Little is known about the etiology of jail suicides, other than scant data about victim characteristics. What is known is that most jail suicides occur within the first 24 to 48 hours of incarceration. As such, manipulation of the jail environment may be one way to decrease the likelihood of jail suicides. The author engaged in a review of three well-known jail designs (linear intermittent; podular, indirect/remote supervision; and podular, direct supervision) to ascertain if suicides were more likely to occur in certain jail environments. Surveys were completed by 321 jail administrators concerning their jail environments and suicide rates. Other information collected and analyzed included demographic information about inmates, percent of pretrial detainees, officer/inmate ratio, number of bookings, and amount of time officers spend in inmate living areas. Results of logistic regression analysis suggested that jail design and supervision were not related to the likelihood of inmate suicide. The other theoretically relevant variables were also found to not be significant predictors of inmate suicide. The author cautions that these data likely underestimate the problem of jail suicide. Tables, references