How to Look Up Bernalillo County Jail Population Data
The county does not publish a single live counter on its public site. The closest thing is the MDC custody, arrest, and release portal, which lists the people currently held. To find aggregate Bernalillo County jail population numbers, the strongest sources are the University of New Mexico Institute for Social Research, the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics Annual Survey of Jails, and Vera Institute's state pages. UNM publishes Bernalillo County jail reports through the UNM ISR Center for Applied Research and Analysis. The most cited report covers MDC jail population conditions and trends.
BJS data covers all county jails through the Annual Survey of Jails and the Census of Jails. Vera Institute republishes that data in plain language at trends.vera.org/state/nm, with statewide numbers and county detail when available. For news coverage of the trend lines, UNM News publishes summaries of new MDC reports, including the 2024 story on MDC's increasing population.
To find a name in the daily roster instead of the aggregate count, use the Bernalillo County inmate search. That page covers the live MDC custody list and how to read a booking detail.
Bernalillo County Jail Capacity Overview
The Metropolitan Detention Center is on the West Mesa at 100 Deputy Dean Miera Drive SW. It is the only large adult jail run by Bernalillo County. UNM ISR research and prior county statements describe a rated capacity around 1,950 beds. The general inmate information line at 505-839-8700 is the public contact for questions about location, transfers, and visit scheduling.
| Facility | Address | Capacity Notes | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan Detention Center | 100 Deputy Dean Miera Drive SW, Albuquerque, NM 87151 | Approximately 1,950 beds, per UNM and county references. October 2024 average daily population around 1,803. | 505-839-8700 |
Because MDC operates close to its rated capacity, even a modest rise in bookings can create classification, housing, staffing, mental-health, and medical-care pressure. UNM researchers point out that the day-to-day count is only one measure; rated capacity, classification capacity, and bed-by-unit capacity each matter. Budget and reform debates over MDC focus on those finer numbers more than the headline figure.
Average Daily Population at MDC
UNM News reported that, on an average day in October 2024, MDC held an average of 1,803 people. That figure was the highest since December 2014. The UNM Institute for Social Research summary states national jail populations decreased by 15.3 percent from 2019 to 2024, while MDC increased by 30.3 percent over the same window. That divergence is the central finding of the 2024 research and is the main reason MDC has drawn renewed attention in county budget and policy hearings.
The 2023 ISR jail population report estimated an incarceration rate of 283 per 100,000 adults in Bernalillo County on June 30, 2023. That number gives a population-adjusted view that survives changes in the county population itself, and it is the cleanest way to compare Bernalillo County against other county jails of similar size.
Note: Average daily population is the most reliable jail metric because it smooths out daily booking and release swings; a single midnight count can mislead.
Demographic Breakdown
UNM ISR publishes demographic breakdowns of the MDC population in its periodic jail reports. The publicly accessible UNM summary in 2024 emphasizes total population growth rather than a full demographic table. The full June 30, 2023 ISR report contains the more granular categories, including race and ethnicity, gender, age band, charge category, pretrial vs sentenced status, and length of stay. Bernalillo County researchers and reporters cite those tables when discussing equity in pretrial detention.
For statewide demographic context, Vera Institute's New Mexico page reports that 78 percent of the New Mexico jail population is held pretrial. That statewide figure is a useful benchmark for Bernalillo County, because pretrial population is the lever a county can actually pull through bail reform, pretrial services, and case-flow management. The county runs Pretrial Services through the Second Judicial District, which has both a Pretrial Services Division and treatment-court programs that affect who stays in MDC and who is released to community supervision.
For the underlying criminal cases that drive the population, see Bernalillo County court records and arrest records.
Pretrial vs Sentenced Population
Most people in MDC at any moment are pretrial. They have been charged but not yet convicted. Some are held under preventive detention orders, where the case prefix on the MDC profile reads D202PD. Others are held because they could not post bond on a Metro Court or District Court bail amount. A smaller share is sentenced and serving short jail terms, usually for misdemeanors. Felony sentences run through the New Mexico Corrections Department rather than the county jail.
| Status | Where the People Come From |
|---|---|
| Pretrial | Charged at Metro Court or District Court, held under bond or under a preventive detention order. Vera reports 78% of the New Mexico jail population is pretrial. |
| Sentenced | Serving a county jail term on a misdemeanor or low-level felony, typically with a short sentence. |
| Holds | Held for another jurisdiction, for a probation violation, on a writ, or pending transfer to NMCD or federal custody. |
Pretrial detention reform is the largest single policy lever for changing the MDC count. The Second Judicial District uses preventive detention motions in serious cases and uses pretrial supervision for cases that do not require detention. Each side of that practice moves the daily population.
Misdemeanor and Felony Population
The charge profile at MDC blends misdemeanors and felonies. The MDC custody detail page lists every charge attached to a booking with case number, type, count, statute, and description. T4 case prefixes indicate Metro Court matters, which are mostly misdemeanors, DWI, domestic violence, and traffic. D202 case prefixes indicate District Court, which is felony or appeals from Metro Court. A single booking can carry both types if the person picked up new charges while open felony cases were pending.
UNM research and DPS arrest data identify the most common booking categories in the county as drug, property, traffic, and assault. Build copy that tracks individual charges should pull current numbers from the UNM ISR report or the BJS Annual Survey of Jails rather than relying on news estimates. Vera's methodology page explains the federal data is drawn from BJS surveys and the Census of Jails. Those numbers update on the federal schedule, not in real time.
Mental Health and Medical Population
A meaningful share of the MDC population has identified mental-health or substance-use needs. The Second Judicial District operates Mental Health Court, Felony DWI Court, Young Adult Court, and an Assisted Outpatient Treatment program. These treatment courts and programs aim to move qualifying participants out of jail and into supervised treatment. Adult Treatment Court contacts at 505-841-5479 and AOT at 505-841-7627 are listed on the official district contact page.
MDC's own medical services, mental-health staffing ratios, and segregation policies sit outside the public roster. They appear in the UNM jail population analysis, which describes medical, mental-health, and behavioral-health pressure points. For court-side programs, see the specialty courts overview on the Second Judicial District Court page.
National and State Context
Vera Institute reports New Mexico-wide jail figures, including a 673 percent change in the total number of people behind bars since 1970 and 107,750 annual sends to local jails. Vera notes that jails primarily hold unconvicted people awaiting resolution, people serving shorter misdemeanor sentences, probation violators, and holds for other jurisdictions. That definition matters for any comparison of MDC to state prison facilities; the two are different systems with different missions.
| Measure | Bernalillo County | New Mexico | National Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Daily Population (MDC, Oct 2024) | About 1,803 | Not directly comparable; sum of county jails. | BJS Annual Survey of Jails reports nationwide totals. |
| Incarceration Rate (Jun 2023) | 283 per 100,000 adults | Statewide rate published in Vera state page. | National jail rate published by BJS. |
| Trend, 2019–2024 | +30.3% at MDC (UNM) | Variable by county. | National jail population fell about 15.3%. |
| Pretrial Share | Tracks state share closely. | 78% pretrial (Vera). | Roughly two-thirds nationwide. |
BJS data and Vera's republication put Bernalillo County's recent direction outside the national trend. The county added jail population while the country reduced it. That is the central data story for anyone tracking MDC over the past five years.
Population Trends Over Time
The five-year picture starts before the pandemic and runs through the most recent UNM report. National jail counts fell during 2020 as courts paused and prosecutors used cite-and-release more aggressively. Bernalillo County followed that initial dip. Once court operations resumed, MDC climbed back. By October 2024, average daily population had reached its highest level since December 2014.
- 2019: pre-pandemic baseline. UNM uses this year as the comparison anchor.
- 2020: COVID-era reductions across the country; MDC moved with the national trend.
- 2021–2022: gradual recovery in bookings as courts resumed in-person operations.
- 2023: ISR estimated 283 per 100,000 adults on June 30, 2023.
- 2024: October average of 1,803 at MDC, the highest since December 2014.
- 2025–2026: monitor UNM ISR and BJS releases for updated figures.
Searching for Bernalillo County Inmate Records by Name
This page covers Bernalillo County jail population data, not individual lookups. For name-by-name searches, use the live Bernalillo County inmate search page. That page walks through the MDC custody portal, the search fields, the booking detail layout, and how to find someone who has transferred to state prison or federal custody. For released inmates within the past two weeks, use the released inmates page.
Where the Data Comes From
The four data lanes for Bernalillo County jail population numbers are the county roster, UNM Institute for Social Research, federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, and Vera Institute. The county roster on the MDC portal updates as bookings, holds, and releases occur. UNM ISR researchers pull historical data and publish detailed reports. BJS runs the Annual Survey of Jails and the Census of Jails, which is the official federal data feed. Vera Institute republishes BJS data with state-level summaries and methodology notes.
The Bernalillo County jail population search will turn up different numbers depending on which source the user reads first. The county roster shows today. UNM reports show the curve. BJS shows the official count for the survey year. Anyone citing the numbers should label which source produced which figure so the comparison is fair.
Note: Always check the publication date on a UNM or BJS report; jail data moves quickly, and a one-year-old figure can be off by several hundred people.