McCracken County Regional Jail Overview
McCracken County Regional Jail is located at 400 Clarence Gaines Street in Paducah. The jail is operated by the McCracken County Jailer and jail administration, and the official jail homepage identifies Stephen Carter as jailer. The facility serves the local adult custody function for McCracken County rather than the juvenile, state prison, federal prison, or immigration detention functions. People booked after arrests by local agencies may pass through this jail for intake, bond review, classification, housing, visitation, mail, commissary, phone service, and release processing.
The public record role of the facility is narrow but important. The jail publishes a current-inmates page that frames the official OMS Public Safety Cloud/JailTracker roster. That roster is the correct online starting point for adult pretrial detainees, sentenced misdemeanants, work-release inmates, and some state or county inmates still housed locally. It is not a complete statewide prison locator, and it is not the place to search for juveniles held under Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice rules.
Adult capacity was not located in the official adult jail sources inspected for this project. That gap should be treated as a published-information limit, not filled from unofficial directories. The jail does publish operational details that matter to families and records users, including video visitation schedules, mail routing, phone vendors, deposit methods, commissary timing, posted jail fees, and District Court work-release rules.
McCracken County Regional Jail Capacity and Population
The adult jail's official pages identify the facility, address, phone number, roster path, and inmate-service rules, but they did not publish a reliable rated capacity or a static current population figure in the inspected source set. The current-inmates roster is dynamic, so a count visible at one moment may change after bookings, releases, court orders, transfers, and state-custody updates. For a live custody question, use the JailTracker roster first and call the jail when the roster does not resolve the question.
McCracken County also has a separate state-operated juvenile detention center. That juvenile facility should not be blended into the adult jail count, because it serves a different population, uses different visitation rules, and is governed by juvenile-court confidentiality rather than the adult JailTracker roster.
How to Look Up an Inmate at McCracken County Regional Jail
The official adult jail lookup path is the jail's Current Inmates page, which frames the OMS Public Safety Cloud JailTracker roster at MCCRACKEN_COUNTY_JAIL_KY. Users may also arrive through the official jail frame at mccrackencountyjailky.com/McCrackencounty_inmatelist.html. The frame matters because the public may see the county jail domain first, then the roster may load from the Public Safety Cloud domain.
- Open the official McCracken County Jail current-inmates page or the direct OMS/JailTracker roster.
- Search by last name first, adding a first name when several people share the same surname.
- Confirm that the result is for McCracken County Regional Jail and not a statewide, federal, immigration, or juvenile system.
- Open the public profile when available to review visible booking, charge, bond, court, hold, image, or release fields.
- If the person is not listed, try alternate spelling, wait for very recent booking to finish, and call 270-444-4730 for current jail information.
For sentenced Kentucky prisoners transferred out of the local jail, use KDOC's Kentucky Online Offender Lookup. For release notifications, use VINELink or Kentucky VINE by phone at 1-800-511-1670. For formal court charges, bond orders, and case dates, check Kentucky Court of Justice records rather than relying only on the jail roster.
The official jail frame source shows how the roster is presented to the public: McCracken County Jail Current Inmates.
The screenshot is useful because it shows the official path to the roster, not a third-party jail directory. If the embedded roster fails to load, the direct JailTracker URL or the jail phone line is the practical fallback.
McCracken County Regional Jail Address and Contact
The jail sits in the downtown Paducah justice-center area near the McCracken County Courthouse at 300 Clarence Gaines Street. The court page identifies a courthouse parking lot at Seventh and Washington for court users, but the jail pages inspected did not publish a separate visitor-parking rule. Anyone traveling for a visit, bond question, or inmate-service issue should confirm current access and parking details before leaving.
McCracken County Regional Jail
400 Clarence Gaines Street
Paducah, KY 42003
270-444-4730
Adult jail information, current custody questions, visitation scheduling, and inmate-service questions.
Visiting Someone at McCracken County Regional Jail
McCracken County Regional Jail uses video visitation. Onsite video visits are free, limited to two 20-minute onsite visits per week, and scheduled by phone at 866-340-7879. Online video visits are scheduled through InmateSales at least 24 hours in advance, cost $0.40 per minute, and have a 20-minute maximum. Help for online video is listed at 877-998-5678.
| Visit type | Schedule | Rules and cost |
|---|---|---|
| Onsite video | Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | Free; two 20-minute onsite visits per week; schedule at 866-340-7879. |
| Onsite video | Saturday-Sunday, noon-4:00 p.m. | Free; no property may be left during Saturday visits. |
| Online video | Scheduled 24 or more hours in advance | InmateSales; $0.40 per minute; 20-minute maximum; help at 877-998-5678. |
| Isolation status | Once per week | Inmates in isolation are allowed visitation once per week under the jail's rules. |
Visitors must show identification and sign in. Only two adults may visit at a time, and anyone under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. The jail prohibits cell phones, cameras, food, drink, and weapons in the visit area. Conversations may be recorded. No-contact orders are enforced, and intoxicated, loud, unruly, or inappropriate behavior may end a visit or lead to a ban.
Mail, Phone, and Money at McCracken County Regional Jail
The jail uses separate routing for general inmate mail and legal mail. General inmate mail goes to a Highland Heights post office box with the inmate's first and last name and ID number. Legal mail goes to the jail's physical address in Paducah. The inmate-services rules state that magazines may not be mailed or subscribed to for delivery to the jail.
| Service | Provider or detail | Important limit |
|---|---|---|
| General inmate mail | First and Last Name, ID# / McCracken County Jail / P.O. Box 76550 / Highland Heights, KY 41076 | No magazines. |
| Legal mail | Inmate Name / McCracken County Jail / 400 Clarence Gaines St / Paducah, KY 42003 | Use the physical jail address. |
| Money deposits | CareACell, front-lobby kiosk, or postal money order only | No Western Union or MoneyGram. |
| Phone service | CPC/Combined Public Communications and InmateSales related services | Collect, prepaid account, and card options depend on account setup. |
| Commissary | Held Wednesdays | Funds must be on the account by noon Sunday. |
| Phone cards | Sold Tuesdays if funds are present by noon Tuesday | $10 cards; vestibule machine sells $10 and $20 cards and gives no change. |
If an inmate owes jail money, 25% of a deposit may be applied to fees owed. Money directed to a different inmate may be confiscated, so the name and ID number should be checked before a deposit or postal money order is sent.
Documented Jail Fees and Costs
The official inmate-services page lists several jail fees and medical-cost rules. These fees are separate from court costs, bond conditions, and outside vendor convenience fees. They can affect the amount available on an inmate account after deposits or release processing.
| Fee or cost | Documented amount or rule | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bond fee | $5 | Listed in the jail fee schedule. |
| Booking fee | $30 | Applied under jail fee rules. |
| County inmate fee | $20 | District Court commitments are also charged $20 per jail day. |
| County inmate medical, mental-health, dental, and prescription costs | 100% actual cost | Nurse-visit charges are determined case by case by medical staff or the jailer. |
| State inmate medical, mental-health, dental, and prescription costs | 75% actual cost | Applies when a state inmate is housed locally under the jail's fee rules. |
| Online video visitation | $0.40 per minute | InmateSales, 20-minute maximum. |
Booking, Holds, and Work Release
A typical adult custody path in McCracken County starts with arrest by a local agency, transport to the jail, search and property handling, identity confirmation, booking photo, fingerprints, charge entry, initial screening, bond or hold entry, classification, and housing assignment. A person may be physically in the building before the public roster updates, especially when the arrest is recent or intake details have not been cleared for display.
District Court work release has specific limits. Court approval is required before an inmate can be released for work, and travel time to and from work is allowed. Late return, detected alcohol or drug use, being away from the approved work location, unpaid fees, or unresolved medical and jail balances can terminate work release or lead to contempt. Work-release inmates must pay fees at the end of each week before being released the next week. Meals are listed around 6:30 a.m., noon, and 6:30 p.m., which matters when release and return timing is being planned.
About McCracken County Regional Jail
The jail's official materials describe a local mission focused on safety and security for inmates, staff, and the community. They also describe a vision of treating inmates with dignity and respect while supporting educational and vocational programs intended to reduce recidivism and future crime. Specific class names, schedules, housing-unit maps, accreditation status, and adult construction history were not located in the official pages inspected, so those details should be confirmed directly with the jail before being relied on.
The jail is also part of a compact downtown justice area. The sheriff's office and courthouse are nearby at 300 Clarence Gaines Street, while the jail is at 400 Clarence Gaines Street. That geography can make one trip seem like a single errand, but custody status, sheriff records, court records, bond payments, and prosecutor matters are handled by different offices. For adult jail roster steps, see the local jail inmate records page.
Note: Confirm custody, visit eligibility, and scheduling with the jail before traveling, because releases, court orders, discipline, and no-contact orders can change access quickly.