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Table of Contents

How Are Inmate Records in Virginia Created and Stored?

Virginia inmate records originate when someone is arrested by local law enforcement. The police or Sheriff’s Office records the arrest on a RAP sheet which contains the offender’s name, address, physical description, mugshot, and crime details. After that, everything that takes place in the inmate’s life is recorded and the file updated. The Virginia Department of Corrections is the government agency in charge of keeping, storing, and updating inmate records. They maintain a massive database of information kept online and searchable so that the public can perform a Virginia inmate search anytime.

How to Find if Someone is in Jail or Prison in Virginia?

Finding an inmate in a Virginia jail or prison is pretty straightforward. The process for each is different, however. Looking for someone in a Virginia state prison is perhaps a bit easier because the Virginia Department of Corrections has an inmate locator right on their website. Follow the instructions below to look up someone incarcerated in a Virginia state prison:

  1. Visit the Virginia Department of Corrections website .
  2. From the main menu, choose “General Public” and then from the drop-down, select “Offender Locator.”
  3. The page that displays gives you the option of searching by name or offender ID.
  4. There is also an area to enter optional information like alias, location, release date, age, gender, and race. This criterion helps to narrow things down. If you use the name, you must enter both first and last names.
  5. Hit the “Locate” button after entering your information.
  6. The results will display below in boxed format. They contain the offender’s name, alias, age, race, gender, offender ID, release date, and the facility where they are being held.
  7. There is a link on each one so friends and family can send that inmate money.

Anyone looking for criminal records, arrests, warrants, incarcerations, court cases, or inmate records could also try out the Infotracer system. They have over 2 million records from various public records sources.

What Does Virginia’s Prison System Look Like?

The Virginia prisons system has a few different types of facilities and programs to help rehabilitate offenders and reduce recidivism. Not only does Virginia have a lot of state prisons, but they also have federal prisons, juvenile detention for youth offenders, and quite a few local jails. The state-run facilities are overseen and managed by the Virginia Department of Corrections and Director, Harold W. Clarke. The entire prisons system in Virginia consists of:

  • 41 State Prisons
  • 2 Federal Prisons
  • 1 Juvenile Detention Facility
  • 69 County Jails

Did you Know?

  • 0.45% of people in Virginia are under correctional control, from which 60,821 are on probation, and 1,650 are on parole.
  • Every year, about 9,175 people walk out of prison gates in Virginia, but people go to jail 1.1 times more each year
  • 92% of prison inmates in Virginia are male, 8% female.
  • From 1979–80 to 2012–13, state and local government expenditures on corrections in Virginia increased by 346 percent (from $487,526,616 to $2,174,796,000).
  • Virginia has 59 facilities under state or federal authority that provided educational programs to inmates, from which only 23 provided College courses.

Types of Jails/Prisons in Virginia

The state of Virginia has forty-one state prisons. These facilities hold felons who have broken state laws and were sentenced in a court of law to confinement for long sentences. They are overseen and managed by the Virginia Department of Corrections. Additionally, the federal government has two federal prison facilities in the state holding federal inmates who broke federal laws while in Virginia. Virginia has one juvenile detention facility which is managed by the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, and this facility holds youth offenders under the age of 18. Many of Virginia’s counties have local jails which are run by local law enforcement.

How Many People are Locked up in Virginia?

Virginia’s prison system holds 37,813 residents in various kinds of correctional facilities, from which 28,301 residents are held in state prisons, 5 in juvenile correctional facilities, and 7,931 in local jails.

Correctional Facilities: Totals:
Juvenile Correctional Facilities5
State Prisons28,301
Local Jails7,931
Private Prisons1,576

Virginia State Prisons

Virginia has a total of forty-one correctional facilities. Each of them has a different purpose, holds a specific demographic, and has units with differing levels of custody. Four of them are specifically for women only. Some act as work centers to help transitional inmates back into normal life and give them purpose. The list of Virginia state prisons includes:

  • Brunswick Women’s Work Center.
  • Caroline Correctional Unit.
  • Deerfield Correctional Center.
  • Deerfield Men’s Work Center.
  • Deerfield Women’s Work Center.
  • Greensville.
  • Greensville Work Center.
  • Haynesville Correctional Center.
  • Haynesville Correctional Unit #17.
  • Indian Creek Correctional Center.
  • Lawrenceville Correctional Center.
  • St. Brides Correctional Center.
  • Sussex I State Prison.
  • Sussex II State Prison.
  • Baskerville Correctional Center.
  • Buckingham Correctional Center.
  • Central Virginia Correctional Unit #13.
  • Coffeewood Correctional Center.
  • Dillwyn Correctional Center.
  • Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women.
  • Halifax Correctional Unit.
  • Lunenburg Correctional Center.
  • Nottoway Correctional Center.
  • Nottoway Work Center.
  • Rustburg Correctional Unit.
  • State Farm Correctional Center.
  • State Farm Enterprise Unit.
  • State Farm Work Center.
  • Virginia Correctional Center for Women.
  • Augusta Correctional Center.
  • Bland Correctional Center.
  • Cold Springs Correctional Unit #10.
  • Green Rock Correctional Center.
  • Keen Mountain Correctional Center.
  • Marion Correctional Treatment Center.
  • Patrick Henry Correctional Unit.
  • Pocahontas State Correctional Center.
  • Red Onion State Prison.
  • River North Correctional Center.
  • Wallens Ridge State Prison.
  • Wise Correctional Unit.

How to Search for State Prison Inmates

The process for searching for a Virginia state prison inmate is very simple. The Virginia Department of Corrections has an inmate locator feature right on their website, and they keep all inmate records online and searchable. Follow the instructions below to look up someone incarcerated in a Virginia state prison:

  1. Visit the Virginia Department of Corrections website .
  2. From the main menu, choose “General Public” and then from the drop-down, select “Offender Locator.”
  3. The page that displays gives you the option of searching by name or offender ID.
  4. There is also an area to enter optional information like alias, location, release date, age, gender, and race. This criterion helps to narrow things down. If you use the name, you must enter both first and last names.
  5. Hit the “Locate” button after entering your information.
  6. The results will display below in boxed format. They contain the offender’s name, alias, age, race, gender, offender ID, release date, and the facility where they are being held.
  7. There is a link on each one so friends and family can send that inmate money.

Virginia Federal Prisons

The federal government manages and maintains two federal prison facilities on Virginia soil. Federal prisons hold federal inmates. Both of these facilities are operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FOB). They have a comprehensive website with an inmate locator, directions to each facility, and information on how to contact an inmate, visit or send money.

  • Lee USP - A high-security U.S. penitentiary with an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp holding 1,481 male inmates.
  • Petersburg FCC - two units, one low-security, and one medium-security holding respectively, 1,272 and 1,556 male inmates.

Virginia's Federal Prison Population During 2011-2016 years

201120122013201420152016
Total5100000
Male4800000
Female300000

How to Search for Federal Prison Inmates in Virginia

The process for finding an inmate in a Virginia federal prison is different than finding one in state prison. Since the Federal Bureau of Prisons is the agency that maintains the facilities and inmate records, someone would have to contact them directly. However, they have a good website with a page for each facility with directions and information about visiting and sending money. They also have a site-wide inmate locator to help find a federal inmate in any U.S. state.

Virginia County Jails

Virginia has 95 counties, and within many of them, the local law enforcement keeps a county jail. These jails hold pretrial detainees, recently arrested suspects and inmates who were sentenced to small stints in jail rather than prison. All sixty-nine of them are managed and operated by the local police or Sheriff’s Offices. The list of county jails in Virginia includes:

  • Accomack County Jail.
  • Albemarle/Charlottesville Regional Jail.
  • Alexandria Detention Center.
  • Alleghany/Covington Regional Jail.
  • Appomattox County Jail.
  • Arlington County Detention Center.
  • Blue Ridge Reg. Jail (BRRJ) - Amherst.
  • Blue Ridge Reg. Jail (BRRJ) - Bedford.
  • Blue Ridge Reg. Jail (BRRJ) - Campbell.
  • Blue Ridge Reg. Jail (BRRJ) - Halifax.
  • Blue Ridge Reg. Jail (BRRJ) - Lynchburg.
  • Blue Ridge Reg. Jail (BRRJ) - Moneta.
  • Botetourt County Jail.
  • Bristol City Jail.
  • Brunswick County Jail.
  • Central Virginia Regional Jail.
  • Charlotte County Jail.
  • Chesapeake City Jail.
  • Chesterfield County Jail.
  • Culpeper County Jail.
  • Danville City Jail.
  • Danville City Farm.
  • Dinwiddie County Jail.
  • Fairfax County ADC.
  • Franklin County Jail.
  • Gloucester County Jail.
  • Hampton Correctional Facility.
  • Hampton Roads Regional Jail.
  • Henrico County Jail East/West.
  • Henry County Jail.
  • Lancaster County Correctional Facility.
  • Loudoun County Jail.
  • Martinsville City Jail and Annex.
  • Mecklenburg County Jail.
  • Meherrin River Regional Jail.
  • Middle Peninsula Regional Security Center.
  • Middle River Regional Jail.
  • Montgomery County Jail.
  • New River Valley Regional Jail.
  • Newport News City Jail.
  • Newport News City Farm.
  • Norfolk City Jail.
  • Northampton County Jail.
  • Northern Neck Regional Jail.
  • Northwestern Regional ADC.
  • Page County Jail.
  • Pamunkey Regional Jail.
  • Patrick County Jail.
  • Peumansend Creek Regional Jail.
  • Piedmont Regional Jail.
  • Pittsylvania County Jail.
  • Prince William/Manassas Regional ADC.
  • Rappahannock County Jail.
  • Rappahannock Regional Jail.
  • Richmond City Jail.
  • Riverside Regional Jail.
  • Roanoke City Jail.
  • Roanoke County Jail.
  • Rockbridge Regional Jail.
  • Rockingham/Harrisonburg Regional Jail.
  • Shenandoah County Jail.
  • Southampton County Jail and Annex.
  • Southside Regional Jail.
  • Southwest Virginia Reg. Jail -Abington.
  • Southwest Virginia Reg. Jail -Duffield.
  • Southwest Virginia Reg. Jail - Haysi.
  • Southwest Virginia Reg. Jail - Tazewell.
  • Sussex County Jail.
  • Virginia Beach Correctional Center.
  • Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail.
  • Warren County RSW Regional Jail.
  • Western Tidewater Regional Jail.

Virginia's County and Local Jail Prison Population During 2011-2016 years

201120122013201420152016
Total7,4747,3896,9747,4497,9737,931
Male6,9756,9346,5506,8597,0626,995
Female499455424590911936

How to Search for County Jail Inmates

To find someone being held in a county jail in Virginia, you would need to contact the local law enforcement where the person was being held. Each county jail is managed and operated by the local police or Sheriff’s Office. Thankfully, quite a few of them have websites with an inmate search feature or a listing of the current jail inmates.

Virginia Juvenile Detention Centers

The state of Virginia has one juvenile detention center which holds 284 youth offenders, both male and female inmates aged 11-20-year-old. There are also community-based detention centers or homes that provide confinement services on a short-term basis. These are not overseen by the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, but the Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center is. All types of juvenile detention facilities offer “detainees participate in structured programs including school, recreational activities and, in some facilities, limited therapeutic activities.”

Juvenile Population in Custody During 2011-2016 years

201120122013201420152016
Total239965
Male239965
Female000000

How to Search for Inmates in Juvenile Detention Center Inmates

Due to the fact that juvenile records are private, they are not available in online inmate searches. Therefore, anyone wanting to find an inmate in a juvenile detention center in Virginia must contact the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice directly or the facility itself. They can provide direction on how to visit, send money or gifts, or contact the inmate via phone.

Why are People Incarcerated in Virginia?

Approximately 69,000 people are incarcerated in the state of Virginia. Of that total, 38,000 of them are in state prison. Another 23,000 people are in local jails, 6,400 are in federal prison, 1,200 are in youth detention, and 800 are involuntarily committed to mental institutions. More people are in prison because of aggravated assault. The next top reason people are in prison is robbery. More people are incarcerated due to rape than murder.

Virginia’s Incarceration Rate and Statistics

Virginia’s incarceration rate for year-end 2016 under state prison or local jail jurisdiction per 100,000 population was 448, which is lower than an average incarceration rate by 0%. The number of Virginia prisoners at the year-end of 2016 was 37,813, from which 8% were female prisoners, whereas the number of male prisoners was 34,704 in 2016.

2011201220132014201520162017
Total468451446449458448437
Male883845836840852837813
Female68696871767373

Where Do Virginia Inmates Go When They are Released?

Along with state prison facilities, Virginia also has work centers where prison inmates can go while transitioning before being released back into society. These facilities are lower security and offer assistance with things like job placement and housing assistance. Other inmates in Virginia will go back to family and friends after they are released.

How Does Parole Work in Virginia?

Parole is an early-release, supervised program where the parole board in Virginia deems someone eligible for release from prison. The parolee must follow specific guidelines and have regularly scheduled check-ins with a parole officer, or they will immediately return to prison.

Parole Population

Type of Parole Entry: Number of Parolees:
State Parole Population: 1,650
Entries: 711
Exits: 601
Change in 2016: 4%

How Does Someone Get Probation in Virginia?

Probation is a privilege given to some low-risk or first-time offenders. When an offender is allowed to remain free, work, and spend time at home, they must follow a list of court-ordered specifications. If they violate any of these, including regular check-ins with their probation officer, they will go to prison.

Probation Statistics

Type of Parole Entry: Number of Parolees:
State Probation Population: 60,821
Entries: 33,897
Exits: 37,532
Change in 2016: 9%

Table of Contents

Virginia Department of Corrections

Additional Resources

Virginia Inmate Search