Madison County Inmate Population Snapshot
The local Madison County inmate population is reported through two very different public systems. The Madison County Sheriff's Office operates the Madison County Jail, which is the local detention point for sheriff, Madisonville police, DPS, and other local arrests. The jail roster covers current county jail custody and recent booking paths. The Jim Ferguson Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice state prison in Madison County, but it is not part of the county jail roster.
Population numbers should be read with care. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards reports county jail population as a first-day-of-month count. That makes the Madison County inmate population figure a point-in-time jail count, not a monthly total, annual booking number, or average length of stay. A person can be arrested, booked, released on bond, moved to court, or transferred to TDCJ between reporting dates. The roster and TCJS workbook can both be accurate while showing different counts because they measure different things.
Madison County Inmate Population Statistics
TCJS current population data inspected for the June 1, 2026 report listed Madison County Jail with 51 rated beds and 40 people in the total jail population. The workbook also showed the jail at 78.4 percent of rated capacity on that reporting date. The same research found no official annual booking total or average length of stay, so those values are not estimated here. For state prison context, TDCJ publishes a 2,417 capacity for Jim Ferguson Unit, but the current unit headcount was not captured in the official sources reviewed.
| Measure | Figure | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Rated jail capacity | 51 beds | TCJS PopRptCurrent.xlsx, Madison County row, June 1, 2026 |
| Total jail population | 40 | TCJS PopRptCurrent.xlsx, Madison County row, June 1, 2026 |
| Capacity use | 78.4% | TCJS PopRptCurrent.xlsx, Madison County row, June 1, 2026 |
| County population used in rate workbook | 13,877 | TCJS IncarcerationRateCurrent.xlsx, June 1, 2026 |
| Published incarceration-rate value | 2.81 | TCJS IncarcerationRateCurrent.xlsx, June 1, 2026 |
Madison County Jail Population Trends
The recent TCJS trend shows a small county jail that stayed below its 51-bed rated capacity throughout the inspected period. The count moved from 39 in June 2025 to 40 in June 2026, with the highest inspected month at 45 in February 2026. Those changes are normal for a local jail because a few arrests, releases, or TDCJ transfers can move the percentage by several points.
| Report date | Capacity | Total jail population | Capacity use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-06-01 | 51 | 39 | 76.5% |
| 2025-08-01 | 51 | 31 | 60.8% |
| 2025-12-01 | 51 | 44 | 86.3% |
| 2026-02-01 | 51 | 45 | 88.2% |
| 2026-06-01 | 51 | 40 | 78.4% |
TCJS warns that counties submit the source data and remain responsible for accuracy and quality. The reported Madison County inmate population can also be revised as TCJS updates workbooks, so a new monthly report should be checked when a current capacity question matters.
Who Makes Up Madison County Inmates
The June 2026 TCJS row did not provide a public demographic table by age, race, or sex for Madison County in the research file. It did show that the local Madison County inmate population is not one single group. The row included local pretrial categories, local convicted misdemeanants, TDCJ paper-ready or sentenced categories, and other local classifications. The public jail roster also showed both male and female inmates, but a roster snapshot should not be turned into a demographic rate without a formal population report.
- Pretrial detainees are people held after arrest while a case is still pending or bond has not led to release.
- Local sentenced inmates may serve misdemeanor time or other local custody time in the county jail.
- TDCJ paper-ready categories involve people moving from county custody toward state prison after sentencing.
- State prisoners at Jim Ferguson Unit are searched through TDCJ, not the county jail roster.
Madison County Jail Capacity
Madison County Jail was below rated capacity on June 1, 2026, with 40 people counted against 51 beds. No official source reviewed for the build identified a current DOJ investigation, consent decree, jail closure, new jail construction bond, or recent Madison County jail death-in-custody item. That means the defensible capacity story is narrow: TCJS reports a 51-bed jail, the recent monthly counts stayed below that rating, and any operational rule not posted by the sheriff should be confirmed directly with the jail.
Madison County Inmate Population Laws
Texas law controls both access to jail data and oversight of county jail operations. The public can request government records under the Texas Public Information Act, but law-enforcement exceptions and privacy rules can limit what is released. TCJS statutes and rules govern county jail standards, while separate criminal procedure rules cover post-arrest warnings, bail, expunction, and custodial death reporting.
Key Statutes:
Texas Government Code Chapter 552 gives the public a process to request government information, subject to legal exceptions.
Texas Government Code Section 552.029 makes certain basic facts about a confined person public even when some law-enforcement exceptions apply.
Texas Government Code Chapter 511 creates the Texas Commission on Jail Standards and its county jail oversight role.
Code of Criminal Procedure Article 49.18 governs reporting and investigation duties after a custodial death.
Madison County State Prison Population
Jim Ferguson Unit makes Madison County unusual because a large state prison sits inside the county while remaining outside the county jail roster. TDCJ describes Ferguson as a Correctional Institutions Division prison for male sentenced prisoners, with custody levels G1 through G5, Security Detention, and Transient. The unit has a published capacity of 2,417, far larger than the local jail, and uses TDCJ search, visitation, mail, and money rules.
Once a Madison County defendant is sentenced to TDCJ, the lookup path changes. County jail records can show earlier booking charges and bond fields, but the state prison record is found through the TDCJ inmate search or TDCJ victim-services tools. TDCJ states that inmate location and general information may be obtained online, by email, or by telephone.
Search Madison County Inmate Population
The official county custody search starts with the Madison County Interop jail roster, which is linked from the sheriff page. The roster had no login or fee observed during research. It provides Current Inmates, 24 Hours Arrests, and Inmates by Arrest Date tabs. The default current-inmates page showed name filters, roster cards, mugshot thumbnails, custody status, arrest date, total bond, and charge rows.
The Interop current inmate roster is the best visual source for current local jail custody.
The screenshot shows why the county roster is a current-custody tool, not a full criminal-history search: it is built around booked inmates, recent arrests, and charge rows tied to the jail record.
- Open the sheriff's roster link or go directly to the Interop Madison County roster.
- Use Current Inmates for people presently listed as booked.
- Check 24 Hours Arrests when the arrest is new or the current list is too broad.
- Use Inmates by Arrest Date when the arrest date is the known fact.
- Search by last name, first name, or leave fields blank to browse the list.
- If the person has been sentenced to prison, switch to TDCJ instead of the county roster.
Current Madison County Inmate Lookup
The roster fields are simple, but the tabs matter. Current Inmates shows the live county jail list. 24 Hours Arrests is useful when a person has just been booked. Inmates by Arrest Date gives a date-based route. The search form does not require a booking number, and the label says filtering by inmate name is optional.
| Field label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Name | Text | No | Placeholder says last name; autocomplete was off in the inspected page. |
| First Name | Text | No | Can be used alone or with last name to narrow results. |
| Current Inmates | Tab | No | Default current-custody list. |
| 24 Hours Arrests | Tab | No | Recent-arrest view in the same portal. |
| Inmates by Arrest Date | Tab | No | Date-browsing route; exact date controls were not fully inspected. |
| Search Inmates | Button | n/a | Submits the selected filters. |
Past Madison County Inmate Records
The county roster is strongest for current inmates and very recent arrests. The research did not locate an official Madison County archive that promises old roster cards or booking photos after release. For a past booking, use the sheriff's public-records request form or public criminal-history request form linked from the sheriff page. If the case moved from jail booking into court, the district clerk, county clerk, published Madison County dockets, and re:SearchTX may be better sources than the roster.
Released or transferred people may also appear in other systems. TDCJ covers sentenced state prisoners. The BOP inmate locator covers federal prisoners from 1982 to the present. ICE custody is searched through ICE ODLS. Texas VINE can be used for custody notifications when the person is in a participating Texas custody stream.
Madison County Inmate Record Fields
Madison County roster cards show more than a name list. The inspected public cards included a mugshot thumbnail, custody status, physical descriptors, arrest text, days in jail, bond, and a charge grid. Addresses existed as a field, but inspected values were redacted. No date of birth, housing unit, booking number, projected release date, or court date was observed in the visible current-roster cards.
| Field | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Mugshot | Booking-photo thumbnail for inspected current inmates. |
| Name and status | Name in last-name-first format and status such as CURRENTLY BOOKED. |
| Arrest date | Date plus arresting agency or location text, such as sheriff, Madisonville PD, or DPS Madison County. |
| Total bond | Dollar value or NOT SET, depending on the jail record at that time. |
| Charge rows | Warrant number, counts, statute, description, misdemeanor/felony column, and court. |
| Redactions | Address field was visible, but inspected values were REDACTED. |
Madison County Jail vs Prison
Many failed inmate searches start in the wrong system. Madison County Jail is for local jail custody, including pretrial detainees, local sentenced misdemeanants, warrants, holds, and other jail categories. Jim Ferguson Unit is a state prison for sentenced TDCJ prisoners. Federal and immigration custody may involve a contract facility, BOP custody, U.S. Marshals pretrial custody, or ICE detention, none of which is fully covered by the county roster.
| County jail | State prison | Federal or ICE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who is held | Local arrests, pretrial detainees, local sentences | Sentenced TDCJ prisoners | Federal prisoners, federal pretrial detainees, or immigration detainees |
| Run by | Madison County Sheriff's Office | Texas Department of Criminal Justice | BOP, U.S. Marshals, or ICE depending on custody |
| Where to look | Interop Madison County roster | TDCJ inmate search | BOP locator or ICE ODLS |
| Photo access | Roster thumbnails were visible | TDCJ locator does not function as a county mugshot gallery | Federal locators do not provide public mugshot galleries |
State and Federal Inmate Search
TDCJ inmate information states that location and general inmate information may be obtained online, by email, or by telephone. TDCJ and IVSS support name, SID number, and current TDCJ number searches, and IVSS allows users to view details and subscribe to notifications. BOP search supports number and name searches, with fields such as BOP register number, DCDC number, FBI number, INS number, age, race, and sex. ICE ODLS is the immigration detainee locator, but the research found no ICE detention facility physically in Madison County.
- Detainer
- A request or custody claim from another agency that can delay release from the county jail.
- SID
- A state identification number used in Texas criminal justice and TDCJ records.
- Projected release date
- A TDCJ estimate that can change as sentence credit and status are recalculated.
Madison County Detention Facilities
The facility map for Madison County has two entries. They should not be blended. Madison County Jail is the local roster facility for county custody. Jim Ferguson Unit is a TDCJ prison that happens to be inside Madison County and is searched through state systems.
- Madison County Jail - sheriff-operated local detention for Madison County arrests, pretrial custody, local sentences, warrants, and holds.
- Jim Ferguson Unit - TDCJ state prison for male sentenced prisoners, not covered by the Madison County roster.
Madison County Inmate Population FAQ
How large is the Madison County inmate population?
For the local jail, TCJS listed 40 people in the Madison County Jail population on June 1, 2026, against 51 rated beds. That is a point-in-time county jail count. It does not include the full daily state prison population at Jim Ferguson Unit.
How do I search Madison County inmates?
Use the Interop roster for current Madison County Jail custody. Search by first name, last name, current-inmates tab, 24-hour arrests tab, or arrest-date tab. Use TDCJ for sentenced state prisoners and BOP or ICE tools for federal or immigration custody.
Can I look up a released inmate?
The research found no official long-term roster archive for released Madison County inmates. Use the sheriff's public-records forms, court clerk records, re:SearchTX, or the relevant state or federal locator depending on where the case went after jail booking.
Does the Madison County roster show mugshots?
Yes. Inspected current-inmate cards showed booking-photo thumbnails. No official source stated how long the photo remains online after release, so the current roster and 24-hour arrests tab should be treated as practical current or recent booking channels.