Columbia County Jail Inmate Lookup

Columbia County Jail Overview

Columbia County Jail is operated by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office at 901 Port Avenue in St. Helens. Official sheriff materials describe it as the county's local correctional facility for people awaiting trial or sentencing, people serving misdemeanor sentences under one year, local offenders from Columbia County Circuit Court, Columbia County Justice Court, St. Helens Municipal Court, and Scappoose Municipal Court, and people temporarily held before transfer to another custody system.

The facility is also a federal detention partner. The sheriff's jail funding material and the U.S. Marshals Service agreement identify Columbia County Jail as a place where USMS detainees may be held while awaiting federal trial, BOP designation or transport, or immigration-status or deportation proceedings. That custody mix matters when reading a roster entry. A person can be physically housed in the county jail while a federal hold, ODOC hold, probation sanction, parole sanction, or post-prison supervision matter controls part of the case.

The sheriff's jail page says the jail was built in 2000, has 258 physical beds, and averages 180 inmates per day. Columbia County Board Order 5-2025 adds a separate operating limit after the failed 2024 jail operating levy: 185 total adults in custody, including a maximum of 25 local adults in custody, while the emergency remains in effect. Treat the 258-bed figure as the building capacity and the 185/25 figures as the active emergency operating limits unless a later official order changes them.

The official jail overview screenshot comes from the Columbia County Jail page.

Services listed by the sheriff include Columbia County Corrections staff, Sheriff's Office staff, county administrative and maintenance support, MedTrust medical and mental-health services, Trinity Food Services, Securus Phone Services, Keefe Commissary, Columbia County Mental Health, local police departments, and the U.S. Marshals Service. People in custody receive medical and mental-health care as needed, meals, bedding, and hygiene items. Other services depend on length of stay, classification, behavior, and jail policy.

Columbia County Jail Capacity and Population

The jail's population figures should be read in layers. The physical jail has 258 beds according to the sheriff's jail page inspected June 25, 2026. The same source reports an average of 180 inmates per day. The printer-friendly roster showed 115 current inmates at 03:00:39 on June 25, 2026, but that is only a point-in-time count. Board Order 5-2025 set the emergency maximum at 185 adults in custody, with only 25 local adults in custody, due to local operating and levy conditions.

How to Look Up an Inmate at Columbia County Jail

For a person physically housed at Columbia County Jail, start with the Current Jail Inmate Roster. The roster is a public A-Z list, not a search form. It shows names, book dates, charges, bail, and scheduled release date columns, and individual names open detail pages when a profile is available. The sheriff also publishes a Current Inmate Listing landing page that points visitors toward the roster and includes public-safety and anti-harassment notices.

1. Open the official Columbia County Current Jail Inmate Roster.
2. Scan the alphabetical name list because the page does not provide a keyword search box.
3. Check the book date, charge description, bail field, hold label, and scheduled release field to make sure the entry matches the person sought.
4. Click the name if it is linked to see profile details such as booking number, demographics, photo, bail, and charge table.
5. If the person is no longer listed, call jail general information at 503-366-4630 or use the correct court, ODOC, BOP, or ICE lookup path based on the case.

The roster image below is from the official Current Jail Inmate Roster.

Use the county roster for current local jail custody, including many people with federal or state hold labels who are still physically in the St. Helens jail. Use Oregon Offender Search or VISOR after a sentenced person has moved to ODOC custody. Use the BOP inmate locator for federal prisoners once they are in BOP custody or historical federal custody covered by BOP. Use the ICE detainee locator for immigration custody. A USM HOLD entry on the county roster does not mean a county bail payment alone can release the person, because federal authority may control release or transfer.

Columbia County Jail Address and Contact

Jail business and visits are handled at the Sheriff's Office and Jail campus in St. Helens, not at the Vernonia Justice Court or the county courthouse on Strand Street. For custody questions, begin with the jail information line. For sheriff reception, records, civil matters, and public counter routing, use the sheriff reception number. Emergency events require 911, while non-emergency dispatch uses the county dispatch numbers.

Visitors coming from Scappoose or the Portland side generally use the U.S. 30 corridor into St. Helens, then local streets to Port Avenue. Visitors coming from Rainier, Clatskanie, or Vernonia should allow extra travel time because the west-county court location is separate from the jail campus. Official sheriff pages do not publish visitor parking capacity, transit routing, or a separate ADA entrance description, so confirm facility logistics before relying on a specific arrival plan.

Visiting Someone at Columbia County Jail

Columbia County Jail visitation is controlled by the adult in custody's approved list and housing assignment. Public visiting resumed effective August 20, 2022 and remains subject to change. Each adult in custody may have up to five people on the visiting list, and each person in custody is limited to one public visit per week as time and space allow. The adult in custody schedules the visit by contacting prospective visitors. Visitors should arrive 10 to 15 minutes early, bring valid identification, and be prepared for pod-based timing.

Adult family and friends age 18 and older may be authorized. Visitors under 18 must be with a parent or legal guardian. Disciplinary segregation inmates, people not yet assigned to housing or still in pre-classification, and people serving 72 hours or less do not receive public visits. Personal property, coats, handbags, briefcases, food, beverages, cigarettes, and similar items are not allowed in the visiting area and must be stored as directed. Clothing must be appropriate, with sleeves and footwear required.

The schedule image below comes from the sheriff's Inmate Visitation page.

The table below converts the published pod schedule into a compact reference, but the inmate still must arrange the visit and communicate the assigned date and time.

Denied, suspended, or revoked visitor status can be appealed in writing to the Shift Supervisor or Jail Commander within 72 hours after denial. Contraband rules are serious. The sheriff's visitor rules cite ORS 162.185 and warn that introducing contraband into a correctional facility is a felony under Oregon law.

Mail, Phone, and Money at Columbia County Jail

Columbia County Jail generally allows USPS mail, but the inmate's booking name must be included in the addressee information, the booking number is encouraged, and the sender's return address is required. Publications must come directly from a publisher, book club, or bookstore. Mail can be rejected for security and order reasons, including threats, escape or crime plans, gang material, contraband, sexually explicit material, coded messages, victim contact, harassment, bill-me-later or COD transactions, and fraudulent legal or official markings.

The service screenshot below is from the sheriff's Inmate Services page.

The documented service channels are practical rather than interchangeable, especially because mailed cash or money orders are not accepted for inmate accounts.

Mail-confiscation appeals have a defined deadline. The sender or inmate may appeal, and an outside person must send an appeal letter explaining the reason and contact information within 15 days of the Prohibited Mail Notice. The jail responds within 15 days of receiving the appeal letter. Inmates use the jail grievance process for their own mail appeals.

Booking and Intake at Columbia County Jail

Booking at Columbia County Jail begins when a law-enforcement agency brings a person into custody or when a court commitment or hold requires jail custody. The roster may show a mix of local criminal charges, municipal or justice-court sentences, probation or parole sanctions, ODOC holds, and federal hold labels. A roster charge label is not always the same as the final court-filed charge. Court records after arrest should be checked through Oregon Judicial Department channels or Columbia County Circuit Court records once a case is filed.

People sentenced to longer felony custody may be held temporarily in the county jail before transfer to state prison. After transfer, the county roster is no longer the best lookup tool. Use ODOC's Oregon Offender Search or VISOR for state custody or supervision. For federal detainees, the county roster can confirm physical custody while the person is in St. Helens, but BOP and ICE locators become more relevant after federal transfer, designation, or immigration custody routing.

About Columbia County Jail

Columbia County Jail's recent operating history is tied to funding, federal housing, and local capacity management. Sheriff materials describe the jail as a facility supported by county staff, contractors, medical and mental-health services, food service, phone service, commissary, local law-enforcement partners, and the U.S. Marshals Service. Qualified inmates may have access to supportive programs intended to teach life skills, reward good behavior, and support spiritual or emotional well-being, but the research does not identify confirmed GED, vocational, or substance-use programs by name.

The 2025 jail population emergency is the most important current population development. Board Order 5-2025 followed failed 2024 jail operating tax levy measures and adopted recommendations from the District Attorney, County Counsel, and Sheriff. The order directed the Sheriff to implement local-bed reductions as US Marshal beds increase and to continue working with county, court, city, state, and public partners. OPB reported on May 21, 2026 that Columbia County Jail agreed to policy changes and staff training after litigation involving Oregon sanctuary laws and U.S. Marshals Service use of county resources. Because that is reported litigation context, it should be read alongside official jail and court sources when making decisions.