Locate Bell County Forestry Camp Inmates

Bell County Prison Overview

Bell County Forestry Camp is a Kentucky Department of Corrections adult institution near Pineville. It is not operated by the Bell County jailer, and it is not searched through the Bell County JailTracker roster. DOC describes it as a minimum-security institution for adult male inmates. The facility opened in 1962 and has a 300-man population or capacity figure on the official DOC facility page and the DOC 2024 annual report. The facility page lists Warden James Dibrell, ADA Coordinator Jared Gibson, phone 606-337-7065, and fax 606-337-1312.

BCFC is about 14 miles southwest of Pineville on roughly 15 rural acres. DOC says the compound includes 14 buildings, including a dormitory with casework offices and temporary holding cells, an academic school, administration building, procedures office, medical building, multi-purpose building, recreation building, kitchen and dining hall, inmate library, canteen, chapel, caustic/toxic area, maintenance, training center, and support buildings. The camp also has a water plant and sewage treatment plant. Those details distinguish it from the county jail downtown.

The official facility page is shown in the captured source image from Kentucky DOC's Bell County Forestry Camp page.

The image matches the state-prison facts used here, including minimum security, the Pineville location, and DOC facility administration.

Bell County Forestry Population

The Kentucky DOC facility page and the DOC 2024 annual report both identify Bell County Forestry Camp as a 300-capacity adult male institution. The official facility page lists security status as minimum, date opened as 1962, total acreage as 15, and total staff as 49. The 2024 annual report separately says the camp has capacity for 300 adult male inmates, 54 staff, and 14 contract employees for food service, medical services, and program facilitation. Use these as institution-level figures, not as a daily roster count.

The official DOC page also reports population demographics as Black 67 percent, White 23 percent, and Other 10 percent. It lists an annual cost per inmate of $16,674.46 and a daily cost of $45.68, while the 2024 annual report cost table lists Bell County Forestry Camp CTI per day at $86.72 and CTI per annum at $31,651.16. Because these are DOC administrative figures, they should not be treated as county jail spending. Bell County Detention Center capacity and weekly jail counts are separate local-jail measures.

Bell County DOC Lookup

Use Kentucky DOC KOOL for Bell County Forestry Camp inmate lookup. KOOL is the public Kentucky Offender Online Lookup entry point for sentenced state prisoners and many state-supervised offenders. DOC says KOOL is updated daily, that accuracy is not guaranteed, and that offender data newer than 120 days may not be finalized. That caveat is important after sentencing because a person may move through intake, classification, transport, or reassignment before the final location stabilizes.

1. Open Kentucky DOC KOOL from the DOC public-information page or direct locator link.
2. Search by name, or use an offender identification number when one is known.
3. Check the current institution field to see whether Bell County Forestry Camp is listed.
4. Use DOC open records or the facility phone for details not shown in the public locator.

Do not use the Bell County Detention Center JailTracker roster as the main search for this facility. JailTracker is for current county jail custody, while Bell County Forestry Camp is a sentenced-prison placement. If a person was recently arrested in Bell County and has not been sentenced or transferred, check the county jail first. Once a sentence leads to DOC custody, KOOL and DOC records become the better source.

Bell County Forestry Contact

The facility contact card should be used for state-prison visiting questions, emergency call routing, mail questions, and general institutional contact. The facility is located at 560 Correctional Drive in Pineville. DOC lists the main phone as 606-337-7065 and fax as 606-337-1312. For records that are not shown in KOOL, use the Kentucky DOC open-records process rather than a county jail records request.

Kentucky DOC open records accepts written requests by email, mail, or fax. DOC says offender requests should include the full name plus date of birth or offender identification number. The research notes that the standardized form is optional and that DOC responds within five business days under KRS 197.025. Requests may be emailed to correctionsopenrecords@ky.gov or mailed to Department of Corrections, Offender Information Services, Attn: Open Records Coordinator, P.O. Box 2400, Frankfort, KY 40602.

Bell County Forestry Visits

Bell County Forestry Camp visiting is handled through DOC's state-prison scheduling rules, not the county jail video-visitation system. The BCFC visiting page says visitors schedule by emailing bcfc.visitation@ky.gov. Requests must be submitted 7 days in advance, and visitors should monitor email for confirmation. Visits occur on Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in two-hour blocks.

DOC's dress code requires modest clothing, visible undergarments are not allowed, shirts must cover shoulders, cleavage, and midriff, footwear is required, and revealing, see-through, tight, obscene, gang-related, or offensive clothing is barred. Shorts and skirts cannot be more than 2 inches above the knee. Tank, halter, tube, and sleeveless shirts are not allowed. Outerwear spandex, leggings, and yoga pants are not allowed unless worn under compliant clothing. Religious head coverings may be searched.

The captured source image from Bell County Forestry Camp visiting information shows the official state-prison schedule and visitor rules.

That schedule should be confirmed by email before travel because prison visits depend on approval, confirmation, processing, and current facility status.

Bell County Forestry Mail

Bell County Forestry Camp mail and phone rules come from the DOC facility's general inmate information page. Emergency calls go to 606-337-7065, then dial 0 for the operator and notify the shift supervisor. Inmates cannot receive outside calls. Inmate calls are collect, and the person receiving the call is responsible for charges. Incoming mail must be sent through USPS and may be inspected or read for contraband or rule violations. Those rules are different from Bell County Detention Center's CPC phone/chirp and JailFunds commissary process.

The official source image from BCFC general inmate information shows the prison's mail, phone, and emergency-call guidance.

Use those rules for state-prison contact, and use the county jail vendor rules only for people still held at Bell County Detention Center.

Bell County Prison Intake

Bell County Forestry Camp does not perform the street-arrest booking role that a county jail performs. People generally reach DOC custody after court action, sentencing, and classification. A person may pass through Bell County Detention Center, another local jail, or a DOC intake path before assignment to BCFC. Facility placement can change because of custody level, sentence needs, bed space, programs, medical status, discipline, or transfer decisions.

Several terms help separate county custody from state custody. A pretrial detainee is a person held before the court case is resolved. A sentenced prisoner is serving a sentence after court disposition. Classification is the DOC process that weighs security level, program need, institutional placement, and other factors. A detainer or hold is a notice from another agency or case that may affect release or transfer. For Bell County Forestry Camp, the key point is that DOC classification and KOOL control the lookup path.

DOC

Kentucky Department of Corrections, the statewide sentenced-prison agency.

KOOL

Kentucky Offender Online Lookup, the public DOC locator for many state offenders.

Minimum security

A lower custody level used for inmates who meet DOC placement criteria.

Bell County Forestry Work

Bell County Forestry Camp has a distinct mission within Kentucky DOC. The facility provides inmate labor to the Kentucky Division of Forestry for firefighting and fire-break clearing. It also supports governmental-service work details for city, county, and state agencies. That labor role is the reason the institution is a forestry camp rather than a general county detention center. The layout, rural acreage, utility infrastructure, academic school, medical building, library, canteen, chapel, recreation space, and training center all belong to a DOC minimum-security institution.

DOC reports that Bell County Forestry Camp is ACA accredited. The research states that the camp was first accredited in 1990 and was most recently re-accredited in January 2023 with a 100 percent score. ACA accreditation does not replace current custody confirmation, but it is a facility-level quality marker published in the DOC material. For a current location, use KOOL. For visitor approval, use the BCFC visitation email. For emergency calls and mail rules, use the DOC facility contact instructions.