Jail officials placed Metro Louisville's (Ky.) jail, which is jammed with more than 1,500 inmates, on lockdown during the holiday weekend.
Officials also restricted visits and required inmates to spend more time in their cells and less in recreation areas.
Metro Corrections Director George DeTella announced the measures last Friday as the jail prepared for an influx of new inmates over the weekend.
"This lockdown ... it's about managing a population maybe as large as we've ever seen," DeTella said.
The jail, which is less than five years old and built to house 1,200 inmates, has dealt with recent serious overcrowding.
Two weekends ago the total jail population, which includes inmates at the main facility and those at the Community Correctional Center, exceeded 2,100 - about 400 over capacity.
DeTella blamed the overcrowding on an increase in arrests, a crowded court docket and longer jail sentences.
Kim Allen, public protection secretary for Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson, said last Friday, "Our bookings have not gone up. But what has gone up is the length of stay at the jail."
According to Abramson's office, the average jail stay in 1999 was 12.9 days. In 2003, that went up to 19.8 days.
Jail officials say they have ordered extra mattresses and other supplies to accommodate more inmates.