Monroe County Correctional Center Overview
The Monroe County Correctional Center, also called Monroe County Jail on sheriff pages, is operated by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. The jail is inside the Charlotte T. Zietlow Justice Center at 301 N. College Avenue in Bloomington. Sheriff Ruben Marte heads the Sheriff's Office, and the jail command contacts identified in the local research are Jail Commander Kyle Gibbons and Assistant Jail Commander Matthew Demmings.
The facility holds adult local custody for Monroe County arrests, court commitments, pretrial detainees, local sentenced offenders, holds, transports, and releases. It is not an Indiana Department of Correction prison. A person sentenced and transferred to state prison should be searched through IDOC rather than the county jail lookup path.
The Monroe County government Correctional Center page describes jail staff work that includes security and safety, admission and release of offenders, offender transports, services, activities, and programs. That source also notes the jail lobby location on the west side of the building.
The official county page is useful because it frames the facility as part of the Justice Center, not as a separate courthouse office or a state prison.
Monroe County Correctional Center Capacity and Population
Monroe County public materials report several jail capacity figures because physical beds, secure beds, operational capacity, and future planning projections measure different things. The county's new jail and justice facility page says the downtown jail was first constructed in 1984 with 128 beds and later expanded through renovation and remodeling to about 298 beds. A 2024 RQAW summary cited by the county gives a narrower operational picture: 258 secure beds and 206 operational capacity when classification needs are respected.
Those numbers should not be treated as contradictions. A jail may have more physical beds than usable operating capacity because staff must separate people by classification, gender, legal status, behavior, medical needs, mental-health needs, protective custody, and security level. Monroe County's planning materials connect that limitation to overcrowding, constitutional-care concerns, and the proposed replacement facility.
How to Look Up an Inmate at Monroe County Correctional Center
The official online path starts on the sheriff's jail page, which links users to VINELink / Indiana VINE for inmate location and release-notification registration. Monroe County does not publish a sheriff-hosted static roster table in the official sources reviewed. If the online search does not return a recent arrest, call the jail information line at (812) 349-2750 because booking feeds can lag behind intake.
The sheriff's jail page shows the local inmate information number, the VINELink locate-inmate path, the suspended in-person visitation notice, and the Justice Center address.
Use that sheriff page as the local starting point because it connects the Monroe County jail to the statewide custody-notification system while still giving the direct jail phone fallback.
- Open the Monroe County Sheriff's jail page and use the "Locate an inmate" link to VINELink / Indiana VINE.
- Search by a partial or complete last name, offender identification number, or offender case number when available.
- Confirm that the result relates to Monroe County local jail custody, not another Indiana county or a state prison.
- Use the jail information line at (812) 349-2750 if the arrest is recent, the spelling is uncertain, or the online search fails.
- Use IDOC for sentenced state-prison custody and MyCase for filed court charges after arrest.
Monroe County Correctional Center Address and Contact
The jail and Sheriff's Office share the Justice Center address, but visitor routing matters. The public jail lobby is on the west side of the building, in the alley behind the jail, about halfway down the alley. People navigating only to the street-facing Justice Center entrance may end up at the wrong door for jail business.
Monroe County Correctional Center
Charlotte T. Zietlow Justice Center
301 N. College Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47404
(812) 349-2750
Jail fax: (812) 349-2054
Email: sheriffoffice@co.monroe.in.us
Sheriff and Family Contacts
Sheriff: Ruben Marte
Administrative phone: (812) 349-2780
Records email: records1@co.monroe.in.us
Family/Inmate Liaison: Officer A. Hibbert
(812) 349-2740
ahibbert@co.monroe.in.us
Visiting Someone at Monroe County Correctional Center
In-person inmate visitation is suspended until further notice according to the sheriff's jail page. Video visitation is the documented family-visit path, and the research source identifies InmateSales as the video provider with the phone reference 1-877-998-5678. The official published text did not provide a weekly family-visit schedule, rate table, attorney-visit schedule, or detailed dress-code rule, so callers should confirm current instructions before arranging a visit.
| Visit Type | Status | How to Arrange | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-person inmate visit | Suspended until further notice | Not available under the sheriff notice | Do not travel to the jail expecting a walk-in inmate visit. |
| Video visit | Available through vendor path | InmateSales only; phone 1-877-998-5678 | Confirm schedule and rates with the vendor or jail. |
| Attorney or legal visit | Not published in reviewed official text | Call the jail or liaison | Do not assume family-video rules apply to legal visits. |
Mail, Phone, and Money at Monroe County Correctional Center
The official Monroe County sources reviewed did not publish a complete inmate mail rule page, commissary deposit fee table, lobby kiosk instruction, phone-rate schedule, or commissary spending limit. That absence matters because wrong-state Monroe County sources and generic jail directories often provide rules that do not belong to Monroe County, Indiana. Use the jail phone, the Family/Inmate Liaison, or the vendor contact before sending items or money.
| Service | Provider / Detail | Status in Official Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Mail questions | Officer A. Hibbert, (812) 349-2740, ahibbert@co.monroe.in.us | Mail rule page not found; liaison can help with mail delivery issues. |
| Phone / Video | InmateSales / CPC reference, 1-877-998-5678 | Video path found; full rate table not found. |
| Money Deposit | Confirm with jail or vendor before paying | No official Monroe County commissary fee table found. |
Booking and Intake at Monroe County Correctional Center
Monroe County public pages do not publish a complete booking manual, but the facility duties support the basic local workflow. After an arrest or court commitment, the person is brought to the Correctional Center for admission and release processing. Jail staff handle security, admission, release, offender transports, classification, court security, and related correctional responsibilities. During intake, jail records are created, property is handled under jail policy, and the person is classified for custody or release processing.
Booking information may appear before a court case is fully visible. The Monroe County Prosecutor receives law-enforcement reports and files charges where appropriate, so arrest allegations and filed court charges can differ. Use VINELink or the jail phone for current custody, then use Indiana MyCase for court events, hearings, filed charges, and public docket information after the case is opened.
Records Requests and Public Access
For sheriff-held jail records that are not available through the VINELink path, contact the Monroe County Sheriff's Records Division at (812) 349-2780, fax (812) 349-2828, or records1@co.monroe.in.us. A specific request should include the person's full name, date of birth if known, approximate arrest or booking date, arresting agency, case number or booking number if available, and the specific record sought.
Indiana's Access to Public Records Act, IC 5-14-3, supports public inspection and copying of records unless a law or rule makes the record confidential or permits withholding. Jail, arrest, and law-enforcement records can have limits for investigatory material, juvenile matters, sealed or expunged records, medical or mental-health information, victim information, and security-sensitive jail details. Court charges should be checked through MyCase or the Monroe County Clerk records page rather than treated as a real-time inmate locator.
Directions and Visitor Planning
Use 301 N. College Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47404 for navigation, then look for the jail lobby in the west-side alley behind the Justice Center. The Sheriff's Office operates 24 hours a day, but administrative public visit needs are handled Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed weekends and major holidays. The sheriff's directions page recommends calling before visiting when possible.
Official pages reviewed did not publish a dedicated visitor parking lot, parking rate, parking validation rule, or Bloomington Transit route instruction for the jail. Downtown Bloomington traffic and parking can vary during court days, Indiana University events, and weekday business hours. Because in-person inmate visitation is suspended, travel to the jail should be limited to confirmed administrative, records, legal, or non-emergency assistance needs.
About Monroe County Correctional Center
The current jail building was constructed in 1984 with 128 beds and later expanded through renovation and remodeling. Monroe County's official new jail and justice facility page describes a long-running facility debate tied to overcrowding, building age, classification limits, accessibility, medical and mental-health needs, and constitutional-care concerns. A 2008 ACLU class action alleged constitutional-rights violations tied to overcrowding and conditions, and Monroe County entered a 2009 private settlement agreement with the ACLU of Indiana.
The county's new jail and justice facility page reports the replacement project history, capacity studies, ACLU settlement background, and the 2026 project status, including that the project was effectively on hold after funding for the North Park property purchase did not move forward.
The project background does not change the current booking location. Monroe County arrests and local court commitments continue to route through the downtown Monroe County Correctional Center unless the person is released, transferred, or sentenced to another custody system.
Note: Confirm custody, video visit status, mail rules, and payment instructions with the jail before making plans or sending funds.