How an Inmate Search Works in the District of Columbia

The District of Columbia Department of Corrections answers the question directly on its Locate an Inmate page: general inmate information may be obtained by contacting the department's Records Office at (202) 523-7060, and a victim who has the inmate's DCDC inmate ID number, a Metropolitan Police Department identification number, the PDID, the inmate's full name or the court case number can receive automated updates on inmate movements by registering with VINE at 1 (877) 329-7894. There is no public web search of the District's jail population.

What the department holds is shaped by federal law. Under the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997, sentenced felons are transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, so the DC Jail houses pre trial offenders, sentenced misdemeanants and convicted felons awaiting that transfer; a person serving a felony sentence from a DC court is found through the Bureau of Prisons, not the District.

  • Locate: the Records Office at (202) 523-7060; VINE at 1 (877) 329-7894 for registered movement updates; department headquarters at 3924 Minnesota Avenue NE, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20019, open Monday to Friday 8 am to 5 pm, (202) 698-4932.
  • The facilities: the Central Detention Facility, the DC Jail, at 1901 D Street SE, men only, with its Command Center at (202) 698-4932; the Correctional Treatment Facility at 1901 E Street SE, Command Center (202) 790-6601, for women, men of low and medium custody and juveniles being adjudicated as adults; the Central Cellblock at 300 Indiana Avenue NW, (202) 727-4222.
  • Mail and money: letters to the inmate's name and DCDC number at the DC Jail address; money through Western Union online from $3.95, by phone at 1 (800) 634-3422 or walk in from $5.95, through OffenderConnect, by money order, or at the kiosk in the CTF lobby.
  • Legal access: attorneys, legal interns and designated attorney agents and investigators have access to their client 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by legal calls, visits and mail.

Written by SearchSystems.net from District of Columbia's own systems: the DC Department of Corrections Locate an Inmate page, the department's Frequently Asked Questions, the department's Correctional Facilities page, the department's Automated Inmate Deposits page, the department's Inmate Telephone Services page, the department's Attorney or Legal Visitor page, the department's File an Inmate Grievance page, the department's New Correctional Facility page, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.

Who is held where

The facilities page describes the system. The Central Detention Facility, the DC Jail, opened in 1976 at 1901 D Street SE; after the federal district court vacated the 1985 Campbell v. McGruder population cap in July 2002, the department set a capacity of 2,164 in October 2007, within the ranges two consultants recommended in 2004 and in line with the Jail Improvement Act of 2003. Most of the men held there are awaiting adjudication or serving misdemeanor sentences, since sentenced felons go to the federal system.

The Correctional Treatment Facility, activated in May 1992 as a medium security institution, stands on 10.2 acres beside the jail off 19th and D Streets SE, eight stories in five adjoining buildings with housing units of 16 to 48 cells and a capacity of 1,400; women, juveniles being tried as adults, and men of low and medium custody are housed there. The department classifies every inmate as Low, Medium or High custody from the current charges, prior criminal history and prior incarceration, and only Low and Medium custody inmates go to the CTF.

One contracted halfway house remains, Fairview, privately run for women, to which the United States District Court and the Superior Court assign pretrial offenders and sentenced misdemeanants as an alternative to jail, with case management, counseling, GED preparation, vital record replacement vouchers, job readiness and other services.

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Finding a DC felon after sentencing

Because the 1997 Revitalization Act sends DC's sentenced felons to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the District's records stop at the transfer; the Bureau's own locator, not the department, tracks the person from then on. The department publishes quarterly population statistics, official population counts by facility, PREA, safety and security reports and deaths in custody reports on its data page, and it names Thomas N. Faust as its Director.

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Mail, calls and property

A letter to an inmate carries the inmate's name, the DCDC number and the address of the DC Jail. Inmates receive personal call privileges on request during intake and make later calls on the housing unit telephones, with legal calls given regularly and on request; a family member adds money to the phone account or transfers money to a commissary account through OffenderConnect, a commercial service the department links without endorsement.

Because storage is short, the department keeps an inmate's personal property for fifteen days, releasing it to a person the inmate authorizes who presents current photo identification, and it safeguards identity documents such as licenses, Social Security cards and birth certificates, shredding any that become eligible for destruction. New inmates receive a hygiene kit, two jumpsuits, two tee shirts, underwear, socks and a bedroll, may buy more from Canteen Services, and use the law library ninety minutes a week by housing unit schedule; medical care is contracted to Unity Health Care.

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Sending money

Every inmate gets a finance account at intake that holds the money they carried in, work detail earnings and deposits from family and friends. The deposits page gives three Western Union routes: online with fees as low as $3.95, by telephone at 1 (800) 634-3422 with fees as low as $5.95, and walk in cash payments with fees as low as $5.95 at agent locations found through 1 (800) 325-6000. The blue Quick Collect form is filled in with Pay To DCDOC, Code City DCGOV, State DC, and the inmate number and last name as the sender's account number; a credit card may draw a cash advance fee from its issuer, and telephone payments from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota or New York carry the cash fee with a $3,400 limit.

Money orders may be mailed for commissary, never cash, and visitors to the Video Visitation Center can deposit cash in $5 to $100 bills or use a MasterCard or Visa card at the Offender Connect kiosk in the waiting area, also found in the CTF lobby at 1901 E Street SE.

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Attorneys, legal interns and specific attorney agents and investigators have access to the inmate they represent 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through legal calls, visits and mail, with an online comment form for feedback after a visit; the department's Connect section schedules legal visits and legal mail, and offers online scheduling for video visitation. An inmate's complaint starts with an Inmate Request Slip or a conversation with staff, then an Informal Resolution Complaint Form within seven calendar days, then a Formal Grievance within five calendar days of the slip, and an emergency or very sensitive matter goes straight to the Director as an Emergency Grievance.

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The new facility

The department operates two 450,000 square foot buildings, the jail with 2,164 beds and the CTF with 1,400, and Mayor Muriel Bowser's FY 2025 to FY 2030 capital budget proposal allocated $463 million to design and build a new correctional facility, the CTF Annex, to replace the aging jail with a modern, secure and resilient facility built for education, vocational programs, treatment and reentry services, sequenced so that completion of both new buildings lets the department stop using the existing jail; a project site at newcorrectionalfacility.dc.gov takes questions and comments.

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Reading a DC answer

An answer from the Records Office or a VINE notice places a person in one of the department's facilities or the halfway house, each with its own address for mail and its own command center; a sentenced felon drops out of the District's custody for the federal system. The DCDC number carries the mail, the Western Union form and the phone account, and the department's own rules, fifteen days of property storage and the grievance steps, govern what happens inside.

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Questions about finding an inmate in District of Columbia

Is there an online inmate search for the DC Jail?
No. The Department of Corrections provides general inmate information through its Records Office at (202) 523-7060, and automated movement updates to victims who register with VINE at 1 (877) 329-7894.
Where are DC's sentenced felons held?
In the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Under the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997, sentenced felons are transferred out of the DC Jail to the federal system.
Who is housed at the Correctional Treatment Facility?
Women, juveniles being adjudicated as adults, and men classified as Low or Medium custody; High custody inmates are held only at the Central Detention Facility.
How do I send money to a DC inmate?
Through Western Union online from $3.95 or by phone at 1 (800) 634-3422 or walk in from $5.95, using Pay To DCDOC, Code City DCGOV, State DC and the inmate number and last name; through OffenderConnect; by money order; or at the kiosk in the CTF lobby.
How do I address mail to a DC inmate?
With the inmate's name, the DCDC number and the address of the DC Jail at 1901 D Street SE, Washington, DC 20003.
How long does the department keep an inmate's property?
Fifteen days, because of limited storage; the inmate may authorize an outside person with current photo identification to pick it up.

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The department's records are among the District of Columbia records this site covers: the DC arrest records guide explains what an arrest makes public, the court records guide covers the Superior Court's case files, the sex offender registry guide covers the Metropolitan Police Department registry, and the District of Columbia page lists the police and court offices.