Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center Overview
Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center is located at 996 Selfield Road in Selma and is operated through Dallas County juvenile-court and county-commission channels. The official county page describes it as a long-term detention center for males and females between ages 13 and 18 who come from the Juvenile Courts of Dallas and other counties. It is not an adult jail and should not be treated as a Dallas County Jail roster page.
The county says the facility was established on August 5, 2008 with approval of the Dallas County Commission. Its public description emphasizes supervision, guidance, structured counseling, character education, life skills, anger management, conflict resolution, academics, and physical education. The mission and vision language focus on change for youth, families, and communities, rather than adult booking, bond, or criminal-case roster access.
The official Juvenile Detention Center page provides the facility address, phone number, hours, director, history, population age range, and program-oriented description.
The county page confirms that juvenile detention is a separate Dallas County custody channel, so adult inmate-search instructions should not be used as if they were a youth roster.
Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center Capacity and Population
The official public page identifies the youth age range and detention purpose, but it does not publish a public capacity figure, daily population dashboard, housing-unit count, or demographic breakdown for the Juvenile Detention Center. Because no sourced capacity or current population number was located for this facility in the requested research sections, no numeric stat block is used here.
For public-facing content, the key distinction is the population type: males and females ages 13 to 18 from Dallas County Juvenile Court and other counties. Juvenile detention records can involve confidentiality rules and family-court restrictions that do not apply in the same way to adult jail records. A parent, guardian, attorney, or authorized agency should use the facility and juvenile court channels instead of expecting a public inmate roster.
The center also sits in a local facility network that can be confusing from the outside. Dallas County Jail is the adult jail at the temporary US-80 facility, Perry and Carolyn Varner Educational and Treatment Facility is a separate youth treatment program at another Selfield Road address, and Selma Police is a municipal arrest channel. A youth detention question should be routed to the Juvenile Detention Center unless staff or court records indicate that the person belongs in a different system.
How to Look Up a Youth at Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center
No public youth roster, searchable detention list, mugshot page, or online booking report was located for Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center. That is consistent with the sensitive nature of juvenile custody information. A lookup should begin with the facility administration number or the relevant juvenile court, using enough identifying detail to route the inquiry without assuming that staff can release information to every caller.
When calling, focus on your relationship to the youth and the reason for the inquiry. A parent or guardian may need different information than an attorney, caseworker, school representative, or extended family member. If staff cannot discuss the matter with you, ask which court office, probation contact, or legal representative can explain the next step. That keeps the inquiry inside the proper juvenile process without turning it into a general public-record request.
- Call Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center at (334) 876-4809 during the published weekday office hours.
- Give the youth's full legal name, age or date of birth if appropriate, and the court or county involved if known.
- Ask whether the facility can confirm custody to you and what authorization is required for details about visits, release, or programming.
- If the case is not a juvenile detention matter, check whether the person is in adult custody at Dallas County Jail or has another court channel.
- For abuse, harassment, or PREA-related concerns, use the facility administration and hotline reporting channels published by the county.
Do not use the ADOC inmate locator, BOP locator, or ICE ODLS for a youth held in this county juvenile facility. Those systems serve state prison, federal prison, and immigration custody respectively, not Dallas County juvenile detention.
Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center Address and Contact
The official county page lists the public contact information for the facility and identifies Marcus Hannah as director. Use the facility phone number first for youth-detention questions, and ask staff whether the matter must be handled through juvenile court, a probation officer, an attorney, or a parent or guardian authorization process.
Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center
996 Selfield Road
Selma, AL 36703
(334) 876-4809
Fax: (334) 876-4819
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Visiting Someone at Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center
The research did not locate a public visitation schedule, visitor dress code, video visitation vendor, approved visitor list rule, or minor visitor rule for the Juvenile Detention Center. Juvenile-facility visitation should be confirmed directly with administration because the answer may depend on the youth's case status, court order, guardian authorization, program schedule, and safety restrictions.
| Topic | What to Confirm | Public Status |
|---|---|---|
| Visits | Whether visits are allowed, who may visit, and what identification is required | Schedule not published in research |
| Court limits | Whether a juvenile court order or guardian approval controls access | Confirm with facility or court |
| PREA safety reporting | How to report abuse, harassment, or retaliation concerns | Reporting channels are published |
Mail, Phone, and Money at Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center
The official juvenile detention page does not publish mail formatting rules, phone account instructions, commissary rules, deposit vendors, or a fee table. It also should not be assumed that adult jail mail or money procedures apply to a juvenile detention setting. Before sending mail, funds, packages, clothing, school items, or documents, call the facility and ask what is allowed, how the youth must be identified, and whether a court or guardian rule controls the item.
| Service | Provider / Detail |
|---|---|
| Mail Address | Confirm any youth-specific mail format with facility administration before sending mail. |
| Phone / Video | No public phone or video vendor was located in the official juvenile page. |
| Money Deposit | No public commissary or deposit process was located; ask administration before sending money. |
Intake at Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center
Juvenile detention intake is not the same as an adult street-arrest booking. The public county description says the center receives youth from Juvenile Courts of Dallas and other counties. That means court placement, supervision needs, age, and juvenile case status are central to how a youth arrives and remains at the facility. The official page does not publish a public intake checklist, booking time frame, property process, medical screening details, or release worksheet.
For a family member, the practical question is usually not whether there is an online roster, but who has authority to receive information and make decisions. Ask facility staff what role a parent, guardian, attorney, probation officer, or court clerk plays in visitation, education, release planning, and records access. For adult charges or an adult transfer, switch to Dallas County Jail and court-record channels.
Because the county describes the center as long-term detention, do not assume a youth will leave after the same short booking interval that might apply in an adult police-holding setting. Length of stay, programming, court review, and release planning can depend on the juvenile court and the youth's individual case. The public website does not publish those case-specific rules, so direct confirmation is necessary.
About Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center
The county describes the Juvenile Detention Center as a structured setting for at-risk youth. Public program language refers to supervision, structured counseling, self-control, character education, life skills, anger management, conflict resolution, academics, and physical education. The center's public mission emphasizes leadership for change for youth, family units, and communities, while its vision language values each child's potential for a successful and productive life.
The county also publishes PREA information for juvenile detention. The PREA page states a zero-tolerance policy for sexual abuse and sexual harassment and lists reporting channels through facility administration, One Place Family Justice Center SANE/SART at 1-800-650-6522, and the STAR hotline at (334) 213-1227. Those channels are important because safety and reporting procedures are part of the public-facing facility record even when youth custody details are not broadly public.
For Dallas County inmate-search purposes, the main takeaway is that this facility is not an alternate adult roster. It is a juvenile detention center with separate disclosure rules, separate program goals, and separate family or court access channels. Adult booking, mugshot, bond, and jail population questions should stay with the Dallas County Jail, sheriff office, Circuit Clerk, or state and federal locators when custody moves out of the county jail.
Note: Confirm youth custody, visitation approval, and any disclosure limits with the facility or juvenile court before traveling.