Walker County Commission Approves Walker County & Cullman County State Inmate Agreement

JASPER, Ala. – On September 8, the Walker County Commission approved an agreement that will assist Walker County Jail’s overcrowding issue by allowing state inmates to be transferred from the Walker County Jail to the Cullman County Jail.

The Walker County Jail is currently housing 355 inmates, which is 75 inmates over the jail’s capacity of 280. Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith says he is doing everything he can to solve the overcrowding issue. “The problem is that the state is not taking state inmates like they were before the pandemic,” he said. “Because of the pandemic, the states are only taking 5 inmates per county each month. When you take those 5 inmates, there’s always 5 to 10 more that replace them.”

The Walker County Jail holds state inmates for 30 days before transferring them into state custody. If the county jail holds a state inmate beyond 30 days, the state will be required to reimburse the county jail $28 per day if passed through the legislature. There are currently 50-60 state inmates in Walker County. Once these inmates are transferred to Cullman, Cullman County Jail will receive the reimbursement from the state. 

“We are trying to get ahead of the problem, so if the $28 a day is approved, we will go ahead and move forward in getting these inmates moved to Cullman County,” said Smith. 

The Walker County Jail will still be above capacity even after the transfer of state inmates to Cullman. Sheriff Smith is hopeful the county jail will continue to be able to lower these numbers in the future.