Jackson County Detention

The Jackson County Detention Center (JCDC) houses adult inmates being held on state charges. In 2019, the daily average population is 872 inmates.

Priority Number 1: Safety

The Jackson County Detention Center plays a crucial public safety role in our community.

The Detention Center seeks to detain individuals - all of whom have been arrested for a crime, but most of whom have not yet been convicted of committing that crime - in a way that provides for maximum safety for the community, staff and the inmates, themselves. That entails maintaining the facility to ensure safety and security, through locks, cameras and other security and communication systems. But it also includes health care to meet the physical and mental health needs of inmates.

Inmate Services

Those detained are under the custody of the Jackson County Detention Center, and the facility is legally bound to provide adequate housing, food, healthcare and a safe living environment.

The Detention Center operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  The 2019 adopted budget was just over $31 million.  Facilities are located one block from the Jackson County Courthouse in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

Presumption of Innocence

The American criminal justice systems presume an individual charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. A detention center is not the same as a prison. Prisons are utilized for convicted felons – those who have been found guilty in a court of law. A county detention center is utilized for the following:

• • Confinement while an individual is going through the trial process, 
• • For those convicted and given short-term (12 months or less) sentences

• probation violators

• • Individuals being held on warrants for other jurisdiction

In 2018, the vast majority (81.2%) of inmates confined at the JCDC were involved in the trial process and, therefore, presumed innocent. 

Bond