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County Jails

Belzley, a White man with gray hair and a goatee, wears a blue button-down shirt and khakis, and stands behind a large drum kit.
Feature December 4
After Jail Deaths and No Justice, This Kentucky Lawyer Tried to Make a Difference
A tough legal precedent had kept his clients from their day in court, so Greg Belzley decided there was only one thing to do — try to change the law.
By Ryan Kost
An illustration of a brown-skinned man wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit sitting at the edge of a bunk bed, as two bunk beds sit empty in the background.
Life Inside October 4
Life Inside, Remixed: What 90 Days in Jail Taught a Poet About America
Ravi Shankar was born in D.C. to South Indian parents. But it took going to jail for him to fully understand what many other Americans of color face.
By The Marshall Project
Protesters held signs at a protest in Chicago, some of which read: "Abortion Access Everywhere!", and "My Body Now and Forever".
News March 26
Even Where Abortion Is Legal, People in Jail Face Huge Barriers
New reviews of jail policies in 13 states found vague, confusing or nonexistent guidelines and major hurdles to obtaining an abortion.
By
Three men in blue uniforms sleep on the floor, as one sits on a chair nearby.
News November 4, 2022
Why So Many Jails Are in a ‘State of Complete Meltdown’
Overcrowding, violence and abuse proliferate at jails across the country, as staffing problems make long-simmering problems worse.
By
Feature June 7, 2022
A Tupperware of Heroin, Or How I Ended Up in Prison
In an excerpt from her new memoir, ‘Corrections in Ink,’ Keri Blakinger puts us at the scene of her drug arrest — and her path to becoming The Marshall Project’s first formerly incarcerated staff writer.
By
The Frame July 14, 2021
“Spaces of Detention” Takes You Inside the Facilities That Criminalize Undocumented Immigrants
Photographer, artist and anthropologist Cinthya Santos-Briones partners with formerly detained immigrants to shine a light on the insular “architecture of punishment” in New Jersey.
by
In Palm Beach County, Florida, the number of people in county jails, including the main detention center pictured here, dropped by nearly 250 during the pandemic.
News June 7, 2021
Jail Populations Creep Back Up After COVID-19
Judges, prosecutors and sheriffs in many states sent people home instead of to jail last year, but new data suggests the change is not lasting.
By , and Michael R. Sisak
Life Inside April 29, 2021
Nothing Has Made Me Feel More American Than Going to Jail
I was born in D.C. to South Indian parents. But it wasn’t until I had to negotiate the criminal justice system that I fully realized what many Americans of color have to deal with.
By Ravi Shankar
A robot emits high-intensity ultraviolet light in a booking room at the Kent County Jail in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Coronavirus May 13, 2020
Jails Turn to UVC Robots To Fight Coronavirus
Some sheriffs are buying ultraviolet light machines traditionally used by hospitals.
By
The Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center in Elk Grove, Calif., where Cody Garland tried to commit suicide.
The California Experiment April 23, 2019
Who Begs To Go To Prison? California Jail Inmates
Effort to cut prison overcrowding puts some jails in crisis.
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