The Virginia Department of Corrections, VADOC, runs the Inmate and Supervisee Locator, public access to information about individuals under the department's supervision or custody, in state facilities and in the community alike. It includes incarcerated individuals in VADOC institutions, probationers and parolees supervised by the district offices, people assigned to institutional hospitals, people housed in local or regional jails under VADOC authority, and participants in the Community Corrections Alternative Program. A search takes a first and last name or the DOC ID number, with filters for location, race, gender and age range, after the searcher agrees to a disclaimer that says the data may be inaccurate or outdated even though the locator is updated daily; the seven digit ID the result shows is the number every deposit, letter and call needs.
The locator reaches state responsible people wherever they are held, including those the department houses in a local or regional jail; a person held by a jail on local charges is the jail's record, found through the Virginia county pages, and the department warns that its own mail and phone rules apply only at VADOC facilities, so a state inmate in a jail follows that jail's rules.
- Search: the Inmate and Supervisee Locator by name or seven digit DOC ID, for people in prison, in hospitals, in jails under state authority and on probation or parole.
- Release date: computed by the department under the good conduct allowance rules for crimes before 1995 or the earned sentence credit rules after, with no discretionary parole for felonies committed since January 1, 1995 except as the 2020 changes allow; time computation questions go to the Correspondence Unit at PO Box 26963, Richmond, VA 23261.
- Visits: on Saturdays, Sundays and state holidays at most institutions, after an online visitation application that expires after three years, with no visiting list required since June 1, 2023; video visits at home or at an AFOI center for 15 cents a minute, $3 for 20 minutes or $7.50 for 50.
- Contact and money: calls of 20 minutes to a list of 15 numbers through ConnectNetwork, AdvancePay at 1 (800) 483-8314 or the inmate's PIN debit account; letters photocopied to three pages and the originals shredded; deposits through JPay online, by app, at 1 (800) 574-5729, in cash at MoneyGram agents or by money order to JPay, P.O. Box 278170, Miramar, FL 33027.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Virginia's own systems: the Virginia Department of Corrections Inmate and Supervisee Locator, the department's Time Computation page, the department's Probation and Parole page, the department's Visiting an Inmate page, the department's Video Visitation page, the department's Sending Money page, the department's Sending Mail page, the department's Phone Correspondence page, the department's Facility Release of Inmates page, the department's Don't Be Next: Visitors' Edition page, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
How a release date is computed
The department's Time Computation page explains that local or state authorities set a release date depending on the sentence. Good Conduct Allowance sentences cover felonies committed before January 1, 1995 and misdemeanors before July 1, 2008; for those, when an active sentence or combination totals more than 12 months, the department calculates discretionary parole eligibility, mandatory parole release and good time release dates, with good time earned at 0 to 30 days per 30 served by class level under Code of Virginia sections 53.1-198 and 53.1-202.
Earned Sentence Credit sentences cover felonies committed on or after January 1, 1995, generally without discretionary or mandatory parole, though the 2020 legislative changes opened parole eligibility for specific sentences under section 53.1-165.1; the department calculates the release date for an active ESC sentence over 12 months, with offenses in section 53.1-202.3, subsection A, earning 0 to 4.5 days per 30 served as ESC-1 and the offenses in subsection B earning 0 to 15 days per 30 as ESC-2, by class level.
Jail time before the department received the person, the sentence type and total, the earning class, disciplinary offenses and other events all change the result, and an inmate's inquiry goes to the Correspondence Unit, Court and Legal Section, PO Box 26963, 6900 Atmore Drive, Richmond, VA 23261. Discretionary parole was abolished for felonies committed in 1995 or after, requiring at least 85 percent of the sentence with good time credits toward an earlier date, and the Virginia Parole Board decides the cases that remain eligible.
Visiting: the application, the three year renewal and minors
All institutions typically allow visiting on Saturdays, Sundays and state holidays, with procedures that vary and change, so the department says to contact the facility before planning a trip; Operating Procedure 851.1 holds the full policy. A new visitor or one renewing submits the visitation application online; every application expires three years after approval, and a renewal goes in at least 45 days before expiration for an in state visitor and 90 days for one out of state.
Since June 1, 2023 inmates no longer file an Inmate Visiting List with their counselor each January and July, and a visitor no longer needs to be on such a list to be approved for in person visits. A minor is added to an adult's online application and must be accompanied by a parent, legal guardian or an accompanying adult who is an approved visitor; only minors who are immediate family are approved for contact visits, and the adult presents the completed notarized statement or a copy of the court order each time the minor visits, the notarized statement being required of any adult who is not the parent or guardian, as the department clarified on July 9, 2026.
A visitor with a disability contacts the warden at least a week ahead for accommodation. The department publishes a Don't Be Next list of visitors charged with bringing drugs or contraband into its facilities, with names, facilities, dates and charges under sections 18.2-474.1 and 18.2-248, from River North, Dillwyn, Bland, Pocahontas, Fluvanna, Haynesville, Indian Creek and State Farm.
Video visits: at home or at an AFOI center
Video visitation runs in partnership with Assisting Families of Inmates, AFOI, an independent organization. At home video visits need no application when used alone, a desktop or laptop, a tablet other than an iPad or an Android phone, since iPhones and iPads do not work, and are scheduled through the ViaPath scheduler, which the department said on March 27, 2024 to use from a computer while its app had trouble; visits come in 20 or 50 minute blocks at $0.15 a minute, $3 or $7.50.
A visitor center visit at an AFOI location needs the VADOC visitation application and approval, then a separate AFOI application, with scheduling through AFOI at (804) 643-2401, and no equipment of the visitor's own. Inmates required to register on the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry for a sexual offense are not eligible; every video visit is monitored and recorded, hours vary by institution, visitors log in 15 minutes early, up to four external visitors join at a center, and a breach of the video rules or dress code brings at least a 12 month suspension.
Calls, mail and money
Inmates call family, friends and legal aid from an approved call list of no more than 15 landline or cell numbers that the inmate maintains, through ConnectNetwork by Global Tel Link, with every call recorded and monitored except verified attorney calls and limited to 20 minutes. Collect calls work only up to a small amount before a prepaid method is needed: AdvancePay, a prepaid account the family sets up on its own number at ConnectNetwork or 1 (800) 483-8314, or the inmate's PIN Debit Account, funded at ConnectNetwork under VA and Department of Corrections with the seven digit ID.
Incoming calls to an inmate, international, toll free and pager numbers, pay phones, third party billing, call transfers and forwarding all cost the phone privilege. Letters, greeting cards, postcards and appropriate photos are addressed with the inmate's first and last name, the seven digit state ID, the facility and its address; money, stamps, prepaid envelopes and nude or semi nude images are refused; every piece of general correspondence is photocopied, with at most three black and white 8.5 by 11 pages front and back delivered, the envelope counting as one, and the originals, photos included, shredded; mail for an inmate not at the facility is returned, mail after a release or transfer is sent back, and legal mail from attorneys and courts goes to the Central Mail Distribution Center for screening.
Money goes through JPay with the seven digit ID: online by card, by phone at 1 (800) 574-5729, in the JPay app, in cash at a MoneyGram agent such as Walmart or CVS, or by money order with the deposit slip to JPay, P.O. Box 278170, Miramar, FL 33027, available within three business days; nothing of value may be mailed to a facility or headquarters. JPay's fees run from $2.95 online, $3.95 by phone and $6.95 walk in for up to $20 to $9.95, $10.95 and $6.95 for $200.01 to $300; a share of a deposit may go to fines, costs or restitution, and no one may send money to more than one inmate without prior approval under Operating Procedure 802.2.
Release day
An inmate who has satisfied the sentence is released by 11:59 p.m. on the release date, weather permitting, on discharge or parole, after reading or hearing the Order of Release or the conditions of probation or parole and signing every document with a staff witness. Records staff notify other departments, settle whether the person takes public transportation or an approved pickup, prepare the property envelope with birth certificate, Social Security card and diplomas, and hand over the restoration of civil rights information and IRS Form 8850; the business office arranges a bus if needed and pays out the Offender Pay account, topped up to $25 if it holds less, with later postings forwarded within five business days; medical staff supply up to 30 days of discharge medication and, if requested at least 60 days before release, a copy of the medical records within 30 days under section 53.1-28; and property staff return personal property and may provide clothing, since no one leaves in state issued attire.
After probation or parole a person may apply to the Secretary of the Commonwealth for a pardon, clemency or restoration of civil rights.
Reading a Virginia result
A locator record names where the person is, a state institution, a hospital, a jail holding a state inmate, or a district office, and gives the seven digit ID. The release date behind it follows the credit system that matches the offense date, the visit follows a three year application rather than a list, and the jail, not the department, sets the rules for a state inmate it houses.
Questions about finding an inmate in Virginia
Related Virginia records
The locator sits among the Virginia records this site covers: the Virginia arrest records guide explains what a booking makes public, the court records guide covers the circuit and district court systems, the sex offender registry guide covers the State Police registry, and the Virginia county pages list each sheriff and regional jail.