Pennsylvania Inmate Population Records
Pennsylvania inmate population records are maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, county jails across all 67 counties, and the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole. More than 36,000 people are housed in state facilities on any given day. County jails hold additional thousands awaiting trial or serving shorter sentences. You can search state inmates through the official PA DOC locator, county inmates through individual jail rosters, and court records through the Unified Judicial System portal. All three sources are free to use and available online.
Pennsylvania Inmate Population Quick Facts
Pennsylvania DOC Inmate Locator
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections operates the official inmate and parolee locator for all state-sentenced offenders. This is the primary tool for finding anyone serving a sentence of two or more years in a Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution. The locator is updated every day. It is free to use and requires no account or login. Every SCI in Pennsylvania contributes data to this single statewide database.
The official inmate and parolee locator is at pa.gov/services/cor/locate-an-inmate-or-parolee. To search, you need the person's last name or inmate number. A first name helps narrow results when the last name is common. Search results show the full name, date of birth, inmate number, current facility, and committing county. Clicking the inmate number opens a detailed profile that includes a photo, physical description, and known aliases. Clicking the current location takes you directly to that facility's page.
The PA DOC locator is the most comprehensive tool for finding state-sentenced inmates across all 67 Pennsylvania counties. It covers every person under DOC jurisdiction, whether housed at a state prison or on active parole supervision.
The DOC also maintains an alternative direct portal at cor.pa.gov/Inmates/Pages/Inmate-Locator.aspx. This portal provides the same data with additional filtering options. You can narrow results by gender, race, committing county, citizenship, approximate age, and release date range. Results can be sorted by name, location, or date of birth.
Note: The PA DOC locator does not include people held at county jails. It only covers state-sentenced inmates and parolees under DOC supervision.
Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections is the largest agency in the Commonwealth. It operates 24 State Correctional Institutions plus Community Corrections Centers around the clock, every day of the year. The DOC's mission is public safety through the secure custody and rehabilitation of incarcerated individuals. Education, job training, mental health treatment, and reentry planning are all part of its programs statewide.
The DOC main website is at cor.pa.gov. It provides a facility locator for all 24 SCIs, visitation guidelines, mail and phone procedures, and information about inmate programs. The site also links to the inmate locator, the parole board, and the DOC Right-to-Know Law office. If you need to contact a specific state prison or learn about an inmate's program participation, this is your starting point.
The DOC provides an alternative inmate locator path at cor.pa.gov/inmate-locator and a dedicated parolee locator at cor.pa.gov/parolee-locator. Both feed from the same DOC database and are updated daily.
The parolee locator lets you search for individuals currently under parole supervision. This is a separate database from the inmate locator and covers people who have been released but remain under DOC jurisdiction.
Pennsylvania Inmate Population Data and Reports
The DOC Bureau of Planning, Research and Statistics publishes detailed data on the Pennsylvania inmate population. Reports cover population counts, demographics, offense types, sentence lengths, recidivism rates, and facility capacity. These reports are available to the public at no cost through the DOC Reports and Dashboards page.
The DOC Reports and Dashboards page is at pa.gov/agencies/cor/about-us/research-and-statistics/reports-and-dashboards. It includes an interactive map showing inmate releases by county and year. The Spotlight Dashboard provides data on both prison and parole populations. A separate DOC-PPB Dashboard covers parole interviews, pending releases, releases onto supervision, and parole violators. All dashboards are updated regularly and available without login.
These statistical tools are useful for researchers, journalists, attorneys, and family members who want to understand population trends at specific facilities or across the statewide system. The data is produced in cooperation with Recidiviz and covers historical trends in addition to current figures.
Pennsylvania Justice Network
The Pennsylvania Justice Network, known as JNET, is a secure information-sharing system used by law enforcement and criminal justice agencies across Pennsylvania. JNET connects state agencies, federal agencies, all 67 counties, and more than 1,100 municipal police departments. It is not a public search tool, but it is part of the infrastructure that keeps Pennsylvania inmate and offender records accurate and current.
JNET allows authorized users to search inmate records from the DOC, court records from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, sentencing guidelines from the PA Commission on Sentencing, and county prison records. The JNET portal is at jnet.pa.gov. This system does not store its own data but facilitates real-time sharing between existing databases.
Members of the public who need inmate information should use the public-facing PA DOC locator rather than JNET, which is restricted to authorized criminal justice agencies.
Pennsylvania Criminal History Background Checks
The Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History system, called PATCH, is the official source for criminal history background checks in Pennsylvania. It is operated by the Pennsylvania State Police and governed by the Criminal History Record Information Act, 18 Pa.C.S. Chapter 91. The PATCH system is at epatch.pa.gov. Each check costs $22 as authorized under 18 Pa.C.S. section 9152.
PATCH results show convictions and certain arrests from Pennsylvania's criminal history repository. The system is available 24 hours a day. Results for searches with no record are typically immediate. Searches that return a record may require additional processing. Results are generated online and must be printed by the requestor. The PATCH helpline is 1-888-QUERY-PA (1-888-783-7972).
Note: A UJS Portal docket search is not a substitute for a PATCH background check. Court dockets may not reflect all criminal history record information that appears in a formal PATCH check from the Pennsylvania State Police.
Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Records
The Pennsylvania State Police maintains the Computerized Criminal History system at its Central Repository at 1800 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17110. The PSP website at psp.pa.gov provides access to background check services, Megan's Law sex offender registry information, and Right-to-Know Law requests. The PSP Bureau of Records and Identification handles record requests and is available Monday through Friday from 8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
The PSP Right-to-Know Law office phone is 1-877-785-7771. Fax requests to 717-525-5795. Criminal history requests that require a notarized copy must be submitted by mail to the Central Repository address above rather than through the online system.
Pennsylvania Court Records and Inmate Cases
Court records for criminal cases in Pennsylvania are available through the Unified Judicial System at ujsportal.pacourts.us. This free portal covers the Court of Common Pleas in all 67 counties, magisterial district courts, and appellate courts. Search by participant name, docket number, or date of birth. Results show charges, case status, upcoming hearings, dispositions, and sentence information. The system is available at all hours and requires no login for basic searches.
Court records show the history of a criminal case from filing through sentencing. They differ from the inmate locator. A court record shows what happened in the case. The inmate locator shows where someone is right now if they are incarcerated. Both types of records are useful for understanding a person's full criminal justice history in Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Courts official site at pacourts.us provides forms, self-help resources, court calendars, and contact information for courts across the state. It also links to the UJS portal and to the PAeDocket mobile application for quick case searches.
Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole
The Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole makes parole decisions for state-sentenced inmates and supervises parolees across Pennsylvania. The board uses a structured process that considers reoffending risk, institutional programming, and behavior during incarceration. Each inmate is interviewed by a PBPP hearing officer before the board votes on parole eligibility.
The PBPP website at pbpp.pa.gov includes online tools for searching parole absconders by region. Parolees who have absconded from supervision are listed publicly. You can view this list in text format or with photos. The parolee locator within the PA DOC portal also shows current supervision status for people under active parole. Contact information for PBPP regional offices is available through the board's website for questions about specific cases in Pennsylvania.
Right-to-Know Law and Open Records in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law, 65 P.S. sections 67.101 through 67.3104, establishes a presumption that all government records are open to the public unless a specific exemption applies. This means inmate records, arrest records, court records, and agency records are generally available to anyone who requests them. You do not have to explain why you want the records or how you plan to use them.
The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records at openrecords.pa.gov oversees the law and handles appeals when agencies deny requests. The OOR provides a standard Right-to-Know request form that all agencies must accept. Standard copy fees are $0.25 per page. Certification costs $2.00 per document. Agencies must respond within five business days, though a 30-day extension is permitted in some cases. If an agency denies your request, you can appeal to the OOR within 15 business days. The OOR office is at Commonwealth Keystone Building, 400 North Street, 4th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17120.
For DOC records about a specific state inmate, contact the DOC RTK Law Office at 1920 Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050. Email RA-docrighttoknow@pa.gov or call (717) 728-7763. The Clean Slate Act, Act 56 of 2018, automatically seals certain older misdemeanor records from public view, so not all criminal history records will be visible in public databases.
Federal Inmates in Pennsylvania
Some Pennsylvania residents are held in federal prison rather than state or county facilities. Federal charges are prosecuted separately from state charges. Federal inmates in Pennsylvania are housed at facilities including USP Canaan in Waymart, FCI Schuylkill in Minersville, FCI McKean in Bradford, and FCI Allenwood in White Deer. Federal cases appear in different databases than state cases.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator is at bop.gov/inmateloc. This database covers federal inmates from 1982 to the present. Search by first and last name together, or by BOP register number, FBI number, or INS number. Results show current location, projected release date, race, and sex. The federal locator is free to use and available around the clock without registration.
A person may have both state and federal charges. Both databases may need to be checked. State and federal records are maintained entirely separately and do not appear in each other's systems.
Search Pennsylvania Inmate Records by County
Each county in Pennsylvania maintains its own jail and inmate records. Select a county below to find local jail contact information, online inmate rosters, and resources for inmate population records in that area.
Pennsylvania Inmate Population by City
Major Pennsylvania cities rely on county jails for inmate housing. Select a city below for local inmate population resources and county contact information serving that area.