County Inmate Search

Thank you for vis­it­ing this page. We will do our best to help you with your Vir­ginia Coun­ty In­mate Search. We aim to give you the key facts you need. This guide will help you look for an in­mate in a county jail in Vir­ginia.

If you want to start your Vir­ginia Coun­ty In­mate Search right now, you can vis­it https://virginiainmaterecords.com/county-inmate-search/. This site may help you find the per­son you seek. They have tools and data that can speed up your search. Check their site for quick access to look­up tools. It is a good place to start if time is short. Many peo­ple find it helps them.

Understanding Inmate Searches in Virginia Counties

When you need to find some­one in jail in Vir­ginia, it's key to know where to look. Not all in­mates are in the same sys­tem. Some are in state pris­ons. Oth­ers are in coun­ty jails. This guide will help you with a Vir­ginia Coun­ty In­mate Search.

State Prisons vs. County Jails

The Vir­ginia De­part­ment of Cor­rec­tions (VADOC) runs state pris­ons. These hold peo­ple with long­er terms. Most fel­ons go to state pris­ons. Each coun­ty or re­gion has its own jail. These jails hold peo­ple wait­ing for tri­al. They also hold those with short terms, often for mis­de­mean­ors. So, your first step is to know if the per­son is like­ly in a coun­ty jail or state pris­on.

If you think the per­son is in a state fa­cil­i­ty, you should use the VADOC Of­fend­er Lo­ca­tor. This tool is on the VADOC web­site: https://vadoc.virginia.gov/general-public/offender-locator/. It needs the in­mate's last name or their VADOC ID num­ber. It is a good tool for state-lev­el search­es.

For a Vir­ginia Coun­ty In­mate Search, you will need to check with each coun­ty. Some coun­ties have on­line search tools. Oth­ers may need a phone call. Keep in mind that each coun­ty jail has its own rules and ways to find in­mates. This guide will list some ways to search at the coun­ty lev­el.

How to Perform a Virginia County Inmate Search

There are a few ways to do a Vir­ginia Coun­ty In­mate Search. The best way will change based on the coun­ty. Some have good on­line tools. For oth­ers, you must call.

Online Search Methods for County Jails

Many Vir­ginia coun­ties now have web­sites for their sher­iff's of­fice or re­gion­al jail. These sites of­ten have an in­mate look­up fea­ture. You will need the per­son's name. Some­times a date of birth helps too. To find these tools, search on­line for "[Coun­ty Name] Sher­iff's Of­fice in­mate search" or "[Re­gion­al Jail Name] in­mate search".

For ex­am­ple, some re­gion­al jails serve mul­ti­ple coun­ties. The Pamun­key Re­gion­al Jail serves Han­over, Car­o­line, and King Wil­liam Coun­ties, and the Town of Ash­land. Their web­site may have a look­up tool. An­oth­er is the Mid­dle Penin­su­la Re­gion­al Se­cu­ri­ty Cen­ter. It serves King and Queen, Mid­dle­sex, King Wil­liam, Es­sex, and Mathews coun­ties. Check their sites for how to search.

The key is to find the right web­site for the coun­ty where the per­son may be held. Not all jails have the same sys­tem. Some small jails may not have an on­line tool. In such a case, you may need to call them. It helps to be sure of the coun­ty of ar­rest. This will narrow down your search a lot.

Information Needed for Your Search

To make your Vir­ginia Coun­ty In­mate Search go well, have some facts on hand.

• Full Name: This is the most key piece of in­fo. In­clude any known al­iases.

• Date of Birth or Ap­prox­i­mate Age: This helps tell apart peo­ple with the same name.

• In­mate ID: If you know the in­mate's ID num­ber from the jail, this can speed up the search.

• Coun­ty of Ar­rest/Con­vic­tion: Know­ing this tells you which coun­ty or re­gion­al jail web­site or of­fice to check.

Hav­ing these facts will help you use on­line tools. It will also help staff if you need to call the jail. Be as clear as you can with names and dates. This will give you the best chance to find the per­son. Some sys­tems let you search with part of a name. But a full name is al­ways best.

Understanding Virginia Inmate Records

When you do a Vir­ginia Coun­ty In­mate Search, you will find var­i­ous types of in­for­ma­tion. The Code of Vir­ginia, specif­i­cal­ly § 2.2-3700 et. seq. (Vir­ginia Free­dom of In­for­ma­tion Act), states that many records kept by pub­lic bod­ies are open to the pub­lic. This means you can often get some data about in­mates. How­ev­er, there are lim­its. Some data may be kept pri­vate for safe­ty or to pro­tect on­go­ing work by the po­lice.

What Information is Typically Available?

If an in­mate is in a coun­ty jail, you can usu­al­ly find:

• In­mate's full name

• Book­ing pho­to (mug­shot)

• List of charges

• Bail or bond amount, if set

• The name of the jail where they are held

• Sched­uled court dates (some­times)

• Pro­ject­ed re­lease date (if sentenced and not a long term)

This in­fo can come from on­line search tools or by ask­ing jail staff. The VADOC Of­fend­er Lo­ca­tor for state pris­on­ers (https://vadoc.virginia.gov/general-public/offender-locator/) shows things like the of­fend­er ID, lo­ca­tion of the pris­on, and an es­ti­mat­ed re­lease date. Coun­ty jail records may vary more from place to place. Some coun­ties give a lot of de­tail on­line. Oth­ers give less.

Accessing Records and Potential Limitations

You can ask for records un­der the Vir­ginia Free­dom of In­for­ma­tion Act (VFOIA). You can learn more about VFOIA here: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodefull/title2.2/chapter37/. Each coun­ty or re­gion­al jail may have a per­son who deals with VFOIA re­quests. You may need to fill out a form.

Keep in mind some lim­its. Ju­ve­nile records are usu­al­ly not pub­lic. If a case is still be­ing looked at, some facts may be held back. Al­so, for the safe­ty of the jail, some types of in­fo are not shared. If you can't find what you need on­line, you may need to call the jail's records of­fice. They can tell you what they can share and how to ask for it. Some­times, they charge a small fee to copy records.

Contacting Specific Virginia County Jails

When an on­line Vir­ginia Coun­ty In­mate Search does not yield re­sults, or if you need more de­tailed in­for­ma­tion, con­tact­ing the jail di­rect­ly is your next step. Each coun­ty and re­gion­al jail in Vir­ginia has its own con­tact de­tails and pro­ce­dures.

Example County Jails and Contact Information

Below are ex­am­ples. This is not a full list. You should check the spe­cif­ic coun­ty or re­gion­al jail web­site for the most up-to-date in­for­ma­tion. Busi­ness hours for ad­min­is­tra­tive of­fices are typ­i­cal­ly Mon­day to Fri­day, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, but can vary.

• Fair­fax Coun­ty Adult De­ten­tion Cen­ter
  
  

  • Ad­dress: 10520 Ju­di­cial Dri­ve, Fair­fax, VA 22030

  • Main Phone: 703-246-2100 (Press 4, then 1 for in­mate in­for­ma­tion)

  • On­line Search: Fair­fax Coun­ty often has an in­mate look­up tool on their sher­iff's web­site.

  • Web­site: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/sheriff/adult-detention-center

• Prince Wil­liam Coun­ty Adult De­ten­tion Cen­ter
  
  

  • Ad­dress: 9320 Lee Ave­nue, Man­as­sas, VA 20110

  • In­mate In­for­ma­tion (Mon-Fri, 8 AM - 4 PM): 703-792-5811

  • Af­ter Hours: 703-792-6420

  • Web­site: https://www.pwcva.gov/department/adult-detention-center (Check for in­mate records sec­tion)

• Vir­ginia Beach Sher­iff's Of­fice (Cor­rec­tion­al Cen­ter)
  
  

  • Ad­dress: 2501 Pa­cif­ic Ave, Vir­ginia Beach, VA 23451

  • Phone: (757) 385-4555 (This is often for gen­er­al in­fo; ask for in­mate records or look­up)

  • On­line Search: They usu­al­ly have an "In­mate Look­up" link on https://sheriff.vbgov.com/.

• Hen­ri­co Coun­ty Sher­iff's Of­fice / Re­gion­al Jail East & West
  
  

  • Jail East Ad­dress: 17320 New Kent High­way, Barhamsville, VA 23011. Phone: (804) 501-5860

  • Jail West Ad­dress: 4317 East Parham Road, Hen­ri­co, VA 23228. Phone: (804) 501-4800

  • In­mate Look­up: Check the Hen­ri­co Coun­ty Sher­iff's web­site: https://henrico.us/sheriff/

• Rap­pa­han­nock Shen­an­do­ah War­ren (RSW) Re­gion­al Jail (Serves Fauquier, Rap­pa­han­nock, Shen­an­do­ah, and War­ren Coun­ties, and the Town of Front Roy­al)
  
  

  • Ad­dress: 660 Dom­in­ion Rd, Front Roy­al, VA 22630

  • Main Phone: 540-622-6097

  • In­mate Look­up: https://rswregionaljail.com/ (Often has an "In­mate Lo­ca­tor" link)

  • Book­ing Phone: 540-622-8620 or 540-622-8683

Al­ways try the jail's web­site first for an on­line search tool or FAQ. If you call, be ready with the in­mate's full name and date of birth. Ask for the records de­part­ment or in­mate in­for­ma­tion line. Some jails have forms you must fill out to get data. These may be on their site.

Tips for Contacting Jails

• Be polite and pa­tient. Staff are often busy.

• Have all known in­for­ma­tion ready (full name, DOB).

• Ask clear questions.

• Note down the name of the per­son you speak with and the date/time of your call.

• Check the jail's web­site for spe­cif­ic hours for phone in­quiries about in­mates. These hours may dif­fer from gen­er­al jail op­er­a­tions.

Communicating with an Inmate in a Virginia County Jail

Once you find an in­mate through your Vir­ginia Coun­ty In­mate Search, you may want to make con­tact. Each jail has rules. You must fol­low these rules.

Mail Procedures

Send­ing mail is a com­mon way to keep in touch. Most jails have strict rules for mail.

• Ad­dress­ing Mail: Use the in­mate's full name and ID num­ber. The mail should go to the jail's ad­dress. Check the jail’s web­site for the right mail­ing ad­dress for in­mates. It may be a P.O. Box. For ex­am­ple, the Fair­fax Coun­ty Adult De­ten­tion Cen­ter uses a cen­tral mail pro­cess­ing cen­ter: Smart Com­mu­ni­ca­tions/FX­COADC, In­mate Name/In­mate Num­ber, P.O. Box 9128, Sem­i­nole, FL 33775-9128. Al­ways check the spe­cif­ic jail's cur­rent pol­i­cy.

• Con­tra­band: Do not send items that are not al­lowed. This can in­clude things like sta­ples, pa­per clips, hard­cov­er books (soft­cov­er books usu­al­ly must come from the pub­lish­er or an ap­proved sell­er), food, or mon­ey. Read the jail's mail rules with care. A list of banned items is usu­al­ly on their web­site. For VADOC rules which may be sim­i­lar to some jails, see their site: https://vadoc.virginia.gov/ (look for mail poli­cies).

• Con­tent: Keep let­ters free of threats or talk of crimes. All mail, ex­cept le­gal mail, is read by jail staff.

Phone Calls

In­mates can­not take in­com­ing calls. They can make out­go­ing calls. These calls are usu­al­ly col­lect calls. Or, they use a pre-paid ac­count sys­tem. Fam­i­ly and friends can set up these ac­counts. Ser­vice providers like JPay, GTL (ViaPath), or Smart Com­mu­ni­ca­tions are often used. The jail's web­site will say which firm they use. For ex­am­ple, JPay is used by VADOC for state pris­on­ers (https://www.jpay.com/). Coun­ty jails may use the same or oth­ers. Calls are record­ed and tracked. There are time lim­its on calls.

Email and Messaging Systems

Some Vir­ginia coun­ty jails now of­fer email or mes­sage sys­tems. These also use firms like JPay or GTL. There is a fee for these. Mes­sages are screened. These are not pri­vate. Check the jail web­site or the firm’s site for how to sign up. This is a quick way to send a note. It is not as per­son­al as a let­ter. But it can be good for short notes.

Sending Money to an Inmate

In­mates in Vir­ginia coun­ty jails need mon­ey. They use it for com­mis­sary items. These can be food, snacks, or things for per­son­al care. They may also need funds for phone calls or mes­sag­ing fees. Each jail has its own rules on how to send mon­ey. It is key to fol­low the rules. If not, the mon­ey may not reach the in­mate.

Approved Methods for Sending Funds

Most Vir­ginia coun­ty jails use a few ways to get mon­ey to in­mates. These of­ten in­clude:

• On­line De­posits: Many jails work with firms like JPay (https://www.jpay.com/) or Keefe Group (often via Ac­cess Cor­rec­tions). You can use a cred­it or deb­it card on these sites. There is usu­al­ly a fee. This is oft­en the fast­est way. The Vir­ginia De­part­ment of Cor­rec­tions (VADOC) uses JPay for state pris­on­ers. Their site has details: https://vadoc.virginia.gov/family-and-friends/sending-money/. Coun­ty jails list their vendors on their own web­sites.

• Mon­ey Or­ders: Some jails still take mon­ey or­ders. They must be sent by mail to a spe­cif­ic ad­dress. The in­mate's name and ID num­ber must be on it. Cash or per­son­al checks are most times not al­lowed through the mail. For ex­am­ple, Hen­ri­co Coun­ty jails state they ac­cept cer­ti­fied checks and mon­ey or­ders by mail to P.O. Box 3368, Hen­ri­co, VA 23228, or in per­son at spe­cif­ic lo­ca­tions dur­ing busi­ness hours (https://henrico.gov/services/deposit-money-inmate/). Al­ways check the jail's web­site for the lat­est rules.

• Kiosk De­posits: Some jails have a ki­osk in the jail lob­by. You can use cash or cards at these ma­chines to put mon­ey in an in­mate's ac­count. There is often a fee. The Hen­ri­co Coun­ty Sher­iff's Of­fice, for in­stance, men­tions an in-per­son Keefe ki­osk.

• Phone De­posits: You may be able to send mon­ey by phone through the jail's vendor. This also has a fee.

Rules and Limits

Jails have rules for send­ing mon­ey. There may be a lim­it on how much an in­mate can get or have in their ac­count. If an in­mate owes fines or court costs, part of the mon­ey you send may go to pay those debts. This is a rule in VADOC fa­cil­i­ties and may be true for coun­ty jails too. Al­ways check the spe­cif­ic jail's pol­i­cy on their web­site or by call­ing them. For VADOC, Op­er­at­ing Pro­ce­dure 802.2 cov­ers in­mate funds. Coun­ty jails will have their own rules. Make sure you know the in­mate's full name and ID num­ber when send­ing funds. This helps make sure the mon­ey goes to the right per­son.

Visitation in Virginia County Jails

Vis­it­ing an in­mate is an im­por­tant way to show sup­port. Each Vir­ginia coun­ty jail has its own rules and hours for vis­its. You must know these rules be­fore you go. A Vir­ginia Coun­ty In­mate Search can help you find the jail, then you can look up their vis­it rules. The Vir­ginia De­part­ment of Cor­rec­tions (VADOC) has its own set of rules for state pris­ons, which you can find here: https://vadoc.virginia.gov/family-and-friends/visiting-an-inmate/. Coun­ty jails may have sim­i­lar but distinct poli­cies.

Scheduling Visits and Rules

• Sched­ul­ing: Most jails need you to sched­ule vis­its in ad­vance. This might be done on­line through a sys­tem like the VADOC's Vis­i­ta­tion Sched­uler or by call­ing the jail. Some jails have set days and times based on the in­mate's hous­ing unit or last name. Check the jail's web­site for how to book a vis­it.

• Valid ID: All adult vis­i­tors must show a val­id, gov­ern­ment-is­sued pho­to ID. This could be a driv­er's li­cense, state ID card, mil­i­tary ID, or pass­port.

• Dress Code: Jails have strict dress codes for vis­i­tors. Things like short skirts, tank tops, cloth­ing with of­fen­sive words or im­ages, or cloth­ing that looks like in­mate wear are not al­lowed. It is best to dress in a mod­est way. Check the spe­cif­ic jail's web­site for their dress code.

• Con­duct: Vis­i­tors must act in a prop­er way. Any rule break­ing can end the vis­it. It could also lead to a ban on fu­ture vis­its. Do not bring cell phones, bags, food, or drinks in­to the vis­it area. Lock­ers may be there for your things.

• Chil­dren: Chil­dren can usu­al­ly vis­it. They must be with an adult guardian. You may need to bring the child's birth cer­tifi­cate.

In-Person vs. Video Visitation

Many Vir­ginia coun­ty jails now of­fer both in-per­son and vid­eo vis­its.

• In-Per­son Vis­its: These take place at the jail. They may be through a glass par­ti­tion or in a room where you can sit with the in­mate (con­tact vis­it). Con­tact vis­its are less com­mon, es­pe­cial­ly in high-se­cu­ri­ty ar­eas.

• Vid­eo Vis­its: These can be done in two ways. Some jails have vid­eo ter­mi­nals in their lob­by. Oth­ers al­low for at-home vid­eo vis­its using a com­put­er or smart phone. There is usu­al­ly a fee for at-home vid­eo vis­its. These are run by firms like GTL/ViaPath or Secu­rus. Check the jail's web­site for how to use vid­eo vis­its. They can be a good choice if you live far away.

Al­ways check the jail’s web­site or call them for the most cur­rent vis­it rules and hours. These can change with no warn­ing. Ar­rive ear­ly for your vis­it to al­low time for check-in and se­cu­ri­ty screen­ing.

Rights and Resources

When deal­ing with in­car­cer­a­tion, it's help­ful to know about cer­tain rights and re­sources. This ap­plies to those search­ing for in­mates and to vic­tims of crimes.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act (VFOIA)

The Vir­ginia Free­dom of In­for­ma­tion Act, or VFOIA, found in the Code of Vir­ginia § 2.2-3700 et seq., gives cit­i­zens of Vir­ginia and some me­dia mem­bers the right to ac­cess pub­lic records. This in­cludes records held by coun­ty jails and sher­iffs' of­fices. You can read the full text of the law here: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodefull/title2.2/chapter37/.

When you make a Vir­ginia Coun­ty In­mate Search, some of the in­for­ma­tion you find is avail­able due to VFOIA. If you need more de­tailed records than what is on­line, you can make a VFOIA re­quest to the spe­cif­ic agency. They must re­spond with­in five work­ing days, though they can ask for more time if need­ed. There are some ex­emp­tions to VFOIA, such as records part of an on­go­ing crim­i­nal in­ves­ti­ga­tion or cer­tain per­son­nel records. In­car­cer­at­ed fel­ons have lim­it­ed rights to re­quest records un­der VFOIA, as per https://www.nfoic.org/virginia-foia-laws/.

Victim Notification (NAAVI)

If you are a vic­tim of a crime, Vir­ginia has a sys­tem to keep you in­formed about an in­mate's sta­tus. The No­ti­fi­ca­tion and As­sis­tance for Vic­tim In­clu­sion (NAAVI) sys­tem provides no­ti­fi­ca­tions for in­mates in the cus­tody of the Vir­ginia De­part­ment of Cor­rec­tions (VADOC). This can in­clude trans­fers, re­lease, death, or es­cape. You can sign up for these alerts through the NAAVI por­tal: https://naavi.virginia.gov/.

The VADOC web­site states that NAAVI is not con­nect­ed to VINE no­ti­fi­ca­tions at lo­cal jails. For in­mates in coun­ty jails, you may need to reg­is­ter with VINE (Vic­tim In­for­ma­tion and No­ti­fi­ca­tion Every­day) or the lo­cal jail's own vic­tim ser­vices unit if they have one. Check with the spe­cif­ic coun­ty sher­iff's of­fice or jail for how to get no­ti­fied about an in­mate in their cus­tody. Vic­tim rights are out­lined in the Code of Vir­ginia § 19.2-11.01.

What if You Can't Find an Inmate?

Some­times, your Vir­ginia Coun­ty In­mate Search may not find the per­son you are look­ing for right away. There can be sev­er­al rea­sons for this.

• Re­cent Ar­rest: If the per­son was just ar­rest­ed, they might still be in the book­ing pro­cess. It can take a few hours, or some­times longer, for their in­for­ma­tion to ap­pear in on­line sys­tems. You might need to wait and search again lat­er. Or, you can call the po­lice de­part­ment in the area of ar­rest or the main county jail non-emer­gency line.

• Trans­ferred Fa­cil­i­ty: In­mates can be moved be­tween jails or trans­ferred to a state pris­on (run by VADOC) or even a fed­er­al fa­cil­i­ty. If the per­son was sen­tenced to a longer term, they may have been moved to a VADOC fa­cil­i­ty. Use the VADOC Of­fend­er Lo­ca­tor in that case: https://vadoc.virginia.gov/general-public/offender-locator/.

• Re­leased: The in­mate may have been re­leased on bond, or their sen­tence may have end­ed. Most on­line jail lo­ca­tors on­ly show cur­rent in­mates.

• In­cor­rect In­for­ma­tion: Make sure you have the cor­rect spelling of the per­son's name and their date of birth. A small er­ror can stop you from find­ing them. Try dif­fer­ent spellings if you are not sure.

• Fed­er­al In­mates: If the per­son was charged with a fed­er­al crime, they would be in a fed­er­al pris­on, not a state or coun­ty one. You can search for fed­er­al in­mates us­ing the Fed­er­al Bu­reau of Pris­ons (BOP) In­mate Lo­ca­tor: https://www.bop.gov/inmate_locator/.

If you have tried these steps and still can­not find the per­son, con­tact the jail or sher­iff's of­fice in the coun­ty where you think they might be. They may be able to help if you can give them enough de­tails. Re­mem­ber to be pa­tient. Find­ing some­one can take time.