The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, DOC, runs the Inmate and Parolee Locator for state sentenced inmates and parolees, updated daily, which its service page says to search by last name or inmate number, adding a first name for a common surname; the other personal details are self reported and not verified, the locator holds no private information, and people incarcerated in another state or in a county facility cannot be found in it. The department asks searchers to turn off pop up blockers or try another browser if the tool misbehaves and answers at ra-contactdoc@pa.gov. A person in a county jail is the county's record, found through the Pennsylvania county pages, and Centre County, for one, sends the public to VINELink's Pennsylvania search for its own inmates.
Every male inmate entering the system is processed through the diagnostic and classification center at the State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill in Cumberland County, every female inmate through the center at SCI Muncy in Lycoming County, a process of weeks to months that sets the security level and evaluates health, psychological and treatment needs before the home facility is assigned, one of 21 male facilities or, for women, SCI Muncy or SCI Cambridge Springs in Crawford County; officials do not discuss a transfer to a home facility before it happens. The department's state prisons page lists 22 institutions, from SCI Albion and SCI Benner Township to SCI Somerset and SCI Waymart, with a facility address list and map to download.
- Locate: the Inmate and Parolee Locator by last name or inmate number, daily data, state sentenced people only.
- Visits: through the Inmate Visitation System after an account and a place on the inmate's authorized visitor list, booked at least two days ahead: up to four in person visits a month of at least an hour with four visitors, two at Quehanna Boot Camp, and up to six free video visits a month with up to six participants, monitored and recorded except with counsel.
- Contact: calls through a Securus account at 800-844-6591, email through ViaPath's ConnectNetwork at 1-877-650-4249, general mail and photos to Smart Communications/PA DOC, Inmate Name/Inmate Number, State Correctional Institution, PO Box 33028, St. Petersburg, Florida 33733.
- Money: JPay only, online, at 800-574-5729, by money order with a deposit slip or at a prison lobby kiosk: up to $300 per card every 72 hours, $999.99 per money order, $5,000 per MoneyGram transaction, never anonymously, and a share may go to fines, costs or restitution.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Pennsylvania's own systems: the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Inmate and Parolee Locator, the department's Locate an Inmate or Parolee page, the department's Find or Contact an Inmate page, the department's Frequently Asked Questions, the department's Visit an Inmate page, the department's Inmate Visitation Rules and Information, the department's Contact an Inmate page, the department's Send Money to an Inmate page, the department's Send Mail page, the department's Inmate Mail Rules and Guidelines, the department's Inmate Commissary Lists page, the department's Tablets for Inmates page, the department's Custody Status Updates page, the Office of Victim Services page Register for Offender Release Notifications, the department's State Prisons page, the Centre County Correctional Facility Inmate Listing page, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Visiting: the system, the limits and the ID
Loved ones visit in person or by video, and every visit is scheduled at least two days in advance in the Inmate Visitation System, which needs an account verified through Keystone Login and a place on the inmate's authorized visitor list; the facility emails if it cancels, and facility staff cannot tell a caller whether a name is on the list. Each inmate may receive up to four in person visits a month including one weekend visit, each guaranteed at least an hour, with no more than four visitors, or two at Quehanna Boot Camp; a brief hug and kiss are allowed at arrival and departure.
Every inmate is eligible for free video visits, up to six a month including one weekend visit, with up to six visitors joining, the limits varying by custody status, and the department publishes device guides for iPhone, Android and desktop; video visits are monitored and recorded except those with legal counsel. On the day, vehicles are locked with windows up and tools secured and may be searched, every visitor of any age is searched and passes a metal detector, and there is no waiting area, so anyone not visiting leaves the grounds.
Identification is required of everyone including children and infants: one photo ID or two non photo IDs, never expired or photocopied, from a list that runs from a state driver's license, a government ID, a school photo ID or a passport to, for the non photo kind, a voter registration card, a Social Security card, a sealed birth certificate, a school record, an immunization record or a learner's permit, one of the two carrying a physical description.
Medication is declared to the lobby and visiting room officers, orthopedic hardware needs a doctor's card, cash goes in a clear bag within the institution's limit, and cell phones, recording devices of every kind, drugs, alcohol and weapons stay in a locked vehicle or a lobby locker. Special visits for a seriously ill inmate or a visitor from far away are arranged by the inmate and approved by the facility manager, and questions go to the facility or ra-crdocinmatevss@pa.gov.
Calls and email
To receive calls from an inmate a person first creates a phone account through Securus, at 800-844-6591, and is added by the inmate to the inmate's telephone list under policy DC-ADM 818; the department warns that Securus calls can show as spam and suggests saving the number as a contact or telling the carrier it is authorized. Email runs through ViaPath Technologies, with an account and message credits at ConnectNetwork and questions to ViaPath's friends and family line at 1-877-650-4249, since the department neither creates accounts nor troubleshoots them; every email an inmate receives is reviewed.
Tablets, bought by the inmate through the commissary with money a family sends through JPay, carry email, more than three million songs, 45 games, 8,500 eBooks and a lobby kiosk link for deposits, lock unless synced at a kiosk every 30 days, and go home with the person at release, where ViaPath removes the timer and adds WiFi and camera software; link units, each worth a penny, pay for songs, messages and games.
Mail: Florida for letters, Bellefonte for books
To keep drugs out of the facilities, general correspondence, letters, greeting cards, drawings and photos, goes to the department's vendor: Smart Communications/PA DOC, Inmate Name/Inmate Number, State Correctional Institution, PO Box 33028, St. Petersburg, Florida 33733, with a full return address giving the sender's first and last name, printed on 8 1/2 by 11 paper and not bound; Smart Communications scans it into an electronic document the facility mailroom prints and delivers, photos are limited to 25 per mailing, never returned, and the originals are destroyed after 45 days.
Publications and photo books go to the Security Processing Center at Inmate Name, Inmate Number, 268 Bricker Road, Bellefonte, PA 16823-1667, only from original vendors such as publishers, bookstores and online distributors, never from a private sender, and never from the Publication Denial List: new and donated books, calendars, photo books of up to 25 soft cover pages no larger than 8 by 11 inches, magazines, catalogs, printed religious literature and correspondence course materials, with the carrier's tracking replaced by the department's own tracking tool once the package reaches the center; processing takes at least a week.
Official documents, checks, birth certificates, Social Security cards, licenses and diplomas, and original documents the inmate must sign and return, such as a vehicle title, go to the institution's business office at the facility's own mailing address, which some facilities keep separate; the inmate keeps no original. Legal mail is any mailing with a DOC issued attorney or court control number, requested through the department's privileged mail portal and issued only to attorneys who represent inmates and to verified courts, with the number and the weekly authentication code on the front of the envelope and nothing inside that did not originate with the sender; a court that wants confidential handling must use a control number too.
Court documents served on an inmate come by a sheriff, constable or process server through the superintendent's office, and items of value such as signed memorabilia are not permitted.
Money, commissary and packages
JPay processes every credit card and money order payment on the department's behalf, and the department warns against sending money for an inmate to any other person, site or email. Deposits are made on the JPay site, by phone at 800-574-5729, by money order to JPay with the deposit slip from the visiting room or the department's site, giving the inmate ID, the inmate name and the sender's name and address, with no personal items enclosed, or at a lobby kiosk at each state prison; money orders are not accepted at the institutions.
A credit card may add up to $300 every 72 hours, a money order is limited to $999.99 with several allowed at once, and a MoneyGram cash or walk in transaction to $5,000; an account cannot be funded anonymously, since JPay reports the sender of every transaction, a share of a deposit may go to fines, costs or restitution the inmate owes, the inmate gets a receipt for each posting and a monthly statement, and money left in a will comes by the executor's bank check payable to the inmate with the ID number, mailed to the institution.
Commissaries, run by Pennsylvania Correctional Industries, sell food, drinks, personal items and clothing by custody level from catalogs the department posts; family cannot order from them but may send money, and may order one package a quarter through Keefe Group's Access Securepak for delivery through the commissary.
Notifications: VINE, PA SAVIN and the Office of Victim Advocate
The department points anyone who wants custody status updates, transfer, release, escape or recapture, to VINE, with text, email or app alerts around the clock, and crime victims to the Office of Victim Advocate at 800-563-6399, whose registered victims also hear when an inmate becomes parole eligible, is considered for a release program, escapes and is recaptured, moves to a state mental health facility, dies, writes an apology letter or applies for a pardon or commutation.
The Office of Victim Services describes the same network as PA SAVIN, free and covering county jails, state prisons and state parole: for a county jail inmate it reports release, escape and movement, for a state inmate or parolee more, with a chance to speak to the decision makers about a release. Registration is online at vinelink.com, by phone at (866) 972-7284 or TTY (866) 847-1298, or through the VINELink app, with a four digit PIN that stops the calls once entered; the service leaves messages and keeps calling for 24 to 48 hours, may call at night, cannot use a switchboard number, takes several numbers and emails, and the offender is not told.
Federal prisoners are tracked through the Bureau of Prisons and ICE detainees through Homeland Security.
Reading a Pennsylvania result
A locator record means a state sentence, in an SCI or on state parole, with the inmate number that every account, letter and deposit needs; a person held by a county goes through the county, often by VINELink. The DOC sets the counts, four in person visits and six video visits a month, $300 a card every 72 hours, five pages of nothing special in a letter since photos and books have their own doors, and PA SAVIN or the Office of Victim Advocate reports the changes.
Questions about finding an inmate in Pennsylvania
Related Pennsylvania records
The locator is among the Pennsylvania records this site covers: the Pennsylvania arrest records guide explains what a booking makes public, the court records guide covers the Unified Judicial System portal, the sex offender registry guide covers the State Police Megan's Law site, and the Pennsylvania county pages list each county prison.