👮 Jailarr

A Python-based monitoring system that tracks and stores MyOCV-based jail inmate rosters, and displays them in a simple web interface. It also sends real-time notifications via Apprise (supporting 80+ notification services).

Features

• Multi-Agency Support — Monitor multiple jail rosters simultaneously
• Real-time Monitoring — Customizable check interval (default: 1 hour)
• Modern Web Interface — Simple and intuitive web interface
• Booking Alerts — Sends notifications with mugshot photos for new arrests
• Release Tracking — Automatically detects and logs when inmates are released
• Change Detection — Tracks updates to charges, mugshots, and other inmate details
• Mugshot Versioning — Detects mugshot changes via image hashing and preserves old versions
• Image Archiving — Downloads and stores inmate mugshots locally
• Change History — Full audit log of all record modifications
• Inmate Awards — Optionally shows a small badge for inmates that excel in certain areas (enable it to find out more)
• Flexible Notifications — Supports Telegram, Discord, Slack, email, Pushover, and 80+ other services via Apprise
• Docker Support — Easy deployment with Docker Compose

Configuration

The monitor is configured through environment variables:

Core Settings

Variable	Description	Required
JSON_URLS	Agency JSON endpoint(s), comma or newline separated	✅ Yes
APPRISE_URLS	Notification service URL(s), comma-separated	No
DB_PATH	Path to SQLite database file	No (default: /data/inmates.db)
CHECK_INTERVAL	Time between scans in seconds	No (default: 3600 (1 hour))
WEB_PORT	Port for web server	No (default: 5000)
ENABLE_AWARDS	Enable inmate awards	No (default: false)

Notification Settings

Control which notification types are sent. Set to false to disable.

Variable	Description	Default
NOTIFY_NEW	New inmate bookings	true
NOTIFY_MUGSHOT	Mugshot updates	true
NOTIFY_CHARGES	Charges updates	false
NOTIFY_UPDATES	Other field updates	false
NOTIFY_STARTUP	Send a message when the service starts	true

Note: If APPRISE_URLS is not set, all notifications are disabled and the monitor runs in silent/archive mode.

Notification Services (Apprise)

Jailarr uses Apprise for notifications. Configure one or more services via URL:

Service	URL Format
Telegram	tgram://bot_token/chat_id or tgram://bot_token/chat_id:topic_id
Discord	discord://webhook_id/webhook_token
Slack	slack://token_a/token_b/token_c/#channel
Email	mailto://user:pass@gmail.com
Pushover	pover://user_key@api_token
Ntfy	ntfy://topic
Gotify	gotify://hostname/token

Multiple services: Comma-separate URLs to notify multiple services simultaneously:

APPRISE_URLS=tgram://bot/chat,discord://id/token,ntfy://mytopic

See the full list of supported services.

Finding Your JSON URL

This app ONLY works with jail rosters that use the MyOCV platform. You must provide the JSON URL(s) for the roster(s) you want to monitor. The JSON URL usually follows this pattern:

https://cdn.myocv.com/ocvapps/{AGENCY_ID}/{RosterName}.json

Known JSON Endpoints

Municipality	Agency ID	JSON URL
Chippewa County, MI	a20449768	https://cdn.myocv.com/ocvapps/a20449768/Chippewainmates.json
Dickinson County, MI	a135649801	https://cdn.myocv.com/ocvapps/a135649801/Dickinsoninmates.json
Houghton County, MI	a134149931	https://cdn.myocv.com/ocvapps/a134149931/Houghtoninmates.json
Mackinac County, MI	a109249781	https://cdn.myocv.com/ocvapps/a109249781/Mackinacinmates.json
Marquette County, MI	a39949855	https://cdn.myocv.com/ocvapps/a39949855/Marquetteinmates.json

Different agencies may have slightly different JSON formats. Jailarr automatically normalizes field names and date formats across all supported agencies.

How to find your JSON URL

This is a somewhat complex task. Full writeup to come.

Notifications

Notification Types

Event	Title	Includes Photo
New booking	🚨 New Inmate Booking	✅ Yes
Mugshot updated	📷 Mugshot Updated	✅ Yes
Charges updated	⚖️ Charges Updated	❌ No
Record updated	📝 Inmate Record Updated	❌ No

First Run Behavior

On the first run (empty database), all inmates are added silently without sending notifications. This prevents a flood of alerts when initially populating the database. A startup message is still sent to confirm the monitor is online.

Example Notification

🚨 New Inmate Booking

Name: Smith, John

Age: 35
Gender: M
Booking Date: 2026-01-15 10:30:00

Charges:
OWI - OPERATING WHILE INTOXICATED - 1000.00
DRIVING WHILE LICENSE SUSPENDED - 500.00

Local Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+
• pip

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/jailarr.git
   cd jailarr
   

2. Install dependencies:

   pip install requests apprise python-dateutil flask
   

3. Set environment variables:

   # Single agency
   export JSON_URLS="https://cdn.myocv.com/ocvapps/a39949855/Marquetteinmates.json"
   
   # Or multiple agencies (comma-separated)
   export JSON_URLS="https://cdn.myocv.com/ocvapps/a39949855/Marquetteinmates.json,https://cdn.myocv.com/ocvapps/a135649801/Dickinsoninmates.json"
   
   export APPRISE_URLS="tgram://your_bot_token/your_chat_id"
   export DB_PATH="./data/inmates.db"
   

4. Run the monitor:

   python jailarr.py
   

Docker Deployment

Option 1: Using Pre-built Image (placeholder. images coming soon)

services:
  jailarr:
    image: placeholder-registry/jailarr:latest
    container_name: jailarr
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - JSON_URLS=https://cdn.myocv.com/ocvapps/a39949855/Marquetteinmates.json
      - APPRISE_URLS=tgram://bot_token/chat_id
      - CHECK_INTERVAL=3600
    ports:
      - "5000:5000"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data

Option 2: Building the Image

# Build locally
docker build -t jailarr .

# Or with docker compose
docker compose build

Option 3: Mount Source Files (No Build)

If you prefer to mount the source files directly without building an image:

services:
  jailarr:
    image: python:3.11-slim
    container_name: jailarr
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: >
      sh -c "pip install requests apprise python-dateutil flask && sh /app/entrypoint.sh"
    environment:
      - PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
      - JSON_URLS=https://cdn.myocv.com/ocvapps/a39949855/Marquetteinmates.json
      - APPRISE_URLS=tgram://bot_token/chat_id
      - DB_PATH=/app/data/inmates.db
      - CHECK_INTERVAL=3600
    ports:
      - "5000:5000"
    volumes:
      - ./jailarr:/app

Data Storage

The monitor stores data in two locations:

Database (/data/inmates.db)

inmates table:

Column	Description
record_id	Composite key: {agency}_{inmate_id}
agency	Source roster (e.g., Marquette, Dickinson)
inmate_id	Original ID from the source roster
name	Inmate name
age, gender, race	Demographics
height, weight	Physical description (if available)
booking_date	Date/time of booking
charges	List of charges
arresting_agency	Agency that made the arrest (if available)
image_url	Original mugshot URL
image_hash	MD5 hash for change detection
first_seen	Unix timestamp when first detected
last_seen	Unix timestamp of last scan
status	active or released

change_history table:

Column	Description
record_id	Links to inmate
field_name	Which field changed
old_value	Previous value
new_value	Updated value
changed_at	Unix timestamp

Images (/data/images/)

• Current mugshots: {arrest_no}.jpg
• Previous versions: {arrest_no}_v1.jpg, {arrest_no}_v2.jpg, etc.