Three Forks Jail Overview
Three Forks Regional Jail is the primary custody facility serving Owsley County inmates after many local arrests. The jail is in Beattyville in Lee County, while Owsley court business remains in Booneville. That split matters. A family member may need to call or visit the jail for custody, visitation, deposits, and release timing, but the clerk in Owsley County handles court files, docket questions, and many bond issues after the case reaches court.
The facility is operated as a regional jail by Three Forks Regional Jail and the Lee County regional jail authority. It serves Owsley custody along with Lee, Wolfe, Madison, Estill, and other contract counties. Because it is regional, a population number for Three Forks is not the same as an Owsley-only inmate count. It includes people held for several counties and state jail categories. The jail is also separate from Kentucky Department of Corrections prisons and from federal or immigration detention systems.
Three Forks Regional Jail
2221 Fairground Ridge Rd
Beattyville, KY 41311
606-464-2598
Call before travel for custody, visitation, mail, deposits, and release questions.
Owsley County Courthouse
20 Main St., P.O. Box 130
Booneville, KY 41314
Circuit: 606-593-6226
District: 606-593-6529. Open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Three Forks Inmate Capacity
The Kentucky Department of Corrections weekly jail report gives the best sourced snapshot for Three Forks Regional Jail capacity and population. The KDOC Weekly Jail Report for May 7, 2026 lists the facility under Three Forks (Lee). It reports 182 total jail beds, 249 people in custody, 67 people over capacity, and 137 percent capacity. Those figures are facility-wide, not limited to Owsley County arrests.
The same report shows the mix of jail and state categories housed at the regional jail. It lists Class D inmates, controlled-intake inmates, parole violators, and other jail categories. Class D generally refers to lower-level felony cases that Kentucky may house in county or regional jails. Controlled intake means a state-custody person is waiting for DOC placement or classification. These labels can explain why a person may appear connected to both the jail and KDOC lookup systems.
| Category | Reported Count | Source Context |
|---|---|---|
| Class D | 48 | KDOC weekly jail report, May 7, 2026 |
| CC eligible | 16 | State jail category in the weekly report |
| Alternative sentence | 1 | Reported in the jail population line |
| Controlled intake | 37 | State intake or placement category |
| Parole violators | 6 | Held for parole-related status |
| Federal inmates | 0 | No federal count on that dated report |
Three Forks Custody Counts
KDOC also reports custody categories for Three Forks Regional Jail. These are aggregate housing and custody lines, not a public list of names. The report uses secure male, secure female, non-secure male, and non-secure female categories. A secure category is higher-control jail custody. A non-secure category is a lower-control classification, but it is still a jail custody status and should not be read as release.
For Owsley County readers, the custody table helps set expectations. A person arrested in Booneville or elsewhere in Owsley may be held in the same regional facility as people from Lee, Wolfe, Madison, Estill, or another contract county. The official roster or jail staff must still confirm the individual person. Population reports show the scale and pressure on the jail, but they do not prove whether one named person is in custody today.
| Custody Category | Population | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Secure male | 168 | Male inmates in secure jail custody |
| Secure female | 36 | Female inmates in secure jail custody |
| Non-secure male | 39 | Male inmates in a non-secure jail category |
| Non-secure female | 6 | Female inmates in a non-secure jail category |
Note: Treat the May 7, 2026 report as a dated snapshot, since jail population changes with arrests, releases, transport, court orders, and transfers.
Search Three Forks Inmates
The official first stop is the Three Forks current-inmates page. Research confirmed the public URL, but the roster body fields were not captured in the source material. For that reason, the safe approach is to use the current-inmates page without assuming it shows a booking number, mugshot, bond amount, housing unit, or charge field. If the page does not answer the question, call the jail and be ready with the person's full name, date of birth if known, arrest date, and arresting agency.
Use the right lookup system for the custody type. Three Forks covers local and regional jail custody. Kentucky Offender Online Lookup, often called KOOL, is the statewide path for sentenced or state-custody offenders. Kentucky Court of Justice dockets show court dates and filed case activity, not jail housing. The BOP inmate locator is for sentenced federal inmates, and the ICE detainee locator is for immigration detention. VINELink can help with custody notifications where Kentucky and the facility record are available.
- Open the official current-inmates page and search or review the jail roster without assuming unverified profile fields.
- Call Three Forks Regional Jail at 606-464-2598 if the name is missing, stale, misspelled, or hard to match.
- Check KOOL when the person may be a sentenced state offender, a Class D inmate, a controlled-intake case, or a parole violator.
- Use KCOJ dockets or the Owsley clerk for court charges, hearing dates, and official case copies.
- Use BOP, U.S. Marshals channels, or ICE only when the custody issue is federal or immigration-related.
- Make an open-records request to the jail or arresting agency when online lookup does not provide a public booking record.
Owsley Court and Bond
Owsley County court business does not move to Beattyville just because the inmate is held at Three Forks Regional Jail. The Owsley County Court of Justice page lists the courthouse in Booneville, Circuit Clerk Phyllis Cornett, and separate Circuit and District Court phone numbers. District Court often handles first appearances and many misdemeanor or lower-court matters. Circuit Court handles felony proceedings and higher-level criminal case activity.
Bond information should be confirmed through the jail and the clerk because a release can depend on the charge, warrant, judge's order, another county hold, parole status, or a federal or immigration detainer. The Owsley court page states that cash is required for bond. That is a courthouse payment rule, not a promise that every person is eligible for release or that release will be immediate after payment. Jail processing, court entry, count, transport, and holds can slow release.
| Question | Best Contact | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Is the person in custody? | Three Forks Regional Jail | The jail controls current housing and release timing. |
| What court date is set? | KCOJ docket or Owsley clerk | The docket and clerk track court scheduling. |
| Can bond be posted? | Jail and Owsley clerk | Both custody status and court order matter. |
| What are the filed charges? | Owsley Circuit Court Clerk | Court charges can differ from arrest paperwork. |
Three Forks Visitation Schedule
The official Three Forks visitation page is the source to check before any trip. Research snippets from that page show separate on-site visit days for male and female inmates. Each inmate is allowed one 15-minute on-site visit per visitation day. The snippet also states that two visitors are allowed, not counting children, and that food, drinks, cell phones, and cameras are not allowed in the on-site visitation booth.
Call before leaving Owsley County for Beattyville. Regional jail visits can change because of lockdowns, quarantine, court transport, medical transport, holidays, staffing, or an inmate's disciplinary status. Bring government photo identification and expect screening. The captured source did not publish a full dress code, child paperwork rule, attorney-visit process, remote-video vendor, or segregation schedule, so those details should be confirmed with the jail.
| Inmate Group | On-Site Days | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Male inmates | Wednesday and Saturday | 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. |
| Female inmates | Thursday and Sunday | 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. |
| Visit length | Each visitation day | One 15-minute on-site visit per inmate |
| Visitor limit | On-site booth | Two visitors, not counting children |
Three Forks Mail and Money
The jail maintains an official inmate-deposits page, but the research source did not expose a vendor name, kiosk rule, payment method list, or fee schedule. Do not rely on a guessed vendor. Use the official page and call the jail before sending money, especially if the inmate has just been booked, transferred, released, or moved into state custody. Deposit policies can change faster than static pages.
Mail rules were not fully captured in the available official text. The safest mail format is the inmate's full committed name, inmate number if known, and the jail address. Call first to confirm whether the facility requires a booking number, accepts photos, limits envelopes or postcards, uses a mail-scanning vendor, or has special legal-mail rules. Money and mail errors can delay delivery or cause the item to be returned.
| Service | Known Detail | What to Confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Use full committed name and inmate number if known | Exact format, photo rules, book rules, and legal mail | |
| Deposits | Official deposit page exists | Vendor, fees, posting time, and payment methods |
| Phone or video | No verified vendor captured | Account setup, rates, blocked numbers, and visit options |
Owsley Booking at Three Forks
An Owsley arrest often follows a path from the arresting agency to transport, booking, intake, classification, and then court handling. Jail intake normally includes identity checks, property inventory, search, medical and mental-health screening questions, fingerprints, and a booking photo where required. The research source confirms the regional jail reports secure and non-secure male and female custody groups to KDOC, but it does not provide public individual housing-unit rules.
The booking record and the court record are related but not the same. Jail booking data starts with arrest or commitment paperwork. Court records start once the case is filed or scheduled in the Kentucky Court of Justice system. Prosecutors and judges can amend, dismiss, reduce, enhance, or add charges after arrest. For that reason, a Three Forks roster entry may not match the final court charge or case status. Use Owsley County jail inmate records for custody lookup and the clerk or docket portal for filed case activity.
Three Forks Jail Programs
KDOC lists Lee County, Three Forks, as a male jail substance-abuse program location on its Addiction Services treatment modalities page. That program reference is specific to Three Forks and is stronger than generic claims that a jail may offer classes. Program access still depends on classification, custody status, sentence posture, clinical assessment, space, and jail rules.
A person who is sentenced, classified as state custody, or transferred out of the regional jail may need to be tracked through KOOL rather than the local roster. A person with a federal hold or immigration issue may need a federal lookup path instead. In those cases, Three Forks staff may be able to confirm local custody only while the person is physically housed there. After transfer, the statewide or federal system becomes the better source for location.
Note: Confirm custody, visitation, mail, deposits, and release timing with Three Forks before traveling from Owsley County to Beattyville.
Three Forks Records Requests
When the current-inmates page does not show enough detail, a written open-records request may be the better route. The Kentucky Open Records Act guidance explains that Kentucky public records are available from state and local public agencies unless an exemption applies. For jail material, ask the custodian for the booking sheet, commitment or release record, public jail log entry, and releasable booking photograph if needed.
Route the request to the office that keeps the record. Three Forks Regional Jail is the logical place for jail booking and custody records. The Owsley sheriff, Kentucky State Police, or another arresting agency may hold arrest citations or incident reports. The Owsley Circuit Court Clerk is the source for filed case records. Juvenile records, sealed or expunged files, medical details, victim information, and active investigative material may be withheld or redacted under Kentucky law.
VINELink can be useful for notifications, but it is not a substitute for an official record copy. Phone confirmation is useful for real-time status, but it may not create a written record. Use each channel for the task it handles best: roster for current custody, jail phone for confirmation, open records for copies, KOOL for state custody, KCOJ for court dates, and BOP or ICE for federal or immigration custody.