Lee County Jail

The Lee County Jail is located in Opelika, Alabama and is operated by the Lee County Sheriff's Department. This facility holds adult male and female inmates who have been arrested by local county or municipal law enforcement. This facility is the primary detention center for all law enforcement agencies in Lee County. 

Inmates are incarcerated for crimes ranging from a violation to misdemeanors to felonies. The Lee County Jail houses:

• Persons who have been charged with a crime and are awaiting trial
• Those who have been arrested on warrants
• Those who have been sentenced to the county jail for one year or less for a misdemeanor crime
• Those who've been placed on hold by Alabama Probation and Parole
• Inmates sentenced by municipal courts in the county
• People who have been placed in the jail "on hold" by other agencies, and
• Inmates who are waiting to be transferred to their assigned Alabama Department of Corrections facility
• Inmates in the custody of the US Marshall's Service in the Middle Districts of Alabama and Georgia

To check a current inmate roster, click here. 

The Lee County Detention Facility moved its operations to the newly constructed W.S. “Buck” Jones Detention Center in 2007 and became the only operating jail facility in Lee County. 

The cities of Auburn and Opelika have closed their facilities and all their inmates are now housed in the county jail. The facility currently averages 380 inmates per day.

Personal Property

Approved personal property for inmates of the Lee County Detention Center is accepted in the Detention Center visitation lobby. 

Male inmates who have been in custody for seven days or less are allowed: three pairs of plain white underwear, three pairs of plain white socks, three plain white tee shirts, two pairs of thermal tops and bottoms, and one pair of plain white tennis shoes.

In addition to the items listed above, female inmates who have been in the Detention Center seven days or less are allowed three plain white bras (no wires). 

Any inmate who has been in the Detention Center more than seven days must purchase these items through the jail commissary.

Regardless of how long an inmate has been in the Detention Center, they are allowed to receive one Bible or Koran.

Televisions of up to a 13″ screen are accepted only if the owner donates the television to the Lee County Detention Center. The donated TV immediately becomes the property of the Lee County Detention Center and is not the assigned personal property of any inmate of the Detention Center.

Prison Insights

Visiting Hours and Rules

The Lee County Jail uses a video system for inmate visitation. The inmate is at a remote location, and the visitor will sit at a video station consisting of a monitor, camera, and receiver. 

The visit will last 30 minutes, and you will be given a two minute warning of the time your visit will end. Inmates are allowed one visit per week.

If you wish to see an inmate, you must arrive no later than 10 minutes before the start of the inmate’s visit. Anyone arriving after the visit has started will not be allowed to see the inmate unless the inmate is being seen by someone else, and there is an available slot for you to sign in.

Visitors are not allowed to “swap” visits with another person, meaning the first four people who sign in to see an inmate will be the only four allowed to see this inmate for that day. Visitors who have not signed up to see an inmate will not be allowed past the front desk. 

Visiting Rules

Pocket books or purses are not allowed beyond the front desk. Food and drinks are not permitted.

An inmate’s visitation time is determined by the area of the Detention Center he or she is being housed in at the time of the visit. The inmate is allowed only four visitors per visit, including children, and all visitors must have a picture ID to be allowed to visit. 

All children who do not have a picture ID or school ID must have a social security card or birth certificate present before entering. Visiting times will not be changed and no inmate will be allowed to have a visit on any other time except his/her regular visit time.

Contact visits between inmate and visitor are prohibited.

How to Call an Inmate

You can't call an inmate who is housed at the Lee County Jail, but they do have access to phones in their cell blocks.

How to Send Money

Inmates are allowed to purchase commissary once a week. Funds may deposited into the inmates account using one of the following three options:

• Via kiosks located in the lobby of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office
• Direct phone access by dialing 1-404-891-0641
• Website deposit by clicking Here

Programs For Inmates

The Lee County Jail has 434 beds and conducts numerous programs, including study for GED and an in-house substance abuse program known as S.T.O.P.

Pictures of Lee County Jail

Careers at Lee County Jail

If you are interested in a career with the Sheriff's Department and would like more information about the job openings at the Lee County Jail, click here.