St. Francis Detention Center Overview
St. Francis County Detention Center is operated by the St. Francis County Sheriff's Office detention page as the county's main long-term holding facility. The facility is also called the St. Francis County Jail in local use. It holds people arrested by the sheriff, Forrest City police, courts, warrant officers, and other law-enforcement agencies. A roster entry may reflect a new arrest, a local warrant, a short county sentence, a misdemeanor work-release placement, an Arkansas state inmate waiting on prison bed space, or a federal inmate awaiting extradition.
The jail is tied to several local public-record tools. The official sheriff roster covers current inmates and a 48-hour release view. Booking records on the roster can show a photo, booking number, age, booking date, charges, bond, and a profile link. Those entries are not the final court record. The roster notice says charges and bail amounts may change after court appearances, and anyone posting bond should call Detention Center staff for the correct bail amount, charges, and case numbers before acting.
The sheriff's facility page also describes the jail as one of the Arkansas locations with AFIS fingerprint identification and says the booking system is connected to V.I.N.E. That matters for custody-status notice. VINE and VINELink can help eligible users register for notification, but they do not replace the jail roster for a current St. Francis County inmate search.
St. Francis Jail Capacity
The sheriff's detention page lists St. Francis County Detention Center with a designed capacity of 144 inmates, divided into 20 female beds and 124 adult male beds. The live roster count was 122 current inmates when inspected on May 29, 2026. That count is a snapshot, not an annual average, because current jail population changes as arrests, court releases, transfers, and state-bed waits move people in and out of custody.
Federal and state custody should be read separately. The jail can hold Arkansas state inmates waiting on bed space and some federal extradition custody, but the sheriff does not control the sentenced federal population at the two Forrest City BOP prisons. The local roster is therefore the best source for the St. Francis County jail population, while the Arkansas DOC locator and BOP locator cover other custody layers.
Look Up St. Francis Jail Inmates
The correct lookup system for St. Francis County Detention Center is the official sheriff roster entry page. It routes users to current inmates and to people released within the last 48 hours. The main roster search page is free and did not require a login during research. It is the right first stop for county pretrial custody and recent local releases.
- Open the sheriff roster and choose current inmates for a person believed to be in St. Francis County custody now.
- Use the name search, then check the current and released filters if the first result set is thin.
- Open the profile before relying on a roster card, because the profile gives the fuller booking record and bond warning.
- Call 870-633-2611 before posting bond or traveling, especially when charges, court status, or release timing matter.
| Lookup Need | Correct Channel | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Current county jail custody | Sheriff roster | Covers St. Francis County Detention Center inmates. |
| Released in the last 48 hours | Sheriff released view | Confirms recent local releases, not older archives. |
| Sentenced Arkansas prison custody | Arkansas DOC inmate locator | Used after transfer to state custody. |
| Sentenced federal custody | BOP inmate locator | Used for FCI Forrest City Low, Medium, and other BOP facilities. |
St. Francis Jail Address
The jail's physical address is separate from the sheriff's administrative office. Use the detention center street address for facility location and the P.O. Box for inmate mail. The county government sheriff page lists Sheriff Bobby May and a separate administrative office at 313 South Izard Ste. 10 in Forrest City for office business during posted weekday hours.
St. Francis County Detention Center
2124 South Washington
Forrest City, AR 72335
870-633-2611
Open seven days a week for jail operations; public lobby details were not separately published.
Inmate Mail
P.O. Box 1817
Forrest City, AR 72335
Include the inmate's name and confirm whether the booking number is required before mailing.
St. Francis Jail Visits
The sheriff's detention page publishes video visitation, not a separate in-person visiting schedule. It gives the video visitation window as Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. No vendor, remote scheduling link, visitor dress code, child-visitor rule, or attorney-specific visiting procedure was found in the county materials reviewed. That gap is practical. Visitors should confirm requirements with the jail before arrival or before trying to schedule a visit.
| Service | Published Schedule | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Video visitation | Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. | Published by the sheriff detention page. |
| In-person visits | Not separately published | The official page uses video visitation language. |
| Remote visits | Not published | No vendor or scheduling URL was located. |
| Visitor ID and dress code | Not published | Call the jail before travel. |
The official detention materials do not publish a parking map, public-transit route, or ADA entrance instruction. Forrest City is reached by many visitors through the I-40 corridor, but exact turn-by-turn directions should be confirmed through official or map sources using the jail's street address.
St. Francis Jail Mail and Money
The jail mail address is P.O. Box 1817, Forrest City, AR 72335. The research did not locate a full mail policy, publication rule, legal-mail rule, or mail-scanning notice. Mail should therefore use the published P.O. Box and the inmate's full name, with a call to the jail when a sender needs to know whether a booking number or other identifier is required.
Money for commissary is handled during the same published weekday window as video visitation: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The sheriff page did not name an online deposit vendor, kiosk, phone deposit service, or fee table. Do not assume that a state DOC or BOP deposit rule applies to this county jail.
| Service | Published Detail |
|---|---|
| Mail address | P.O. Box 1817, Forrest City, AR 72335. |
| Commissary money deposits | Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. |
| Deposit vendor or fee | Not published in local research. |
| Phone-call vendor or rate | Not published in local research. |
St. Francis Jail Items
A sheriff press release on prohibited articles gives unusually specific local rules for items after a person is housed. Once housed, inmates are not allowed outside items. The detention center does not accept outside items and provides hygiene products. Medication is handled through jail staff, not through casual drop-off at the door.
- Outside items are not accepted once the inmate is housed.
- Hygiene products are provided by the detention center.
- Medications must go to the jail staffing nurse.
- Prescription medication must be current and in the original prescription bottle with the inmate's name.
Note: Confirm property, medication, and visit rules with the jail before bringing anything to the facility.
St. Francis Facility Source
The sheriff's official detention page is the local source for jail capacity, phone, mail, video visitation, commissary timing, AFIS, and VINE details. The captured image below comes from the St. Francis County Detention Center page.
Because the image reflects the sheriff's own facility page, it supports the page's jail-specific contact, visitation, mail, and capacity details rather than state or federal prison rules.
St. Francis Jail Programs
The most specific local program found for the St. Francis County jail is misdemeanor work release. The sheriff states that inmates charged with misdemeanors can work off fines by cleaning county roadways. That statement should not be read as a promise that any one inmate qualifies. Eligibility, timing, and work assignment details must be confirmed through the jail or court process.
Other documented jail operations are more about custody infrastructure than programming. AFIS supports fingerprint identification. VINE connection supports custody notifications. The research did not locate a public grievance policy, medical request process, religious service schedule, education program list, or accreditation status for the jail.
St. Francis Jail News
The sheriff's press-release index adds local context for how the detention center appears in current public records. A March 13, 2026 release about furnishing prohibited articles to a confinement facility is the source for the outside-item and medication rules used above. An October 27, 2025 release titled "Inmate Sets Fire Inside Detention Center" is relevant to facility-condition research, but the research file does not provide enough detail to describe the event beyond the title and date.
The jail's state-backup role also matters. The detention page says the facility can hold Arkansas state inmates waiting on bed space, and statewide reporting has described Arkansas prison-capacity pressure in recent years. For a family member, that means a person may start on the St. Francis County roster and later move to the Arkansas DOC locator after sentencing, classification, or transfer. A missing name on the county roster is not proof that the person has no custody record.