Pennsylvania Inmate Search

Locating inmates in Pennsylvania is quick, considering that the PA Department of Corrections offers information on all inmates under their care. This includes information on the inmates in the 23 correctional institutions and the over 109,000 parolees, and you can access their information using the inmate/parolee locator. 

The Inmate Locator is a helpful tool for finding an inmate's housing location, race, birth date, and other details. On the other hand, the Parolee Locator is a helpful tool for discovering the parolee's county of residence, race, date of birth, and other details. 

The information on these websites is updated daily by the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole and the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. This means that you can easily know if your inmate of interest is within the walls or in the care of the PA DOC.  

County Jail Inmate Search 

Various methods allow you to find inmates in any of the 73 Pennsylvanian county jails in 67 counties. You can find inmates: 

• Using the county jail inmate roster or list 
• By contacting the jail administration or county sheriff's department 
• Visiting the jail or county sheriff's office in person 

 With technological advancement, most county jails in Pennsylvania maintain an online, readily accessible or searchable inmate roster. For jails with a searchable inmate roster, you can locate an inmate using their legal names or dates of incarceration. You can also find inmates by their dates of arrest if the sheriff's department arrested them.  

If you cannot find them in these jails, you need to contact the county jail administration or sheriff's department using the contact information on their official pages.  

Federal Prison Inmate Search 

Pennsylvania's federal prison system comprises ten federal prisons and five prison camps run and maintained by the Northeast Regional Office of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. These facilities incarcerate all state inmates charged with violations of federal laws.  

To check if your inmate is in federal facilities, you must visit the BOP inmate locator system, which allows you to find your inmate using their name or incarceration number. In the federal system, inmates may have FBI, DCDC, INS, or BOP-registered numbers. Thus, you must be careful about the number that you utilize when trying to find your inmate.  

ICE Inmates 

When your inmate is incarcerated or arrested for violating immigration laws, they will likely end up in one of the three immigration detention facilities managed by the ICE agencies. However, you can still locate them using the ICE detainee locator system. 

This system allows you to search for the inmate using their names or aliases, date of arrest, the original country of birth, or the ICE-issued detainee number.  

If you cannot still locate them, you need to contact your local field agent or the state's detention centers to inquire about your loved one's whereabouts. You will still be required to give out the official names of the inmate you seek to find, some personal information, and a description, as many immigrants are reluctant to provide their real names.