenders. Dothan Police has a docket and short-term holding function before longer custody is checked through the county jail.
Houston County Jail
901 East Main Street
Dothan, AL 36301
334-712-0762
County pretrial and local detention.
Houston County Community Corrections Center / Work Release Facility
164 N. Oates St.
Dothan, AL 36303
County Probation 334-671-8725; Court Referral 334-677-1156
Community corrections and work release.
Dothan Police Department Docket Division / City Holding
210 North Saint Andrews Street
Dothan, AL 36303
Docket 334-615-4635; Records 334-615-4650
Municipal police docket and short-term holding.
Houston County Booking Process
An arrest may begin with the Houston County Sheriff's Office, Dothan Police Department, another municipal agency, probation or parole, a state agency, or a federal agency. Dothan Police maintains a Docket Division phone for someone arrested and in the city jail, while longer detention and county booking are checked through Houston County Jail.
After intake, the jail creates or updates the confinement record. New records may lag behind a live arrest. A quick bond, transfer, detainer, DOC hold, USMS hold, ICE issue, or municipal docket status can also explain why the roster does not show the person.
Phone access begins at booking. HCSO states that an inmate receives ID/PIN information for ICSolutions calls. One free two-minute call is permitted upon initial booking. Later calls are prepaid collect or debit calls and are subject to monitoring, recording, no call forwarding, no three-way calling, and a 15-minute maximum.
Houston County Visitation Rules
Face-to-face Houston County Jail visits are non-contact and must be scheduled by phone. Walk-in visits are not allowed. HCSO says a visit must be scheduled no later than 3 p.m. Friday before weekend face-to-face visitation. The inmate must complete a visitation list within 30 days of booking, and the visit is delayed until the list has been checked and approved.
The Houston County Jail visitation page gives the face-to-face visitation rules and ICSolutions phone guidance.
The posted rules are detailed, so confirm the list status, visit date, and visitor eligibility before traveling to the jail.
| Rule | Houston County Jail Detail |
|---|---|
| Visit type | Face-to-face, non-contact visitation. |
| Scheduling | Call 334-712-0762; no walk-in visits. |
| Deadline | No later than 3 p.m. Friday before weekend visits. |
| Approved list | Inmate must complete a list within 30 days of booking; list size is 8 names. |
| List updates | January and July, with new lists effective February and August. |
| Visitor ID | Visitors 16 and older need current government photo ID; under 16 need Social Security card or birth certificate. |
| Visit length | One 30-minute visit on the designated weekend. |
| Visitors | Two people per day, including children. Split visits are not allowed. |
| Restrictions | No electronics in the jail; visitors are warrant-checked; rule violations can lead to a minimum 90-day ban. |
Mail Phone Money
Houston County Jail mail rules are specific. Personal mail must be a single sheet of 8.5 by 11 card stock folded in half and taped on both edges and the top. No inserts, hand-delivered mail, packages, photocopies, photographs, crayon, stains, aromas, or apparent contraband are allowed. The envelope must include the sender's full name and address, inmate number, and pod location.
ICSolutions handles phone accounts and video services. InmateCanteen handles commissary deposits online or at 1-706-298-4974, using the inmate name, inmate number, location "Houston County Jail", and a credit or debit card. The jail lobby kiosk requires a valid driver license or ID and charges a service fee.
Confirm first: Check current custody with Houston County Jail before sending money, mailing personal items, or scheduling a visit.