The daily reports include names of enslaved individuals admitted each day, along with the names of their enslaver and a statement of how they were brought to the jail (by the City Guard, by their enslaver, as runaways, etc.). Also included are statistical reports giving the number entering and being discharged each day, along with the total number in jail each morning; the number of males and females employed in the public works; the number sick; and the number being detained without being kept in chains.

The first two volumes, covering 1820 and part of 1823, actually list daily the enslaved at the public works, sick, and without chains, in addition to listing the day's new entries. Some later volumes do list individuals or groups of enslaved prisoners in addition to the new arrivals, but not on a regular basis. Many of the enslaved prisoners brought to the jail claimed to be free persons of color; these individuals are generally referred to as "s.d.L.," signifying "so-called free" in the space in the reports where the enslaver's name is usually recorded. Most of these free persons are listed by both given names and surnames.