Search the Perry County Inmate Population

The Perry County Inmate Population

The Perry County inmate population is centered on Kentucky River Regional Jail in Hazard. The jail is the practical intake point for most Perry County arrests by the sheriff, Hazard police, Kentucky State Police, and other local agencies. It also functions as a regional jail. Vera reporting described the jail as shared by Perry and Knott counties, and Kentucky Department of Corrections weekly jail reports count more than local pretrial defendants in the Perry row. That matters because a person listed in Perry jail data may be a pretrial detainee, a sentenced county inmate, a Class D state inmate, a parole violator, or someone held for another agency.

The county population count changes when arrests are booked, bond orders are entered, cases are dismissed, inmates are sentenced, or a transfer occurs. A local jail booking record is not the same thing as a state prison record or a court case file. Kentucky River Regional Jail can confirm current custody by phone, while the Kentucky Online Offender Lookup helps when a person has moved into KDOC custody or appears in a statewide corrections system. Court charges after booking are handled through the Kentucky Court of Justice and Perry County Circuit Court Clerk.

Perry County Inmate Population Statistics

Perry County has two capacity figures in the sources. The official Perry County jail page describes Kentucky River Regional Jail as a 150-bed facility, while KDOC weekly jail reports list 135 jail beds. Both figures should stay visible because they come from different official or high-authority sources. The clearest recent population snapshots are KDOC weekly reports from May 23, 2024 and October 31, 2024, each showing the Perry jail population far above the KDOC bed count.

The KDOC research and statistics index is the state source for recurring population reports. The screenshot below shows that report library rather than a person-search roster.

Use these state reports for jail-population figures, not for the name-by-name booking roster.

Perry County Inmate Population Trends

The Perry County inmate population has been above the KDOC-listed bed count in more than one source period. Vera reported that the jail held about 240 people in fall 2018 in a 135-bed facility, with roughly one-third of those people held as state inmates. KDOC later reported 248 people on May 23, 2024 and 257 people on October 31, 2024. Those numbers show a local jail that serves more than a simple short-term lockup role.

Statewide jail trends give more context. The Kentucky Association of Counties reported a 2024 weekly average of 10,304 county inmates statewide from January 1 through December 26, 2024, with state and federal inmates making up the rest of the jail population mix. Perry fits that pattern because KDOC reports list Class D, community-custody, parole-violator, and federal categories for the jail.

Who Is Counted in Perry County Jail Numbers

KDOC weekly jail reports divide the Perry County inmate population into custody and housing categories. On October 31, 2024, the report showed 158 secure male inmates, 44 secure female inmates, 43 non-secure male inmates, and 12 non-secure female inmates. It also counted 54 Class D inmates, 19 community-custody eligible inmates, 12 parole violators, and 7 federal inmates. On May 23, 2024, the report showed 169 secure male inmates, 48 secure female inmates, 25 non-secure male inmates, and 6 non-secure female inmates.

• Secure custody means jail housing with higher control and supervision, split by male and female reporting categories.
• Non-secure custody is a lower-security jail category used in KDOC weekly reporting.
• Class D inmates are Kentucky felony inmates who may be housed in county jails under state arrangements.
• Parole violators are held because of an alleged violation, not just a new local charge.
• Federal inmates are counted separately from Perry County court defendants.

Annual bookings, average length of stay, race, ethnicity, age bands, and a Perry-specific incarceration rate were not located in official sources during the research pass.

Perry County Jail Capacity and Overcrowding

Kentucky River Regional Jail has a capacity discrepancy that should not be flattened. The Perry County official jail page says the jail has a maximum capacity of 150 inmates. KDOC weekly reports use 135 beds, and Vera used the same 135-bed figure in its reporting. The October 31, 2024 KDOC report put Perry at 257 people, 122 over the KDOC bed count. The May 23, 2024 report put Perry at 248 people, 113 over that count.

That capacity pressure affects how the Perry County inmate population should be read. A roster search may answer whether a person is in custody, but a population page needs to explain why the jail count is not limited to one kind of local defendant. State inmates, federal holds, parole issues, bond delays, and transfers all shape the number. The jail page also says prisoners are separated based on crimes committed, current risk assessment, and behavior, so classification is part of the local operating picture.

Laws Governing Perry County Inmate Records

Kentucky public-records law and jail standards shape access to Perry County inmate population records. The Open Records Act starts with the agency that keeps the record. Current custody questions go to Kentucky River Regional Jail or KOOL. Court records go to the Perry County Circuit Court Clerk. State correctional records go to KDOC. Agencies can redact or withhold protected material, especially juvenile, medical, security, active-investigation, and privacy-related records.

Perry County and State Prison Custody

No Kentucky adult state prison was confirmed inside Perry County. That does not make KDOC irrelevant. A person arrested in Perry County may later be sentenced, transferred, or counted under a state-inmate category while housed in a county jail. KDOC reports also show Class D and community-custody eligible counts at Kentucky River Regional Jail. For sentenced state prisoners and some transferred people, the statewide KOOL locator is the correct search path.

The Kentucky Department of Corrections is based in Frankfort and operates the state prison and local-facilities framework. KDOC's facilities overview says Adult Institutions oversees Kentucky correctional facilities while Local Facilities oversees community programs and minimum jail standards. That split explains why Perry County jail reports can include local jail and state-custody categories in one place.

How to Search Perry County Inmates

The Perry County official jail page links inmate search users to KOOL, and the separate Kentucky River Regional Jail current-inmate lookup was offline when inspected. That makes the search process a fallback chain, not a single guaranteed roster. Start with the local jail page to confirm phone numbers and any current lookup status. Then use KOOL, call the jail, check VINE for notifications, and move to court records when the question is about filed charges rather than custody.

1. Open the Perry County Kentucky River Regional Jail page and confirm the current jail contact details.
2. Try the Kentucky River Regional Jail site if the current-inmate lookup is available again.
3. Search KOOL by last name, first name, or PID/DOC number if known.
4. Call KRRJ inmate information at (606) 436-4032 or booking at (606) 436-1008 if online tools do not show the person.
5. Use Kentucky VINE for release, transfer, escape, or parole-hearing notifications.

The official Perry County jail page is shown in the captured source below, including its jail contact and inmate-search context.

Because the local lookup was offline during inspection, the phone and statewide-locator steps are not optional backup routes.

Current Perry County Inmate Lookup

KOOL is statewide, so it is broader than a Perry-only jail roster. It can show county jail, state prison, probation, parole, and other KDOC-related locations. A result should be read carefully before assuming the person is physically at Kentucky River Regional Jail. The current location field is the key clue. New bookings, recent releases, aliases, spelling differences, juvenile limits, sealed records, and transfer timing can all cause a missed result.

KDOC also explains the link between KOOL and VINE on its public-information page. That source is helpful when the goal is notification rather than a one-time search.

For Perry County, VINE is most useful when a family member needs an alert after a release or transfer from county jail.

Past Perry County Inmate Records

Past and released inmate records require a different path from current custody. The KRRJ lookup was not available during inspection, so no official retention window for old public roster entries was confirmed. If a person is no longer in the local jail, use KOOL for state custody, use court records for charges and dispositions, and send a written records request to the agency that keeps the record. For jail custody records, start with Kentucky River Regional Jail or the jailer contact. For KDOC prisoner records, use the KDOC open-records process.

For court case copies, the Kentucky Court of Justice says records are managed by circuit court clerks, the State Records Center, or the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives depending on the record's age and location. A good request gives the person's full name, date or date range, facility or agency, type of record, and requester contact information.

What Perry County Inmate Records Show

Confirmed local public material for Kentucky River Regional Jail is facility-level rather than a captured live roster profile. It confirms the jail name, address, phone channels, mail format, capacity language, and housing-by-risk statement. KOOL adds statewide offender fields that may apply after transfer or when a person is in a KDOC-related status.

County Jail vs State Prison Search

Perry County jail custody and Kentucky state prison custody are easy to confuse because one person can move from one to the other. A pretrial defendant is usually a county jail search problem. A sentenced state prisoner is usually a KOOL search problem. Federal and immigration custody use different systems, and a local bond can be affected by other-agency holds.

Court Records After Perry County Arrest

Jail records answer who is in custody. Court records answer what charge was filed, what court date is set, and how the case is moving. Perry County cases go through the Kentucky Court of Justice at the Hall of Justice in Hazard. The public court docket search can help with court-date clues by county, division, date, courtroom, and subdivision, but the docket page warns that it is not the official docket and can change.

Detailed online case access runs through KYeCourts/CourtNet with registration and login. For copies, the Kentucky Court of Justice records-request process routes users to the circuit clerk, State Records Center, or archives. Custody details belong with jail records; charge filings and dispositions belong with court records after arrest.

Perry County Booking Photos

No confirmed public KRRJ mugshot gallery was located in the official materials inspected. The county jail page has a facility image and jailer image, but the current-inmate lookup was offline, so public booking-photo profile fields could not be verified. KOOL can show a photo indicator and has a photo-only filter, but that statewide feature does not prove that every Perry County booking photo is online.

Kentucky law also matters. KRS 61.8746 restricts commercial use of official booking or inmate photographs when removal requires payment or value. That rule is different from saying every booking photo must be published by the jail. For a local booking photo that is not online, a written request should go to the proper custodian with the person's name, arrest date, agency, and record requested.

Perry County Detention Facilities

The facility map for Perry County has one confirmed detention facility. No separate state prison, BOP prison, ICE detention center, work-release annex, or city jail was confirmed inside the county from official sources. Hazard city arrests and other local arrests should be treated as Kentucky River Regional Jail intake unless a later transfer or court order says otherwise.

• Kentucky River Regional Jail - regional/county jail in Hazard for pretrial detainees, sentenced county inmates, Class D/community-custody state inmates, parole violators, and occasional other-agency holds.

Perry County Inmate Population FAQ

How large is the Perry County inmate population? KDOC reported 257 people in the Perry jail row on October 31, 2024 and 248 on May 23, 2024. The county page lists 150 capacity, while KDOC reports list 135 beds.

How do I search for a Perry County inmate? Try the KRRJ current lookup if it is available, then search KOOL, call inmate information or booking, and use VINE for notification alerts.

Why might a person not show up online? A new booking, release, transfer, alias, spelling issue, sealed record, juvenile limit, or offline local lookup can block an online match.

Does KOOL replace the county jail? No. KOOL is statewide and can include county jails, prisons, offices, and supervision statuses. Call KRRJ to confirm current local custody.

Are federal or ICE detainees searched through Perry County? Federal sentenced prisoners use the BOP locator, and immigration detainees use the ICE locator. A local jail hold may not show the full federal or immigration record.

Where are court charges found? Court charges are tracked through Kentucky Court of Justice docket, CourtNet access, and Perry County Circuit Court Clerk records, not through a booking record alone.

Perry County Custody Terms

Several short terms appear across jail, court, and state reports. Reading them correctly helps separate the Perry County inmate population from court-case and prison records.

Booking

Jail intake after arrest, usually including identity checks, paperwork, property, and classification.

Class D inmate

A Kentucky felony category that may be housed in county jails under state arrangements.

Detainer

A hold or request from another agency that may affect release even after local bond is addressed.

Disposition

The court outcome of a charge, such as dismissed, amended, guilty, or acquitted.

VINE

A notification system for custody-status and case updates.