Scott County Jail Overview
Scott County Jail is operated by the Scott County Sheriff's Office under Sheriff Derick Wheetley. The sheriff page places the Sheriff's Office at 131 S. New Madrid Street in Benton and describes the jail as open 24/7. The jail is the local intake and custody point for Scott County arrests, warrant arrests, bond holds, short local sentences, and people waiting for court action or transfer. No separate Scott County work-release annex, medical jail, federal detention facility, ICE detention center, or Missouri prison was found in the county research.
The building description is unusually local. The Sheriff's Office is directly behind the Scott County Courthouse and attached to the north side of the Judicial Building. The jail is across Tywappity Street south of the Judicial Building and faces New Madrid Street. That matters because court, clerk, sheriff, and jail business can use nearby but different doors, offices, and mailing addresses around the Benton government center.
The Scott County Sheriff's Office page shows the jail location note, sheriff contact block, and inmate-lookup FAQ used for the custody channels on this page.
The county page confirms that the jail, the sheriff contact numbers, and the inmate-lookup options belong to the same local custody system.
Scott County Jail Capacity
Scott County does not publish a current official rated capacity or daily jail count on the sheriff or jail pages reviewed for the research file. The Vera Incarceration Trends county CSV listed a historical jail rated capacity of 163 in 2019 and a total jail population of 148 that year. Because this is a historical dataset rather than a current county notice, it should be used as capacity context, not as a live headcount.
Local jail population has been a public-government topic. A January 2025 Scott County Commission agenda listed a collaborative meeting on prosecuting process and jail population with the sheriff, prosecutor, and circuit judge. May 2025 local news reported a Justice Center project at the same New Madrid Street government complex, with added and renovated court, clerk, sheriff, and office space.
Search Scott County Jail Roster
The official roster path starts at the Scott County Jail Information page, which links to the Public Safety Cloud JailTracker roster for Scott County, Missouri. The sheriff FAQ also names MOVANS, a free mobile app, and direct jail phone contact as ways to find out whether a person is in jail. The mobile app should be mentioned only as an official-page option because the captured page text did not expose a verified app name or store link.
- Open the Scott County jail information page and use its Inmate Roster link to avoid look-alike sites.
- Let the JailTracker app load in a modern browser, with JavaScript enabled, and complete any captcha shown.
- Search by last name first, then add first name or other profile details if too many results appear.
- Open the person profile and compare booking number, charges, bond fields, case details, holds, and status.
- If no result appears, call Scott County Jail, search MOVANS, check Case.net, or use MODOC, BOP, and ICE locators based on custody type.
Lookup scope: Scott County JailTracker is for county jail custody. Sentenced Missouri prison custody belongs in MODOC, and federal or immigration custody belongs in separate federal systems.
Scott County Jail Contact
Use the jail and sheriff numbers for custody confirmation, jail records questions, and practical information before visiting. The sheriff page states law enforcement is a continual 24-hour responsibility, while public office business hours are Monday through Friday during the workday. Court record requests and bond postings may route to the Circuit Clerk rather than jail staff, depending on the task.
Scott County Jail
131 S. New Madrid Street
Benton, MO 63736
573-545-3525 / 573-471-3530
Jail operations open 24/7
Scott County Sheriff
P.O. Box 279
Benton, MO 63736
Office fax 573-545-3527; jail fax 573-545-4128
Office hours Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Who Scott County Jail Holds
Scott County Jail holds adults in the county custody stream. That includes people arrested by the Sheriff's Office, Sikeston Department of Public Safety, and other local law-enforcement agencies; people arrested on warrants; people held while bond is being reviewed or posted; sentenced county inmates; and people waiting for transfer. It is not the public locator for every person with a Scott County court case.
| Status | Meaning at Scott County Jail |
|---|---|
| Pretrial detainee | Held before final disposition while charges, bond, or court dates are pending. |
| Sentenced county inmate | Serving a local sentence or waiting for transfer after sentencing. |
| Warrant or hold | Held because a warrant, court order, probation/parole issue, detainer, or another agency matter affects release. |
| Transferred inmate | No longer on the county roster if moved to MODOC, federal, immigration, or another jail custody path. |
Visit Scott County Jail
Scott County's official pages did not publish a full in-person visitation schedule, video visit schedule, visitor approval rule, dress code, item list, child-visitor rule, or mail rule sheet in the research file. That gap should be stated plainly. Before traveling to Benton, call the jail and confirm whether visits are in person, remote, attorney-only, cancelled for housing status, or subject to holiday or lockdown changes.
| Visitation Item | Scott County Official Finding |
|---|---|
| In-person schedule | Not located in official county text reviewed. |
| Remote or video schedule | Not located in official county text reviewed. |
| Visitor approval list | Not located in official county text reviewed. |
| Photo ID rule | Not published for jail visits; bring government photo ID and verify by phone. |
| Entry details | No official prohibited-item or locker list located; call before arrival. |
Note: The county jail is open 24/7 for custody operations, but that does not mean public visitation is available at all times.
Scott County Jail Money
Scott County publishes commissary and deposit information through its jail information page. Funds can be deposited through Access Corrections and Keefe Commissary. The county says online debit or credit deposits, lobby kiosk payments, and over-the-phone payments are available, with a nominal processing fee. It also says funds are credited about 30 minutes after the transaction is complete. The jail lobby kiosk is available 24 hours a day and accepts cash, credit, and debit transactions.
| Service | Provider / Detail |
|---|---|
| Online deposits | Access Corrections / Keefe Commissary, debit or credit card, nominal processing fee. |
| Lobby kiosk | Located in the jail lobby, available 24 hours a day, accepts cash, credit, and debit. |
| Telephone payment | County says phone payments are available, but exact number and fee schedule were not posted. |
| Commissary items | Access Catalog ProgramID 479 is used for commissary item ordering. |
| Mail rules | No official mail format, photo rule, book rule, or legal-mail instruction was located. |
The Scott County jail information page is the county source for roster and commissary deposit links.
The same county page connects the roster, inmate money, commissary, and phone-minute resources used by families and records searchers.
Booking at Scott County Jail
No Scott County page publishes a detailed booking walk-through, so the safe description is based on the county agencies and Missouri custody process in the research file. After a local arrest, jail staff can perform identity checks, property inventory, search, fingerprints, booking photo capture when required, warrant and case checks, medical or mental-health screening, bond and hold review, and housing classification. The county roster update timing was not posted.
Bond connects the jail to the Circuit Clerk. During regular business hours, the Scott County Circuit Clerk says bond for someone in the jail is posted at the clerk's office. After-hours postings can be done at Scott County Jail. For surety bond, the sheriff FAQ says a list of approved bonding companies and agents is posted in the jail front lobby, and state licensing information is available through the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance.
Scott County Justice Center Context
Recent local reporting described a new and improved Scott County Justice Center project at 131 S. New Madrid Street. The reports said the work included renovation and additions for the judicial building, sheriff's office, court and clerk offices, and upgraded public facilities, with completion expected in spring 2026. The research treats those reports as local context, not as official jail capacity or current inmate count numbers.
The jail's location near the courthouse and Judicial Building also affects record routing. A custody question goes to the jail or sheriff. A formal court record request goes to the Circuit Clerk. A charging-status or victim-notification question may involve the prosecutor, Case.net, or MOVANS. Using the right office saves time and avoids asking jail staff for records they do not hold.
Note: Confirm custody, visitation, mail, and deposit rules with Scott County Jail before traveling or sending money.