Jefferson County Jail Overview
The Jefferson County Jail sits at 171 Industrial Park in Monticello, the same address as the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Mac McNeill leads the office, which has run the jail through his tenure since 2017. The facility holds people arrested in the county by the sheriff, the Monticello Police Department, the Florida Highway Patrol, and other local agencies. Most are pre-trial detainees waiting on a first appearance or a court date, along with people serving short local sentences and people held until another agency takes custody.
Operational detail published by the sheriff is limited to a service-focused FAQ. There is no posted housing-unit map or security-level breakdown. What the FAQ does cover is the money kiosk, the calling system, the visitation rule, and the no-property rule. A current rated capacity for the jail was not found in official sources, so no bed-count figure is claimed here.
Jefferson County Jail Population
The Florida Department of Corrections publishes the jail's average daily population every month in its County Detention Facilities report. That count stood at 49 in September 2025 and 64 in June 2025, with monthly figures through 2024 and 2025 mostly in the high 50s to low 60s. The incarceration rate ran about 3.1 per 1,000 county residents in September 2025. Rated capacity was listed as not available in the state's June 2020 county profile, so the stats below show population rather than a bed count.
Because the county is small, a swing of ten to fifteen people moves the rate noticeably from one month to the next. For comparison, the state's June 2020 county profile recorded a jail average of 36 during the pandemic, well below the 2024 and 2025 figures, which shows how much a small jail's count can move over a few years. State prisoners at nearby Jefferson Correctional Institution are counted by the Florida Department of Corrections and are not part of this jail total.
How to Look Up an Inmate at the Jefferson County Jail
The sheriff's FAQ names a "Media Intake Report" as the way to find an inmate's Resident ID number, which families need for deposits. The vendor link for that report returned a 404 error when checked on June 3, 2026, so a working search could not be confirmed. The reliable path is the jail phone line, with a public records request as the backup. Do not use commercial roster sites.
- Try the sheriff's Media Intake Report link, and expect it may not load.
- Call the main sheriff line at 850-997-2523 or jail operations at 850-997-0843 for a custody check.
- Use inmate accounts at 850-997-1927 if you only need a Resident ID for a deposit.
- File a public records request with the sheriff for a booking record if phone contact does not resolve it.
The sheriff's staff contact page below lists jail operations, inmate accounts, dispatch, and the civil and records contacts by name and number.
That page is the quickest way to reach the right unit when the online report is offline.
Jefferson County Jail Address and Contact
The jail and the sheriff's office share one address and a set of direct lines. For records, the custodian is Marie Rigdon, and the records counter runs 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, except holidays.
Jefferson County Jail
171 Industrial Park
Monticello, FL 32344
850-997-2523
Jail Operations: 850-997-0843
Other useful lines include inmate accounts at 850-997-1927, dispatch at 850-997-2023, and an archived jail and booking line at 850-997-5094. The sheriff's office is organized with a chief deputy, a jail operations captain, and separate patrol, investigations, and civil contacts, so reaching the right unit by name speeds things up.
Jefferson County Jail Terms
A handful of local terms shape how the jail handles deposits, visits, and lookups. Knowing them makes a phone call go faster.
- Resident ID
- The internal jail identifier for an inmate, required at the lobby deposit kiosk. The Media Intake Report is the named source for it.
- Classification
- The jail process that assigns a cell area after booking and, in turn, sets the visitation schedule.
- Cell area
- The housing area the jail uses to decide visit times, rather than a single countywide schedule.
- Media Intake Report
- The sheriff-linked online report meant to provide a Resident ID, which was unavailable during research.
Visiting Someone at the Jefferson County Jail
Visitation here is not on a fixed weekly calendar. The sheriff's FAQ says visit times are set by the cell area where the inmate is housed, and the correctional officer on duty provides those times once the inmate has been classified and placed. A newly booked person may not have a visit time yet. Call ahead, bring a government ID, and do not bring property, since the jail does not accept property for inmates.
| Visit Detail | What the Jail Says |
|---|---|
| Schedule | Set by the inmate's cell area after classification; no countywide schedule is published. |
| How to confirm | Call 850-997-2523 or jail operations 850-997-0843; the officer on duty gives the times. |
| What to bring | A government ID; confirm any visitor list or dress rules by phone, since they are not posted. |
| Property | No property drop-offs are accepted for inmates. |
Note: Do not assume a visit time until the inmate has been classified and assigned a cell area, and call before driving to the jail.
Mail, Phone, and Money at the Jefferson County Jail
Money for an inmate goes through a kiosk in the jail lobby that is open 24 hours a day and takes cash, credit, or debit. It needs the inmate's Resident ID, and money orders are no longer accepted. Inmates cannot receive incoming phone calls, but they can call out daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. through Paytel, as long as the called person is not the victim of the alleged crime. The FAQ does not give a detailed mail format, so use the jail address and call to confirm what a letter needs first.
| Service | Provider / Detail |
|---|---|
| Mail Address | 171 Industrial Park, Monticello, FL 32344; confirm the required format by phone. |
| Phone | Paytel; outbound calls 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; rates and billing at 1-800-729-8355. |
| Money Deposit | 24-hour lobby kiosk; cash, credit, debit; Resident ID required; no money orders. |
Booking and Intake at the Jefferson County Jail
After an arrest, a person is brought to the jail at 171 Industrial Park for intake, which creates the jail record. Classification then assigns a cell area, and that cell area drives the visitation schedule. A Resident ID number becomes the key identifier for account deposits once classification is complete. For a felony, the jail forwards the initial paperwork and any release form to the clerk's felony department, which opens the court file and sends it to the State Attorney for a charging decision. The roster how-to and the full access-channel chain are covered on the jail inmate records page.
About the Jefferson County Jail
The jail is a county sheriff facility rather than a large regional complex, and it serves a county of about 15,900 residents. Sheriff Mac McNeill is a sixth-generation Floridian and a Marine Corps Gulf War veteran who served with the Alachua County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement before his appointment as sheriff in 2017. He was elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2020 and 2024. County-specific jail programs, medical services, and grievance details were not published in the official sources reviewed, so those questions are best directed to jail operations. The sheriff's office also runs Nixle alerts, which are notifications rather than an inmate lookup tool.
Note: Confirm custody status and visitation with the jail before traveling, since the online intake report could not be verified during research.
Before You Visit the Jefferson County Jail
A short checklist prevents a wasted trip to 171 Industrial Park, since the jail does not post a fixed visit schedule and turns away property at the door. Run through these steps before you leave home.
- Call jail operations at 850-997-0843 to confirm the inmate has been classified and has a visit time.
- Ask which cell area the inmate is in, because the cell area sets the visit hours.
- Bring a valid government ID and confirm any visitor list or dress rules by phone.
- Leave property at home, since the jail does not accept property drop-offs for inmates.
- If you plan to deposit money, bring the inmate's Resident ID for the lobby kiosk.