Mercer County Jail Roster Overview
No official Mercer County jail roster, recent-booking list, booking report PDF, mugshot gallery, or inmate profile page was located in the official-source research. That matters because many people searching for a Mercer County inmate record expect a searchable county page with name fields and booking photos. The researched local process is different: confirm custody through the Mercer County Sheriff's Office at 802 E. Main, Princeton, MO 64673, phone 660-748-3165, then use the courts and state or federal locators when the person is outside local jail custody.
Mercer County Jail is operated by the Mercer County Sheriff's Office and is the only detention facility identified for the county. It may hold local arrestees, pretrial detainees, and short-sentence county inmates when they are housed locally. It does not function as the public locator for a person already sentenced to the Missouri Department of Corrections, a federal inmate in Bureau of Prisons custody, or a person held by immigration authorities. For those systems, use the Missouri Department of Corrections Offender Search, the BOP inmate locator, or the ICE Online Detainee Locator System.
How to Find Someone in the Mercer County Jail
Because Mercer County did not have an official online jail roster in the researched sources, the lookup sequence is a fallback chain. Start with the sheriff for live local custody, then test the arresting-agency and court routes. If the person was moved after sentencing or held for another authority, the correct record may sit outside Mercer County.
- Call the Mercer County Sheriff's Office at 660-748-3165 and ask whether current custody can be confirmed by phone.
- Provide the person's full name, date of birth if known, approximate arrest date, and arresting agency.
- If Princeton Police made the arrest, contact Princeton Police or City Hall and ask whether the person was transferred to the sheriff.
- Search Missouri State Highway Patrol Arrest Reports only if MSHP may have made the arrest.
- Search Missouri Case.net for filed charges, hearings, warrants, bond entries, and dispositions.
- Use Missouri Department of Corrections Offender Search for active state-supervised offenders, including prison, probation, and parole cases.
- Use the BOP inmate locator or ICE ODLS when the record points to federal or immigration custody.
- Submit a written Sunshine Law request to the sheriff for releasable booking or arrest records when a phone confirmation is not enough.
Mercer County Roster Search Fields
An online Mercer County jail search-field table could not be captured because no official county roster was located. The closest public arrest-search form in the research is the MSHP Arrest Reports page, which is useful only for Highway Patrol arrests and remains online for a short recent window. It is not a county jail roster, and it excludes arrests handled by the sheriff, Princeton Police, and other agencies.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Name | Text | No | Optional person first-name field on the MSHP arrest report search. |
| Last Name | Text | No | Optional person last-name field. Use exact spelling first, then variants. |
| Arrest County | Dropdown | No | Select Mercer when limiting reports to Mercer County arrests by MSHP. |
| Troop | Dropdown | No | Troops A through I are available. |
| Person City/State | Text | No | Can help separate people with similar names. |
| Arrest Date | Dropdown | No | Recent dates only. The page was documented as retaining reports online for five days. |
The results display name, age, city and state, arrest date and time, arrest county, troop, and detail links by report number. The MSHP notice describes those entries as preliminary and unofficial, so confirm the current custody location with the sheriff or the responsible court before acting on the information.
For Princeton city arrests, the Princeton Police Department page is relevant because it identifies the municipal police agency. The police page is not a jail roster, but it helps route questions when a city officer made the arrest before any transfer to the county jail.
Use the city source to identify the police route, then ask whether the person was cited, released, held locally by the sheriff, or sent to another agency.
What a Mercer County Inmate Record May Show
No Mercer County online sample inmate profile was available from official sources, so the fields below are the record categories to ask about when calling or requesting releasable records. The sheriff may confirm some details by phone, require a written request, redact protected information, or withhold records when Missouri law closes them.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Name | The booked person's legal name or name used during intake. |
| Booking Date and Time | When the jail intake was recorded, if the person was booked locally. |
| Arresting Agency | Sheriff, Princeton Police, MSHP, warrant agency, or another law-enforcement source. |
| Booking or Arrest Number | Any local identifier used by the jail or arresting agency. |
| Charges or Offense Descriptions | Arrest allegations, probable-cause descriptions, warrant holds, or court-filed charges depending on the source. |
| Bond | Bond amount, no-bond hold, release condition, or instruction to verify through the court. |
| Hold or Detainer | Other-county, probation, parole, federal, or immigration hold information if releasable. |
| Release or Transfer Status | Whether the person remains held, was released, or moved to another custody system. |
| Mugshot | Booking photo if one exists and the sheriff treats it as releasable under Missouri law. |
Finding County, State, Federal, and Immigration Inmates
Use the custody system that matches the person's status. Mercer County Jail records are local jail records. The Missouri Department of Corrections handles sentenced prison inmates and active supervision such as probation and parole. Federal custody and immigration detention are separate systems and are not completed by searching a county sheriff contact alone.
| Custody | Where to Look |
|---|---|
| Pretrial or short-sentence local custody | Call the Mercer County Sheriff's Office at 660-748-3165 or submit a written request. |
| MSHP arrest only | MSHP Arrest Reports, with Mercer selected as arrest county if appropriate. |
| Filed criminal case | Missouri Case.net or Mercer County Circuit Clerk-Recorder at 660-748-4335. |
| Sentenced or supervised state offender | Missouri Department of Corrections Offender Search. |
| Federal inmate | Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator. |
| Immigration detention | ICE Online Detainee Locator System. |
| Custody notification | VINELink or Missouri VINE/MOVANS. |
The MODOC entry page requires a CAPTCHA before search access and states that it searches active offenders, including probationers and parolees, and may include aliases. It does not provide discharged-offender information and may omit certain records for safety, security, or confidentiality reasons.
Mercer County Jail Facilities
The Facility Map identified one Mercer County detention facility: Mercer County Jail, operated by the Mercer County Sheriff's Office. No separate work-release annex, city jail, state prison, federal prison, or ICE facility was located inside Mercer County during research.
Mercer County Jail
802 E. Main
Princeton, MO 64673
660-748-3165
General county office hours are 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, closed legal holidays. Jail-specific lobby and visitation hours were not located.
Booking Process in Mercer County
Mercer County-specific booking steps were not published by the sheriff, so the reliable description is a careful Missouri local-jail sequence. A person may be arrested by the sheriff, Princeton Police, MSHP, or another agency. If local custody is needed, the person may be transported to the Mercer County Sheriff's Office or jail for identity checks, property inventory, search and security screening, fingerprints, booking photo if performed, medical or mental-health screening, charge or hold entry, and housing or release decision.
Bond and court timing should be verified through the sheriff and the court. Call the jail to ask whether bond has been set, whether any hold blocks release, what payment methods are accepted, and whether the court must receive payment. Then check Case.net or contact the Mercer County Circuit Clerk-Recorder at 660-748-4335 for filed charges, hearings, warrants, and later bond-condition changes. The Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney phone listed in research is 660-748-3332.
Written Requests for Mercer County Jail Records
Missouri's Sunshine Law route is important in Mercer County because the sheriff did not have a located public roster. A written request should identify the person, approximate arrest or booking date, arresting agency if known, and the exact record sought. Useful request wording can ask for releasable booking records, arrest records, charge descriptions, bond information, hold or detainer information, release or transfer status, and booking photo if releasable.
Send sheriff jail-record requests to the Mercer County Sheriff's Office, 802 E. Main, Princeton, MO 64673, or ask by phone whether fax to 660-748-3180 is accepted for records requests. Missouri statutes RSMo 610.011 and RSMo 610.023 state the open-records policy and inspection route. Arrest and incident records are governed by RSMo 610.100, while later closures, closed-record access, and expungement issues can involve RSMo 610.105, RSMo 610.120, and RSMo 610.140.
The City of Princeton open-records page explains local inspection and copying for city records, which may matter when Princeton Police created the police record rather than the sheriff.
Use the Princeton city route for city-held police or municipal records. Use the sheriff route for Mercer County jail custody and booking records unless an official county form is later published.
Visitation Hours and Rules
No official Mercer County Jail visitation schedule, video visitation vendor, phone provider, mail policy, deposit vendor, commissary page, or fee table was located. Do not rely on generic jail-directory pages for visiting hours. Call 660-748-3165 before traveling and ask whether the person is still held, whether visits are allowed, what identification is required, whether children may visit, what clothing rules apply, and whether visits can be cancelled for court transport, staffing, lockdown, or emergencies.
| Topic | Published Status | What to Confirm |
|---|---|---|
| In-person visits | Not located | Days, hours, approval, ID, dress code, arrival time, and visitor entrance. |
| Video visits | Not located | Whether video visits exist and whether they are onsite or remote. |
| Not located | Exact address format, inmate ID requirement, banned items, and return-address rules. | |
| Phone calls | Not located | Provider, collect or prepaid setup, attorney-call rules, and fees. |
| Money deposits | Not located | Whether deposits are accepted in person, by mail, online, by kiosk, or by phone. |
| Commissary | Not located | Whether commissary is available, vendor name, limits, ordering schedule, and fees. |
How to Contact a Mercer County Inmate
Current custody should be confirmed before attempting mail, calls, deposits, or visits. Ask the sheriff for the approved inmate name format, whether a booking number is needed, whether mail must use a specific address line, what items are rejected, and whether photographs, money orders, printed pages, envelopes, or books are accepted. If the person has been transferred to MODOC, a federal facility, another county, or ICE custody, Mercer County Jail rules no longer control the contact process.
Commissary and Inmate Funds
No official Mercer County commissary vendor or deposit fee table was located. Ask the jail whether funds may be deposited, whether there is a kiosk or online vendor, whether mailed money orders are accepted, whether deposits are limited by balance or custody status, and whether release or transfer changes how unused funds are returned. Never send money until the jail confirms the person is still held and can receive funds.
Note: Confirm custody, facility location, and current jail rules with Mercer County Jail before sending money, mail, or visitors.