Search Oakland County Jail Inmates

Oakland County Jail Overview

Oakland County Jail is operated by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office Corrective Services Division. It holds adult pretrial detainees, people serving local jail sentences, people awaiting transfer, and people held on warrants, holds, or detainers. It is the active county jail for Oakland County local custody. Official source checks found no active MDOC prison, BOP prison, ICE detention center, or separate regional jail inside Oakland County with its own live public roster.

The jail is part of the Oakland County government campus in Pontiac. County pages use more than one Telegraph Road contact label, but the physical jail address for facility and directions use is 1201 North Telegraph Road, Pontiac, MI 48341. The Sheriff's Office contact block also appears as 1200 N. Telegraph Rd., Bldg. 38E, Pontiac, MI 48341. Visitors should check whether they are going to jail visitation, bonding, the Records Unit, court, or another county office because these offices sit close together but do not all use the same entrance.

The jail's public history is specific. The Main Jail was built in 1973. The second floor is a maximum-security general-population area with about 440 beds, while the first-floor intake area has holding tanks and observation cells with capacity for 109. The attached Annex opened in March 1989 as a direct-supervision facility with capacity for 487. The East Annex has a listed capacity of 398, was built in 2003 as work release, was repurposed and renamed in 2010, moved into Corrective Services in 2022, and is currently closed with no inmates housed there.

Oakland County Jail Capacity

The Sheriff's Office describes Oakland County Jail as a 1,664-bed jail facility, and Vera's county jail data matched the 1,664 rated capacity in its 2023 Oakland County row. The official jail page also reported 12,247 prisoner admissions in 2024 and states that overcrowding remains a consistent issue even though legislative changes, local programs, and the Oakland County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council have helped keep use manageable. Capacity is not just a raw bed count. Classification, medical needs, staffing, closed housing, and separation rules can limit how beds are used.

Look Up Oakland County Jail Inmates

The correct online lookup for Oakland County Jail is the CLEMIS Inmate Locator. CLEMIS searches current county jail inmates, people incarcerated in the last 72 hours, and people released in the last 72 hours. It is not an MDOC prison search, BOP search, or ICE detainee search. When a person is sentenced to state prison, the main search moves to MDOC OTIS. For federal or immigration custody, use BOP or ICE instead.

1. Open CLEMIS and complete the reCAPTCHA challenge.
2. Select the Oakland County Jail row from the jail-selection screen.
3. Choose the current inmate, incarcerated-last-72-hours, or released-last-72-hours tab.
4. Search the loaded table by first name, last name, or inmate ID.
5. Use Details to check booking date, date of birth, sex, location, photo, charges, holds, bond type, court, and case number where shown.

The CLEMIS jail-selection page is the matched image source for the Oakland County Jail lookup entry point.

The screen matters because Oakland County Jail must be selected before the current-inmate and recent-custody tabs can be used.

Oakland County Jail Contact

Use the jail and inmate information contacts for current custody, bond-window routing, scheduled release questions, and practical lookup issues. Use the Records Unit for inmate jail files or sheriff records that are not visible online. The county's FOIA page says court files are not obtained through FOIA, so case documents should be handled through Court Explorer, MiCOURT, Legal Records Division, or the relevant district court.

Oakland County Jail Visitation

Oakland County Jail uses Smart Communications for all video visitation scheduling. Visits may be onsite or remote, and the visitor must schedule at least 24 hours in advance. Appointments can be made up to two weeks ahead. Each inmate receives one free visit and one paid visit per week, and visits may be 15 or 30 minutes. Special visits can be requested by contacting the jail.

Visitors must use a current driver's license, state ID, or passport. One adult and one child may visit, and the adult must be the scheduler. Children cannot be left alone in the waiting area. Clothing rules prohibit transparent clothing, tank or tube tops, bathing suits, zippered tops, revealing clothing, clothing tied to drugs, alcohol, or gang affiliation, and shorts or skirts more than two inches above the knee. Staff decide whether attire is acceptable.

Oakland County Jail Money

Oakland County Jail uses Smart Communications and SmartInmate for inmate phone, video, mail, messages, and account services. Trust account money is separate from phone and video credits. The county states that trust funds cannot be used for phone or tablet credits, so senders should choose the right account type before depositing funds.

The first call completed during initial booking does not count as the free daily 15-minute call and must last no more than 3 minutes. Attorney calls are always free and unlimited only if the attorney sends a letter on attorney letterhead to the Executive Lieutenant of the Oakland County Jail with the inmate name, attorney phone numbers, and bar number. Otherwise, inmate outgoing calls are recorded.

Oakland County Jail Mail

Oakland County Jail has separate paths for regular mail, legal or business mail, and electronic messages. Standard postal mail is processed through Smart Communications, and inmates use tablets to view mail, photos, and messages. The county warns that mail and electronic messages are monitored at any time and carry no expectation of privacy. Standard mail should not be mailed directly to the jail.

Oakland County Jail Bond

The Oakland County Jail Bonding Area operates 24 hours a day and accepts regular, surety, interim, and fines-and-costs bonds. The jail accepts cash, credit card, cashier's check made out to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, or a bail bondsman when allowed. Cash bonds of $10,000 or more are processed at the court of jurisdiction, not the jail. The jail expressly states that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency are not valid payment for inmate bond.

A paid bond does not clear every release block. CLEMIS hold rows and the release process both show why holds, warrants, and detainers matter. For a scheduled outdate, the person checking on release must check in at the Bonding window. A current LEIN check is run. If there are no holds, warrants, or detainers, the person is released as close to 12:01 AM as possible and directed to meet the waiting person outside. If a hold remains, release can be delayed or stopped.

Oakland County Jail Programs

The Sheriff's Office describes jail responsibilities that include food, medical services, jail clothing and court clothing handling, safety, security, counseling, crisis intervention, adult education, recreation, visitation, and chaplaincy. The jail also has a 24-hour, seven-day health clinic with seven single cells. Jail administration materials reference inmate classification, medical and mental-health services, clinic operations, faith-based services, the jail library, and inmate programs.

Oakland County has also reported a shift away from in-jail work release toward an Electronic Monitoring tether Work Release Program. The East Annex remains part of the facility history and capacity discussion, but it should not be treated as a live visitor destination or a separate active custody facility because the official page says it is closed and not housing inmates.

PREA reporting is available through the Corrective Services Visitation Unit during regular business hours at 248-858-1800, through the inmate information line by asking for a shift supervisor at 248-858-1800 at any time, or by email at prisonerinfo@oakgov.com. The Sheriff's Office states it has zero tolerance toward sexual abuse and sexual harassment of inmates and that allegations are fully investigated.