The Quay County Inmate Population
The local Quay County inmate population begins with the Quay County Detention Center, also called the Quay County Detention Office on the county site. It is the only local detention facility confirmed by Quay County government. The jail holds people arrested by the Quay County Sheriff's Office, Tucumcari Police Department, Logan Police Department, New Mexico State Police, and other agencies working in the county when those people are not cited, released, taken for medical care, or moved to another jurisdiction.
Quay County does not publish a live jail roster, daily booking report, released-inmate list, mugshot gallery, or public population dashboard. That gap changes the search path. A current county jail custody question starts with the detention phone line or in-person counter. A filed criminal case is checked through New Mexico courts. A person sentenced to prison leaves the local jail count and should be searched through the New Mexico Corrections Department offender search. Federal and immigration custody use still other systems.
Quay County Inmate Population Statistics
The official county detention page checked for this build gives the jail address, office hours, phone, visitation, mail, commissary, and phone providers, but it does not publish the current jail count or official rated capacity. The figures below keep that distinction clear. Local jail numbers from county snippets are historical leads, not a live count. State prison numbers from the New Mexico Sentencing Commission describe people tied to Quay County in the state prison population, not people housed in the county jail on a given day.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Official current Quay County jail count | Not published | County detention page checked June 22, 2026 |
| Official county rated capacity | Not published on county page | County detention page checked June 22, 2026 |
| Average daily population lead | 37.61 | Official county meeting-packet search snippet, 2021 |
| Adult inmates lead | 24 | Official county minutes search snippet, 2023 |
| Phone-rate appendix value | 47 | Prison Policy Initiative appendix, 2022 |
| State prison population tied to Quay County | 66 | New Mexico Sentencing Commission FY2024 prison profile |
| Quay County population estimate | 8,454 | U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, July 1, 2025 |
The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported 664,200 people in local jails nationwide at midyear 2023 and a national jail incarceration rate of 198 per 100,000 residents. Those national numbers help frame the scale of a rural jail, but they do not replace a Quay County daily count.
Quay County Jail Population Trends
Quay County trend data is thin because the county does not post annual jail population reports or a roster-based history. The most useful pattern is the difference between local jail custody and state prison custody. A person held before trial or for a short local sentence belongs in the county jail track. A person sentenced to a state prison term moves into NMCD custody, where the statewide prison profile and offender locator become the better tools.
| Year | Local jail or prison figure | Use and limits |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 37.61 ADP | Official county PDF search snippet for the jail; treat as historical context. |
| 2022 | Not located | No official Quay jail annual report was found in the research file. |
| 2023 | 24 adult inmates; 68 state-prison figure | County snippet appears local; NMSC figure is state prison, not jail. |
| 2024 | 66 state-prison figure | NMSC FY2024 profile for state prison population tied to Quay County. |
| 2025-2026 | Current jail count not published | Call the jail for current custody because no online roster was found. |
Because Quay County is small and rural, a modest head count can create a large per-capita rate. The research file notes that the 2021 ADP lead compared with a county population near 8,700 would be roughly 432 jail detainees per 100,000 residents. That is only an approximate historical calculation, not a county-published rate.
Who Is Held in Quay County
The Quay County inmate population includes people booked after local arrests, people waiting for first appearance or bond review, people held on warrants, and people serving short local sentences. The county page does not give a sex, age, race, charge-level, pretrial, sentenced, or hold-by-agency breakdown. Readers should not infer those details from the lack of a roster.
The elected sheriff named on the official county site is Dennis Garcia. The Quay County Sheriff's Office is a local law-enforcement records contact, while the detention office remains the first custody-confirmation point for people held in the county jail.
- Booking
- Jail intake after arrest, including identity checks, property inventory, fingerprints, and a booking entry.
- Pretrial detainee
- A person held before the criminal case has ended, often while bond or release conditions are pending.
- Detainer
- A request or hold from another agency that can delay release even when local bond is addressed.
- State prison
- NMCD custody for sentenced prisoners, separate from the Quay County jail.
Laws for Quay County Jail Records
New Mexico law supports public access to many jail, court, and public-body records, but access is not the same as instant online publication. Quay County can have booking sheets, prisoner logs, incident reports, court filings, or jail photographs that are not posted on a web roster. IPRA requests, court clerk access, and official locators fill that gap.
Key statutes and rules:
NMSA 1978 Section 14-2-1 gives every person a broad right to inspect public records unless an exception applies.
NMSA 1978 Section 14-2-8 lets agencies require a written request that reasonably describes the records sought.
NMSA 1978 Section 14-3-15.1 is cited by Case Lookup for limits on court database use and bulk access.
NMSA 1978 Section 33-3-7 requires sheriffs, jail administrators, or authorized operators to keep a faithful statement of prisoners under their charge.
Law-enforcement records may still contain redactions for protected identifiers, juveniles, medical or mental-health information, victims, witnesses, confidential sources, or active investigations. That is why a Quay County public-records request should ask for a specific booking, date range, person, case number, or record type.
Search the Quay County Jail Population
No official Quay County jail roster or recent-bookings feed was found on the county or sheriff site. The practical Quay County inmate population search is therefore a fallback chain. Start with the detention office for local custody, then check court records if charges have been filed, then use state, federal, or immigration locators only when the person is outside county jail custody.
- Call the Quay County Detention Center at (575) 461-4664 with the person's full name, date of birth, arresting agency, and approximate arrest date.
- If the arrest is recent, allow for intake delay while identification, fingerprints, property, medical screening, and classification are completed.
- Visit or contact the detention office during posted public hours if a phone lookup is not enough.
- Use New Mexico Case Lookup for filed court cases and hearing activity after the arrest.
- Use NMCD, BOP, ICE ODLS, USMS, and VINELink when the custody type is no longer ordinary county jail custody.
The official Quay County detention page is the source for jail contact, mail, visitation, phone, and commissary details.
The page confirms how to reach the detention office, but it does not publish a searchable inmate roster or current population dashboard.
Quay County Inmate Lookup Fields
Because there is no county-hosted roster form, the search fields are practical identifiers rather than web boxes. The caller or requester should be ready to identify the person well enough for staff or a records custodian to distinguish one person from another. For state prison, federal, and ICE searches, use the fields each locator requires.
| Channel | Field or detail | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quay jail phone lookup | Full name, date of birth, arrest date, arresting agency | Practical need varies | Best first step for current county custody. |
| In-person detention inquiry | Name, ID, booking or arrest details | Practical need varies | Use posted office hours and expect security screening. |
| NMCD Offender Search | First and/or last name or NMCD number | Yes | State prison and probation/parole only. |
| BOP Inmate Locator | Number search or name plus filters | Depends on path | Federal inmates from 1982 to present. |
| ICE ODLS | A-number and country, or name, country, and birth date | Yes | Adult ICE custody, not county jail custody. |
Quay County Court Records After Arrest
A jail booking and a court case are related, but they are not the same record. The jail booking starts with the arrest and local intake. The court case starts when charges are filed or entered. The Quay County court records after jail arrest path runs through Case Lookup, the Tenth Judicial District Court, Quay County Magistrate Court, and municipal court entries for Tucumcari or San Jon when those courts apply.
The Tenth Judicial District Attorney is Heidi Adams and serves Quay, Harding, and De Baca Counties. The county District Attorney page gives the prosecutor contact block, and the Quay County District Court page gives the local district court contact. The district docket page shows hearings for the current day plus six days, which can help when a person is no longer easy to verify by jail phone.
Quay County Jail vs State Prison
Most search errors come from using the right name in the wrong system. A recent Tucumcari arrest belongs in the Quay County jail search path first. A person sentenced to state prison belongs in the NMCD path after transfer. A federal defendant may be in U.S. Marshals custody before BOP has a sentenced-prison listing. An immigration transfer should be checked in ICE ODLS, not treated as a county roster entry.
| Custody type | Who it covers | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| County jail | Recent arrests, pretrial custody, short local sentences | Quay County Detention Center phone, counter, or IPRA request |
| State prison | Sentenced state prisoners and supervision cases | NMCD Offender Search |
| Federal custody | Federal pretrial custody or sentenced federal prisoners | BOP locator or U.S. Marshals District of New Mexico |
| Immigration custody | Adult ICE detainees | ICE Online Detainee Locator System |
Quay County Detention Facilities
Quay County government confirms one local detention facility. No county jail annex, state prison, federal prison, ICE facility, city jail, regional jail, or work-release facility in Quay County was confirmed in the Facility Map. State and federal locators still matter because people arrested in Quay County can later be transferred.
- Quay County Detention Center holds local pretrial detainees and locally sentenced inmates for the county jail system in Tucumcari.
Quay County Jail Services
Family-contact services are better documented than the inmate population count. The county page lists lobby kiosk visitation, online visits through Inmate Canteen, lobby commissary deposits, online commissary money, Securus phone service, NCIC prepaid calling, and a mail format for inmates. These services do not prove custody by themselves, so confirm the person's status before sending money or trying to visit.
| Service | Quay County detail | Source note |
|---|---|---|
| Lobby visitation | Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. | County detention page |
| Online visitation | Inmate Canteen, Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. | County detention page |
| Commissary deposits | Lobby kiosk Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.; online through Inmate Canteen | County detention page |
| Phone | Securus and NCIC prepaid calling | County detention page |
| Inmate first and last name, Quay County Detention Center, P.O. Box 1321, Tucumcari, NM 88401 | County detention page |
Quay County Inmate Population FAQ
How big is the Quay County inmate population?
The current official jail count is not posted online. The research file found a 2021 county PDF snippet showing 37.61 average daily population, a 2023 county minutes snippet mentioning 24 adult inmates, and a Prison Policy Initiative phone appendix value of 47. Those figures are context, not a real-time count.
Can I search Quay County inmates online?
No official county-hosted public jail roster was located. Call the Quay County Detention Center, use the detention counter during public hours, or ask how to submit an IPRA request. Case Lookup, NMCD, BOP, ICE, and VINELink cover different custody or record layers.
Does NMCD show Quay County jail inmates?
No. NMCD states that it does not have jurisdiction over county or city detention facilities. NMCD Offender Search is useful after a person is sentenced to state prison or is on probation or parole supervision.
Are Quay County jail mugshots posted?
No official county mugshot gallery or photo roster was found. Booking photos may exist as part of a booking record, but access should be requested through the proper records custodian under New Mexico public-records law.