How an Inmate Search Works in Hawaii

Hawaii runs a unified correctional system: the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, DCR, operates the community correctional centers that serve as jails on Oahu, Hawaii Island, Kauai and Maui, the prisons at Halawa, Kulani and Waiawa and the Women's Community Correctional Center, and a mainland branch that houses Hawaii inmates at the Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona. The department's public window on who is in custody is Hawaii SAVIN, the Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification service, which offers victims and concerned citizens free, anonymous and confidential access to timely information and notification on the custody and parole status of offenders under DCR jurisdiction.

Registration is on VINELink.com, by calling 1-877-846-3444, on the VINELink mobile app, or by TTY at 1-866-847-1298, and registered users are notified by email, text, phone call or in the app, with live operator help available. The department asks that no one depend solely on the program for protection, says an offender will never know who is registered, and disclaims any warranty of the information's accuracy, completeness or reliability.

  • Custody status: Hawaii SAVIN through VINELink, the VINELink app, 1-877-846-3444 or TTY 1-866-847-1298, for offenders under DCR jurisdiction in Hawaii or at the mainland branch; the SAVIN office answers at 808-587-1356.
  • Jails: the Oahu Community Correctional Center, (808) 832-1777 with a visitation hotline at (808) 832-1633; the Hawaii Community Correctional Center in Hilo, visitation (808) 933-0522; the Kauai Community Correctional Center in Lihue, (808) 241-3050, visitation extension 244; the Maui Community Correctional Center in Wailuku, visitation (808) 243-5101.
  • Prisons: the Halawa Correctional Facility in Aiea, visitation hotline (808) 485-3550; the Kulani Correctional Facility near Hilo, (808) 932-4430, visitation (808) 933-1922; the Waiawa Correctional Facility in Waipahu, visitation (808) 677-6150; the Women's Community Correctional Center in Kailua, visitation hotline (808) 266-9675; the Mainland Branch, (808) 837-8020.
  • Parole and records: the Hawaii Paroling Authority at (808) 587-1300, 1177 Alakea Street, Honolulu; inmate classification at (808) 587-2566; records requests under the Uniform Information Practices Act through the director's office at (808) 587-1288.

Written by SearchSystems.net from Hawaii's own systems: the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation SAVIN page, the department's Frequently Called Numbers page, the department's home page, the department's Halawa Correctional Facility programs page, the department's Waiawa Correctional Facility programs page, the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center's eCrim site, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.

SAVIN: what it tells and what it does not

SAVIN is built for victims but open to any concerned citizen, and it answers the question a locator answers elsewhere: whether a person is in DCR custody, where their status stands, and when it changes, with a notification sent the moment it does. The service covers offenders under DCR jurisdiction, which includes the people in the community correctional centers awaiting trial or serving short sentences, the people in the prisons, and the people on parole, and the department's home page links the VINELink person search for Hawaii directly.

The department pairs the service with its own resources: the DCR Victim Services unit, restitution services at 808-587-2550, the Hawaii Paroling Authority, the county prosecutors' victim witness programs on Oahu at 808-768-7401, in Hilo at 808-934-3306, in Kona at 808-324-1066, on Kauai at 808-241-1898 and on Maui at 808-270-7695, and the Crime Victim Compensation Commission at 808-587-1143. A SAVIN governance committee meets and posts its minutes, the latest provisional minutes from August 7, 2026.

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The jails and the prisons

The frequently called numbers page lists every facility with its visitation line and address. The jails are the Hawaii Community Correctional Center at 60 Punahele Street, Hilo, the Kauai Community Correctional Center at 5350 Kuhio Highway, Lihue, the Maui Community Correctional Center at 600 Waiale Drive, Wailuku, and the Oahu Community Correctional Center at 2199 Kamehameha Highway, Honolulu, which also houses the Laumaka Work Furlough program at (808) 832-5815.

The prisons are the Halawa Correctional Facility at 99-902 Moanalua Road, Aiea, the Kulani Correctional Facility at P.O. Box 4459, Hilo, the Waiawa Correctional Facility at 94-560 Kamehameha Highway, Waipahu, and the Women's Community Correctional Center at 42-477 Kalanianaole Highway, Kailua, where a new administration building, housing unit and visitation and intake building are under construction. Intake service centers on Oahu, in Hilo, Kona, Lihue and Wailuku handle pretrial intake.

The Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility in Kailua, at (808) 266-9500, and the Honolulu Federal Detention Center at 351 Elliot Street, (808) 838-4200, are separate systems the department lists for convenience.

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Programs behind the facility pages

Each facility page describes what an inmate there can do. Halawa offers associate degrees through Chaminade University and Windward Community College under Second Chance Pell grants, cognitive skills courses through the Salvation Army and by Zoom, forklift and food safety certification, the American Job Center program, substance abuse treatment at two levels, sex offender treatment and furlough programs; Waiawa adds culinary arts through Kapiolani Community College, a carpentry apprenticeship that feeds into the union, the KASHBOX residential treatment community, Read to Me International for fathers and their children, and the Project Bridge and clean and sober housing furloughs; Kulani runs Thinking for a Change, forklift certification, the carpentry apprenticeship, outpatient treatment and sex offender treatment.

The department notes that over 95 percent of those who come to its facilities will eventually be released, and that the state's taxpayers pay approximately $190 million a year for its jails and prisons.

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Parole, classification and records

The Hawaii Paroling Authority, at 1177 Alakea Street, Ground Floor, Honolulu, answers at (808) 587-1300, with a special services line at (808) 587-2513 and a page at dcr.hawaii.gov/hpa. Inmate classification is reached at (808) 587-2566, the institutions division administrator at (808) 587-1258, the health care division at (808) 587-1250, and the mainland branch that oversees the Arizona inmates at (808) 837-8020. Requests for records under the Uniform Information Practices Act go through the office of the director at (808) 587-1288, by fax at (808) 587-1282 or by mail to 1177 Alakea Street, Honolulu, HI 96813, and the department's internal affairs, civil rights compliance and inspection offices have their own lines.

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A custody status is not a criminal record. Convictions in Hawaii are searched through the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center's eCrim site, which shows an individual's conviction information from the center's criminal history files by name, Social Security number, date of birth or gender, at $5.00 for each unique search and $12 for an official report, with No Criminal Convictions Found a valid result; the center answers data questions at (808) 587-3279 and sits at 465 South King Street, Honolulu. The Hawaii background check guide explains that search in full.

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Reading a Hawaii result

A SAVIN or VINELink answer places a person under the department's jurisdiction, in a named jail or prison on the islands or at the mainland branch in Arizona, or on parole, and keeps a registered number informed when that changes; the department warns that the information carries no warranty and that it is not a substitute for a safety plan. The facility's visitation line is the next call, the Paroling Authority decides release, and the conviction behind the custody lives in eCrim, not in SAVIN.

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Questions about finding an inmate in Hawaii

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hawaii?
Through Hawaii SAVIN, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's notification service: search on VINELink or the VINELink app, or call 1-877-846-3444, for the custody and parole status of offenders under DCR jurisdiction, with notification when it changes.
Does Hawaii have county jails?
No. The community correctional centers on Oahu, Hawaii Island, Kauai and Maui are run by the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which also runs the prisons, so one system holds pretrial detainees and sentenced prisoners.
Where are Hawaii inmates held on the mainland?
At the Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona, overseen by the department's Mainland Branch at (808) 837-8020; they appear in SAVIN like inmates held in Hawaii.
How do I arrange a visit at a Hawaii facility?
By calling the facility's visitation line: Oahu Community Correctional Center (808) 832-1633, Halawa (808) 485-3550, Waiawa (808) 677-6150, the Women's Community Correctional Center (808) 266-9675, Hawaii Community Correctional Center (808) 933-0522, Kauai (808) 241-3050 extension 244, Maui (808) 243-5101 and Kulani (808) 933-1922.
Who decides parole in Hawaii?
The Hawaii Paroling Authority, at (808) 587-1300, 1177 Alakea Street, Honolulu, whose decisions SAVIN reports as parole status changes.
Can I see a Hawaii inmate's convictions through SAVIN?
No. Convictions are searched on the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center's eCrim site for $5.00 a search and $12 for an official report; SAVIN gives custody and parole status only.

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SAVIN is one of the Hawaii records this site covers: the Hawaii arrest records guide explains what an arrest makes public, the court records guide covers eCourt Kokua, the sex offender registry guide covers the Attorney General's covered offender registry, and the Hawaii county pages list each police department and court.