Breathitt County Inmate Population Overview
The adult Breathitt County inmate population is not centered in a standalone county jail beside the courthouse in Jackson. Official county pages still list Jailer Joel Gross at the courthouse address, but the custody records found for adult jail lookup point to Three Forks Regional Jail in Beattyville. The jail is a regional facility, and Kentucky Department of Corrections weekly jail reports list it as Three Forks (Lee) because the building is physically in Lee County. For a Breathitt arrest, that matters. The current jail roster, jail phone line, and Three Forks visitation rules are the first adult custody checks.
The Breathitt County inmate population also has a state-custody layer. Three Forks holds pretrial prisoners, sentenced misdemeanants, Class D state prisoners eligible for local jail housing, parole violators, and other local holds. A person who has been sentenced or transferred may still appear in a regional jail, but the better statewide search path is Kentucky Online Offender Lookup, known as KOOL. Youth detention is separate. Breathitt Regional Juvenile Detention Center is in Jackson, but it is a Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice facility and is not an adult roster or mugshot source.
Breathitt County Inmate Population Statistics
KDOC weekly jail reports provide the strongest official population data for the regional jail route serving Breathitt-area prisoners. The reports do not break the count down by sending county, so they should not be read as a Breathitt-only jail census. They do show the scale of the facility where Breathitt adult local custody is commonly routed. In sampled reports from 2024 through 2026, Three Forks had a rated capacity of 182 jail beds and was above that rating on every sampled date.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Date |
|---|---|---|
| Three Forks total jail beds | 182 | KDOC Weekly Jail reports, sampled 2024-2026 |
| Reported population | 254 | KDOC Weekly Jail, 03/26/2026 |
| Capacity percentage | 140% | KDOC Weekly Jail, 03/26/2026 |
| Highest sampled population | 284 | KDOC Weekly Jail, 12/18/2025 revised |
Breathitt County Inmate Population Trends
Sampled official reports show sustained over-capacity conditions at the regional jail used for Breathitt County inmate population routing. The lowest sampled count was 213 people against 182 beds on May 23, 2024. The highest sampled count was 284 people on December 18, 2025. That is not the same as a complete daily time series, but it is a strong capacity signal from state custody data.
| Date | Population / Beds | Over Capacity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 05/23/2024 | 213 / 182 | 31 | 117% capacity; secure and non-secure male/female lines reported. |
| 03/20/2025 | 244 / 182 | 62 | 134% capacity in revised KDOC data. |
| 06/20/2025 | 265 / 182 | 83 | 146% capacity; secure male was the largest line. |
| 12/18/2025 | 284 / 182 | 102 | 156% capacity, the highest sampled count. |
| 03/12/2026 | 249 / 182 | 67 | 137% capacity; 0 federal inmates reported. |
| 03/26/2026 | 254 / 182 | 72 | 140% capacity; Class D and controlled-intake categories present. |
Who Is in the Breathitt County Jail Population
KDOC reports do not publish race, age, ethnicity, or Breathitt-sending-county lines for Three Forks in the sampled data. They do provide custody and housing categories. On March 26, 2026, Three Forks reported 53 Class D inmates, 19 community-custody eligible inmates, 1 alternative-sentence inmate, 20 controlled-intake inmates, 8 parole violators, and 0 federal inmates. Those terms show why the Breathitt County jail population is not only a pretrial arrest list. Some people have state-custody relationships while still being housed in a local or regional jail.
- Class D inmate
- A lower-level felony state inmate category that may be housed in a local Kentucky jail.
- Controlled intake
- A state-prison intake status that can appear in weekly jail reports before transfer or placement changes.
- Detainer
- A notice that another agency may seek custody after the local case or hold ends.
- Classification
- The jail process used to assign security level, housing, and program eligibility.
Secure male was the largest housing line in every sampled report. Secure female, non-secure male, and non-secure female categories were also present. That is why Three Forks should not be described as male-only, even though KDOC addiction-services materials identify Three Forks as a male Outpatient SAP Jail program location.
Laws Governing Breathitt County Inmate Records
Kentucky law supplies the framework behind inmate records, booking photos, jail operations, and population reporting. These laws do not make every jail fact appear online, and they do not override sealed, juvenile, medical, mental-health, or active-investigation limits. They do explain why a resident may inspect public records through the proper agency custodian and why jail reports can include capacity and classification data.
Key Kentucky rules:
KRS 61.870 defines public records and includes booking photographs and official inmate photos in the open-records vocabulary.
KRS 61.872 lets Kentucky residents request public records by written request to the official custodian or designee.
KRS 441.025 requires county fiscal courts to provide incarceration and allows contracts with another county or city.
501 KAR 3:020 requires jail policies for admission, release, records, population updates, and extraordinary occurrence reporting.
Search the Breathitt County Inmate Population
The current adult custody search begins with the Three Forks current-inmates page. The captured research confirmed the page as the official roster path and found name-list snippets plus a public-safety notice. It did not confirm a full public profile table, a bond field, a charge field, or a mugshot field. Treat the roster as the first test, then use the jail phone line, court search, KOOL, VINE, BOP, or ICE depending on what kind of custody may apply.
- Search the Three Forks current-inmates page by legal last name first.
- Try spelling variations, initials, and hyphenated names if the list does not match.
- Call Three Forks at 606-464-2598 when the arrest is recent or the roster appears stale.
- Use Breathitt court tools to check charges, court dates, and case status after booking.
- Search KOOL when the person may be sentenced, transferred, or in state supervision.
- Use BOP or ICE only for federal prison or immigration detention questions.
Breathitt County Jail Roster Search Fields
The Three Forks roster capture was partial, so the public field list should be kept narrow. The research confirmed a search box and current-inmates page, but did not confirm a full set of profile fields. A newer live capture may show more detail, but the content here stays with the documented public fields.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search | Text | Unspecified | Visible in snippets; likely filters the current-inmate list by name. |
| Current Inmates | Roster page | No | Main adult local custody list for Three Forks Regional Jail. |
| Court Docket | Link/page | No | Jail navigation includes it, but court data should be verified through KCOJ. |
The public roster is only one channel. The Kentucky VINE portal can support custody-status notifications, while the jail phone line remains the practical fallback for a new arrest that has not posted online.
Past Breathitt County Inmate Records
A released person may drop from a current-inmate page even though the booking, arrest report, court case, or jail record still exists with the agency that maintains it. The Three Forks research did not find a public retention period for released names. For an older Breathitt County inmate record, identify the record type first. Jail booking and custody records belong with the jail or jailer route. Arrest reports may belong with the Breathitt County Sheriff's Office, Jackson Police Department, or Kentucky State Police. Formal charges and case files belong with the Breathitt Circuit Court Clerk.
A written open-records request should be precise. Include the person's full name, approximate arrest or booking date, arresting agency if known, facility, and the exact record sought. Kentucky open-records law allows written applications by hand delivery, mail, fax, or email to the official custodian or designee, but exemptions and redactions can still apply.
County Jail vs State Prison Search
Search failures often come from using the wrong custody system. Three Forks is the first Breathitt County inmate search channel for current local adult custody. KOOL is the statewide sentenced-offender locator. BOP and ICE are separate federal systems. The court docket is not a jail roster, but it can show charges and court events after an arrest.
| Custody Question | Best Channel | What It Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Current local adult custody | Three Forks roster or phone | Pretrial and local/regional jail holds. |
| Sentenced Kentucky offender | KOOL | State offender records, facility location, offense categories, and photos when available. |
| Federal prisoner | BOP inmate locator | Federal inmates from 1982 to present. |
| Immigration detainee | ICE ODLS | ICE or certain CBP custody searches using A-number or biographical data. |
Breathitt County Detention Facilities
The local facility map has two entries, but they serve very different audiences. One is the adult regional jail path for Breathitt-area custody. The other is a state juvenile detention center, where youth records are restricted and should not be treated as public adult inmate records.
- Three Forks Regional Jail - regional adult jail serving local custody needs for Breathitt-area prisoners and surrounding counties.
- Breathitt Regional Juvenile Detention Center - Kentucky DJJ juvenile facility in Jackson; not an adult inmate-search or mugshot source.
The county's official overview page places Breathitt County in eastern Kentucky, with Jackson as the county seat and county offices clustered along Main Street. The adult jail trip is different. Three Forks is in Beattyville, so families should confirm the facility and route before leaving Jackson or another Breathitt community.
Breathitt County Court Records After Arrest
Jail custody and court records answer different questions. Jail records say whether a person is currently held and may show limited booking information. Court records after a Breathitt County arrest show the formal case, charges, docket dates, orders, and disposition. The official court route is the Kentucky Court of Justice system, including KYeCourts public records as a guest and the KCOJ docket search.
The Breathitt County Justice Center page identifies the clerk route for case records. Kentucky Court of Justice also says court case records are requested from the clerk of the court that heard the case, and older files may require case or file locator numbers if held by a records facility. That is why a person may appear on a jail roster before a searchable court file is easy to locate.
Breathitt County Record Sources
The official county overview gives local government context for Breathitt County, including Jackson as the county seat and county contact information. The screenshot below comes from the Kentucky.gov Breathitt County overview.
That county-office context helps separate courthouse records in Jackson from the adult regional jail route in Beattyville.
Breathitt County Inmate Population FAQ
How large is the Breathitt County inmate population? The best official figures located are for Three Forks Regional Jail, not a Breathitt-only count. KDOC reported 254 people against 182 beds on March 26, 2026.
Why is the jail outside Breathitt County? Adult local custody is routed through a regional jail. Three Forks is in Beattyville, while Breathitt courthouse and many county offices are in Jackson.
Does Breathitt County have a sheriff app roster? No official Breathitt County sheriff or Jackson Police app-only inmate lookup was confirmed. Use the roster, phone, court, and records-request channels.
Are juvenile detention records searched here? No. Breathitt Regional Juvenile Detention Center is a DJJ youth facility, and youth detention records are confidential or restricted unless a specific authority allows release.