The participants were all inmates of a local suburban jail facility in a Virginia county and were recruited within the first 2 weeks of their incarceration. Depression was measured by four indicators: the Beck Depression Inventory, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Anchored Version, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and a standardized depression score derived from the scores on the other three instruments. Competence in understanding, reasoning, and appreciation was assessed by the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT-CA). Depression was found not to be significantly correlated with any competence measure. However, more depressed women than other women were likely to feel that they would not be handled fairly by the legal system. Findings were consistent with previous data suggesting that depressed people tend to have pessimistic perceptions. The rates of depression among the inmates were far above the rates in the general female population; many of the participants were clinically depressed. In addition, competence was generally negatively correlated with measures of psychoticism, emotional withdrawal, and general psychopathology. Findings indicated the need for routine depression screening and mental health services for women detained in jail. Tables and 57 references (Author abstract modified)