How to Look Up Adams County Jail Population Data
Adams County jail population data does not have a single official dashboard. The Sheriff's Office posts an inmate roster but does not publish rated capacity, average daily population, or demographic splits in its public pages. The most useful free source is the Vera Institute's Incarceration Trends page for Adams County at trends.vera.org/state/CO/county/adams_county. That page was updated February 9, 2026. It charts total jail population, sentenced, pretrial, capacity, rates, female incarceration, racial disparities, and holds for other authorities.
The Vera page uses interactive charts. Exact yearly numbers may be hidden until a user hovers over a data point. The Bureau of Justice Statistics adds national context. The BJS report Jail Inmates in 2023 is the most current overview at bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/jail-inmates-2023-statistical-tables. Read the BJS data as the national floor and the Vera data as the local trend. Both update on their own schedule, not daily, so use them for context, not live custody data. For live custody, use the Adams County inmate records roster instead.
Adams County Jail Capacity Overview
Adams County runs a single primary jail. The Adams County Detention Facility sits at 150 N. 19th Ave., Brighton, CO 80601, and is open 24 hours a day. Jail Chief Bill Dunning leads the Jail Division. The Jail Division page lists the major units in the building: Booking, Court Security, Civil Unit, Detectives, Transport, Bonding, Court Services, Programs, Jail Records, Supervised Release, and Technical Services. Rated capacity is not posted in the browsed ACSO content. Mark this as a research gap. The Vera Institute capacity chart for Adams County may carry a recent figure, but the value was not exposed in the public page text.
| Facility | Address | Phone | Rated Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams County Detention Facility | 150 N. 19th Ave., Brighton, CO 80601 | 303-654-1850 | Not published (research gap) |
Note: ACSO did not list rated capacity in browsed sources. Do not state overcrowding or under-capacity without a fresh number from the Sheriff's Office or the Vera Institute dataset.
Average Daily Population
Adams County average daily population, often called ADP, is not posted on the Sheriff's site in the browsed pages. ADP is the sum of jail counts on each day of a period divided by the number of days. The Vera Institute Adams County page shows ADP as a chart over time, but the live numeric value was not exposed in the page text. Use the Vera chart in person at trends.vera.org/state/CO/county/adams_county to read recent ADP, then verify with ACSO at 303-654-1850 before quoting it.
National context helps frame any local number. BJS reports that local jails in the United States held 664,200 persons at midyear 2023. That is close to the 2022 count and 9 percent lower than a decade earlier. ADP at the county level rises and falls with arrests, court speed, bond practice, and state prison transfer pace. A spike in district court filings or a slowdown in state prison intake can push the daily count higher even when arrest volume is flat.
Demographic Breakdown
Adams County jail demographic data is not posted on the ACSO public site in the browsed content. The Vera Institute Adams County page tracks total, sentenced, pretrial, rated capacity, rates per 100,000, female incarceration, racial disparities, and holds for other authorities. The numeric values inside those charts were not exposed in the page text, so a build-time figure should not be invented. For a current demographic snapshot, view the Vera charts in person or request data from the Sheriff's Office and the Records Unit at the Adams County Justice Center.
| Group | Source / Status |
|---|---|
| Female share of jail population | Vera tracks this for Adams County; live value not exposed in browsed text. |
| Racial disparity index | Vera tracks Black, Latino, white, and other rates per 100,000. |
| Holds for other authorities | Vera tracks share held for state, federal, or other counties. |
BJS reports that females made up 14 percent of the national jail population at midyear 2023. A county-level female share can drift above or below the national line; verify with the Vera dataset.
Pretrial vs Sentenced Population
Jail counts split into two main groups. Pretrial inmates are people held before a court has ruled on guilt. Sentenced inmates are people serving a short jail term after a plea or trial. The pretrial group is sensitive to bond rules, hearing speed, and pretrial release programs. The Adams County jail also holds people for other authorities, such as state prisons, federal agencies, or other Colorado counties. Adams County does not publish a current pretrial-to-sentenced split in browsed sources. Use the Vera Institute chart or request a current snapshot from ACSO at 303-654-1850.
| Status | Definition | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pretrial | Held before a court ruling; bond pending or denied. | Not published locally; tracked by Vera for Adams County. |
| Sentenced | Serving a short jail term after plea or trial. | Not published locally; tracked by Vera for Adams County. |
| Other authority holds | Held for state, federal, or other county. | Not published locally; tracked by Vera as "held for other authorities." |
Note: The Supervised Release unit inside the jail handles court-ordered pretrial supervision. Pretrial release counts are part of the picture and not always rolled into headline ADP.
Misdemeanor vs Felony Population
The Adams County jail holds both misdemeanor and felony inmates. The split tracks back to the two trial courts in the 17th Judicial District. County court handles traffic infractions, misdemeanors, civil cases under $25,000, small claims, protection orders, and felony complaints in the early stages. District court handles felony prosecutions, divorce, juvenile cases, probate, mental health cases, and large civil matters. Felony defendants who are denied bond or who cannot post bond stay at the Adams County Detention Facility while their district court case moves. Misdemeanor and traffic defendants tend to cycle through faster, often within hours or days.
In FY25 the 17th Judicial District saw 18,878 district court filings and 67,770 county court filings, for a total of 86,648 new case filings. That total is the highest of any judicial district in Colorado. The volume gives a sense of why the jail mix in Adams County may tilt at any given time toward pretrial misdemeanor defendants on short stays and pretrial felony defendants on longer stays. A precise charge-type share is not published in browsed sources.
National and State Context
National figures from BJS frame the local count. The BJS Jail Inmates in 2023 statistical tables report that local jails held 664,200 persons at midyear 2023. That is similar to midyear 2022 and 9 percent lower than a decade before. Females were 14 percent of the total at midyear 2023. The BJS web report is also published at bjs.ojp.gov/web-report/jail-inmates-2023-statistical-tables.
The BJS page links each table by topic. Look there for state-level and demographic detail. The Vera Institute then takes the BJS data and adds county-level trend charts. Together they give a free, plain-source way to put Adams County numbers in context without paying for an annual subscription.
BJS warns that local jails are different from state and federal prisons. A jail holds people for short stays. A prison holds people for longer sentences. The same person may move from jail to prison after a felony sentence, so jail data alone does not show the full custody picture.
Population Trends Over Time
Adams County population trends over time are best read on the Vera Institute Adams County page. Vera plots multi-year charts for total jail population, sentenced, pretrial, rates per 100,000, and women's incarceration. The most recent page update was February 9, 2026. Trends can shift fast in a busy district like the 17th. A jump in district court filings, a change in bond rules, or a backlog at a state prison can move the local jail count within a few months. Treat single-year figures with care and read the multi-year chart for the real picture.
Court and Probation Volume in the 17th Judicial District
Court and probation volume drive jail counts. The 17th Judicial District covers Adams and Broomfield Counties. The district's official 2026 overview reports 86,648 new case filings in FY25, the highest total in the state. The Probation Department had 158 employees in four office locations: Brighton, Westminster, Commerce City, and the Adams County Justice Center. FY25 probation data lists 1,352 pre-sentence investigations, 1,827 alcohol evaluations, 5,268 new adult probation cases, and 183 new juvenile probation cases. Active adult and juvenile probationers totaled 8,498 as of March 16, 2026.
Each line above touches the jail count. A high probation caseload means more probation violation hearings, more new arrests on warrants, and more short jail stays for sanction. A high new-filing count means more first appearances, more bond hearings, and more pretrial detentions. The 17th Judicial District also had 38 judicial officers in FY25: 17 district court judges, 9 county court judges, and 12 magistrates. Two district judges, one county judge, and one magistrate were assigned to Broomfield; the rest to Adams County.
Specialty Courts and Alternatives
Specialty courts shape the Adams County jail population by giving judges options other than jail. The 17th Judicial District's overview lists Family Treatment Court, adult Judicial District Recovery Court, Judicial District Women's Recovery Court, Veterans Treatment Court, the Bridges Wraparound Care Program, and the Competency Docket. The Competency Court began April 8, 2025 and serves Adams and Broomfield Counties. Chief Judge Kyle Seedorf oversees Competency Diversion and Competency Docket in Adams County. Judge Amanda Dewick oversees Broomfield.
Each program pulls a different group out of standard jail or prison tracks. Recovery Court works with adults whose charges link to substance use. Women's Recovery Court is gender-responsive for female participants. Veterans Treatment Court connects eligible veteran defendants with VA and community treatment. Competency Diversion routes some defendants needing competency restoration into a community program rather than a long jail wait. For more on case routing, see Adams County district court.
Searching for Adams County Inmate Records by Name
The data on this page is aggregate. Name lookups for the live roster run through Adams County inmate records. The ACSO inmate search uses first name and last name fields and returns current bookings at the Adams County Detention Facility. For post-release lookups, see released inmates.
Where the Data Comes From
Public jail data for Adams County comes from a small set of sources. The Sheriff's Office maintains the live roster at the Adams County Detention Facility, plus a public records hub at adamssheriffco.gov/community/public-records. The Vera Institute Incarceration Trends page at trends.vera.org/state/CO/county/adams_county gives a multi-year county view drawn from BJS Annual Survey of Jails and Census of Jails data. The Bureau of Justice Statistics publishes annual national reports such as Jail Inmates in 2023. The 17th Judicial District's 2026 overview adds court and probation context. Court opinions and federal cases are searchable on CourtListener, a free legal data portal.
CourtListener does not host jail population data, but it is a useful free site for tracking related court rulings, including federal cases out of the District of Colorado. Treat the Sheriff's Office as the source of record for any live count and treat BJS and Vera as the source of record for context and trend.