State Prisons

State Prisons in America: How to Find an Inmate in Any State Prison System

If someone you love has been sentenced to prison, the hardest part is often figuring out where they went. After sentencing, a person can sit in the county jail for days or weeks, disappear into a state intake center, and then be sent to a prison hours from home, sometimes without the family being told. This page explains how state prison systems work, what is changing inside them, and how to locate an inmate in any state.

How big is the state prison system?

At the end of 2023, about 1.1 million people were held in state prisons, out of roughly 1.25 million people in all U.S. prisons. The federal Bureau of Prisons held only about 157,000, so the great majority of people in prison are in a state system, not a federal one. The largest state systems were:

• Texas: about 149,000 people
• California: about 96,000
• Florida: about 87,000
• Georgia: about 50,000
• Ohio: about 47,000

The most recent federal census of prison facilities (2019) counted about 1,160 state and federal confinement facilities: 376 maximum security, 451 medium security and 287 minimum security. Most are run by state departments of corrections. A smaller number are private prisons operated under contract, and some states also rent beds in county jails. In 2023, about 88,600 people were held in private prisons and another 65,500 state and federal prisoners were housed in local jails.

What happens after someone is sentenced?

Most states send newly sentenced people to a reception or diagnostic center first. There they get medical and mental health screenings, educational testing and a security classification, which can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks. Based on that classification, the department assigns them to a permanent prison. People are often moved again during their sentence as their security level changes, for medical care, or to join a program, so check the locator before every visit.

How states are changing their approach

The number of people in prison has fallen about 25% since 2013, and many states now have more prison beds than prisoners. That has led to a wave of closures. New York has closed more than 20 prisons since 2011, California has shut several since 2021, and Pennsylvania’s governor proposed closing more in 2025 to save over $100 million a year. At the same time, other states are spending heavily on new construction or repairs. Georgia committed hundreds of millions of dollars to prison safety and new housing after a federal investigation, and other states are funding repairs to aging buildings.

The people inside are also getting older. About 193,000 sentenced prisoners were 55 or older at the end of 2023, and that number keeps rising. Older prisoners need more medical care, which is one reason health services and medical parole are growing issues in many states.

Where the system is under the most strain

Understaffing is the common thread in the worst prison systems. With too few officers, prisons cut visits, programs and time outside the cell, and violence goes up.

• Georgia: the U.S. Department of Justice found in October 2024 that the state’s prisons were “woefully understaffed,” with widespread violence, gang control and contraband. Georgia recorded at least 38 prison homicides in 2023.
• Alabama: the Justice Department sued the state in 2020 over violence and overcrowding in its men’s prisons, and the state is building a new prison to replace some of its oldest facilities.
• New York: a wildcat strike by correction officers in early 2025 led the state to deploy the National Guard and fire about 2,000 officers. Visits and programs were cut back for weeks, and staffing remains a struggle.

For families, this matters in practical ways. Visits can be canceled with little notice, lockdowns can stop phone calls, and mail can be delayed. Always call or check the prison’s website the day before you travel.

How to find someone in a state prison

Every state department of corrections runs its own online inmate locator. You can usually search by name, but results are most accurate with the person’s state inmate number, sometimes called a DOC number or ID number. Once you find them, write that number down. You’ll need it on every letter, money transfer, phone account and visitor application.

• Just sentenced and not showing up yet? Check the county jail roster first. They may still be waiting for transfer.
• Can’t find them in the state system? Ask whether the case was federal. Federal prisoners are listed on the Bureau of Prisons locator instead.
• Six states (Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont) run jails and prisons as one system, so even recently arrested people appear on the state locator.

Choose a state below to find its prison facilities, the official inmate locator, and the rules for visiting, phone calls, mail and sending money in that state.

Juvenile Detention Centers in Every State: How to Find a Young Person in Custody

When a child or teenager is arrested, families often have even less information than they would for an adult. Juvenile records are confidential, most youth facilities don’t post public rosters, and the system that holds a 15-year-old works very differently from the county jail down the street. This page explains how juvenile detention works in the United States, how fast it is changing, and how to reach the right facility in your state.

How many juvenile facilities are there?

The most recent federal count found 1,277 juvenile residential facilities nationwide in 2022, down from more than 3,000 in 2000. They aren’t all the same kind of place:

• Detention centers (592): locked, short-term facilities, usually run by a county or the state, that hold youth after arrest while their case is in juvenile court
• Long-term secure facilities (187): the state-run “youth prisons” or training schools for young people a judge has committed after a delinquency finding
• Residential treatment centers (417): often privately run programs focused on mental health or substance use treatment
• Group homes (188), shelters (94), and ranch or wilderness camps (18): less restrictive, community-style settings
• Reception and diagnostic centers (29): where newly committed youth are assessed before placement

On a typical day in 2023, about 29,300 young people were held in juvenile facilities, and roughly 2,400 more were held in adult jails and prisons. That is a drop of about 73% since 2000. Nearly half of the youth held on any given day are in detention, waiting for a court date or a placement, rather than serving a commitment.

Detention vs. commitment: what’s the difference?

Detention is the juvenile version of being held in jail before trial. A judge usually reviews the decision at a detention hearing within one to three days, and many young people go home with conditions such as electronic monitoring or a curfew. Commitment happens after a judge finds a youth delinquent and orders them into state custody, which can mean a secure state facility, a treatment program, or a group home. Committed youth are often moved far from home, so knowing which agency holds them is the first step.

How states are changing their approach

Over the past decade, the country has moved sharply away from large youth prisons. Four states have closed every state-run youth prison: Connecticut, South Dakota, Vermont, and California. California, once home to as many as 10,000 young people in state custody, closed its last three state youth prisons on June 30, 2023, and now keeps young people in county facilities closer to home. Many other states have shut individual campuses and shifted money toward smaller, treatment-focused programs and community supervision.

That trend is now pulling in two directions. Some states are toughening the law again:

• North Carolina rolled back part of its “raise the age” law in 2024, so many 16- and 17-year-olds charged with serious felonies are automatically treated as adults.
• Louisiana again treats 17-year-olds as adults and is spending tens of millions of dollars to reopen and expand the long-closed Jetson Center for Youth in Baker.
• Texas is building two new state youth facilities, one near Waxahachie and one south of Houston.

Others are moving the opposite way. Maryland’s Youth Charging Reform Act, effective October 1, 2026, sends more cases to juvenile court first and limits holding children in adult facilities.

Where the system is under the most strain

Staffing is the crisis that ties most of the trouble spots together. When facilities can’t fill shifts, young people spend more time locked in their rooms, miss school and medical care, and violence rises.

• Texas: the state’s five youth prisons, holding about 750 youth, went into a statewide lockdown in August 2026 after an officer was assaulted. Internal records later described self-harm and improper use of pepper spray.
• Los Angeles County: a court ordered Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall depopulated, and the state attorney general has asked a court to place the county’s juvenile halls under an outside receiver. The probation department reported a 36% vacancy rate for sworn officers at the end of 2025.
• New York: some state-run youth facilities have operated with a fraction of their required staff, and a federal class action filed in 2026 challenges long periods of isolation.
• North Carolina and Shelby County, Tennessee: youth have been confined to their cells for 22 to 23 hours a day in some facilities, according to advocates and reporters.

How to find a young person in custody

Because juvenile records are protected, you usually won’t find a teenager on an online inmate search. Parents and legal guardians have the right to be notified and can get information directly. Start with the agency that holds them:

• Just arrested: call the county juvenile detention center or the county probation department where the arrest happened.
• Already committed: contact the state’s juvenile justice agency (it may be called the Department of Juvenile Justice, Youth Services, or Children and Family Services).
• Charged as an adult: search the county jail or state prison system, since the person will appear on adult rosters.

Have the young person’s full name, date of birth, and the date and place of arrest ready. Choose a state below to find its juvenile facilities, phone numbers, and the rules for visits, calls, and mail.