Kentucky Association of Counties

KACo Logo

Kentucky Association of Counties

Services

County Champion

SPOTLIGHT

County inmates in Kentucky

By Kayla Carter Smith, Policy Analyst
Background, data and trends across Kentucky

State law – KRS 441.025 – requires the fiscal court of each county to provide for the incarceration of prisoners arrested in the county, sentenced or held by order of the courts in the county. The fiscal court is responsible for the custody of county inmates, which include people who are:

  • Newly arrested
  • Awaiting trial
  • Convicted of a misdemeanor offense
  • Awaiting sentencing on a felony conviction
  • In violation of terms of their probation

There are currently 77 county jails in Kentucky: 70 full service, 4 regional, and 3 life safety jails. For more information on jail classifications, click here.

Counties are required to house and are fully responsible for the cost to incarcerate county inmates, regardless of whether the county operates a jail. If a county does not operate a jail, the fiscal court can contract with other counties or utilize a regional jail.

Full service and regional jails report their jail population to the Kentucky Department of Corrections (DOC) on a weekly basis. These reports can be found here. Note: the three life safety jails are not included in these reports and are excluded from all population data below.

From Jan. 1 – Dec. 26, 2024, the average weekly county inmate population was 10,304 – making up 52% of the total jail population. The remaining 48% of the jail population are state and federal inmates for which the county receives a reimbursement or has a contract in place.

Many county inmates are awaiting trial for a felony offense and may become state inmates if they are convicted and sentenced on a felony offense. Until the day of sentencing, which can take years, the county remains financially responsible for these inmates.

Trends over time

The county inmate population in county jails has decreased by 11% since 2019. There were 11,627 county inmates in county jails in 2019, compared to 10,304 inmates in 2024.

The county inmate population decreased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2019 to 2020, there was a 29% decline in the county inmate population due to inmates awaiting trial for non-violent, non-sexual offenses being released to limit the spread of COVID-19 in congregate settings. By June of 2020, the county inmate population started to trend back up but has remained below 2019 levels.

Since 2022, the county inmate population has remained relatively stable. Historically, the inmate population tends to decrease toward the end of the year, as shown in the chart below. However, during the last week of December, the population dropped to a notable low of 9,111 - the lowest it has been since March 2021.

In the new year, the county inmate population has begun to trend back up, as it has done historically. As of Jan. 9, 2025, there were 9,936 county inmates in county jails according to the Department of Corrections weekly jail report.

County Inmate Population 2019 - Jan 9, 2025


More County News