Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center Overview
Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center, or MDC, is operated by Bernalillo County government. It is a county adult jail, not a sheriff-run prison, state prison, federal prison, or ICE facility. BCSO remains important for arrests, warrants, and reports, but the jail itself is managed as the county Metropolitan Detention Center. People arrested by BCSO, Albuquerque Police Department, New Mexico State Police, local agencies, or courts may be booked into MDC when adult local custody is ordered.
MDC opened in 2003. County FAQ material says it was jointly managed by the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County until 2006 and has been fully managed by Bernalillo County since then. Legislative material describes the facility as about 600,000 square feet and a major direct-supervision jail with medical, mental-health, detox, and education functions. Bernalillo County announced Steven Kai Smith as the new MDC warden in April 2024, and later county news refers to Warden Steven K. Smith in operational updates.
The official MDC home page shows the main facility services:
Open the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center home page for custody, release, visits, mail, and money links.
The county page is the best starting point because MDC policies and service links can change.
Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center Population
MDC is one of the largest county jails in the United States in local materials. The historical design capacity was 2,236 beds after a 2006 expansion, based on older UNM and New Mexico Sentencing Commission material. Current reporting often uses an operational population cap of 1,950. A 2025 legislative handout reported an average daily population of about 1,850, and UNM's June 30, 2025 jail-population analysis counted 1,776 people in custody at MDC.
| Population Item | Figure | Source Context |
|---|---|---|
| Average daily population | About 1,850 | 2025 New Mexico Legislature MDC handout |
| Snapshot population | 1,776 | UNM ISR/NMSC analysis, June 30, 2025 |
| FY24 to FY25 change | +6.6 percent | UNM snapshot, 1,666 to 1,776 |
| People with at least one felony charge | 1,178 | UNM FY25 snapshot |
Who MDC Holds
MDC holds adult pretrial detainees, people serving local misdemeanor sentences, people held on warrants, probation and parole violators, and people awaiting court, release, transfer, or other agency action. It is the adult local-custody facility for Bernalillo County. It is not the same as NMCD state prison, BOP federal custody, or ICE detention. The youth services center is a juvenile custody setting and is outside the adult inmate-population page set.
- Pretrial detainees: people held after arrest or court remand while cases are pending.
- Local sentenced inmates: people serving short local sentences in county custody.
- Warrant or hold cases: people held for bench warrants, arrest warrants, probation or parole holds, or other detainers.
- Transfer cases: people waiting for state, federal, other-county, or other agency movement.
Look Up MDC Inmates
Use the official MDC custody, release, and arrest web application for current local custody. The app is gated by terms and a browser challenge. It states that information is for reference only, commercial use is prohibited, and users must confirm accuracy. If the roster does not find the person, do not infer that the person is free. Check the release list, call MDC, use VINE, and search NMCD, BOP, or ICE if transfer or outside custody is possible.
- Open the official MDC custody-list application.
- Read the terms, complete the Turnstile challenge, and continue to the roster controls.
- Use the custody list for current MDC inmates and the release list for recent release context.
- Call MDC at (505) 839-8700 when online status, bond, release, or notification details are unclear.
- Use New Mexico Case Lookup for formal charges because booking allegations can change after prosecutor review.
MDC Address and Contact
The official county location page identifies MDC's address and main phone. Research snippets list administrative office hours as Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Intake and custody operations are jail functions, but a separate public booking-counter schedule was not located in official pages reviewed. Call before visiting for records, property, money, mail, or visit issues.
Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center
100 Deputy Dean Miera Dr. SW
Albuquerque, NM 87151
(505) 839-8700
Administrative offices: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The county location page is shown below:
Open the MDC location page for the facility address and phone route.
Use the location page rather than third-party jail directories when confirming address and public-office information.
Visit Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center
MDC has official pages for video visits and visit/phone upgrades. The research found a remote video charge of $0.25 per minute and a 30-minute maximum from official county material. Exact scheduling fields, on-site video rules, and professional visit details were not fully captured, so the official visit page should control before travel or scheduling.
| Visit Item | Known Detail | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Remote video rate | $0.25 per minute | Verify on the current official video-visits page. |
| Remote video length | 30-minute maximum | Confirm scheduling rules before booking. |
| Visit scheduling | Official MDC video-visits page and vendor portal | Use the current county link. |
| ID and screening | Government-issued ID should be expected | Confirm entry rules and do not bring contraband. |
The official video-visits page is shown in the screenshot below:
Open MDC video visit information before scheduling a remote visit.
The county page is the best source for visit length, charges, and current visit process.
MDC Mail, Phone, and Money
MDC mail and money rules are unusually specific. Bernalillo County announced in 2025 that MDC no longer accepts physical print materials for inmates and moved regular mail to a digital scanning system through ViaPath Technologies. Regular mail uses the Phoenix, Maryland processing address shown in official material. Legal mail, internal education materials, and approved documents continue physically under county-announced exceptions.
| Service | Detail | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Regular mail | Inmate name and inmate number, P.O. Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131 | Verify current mail format first. |
| Print materials | No longer accepted physically under the 2025 change | Legal and approved exceptions differ. |
| In-facility deposits | MDC is not currently accepting inmate-money deposits at the facility | Use official money and care-package routes. |
| Phone account | ConnectNetwork lists AdvancePay phone service | Check vendor terms and rates. |
MDC Booking and Court Path
Booking at MDC follows arrest, warrant arrest, or court remand. Intake can include identity checks, property inventory, biometric collection, medical and mental-health screening, classification, and housing assignment. New Mexico law requires booking facilities to collect biometric identifying information, including photographs, fingerprints, and palm prints, for specified arrests before release.
After booking, the court path separates from the jail record. Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court handles misdemeanors, petty misdemeanors, felony first appearances, and preliminary examinations. Second Judicial District Court handles felony cases after indictment or bind-over. The DA can file charges that differ from booking allegations. For formal charges, use New Mexico Case Lookup and court-copy routes.
MDC Programs and Conditions
Official county navigation documents MDC programs and service areas such as the Community Custody Program, Gordon Bernell Charter School, PREA information, video visitation, inmate mail, inmate money, care packages, and phone upgrades. Legislative material also describes MDC as handling medical, mental-health, detox, and education needs. Those statements should not be read as a promise of a specific service for a specific inmate. Contact MDC for urgent medical, mental-health, or safety concerns.
Recent county items include the 2024 selection of Warden Steven Kai Smith, 2024 erroneous-release investigation updates, the 2025 digital-mail change, 2025 release-scam warnings, and 2026 in-custody-death notices on the MDC news index. Death-in-custody information should be handled with dated official sources and plain language.
Note: Confirm custody status, visit status, and mail or money rules directly with MDC before traveling or sending funds.