Broward County Inmate Population Data

How to Look Up Broward County Jail Population Data

The Broward Sheriff's Department of Detention page is the official source for the system-level numbers. The agency states that BSO operates the 13th largest local jail system in the United States and is the second largest to have earned national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections. The page lists about 44,117 inmates booked each year. The 2026 detention message gives an annual processing figure of about 40,000 individuals through Central Intake.

For facility-level numbers, the BSO facility pages publish current capacity and role. The Department of Detention message and the BSO sheriff's-message page hold the rolling updates. For statewide and national context, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Vera Institute publish jail population reports that include Florida.

Broward Jail System Size

Broward runs one of the country's largest local jail systems. The Sheriff is the sole jail authority for Broward County. The Department of Detention oversees four detention facilities plus the Central Intake Bureau, which is the booking and release hub.

• 13th largest local jail system in the United States by published BSO ranking.
• About 44,117 inmates booked each year per the BSO Department of Detention page.
• About 40,000 individuals processed each year per the 2026 detention message.
• Four detention facilities plus Central Intake.
• Accreditation by ACA, NCCHC, and FCAC in recent audits per BSO statements.

Broward County Jail Capacity Overview

Facility capacity is published per facility. The table below sums the facility-specific published figures from BSO pages. An older PREA report referenced a rated capacity of 5,144, so the 5,086 figure here reflects the facility-page sum.

Annual Bookings and Central Intake

Central Intake at the Main Jail is the booking and release hub for every Broward law enforcement agency. The bureau lists about 40,000 arrests processed each year in the 2026 detention message. The Department of Detention overview lists about 44,117 inmates booked annually. The two numbers reflect overlapping but slightly different counts: the higher figure includes all inmates booked through the system, the lower figure reflects individuals processed in a recent year.

Central Intake handles property intake, medical screening, fingerprinting, photographing, and a warrants check during booking. Approximately 255 sworn and civilian staff serve the bureau, supporting the high volume.

Pretrial vs Sentenced Population in Broward

Most Broward county jail inmates are pretrial. Main Jail handles inmates awaiting trial or sentencing, or serving terms of less than one year. Conte and Paul Rein hold mostly pretrial inmates as well. The Florida Department of Corrections receives anyone sentenced to more than one year.

Demographic and Custody Breakdown

Broward's facility pages identify the population role of each facility rather than a full demographic breakdown. Main Jail is all-male. Paul Rein and North Broward house both male and female inmates separately. North Broward's primary mission is mentally ill, medically infirm, and special-needs custody, including protective custody female offenders and female juveniles. The Department of Detention page also describes addiction and mental health as common conditions among incoming inmates.

For statewide demographic context, the Florida Department of Corrections publishes annual demographic and offense breakdowns for state prison inmates. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics also publishes local jail population reports. Broward-specific demographic data should be confirmed in the most recent BSO public-safety coordinating council jail population report when a chart-level breakdown is needed.

Mental Health and Medical Population

North Broward Bureau is the BSO special-needs facility. The Sheriff identifies its primary mission as housing and managing mentally ill, medically infirm, and special-needs inmates. The 2026 detention message describes the RISE Program, which delivers individualized services within a designated jail unit, reduces treatment delays linked to waiting for state hospital beds, reduces transportation risks, and helps speed court proceedings.

Paul Rein houses pregnant inmates and runs an on-site OB-GYN clinic. Specialty diets are available. Main Jail holds an infirmary as part of the Central Intake medical screening process. BSO lists mental health counseling, medical services, and substance abuse programming among the system-wide programs offered to inmates.

Programs and Classification

BSO publishes a long list of programs that affect where Broward inmates sit within the system. The list includes Adult Basic Education, Alcoholics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, commissary, GED preparation and testing, juvenile programs, library services, life skills, medical services, mental health counseling, Narcotics Anonymous, pre-release planning, religious services and counseling, STD training, substance abuse programming, veterans group, and work release programs. Conte specifically offers 30-day substance abuse and educational programming. Paul Rein lists Substance Abuse and Life Skills programs.

Classification at Central Intake places each inmate into the appropriate facility and housing unit based on sex, security level, medical, mental health, protective custody, and program needs. The 2026 detention message states that more than 1,200 incarcerated individuals completed programs in the prior fiscal year.

National and State Context

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics tracks local jail population, average daily population, admissions, and incarceration rates per 100,000 residents. Florida figures are reported alongside national figures in BJS jail census reports. The Vera Institute publishes county-level jail data that includes Broward in many statewide tables. For comparison, the table below outlines the framework used when state and national rates are placed next to Broward's data.

Note: county-specific rate-per-100,000 comparisons should pull the most recent BJS Census of Jails and the most recent Broward public safety coordinating council report.

Population Trends Over Time

Official Broward jail-population trend tables were not fully located in the inspected sources for the 2025 to 2026 cycle, but the system's stable high volume is documented. The BSO Department of Detention page records about 44,117 annual bookings. The 2026 detention message records about 40,000 individuals processed each year. A 2021 public-safety coordinating council jail population PDF appeared in Broward search results, which is the kind of document used for a charted multi-year trend.

The 2026 detention message also notes that more than 1,200 incarcerated individuals completed programs in the prior fiscal year. Annual budget documents for BSO list adopted detention budgets by facility, which is the official source for cost trends.

Searching for Broward County Inmate Records by Name

The page covers Broward County jail population data. For individual inmate searches by name, the path is the Broward inmate records page, which walks through the BSO Arrest Search and the Clerk case search. Population data and name lookups are two different tools that draw from the same Sheriff system.

Where the Broward Jail Population Data Comes From

All facility numbers on this page come from official BSO facility pages, the Department of Detention overview, and the 2026 detention message. The annual booking total comes from the Department of Detention page. The 5,086 facility-page total is the sum of the four facility pages. State and national comparisons should be drawn from the BJS Census of Jails and the most recent FDC population report. For sheriff and jail context, see Broward inmate records and released inmates.