Bernalillo County Inmate Population Overview
The Bernalillo County inmate population is mostly the population held at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center, often called MDC. MDC is the county adult detention center for Albuquerque and the rest of Bernalillo County. It holds adults booked after arrests by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office, Albuquerque Police Department, New Mexico State Police, municipal agencies, and courts that remand a person to local custody. It is not a state prison, federal prison, or ICE detention center.
The count changes for more than one reason. New bookings add people after arrest, warrants, probation or parole holds, and court remands. Releases remove people after bond, recognizance, time served, dismissal, transfer, or sentencing. A sentenced felony prisoner may leave the Bernalillo County jail system and move into New Mexico Corrections Department custody. A federal pretrial defendant may be housed in a contracted jail before BOP locator data appears. That is why a complete Bernalillo County inmate search uses the MDC custody list first, then New Mexico courts, NMCD, BOP, ICE, and VINE when the facts point outside the county jail.
Bernalillo County Inmate Population Statistics
The strongest current population source is the UNM Institute for Social Research and New Mexico Sentencing Commission analysis of MDC as of June 30, 2025. That report counted 1,776 people in custody at MDC. A 2025 New Mexico legislative handout described MDC as about 600,000 square feet and reported an average daily population of about 1,850. Older New Mexico Sentencing Commission material lists a historical design capacity of 2,236 beds after the 2006 expansion, while local court and county materials often use 1,950 as the operational cap.
| Measure | Figure | Source and Date |
|---|---|---|
| MDC in-custody snapshot | 1,776 | UNM ISR/NMSC analysis, June 30, 2025 |
| Average daily population | About 1,850 | 2025 New Mexico Legislature MDC handout |
| Operational cap used in reporting | 1,950 | 2017 MDC monthly report and later local materials |
| Historical design capacity | 2,236 beds | UNM/NMSC historical analysis after 2006 addition |
| April 2017 bookings and releases | 2,106 bookings; 2,072 releases | April 2017 BCMDC monthly report |
The official MDC page is also a useful navigation source. The county overview page links to the custody and release lists, while the main MDC site links to visits, mail, money, programs, and facility information. The public numbers should be read as dated snapshots. They are not a live count of the jail floor.
The county's official MDC home page shows the service routes used for custody, release, visits, mail, and money:
Open the official MDC home page before using a commercial search site.
The screenshot matters because Bernalillo County routes jail users through its own MDC pages before they reach the custody and release list.
Bernalillo County Inmate Population Trends
The UNM June 30 snapshot table shows the Bernalillo County inmate population rising after the lower FY20 and FY21 counts. The FY25 snapshot of 1,776 was up 6.6 percent from 1,666 in FY24 and up 12.1 percent from the FY15 snapshot of 1,584. The report links the change to more serious charge mixes, long unsentenced stays, case-management timing, warrants, and probation or parole issues rather than a simple one-cause explanation.
| Fiscal Year | MDC Snapshot Count | Note |
|---|---|---|
| FY15 | 1,584 | Baseline in the UNM long-term table |
| FY20 | 1,192 | Lower count during reform and COVID-era context |
| FY21 | 1,102 | Lowest recent snapshot listed in the research |
| FY22 | 1,386 | Population began rising again |
| FY23 | 1,511 | Continued increase |
| FY24 | 1,666 | Up before FY25 |
| FY25 | 1,776 | Up 6.6 percent from FY24 |
Length of stay is part of the trend. The FY25 point-in-time average confined length of stay for all bookings was 127.7 days. First-degree felony cases had an average confined length of stay of 334.2 days, second-degree felony cases averaged 208.6 days, and fourth-degree felony cases averaged 72.9 days. Those numbers show why Bernalillo County jail population pressure can grow even if daily bookings do not spike.
Bernalillo County Inmate Population Makeup
The FY25 snapshot shows that MDC was heavily a pretrial and felony-charge jail. UNM counted 1,178 people with at least one felony charge, or 66.3 percent of the 1,776 people in custody. About 373 people, or 21.0 percent, had been sentenced on at least one case. The research also notes 385 people in the felony probation violation category and 127 people in misdemeanor or petty misdemeanor categories.
- Felony charge share: 1,178 people had at least one felony charge in the June 30, 2025 snapshot.
- Sentenced status: about 373 people had been sentenced on one or more cases.
- Probation violations: felony probation violations accounted for 385 people in the FY25 snapshot table.
- Age detail: captured FY25 lines include 600 people ages 35 to 44, 239 ages 45 to 54, 80 ages 55 to 64, and 21 ages 65 or older.
Those categories are not the same as convictions. A person can be booked on an arrest allegation, held for a warrant, remain unsentenced, or wait for a felony case to move from Metropolitan Court to District Court. A jail roster entry may help identify custody status. The formal case record is still the source for filed charges, court events, dispositions, and conviction status.
Bernalillo County Jail Capacity
MDC capacity is a local point of confusion because older and newer materials use different numbers. Historical research says the new jail began receiving inmates in December 2002, had a design capacity of 2,048 beds, and added 188 beds in December 2006. That brought historical design capacity to 2,236 beds. Current public discussion often uses 1,950 as an operational cap. The build should treat those as different concepts, not competing live counts.
MDC opened in 2003 and was jointly managed by Albuquerque and Bernalillo County until 2006. It has been fully managed by Bernalillo County since then. The 2025 legislative handout describes the jail as one of the largest county jails in the United States and emphasizes its medical, mental-health, detox, and education roles. Those functions affect staffing, classification, housing, and movement inside the facility. They also explain why capacity is not just a bed count.
Laws for Bernalillo County Jail Records
New Mexico public-access law supports inspection of many jail and court records, but it does not make every detail public online. The Inspection of Public Records Act, commonly called IPRA, starts with broad access. Specific laws and court rules can still limit medical, juvenile, sealed, expunged, safety-sensitive, or law-enforcement material. For Bernalillo County inmate population records, the agency that holds the record matters.
Key Statutes:
NMSA 1978, Section 14-2-1 gives every person the right to inspect public records unless a legal exception applies.
NMSA 1978, Section 14-2-6 defines public records broadly for materials held by or for a public body.
NMSA 1978, Section 29-3-8 requires booking facilities to collect biometric identifying information, including photographs, fingerprints, and palm prints, for specified arrests before release.
NMSA 1978, Section 24-11-5 supports death-reporting rules for violent, sudden, untimely, or unknown-cause deaths, including custody contexts.
For a current MDC custody question, use MDC first. For a BCSO arrest report, use the sheriff's Administrative Services process. For charges, use New Mexico courts. For a booking photo or jail administrative record not shown online, use Bernalillo County IPRA or MDC contact routing. Note: a public-record law gives a route to ask for records; it does not guarantee that every field will be shown on a public roster.
Search Bernalillo County Inmates
The official online channel is Bernalillo County's MDC custody, arrest, and release web application. The visible terms page says the data is for reference only, commercial use is prohibited, and users must confirm accuracy. During research, the roster required a terms agreement and Cloudflare Turnstile challenge before the search interface could be viewed, so unsupported profile-field claims should be avoided.
- Open the official MDC custody, arrest, and release web application in a normal browser session.
- Read the terms and complete the required browser challenge.
- Use the custody list for a current MDC inmate and the release list for recent release context.
- If the person is not found, call MDC, check VINE, and search NMCD, BOP, or ICE if another custody system may apply.
- Use court records for formal charges because booking allegations can change after prosecutor review.
The county overview page that leads users to custody and release lists is shown below:
Open the MDC custody and release overview page for the county route to the public lists.
The county page is useful when the direct custody-list URL changes or the roster gate is difficult to reach.
Bernalillo County Roster Access Fields
The research could inspect only the public gate to the MDC application, not the full search screen behind Turnstile. The accurate field inventory is therefore a gate inventory, not a promise about name, date-of-birth, charge, or mugshot fields. If the search screen shows more options in a live browser, use the options shown there and verify any match with MDC.
| Field or Control | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terms agreement / I Agree | Button after challenge | Yes | The button appears after successful Turnstile verification. |
| Cloudflare Turnstile | Anti-bot challenge | Yes | Required before the public roster interface can be viewed. |
| Return URL | Hidden form value | System | Returns the user to the custody-list path after verification. |
The roster terms page is not a court record. It is a custody reference point. A person should not be treated as convicted based on a roster listing, and release should be checked with MDC or VINE when timing matters.
Bernalillo County Custody vs State Prison
Bernalillo County, New Mexico Corrections Department, BOP, ICE, and VINE each answer a different inmate-search question. A fresh local arrest normally starts with MDC. A sentenced state prisoner appears in the NMCD locator after transfer or supervision data reaches the state system. A federal defendant may be in U.S. Marshals custody before BOP has a sentenced-inmate record. An immigration detainee is searched through ICE ODLS, not the county jail roster.
| Custody Type | Best Starting Point | What It Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Current county jail custody | MDC custody and release lists | Adults held at Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center |
| Sentenced state prisoner or supervision | NMCD Offender Search | State prison, probation, and parole records |
| Federal sentenced inmate | BOP Inmate Locator | Federal inmates from 1982 to present |
| Immigration detention | ICE Online Detainee Locator System | Adults in ICE custody or CBP custody longer than 48 hours |
| Release notification | New Mexico VINE | Custody status and notification by online portal or phone |
Bernalillo County Court and Warrants
Jail records and court records separate after arrest. MDC may show custody status, while New Mexico Case Lookup is the public electronic court-record portal. Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court handles misdemeanors, petty misdemeanors, felony first appearances, and preliminary examination hearings. Second Judicial District Court handles felony cases after indictment or bind-over. The prosecutor can decline, amend, reduce, add, or reclassify charges after booking.
Warrants are another route into the Bernalillo County inmate population. The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office runs the WITS warrant search at BCSO WarrantInterWITS. It offers search modes by name, warrant type, and warrant year. BCSO warns that deputies do not call to demand payment for a warrant. A warrant can also create a hold that prevents release even if a new-case bond is paid.
Bernalillo County Detention Facilities
The adult facility map resolves to one Bernalillo County facility page. Albuquerque has processing and holding points, and the county operates a Youth Services Center for juveniles, but adult public jail roster traffic points to MDC. State prisons, federal facilities, and ICE facilities relevant to New Mexico are external locator channels, not Bernalillo County adult facility pages.
- Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center - the county adult jail for pretrial detainees, local sentenced misdemeanor inmates, warrants, probation or parole violators, and people awaiting release or transfer.
- Booking
- The intake step that creates a jail custody record after arrest or court remand.
- Detainer
- A hold or request from another agency that may affect release from MDC.
- Remand
- A court order sending a person into custody.
- NMCD
- New Mexico Corrections Department, the state prison, probation, and parole agency.
Bernalillo County Inmate Population FAQ
How large is the Bernalillo County inmate population?
UNM's June 30, 2025 analysis counted 1,776 people in custody at MDC. A 2025 legislative handout described the average daily population as about 1,850. Those are dated figures, not a live roster count.
Where does a Bernalillo County inmate search start?
Start with the official MDC custody and release lists. If the person is not shown, try the release list, call MDC, register or search through VINE, and check NMCD, BOP, or ICE if transfer or outside custody is possible.
Does the county roster prove a conviction?
No. A roster entry is a custody record. It may reflect booking or arrest information, while filed charges, dispositions, and convictions must be checked in New Mexico court records.
Is the BernalilloCo Sheriff app an inmate roster?
No roster feature was documented in the app-store research. The app is described for anonymous tips, crime alerts, and agency web or social content.