Follow these steps to find a person held in the county jail:

1. Pull up the inmate lookup.
2. Call Inmate Records at 516-572-3802. Give the clerk the legal name, letter by letter, plus the date of birth.
3. Ask if the person is in custody, which building they are in, and what their jail number is. Write the number down.
4. Ask what charges were booked, what bail was set, and when court is next.
5. As a backup, search the state's free VINELink by name. VINE reports custody status and the holding facility, which makes it useful beyond victim alerts. The county links it from its jail page.

The jail's main desk, 516-572-4200, can help when Records doesn't pick up.

Usually there's a simple explanation:

• Still at the precinct. Newly arrested people are held by the arresting police until they see a judge. Call the county police at 516-573-8800, or the village or city police that made the arrest.
• Waiting for arraignment. Most people are brought to the District Court, 99 Main Street, Hempstead, NY 11550, 516-493-4200, usually within about a day.
• Already home. They may have been given a desk appearance ticket, or let go by the judge.
• Transferred. State prison, a federal hold or an ICE site could have them now.
• Under 18. Teens are never held in the adult jail.
• Spelling. Try a middle name, a second last name or a nickname.

Inmate Records at 516-572-3802 is the surest way to sort it out.

The county keeps all its adult prisoners in one place, the Correctional Center at 100 Carman Avenue, East Meadow, NY 11554, 516-572-4200. Other places to check:

• Youth: the Juvenile Detention Center, a 32-bed secure site run by the Department of Social Services. Call Probation's Family Division at 516-571-9000 to learn if a teen is there.
• Next door in Suffolk: the Riverhead Correctional Facility, 100 Center Drive (South), Riverhead, NY 11901, 631-852-2200. Try it if the arrest happened east of the county line.
• Federal holds: MDC Brooklyn, 80 29th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232, 718-840-4200.

Booking photos stay with the Sheriff's Department and the police. Under the state records law, giving out an arrest or booking photo counts as an unwarranted privacy invasion. The exception is when police have a specific law enforcement reason (Public Officers Law § 89(2)(b)(viii)). So the lookup and the jail's phone lines give names, numbers and charges, not pictures. A reporter or the person's lawyer can ask the Sheriff's Department at 516-572-4100.

• For a picture ICE took, file through the ICE records request page.
• As for federal mugshots, the government keeps them out of public view. Marshals sometimes share a fugitive's picture, and that is the main exception.

The county's jail page points families to VINE, a free service that tracks custody and sends alerts. Sign up on VINELink for an email or text, or call 888-846-3469 any time. Signing up is never automatic, so register for each person.

• For state prison, the DOCCS victim notification form covers parole hearings, release dates and the parole officer.
• For a same-day answer about the county jail, call Inmate Records at 516-572-3802.

New York's reform law makes release the rule for most misdemeanors and for felonies without violence. People go home on a promise, or under court rules. Money bail and remand are kept for qualifying offenses, like violent felonies and certain family and weapon crimes (CPL 510.10(4)).

• A judge decides at arraignment, mostly in the District Court in Hempstead.
• Any bail order has to offer three or more payment forms, including a partially secured or unsecured bond (CPL 520.10).
• The jail window in East Meadow takes bail as cash, money orders or certified checks only.
• The county's Incarcerated Person Assistance Program, 240 Old Country Road, 6th Floor, Suite 606, Mineola, NY 11501, 516-571-5955, helps people who can't make bail.

Amounts, payment windows and refunds get full treatment on our bail page.

Inmate Records at 516-572-3802 can read you the charges on the booking. At arraignment, the charges are in the complaint, and the defense lawyer gets a copy. Once the case is in court, it appears on WebCrims while it has a future date.

Charges often change. The District Attorney's Office, 262 Old Country Road, Mineola, NY 11501, 516-571-3800, decides what to file, and a grand jury decides on felony indictments. You can read any New York law on the state Senate's laws of New York site, where "PEN" is the Penal Law. Felony classes run from A, the most serious, to E. Misdemeanors are class A or B, and violations are not crimes.

A lawyer is assigned at arraignment, for free if the person can't pay (CPL 510.10(2)). Lawyers from the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, which gets county funding, defend many people who qualify. Under state standards, being in jail alone makes someone presumed eligible, as does income under 250% of the federal poverty level.

• To find out which lawyer has the case, call the District Court at 516-493-4200 with the person's name and birth date.
• Families may hire a private lawyer at any time.
• Lawyers can schedule jail visits online or walk in. Legal visits run Monday to Wednesday, 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and noon to 4:00 p.m., and Thursday and Friday, noon to 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

All public visits must be booked ahead on the Sheriff's online visit scheduler, a minimum of one day and a maximum of five days in advance. Walk-ins are turned away, and every visitor gets a background check. Requests are handled on weekdays, outside holidays.

• Which day: B and D Buildings visit on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. E Building visits on Tuesday and Thursday. You can only visit in the person's own building.
• Session start times: Monday to Wednesday at 8:15 a.m., 9:30 a.m., noon, 1:15 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday at 12:15 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
• Check-in: arrive 15 minutes early. Missing the check-in window means losing the visit.
• How many: each person gets two one-hour visits a week. Up to two adults and two children may come at once.
• ID: a photo driver's license, DMV photo ID, passport, DSS photo card or U.S. military ID. Anyone under 18 brings an original birth certificate. A parent must come along, or a guardian with papers, or the child carries a notarized permission letter.
• Clothing: no orange, green or yellow, one layer only, and no hoods, crop tops, mesh or jackets.
• Belongings: phones, wallets, keys and jewelry go in lockers. Expect a metal detector, a search and possibly drug dogs.

Visiting is closed on weekends and county holidays. Questions go to 516-572-4600 (alternative number 516-572-3765). Our visiting guide has more tips.

Deposits can be made in person or by mail. Certified checks, money orders and cash are fine. Checks drawn on a personal or law-firm account are not.

• In person: at the Admit and Discharge desk or A Building, or at D and E Buildings just before a visit, all at 100 Carman Avenue, East Meadow, NY 11554.
• By mail: deposits sent by mail are handled by the jail's Mail Room. Call first to ask how to make out the money order.
• Commissary: a 2021 county audit found one order a week, with a $50 limit not counting international calling cards. Order forms go out on Friday and Saturday, and items arrive on weekdays. Snacks, drinks, stationery, toiletries and clothing are sold.

Leftover money can be taken out at release. Ask the jail about deposits at 516-572-4200. Read up on deposits in our money guide, and see what the account buys in our commissary guide. Never mail cash.

People in the jail call out. Families can't call in to them. Everyone may make calls when first admitted (9 NYCRR 7002.8). After that:

• Every call can be monitored and recorded, except calls to a lawyer's line that has been properly registered.
• Three-way calls, call forwarding and conference calls are not allowed. Breaking this rule can cut off the call.
• Lawyers register their numbers by letter on firm letterhead to the IT/Computer Operations Unit at 100 Carman Avenue, East Meadow, NY 11554.

To set up an account for calls, or to ask about tablets and messages, call the jail at 516-572-4200. Case talk belongs in lawyer meetings, never on a recorded jail line. Our jail phone guide and guide to inmate email cover the rest.

Address letters like this:

• The person's full legal name and jail number
• Nassau County Correctional Center
• 100 Carman Avenue, East Meadow, NY 11554

Ask Inmate Records at 516-572-3802 for the jail number. State rules protect mail in county jails. There is no limit on letters. Officers can open incoming personal letters to check for contraband, yet reading them takes a written order with reasons. Legal mail is opened only in front of the person (9 NYCRR 7004). Use plain paper, add your return address, and never send cash. Our mail guide has more.

Items taken at booking are stored and given back at release. Money left on the jail account can also be withdrawn at release or transfer. To collect things for someone still inside, call the jail at 516-572-4200 before you go. Find out if a signed authorization from the person is needed, what hours to come, and which building to use at 100 Carman Avenue, East Meadow, NY 11554. Bring photo ID.

Families may drop off one set of street clothes for court through the visiting area. Jogging suits, T-shirts, belts and jeans are not accepted. Approved plastic prescription glasses and a small religious medal can also be brought in.

State law obliges officers to attend to the physical and mental health of anyone in their custody (Civil Rights Law § 28). In an April 2020 update, the county said sick call ran seven days a week, with nurses visiting housing units for medicines and checks.

• Call the jail at 516-572-4200 right away. Name the medicine, the dose and the doctor.
• Under the HALT law, people 21 or younger, 55 or older, pregnant or disabled can't be put in solitary, with narrow exceptions.
• Complaints about care can go to the state Commission of Correction, Alfred E. Smith State Office Building, 80 S. Swan Street, Albany, NY 12210, 518-485-2346.

In an emergency, call 911.

Two kinds of officers carry out warrants in this county: Sheriff's Enforcement Division deputies and police. Ask about one by calling the Sheriff's Department at 516-572-4100 or county police headquarters at 516-573-8800. Statewide wanted people are listed on the State Police wanted page. A phone call to the issuing court's clerk also settles whether one is open. To take care of a warrant, bring a lawyer and appear at that court, where the judge can lift it and set a new date. Most local warrants come from the District Court, 99 Main Street, Hempstead, NY 11550. Its clerk's line is 516-493-4200.

Search the state's WebCrims by the person's name. It covers the criminal courts in this county and shows open cases with a future date. When a case doesn't show, call the court:

• District Court, 99 Main Street, Hempstead, NY 11550, 516-493-4200
• County Court, 262 Old Country Road, Mineola, NY 11501, 516-493-3710
• Glen Cove City Court, 13 Glen Street, Glen Cove, NY 11542, 516-403-2441
• Long Beach City Court, 1 West Chester Street, Long Beach, NY 11561, 516-442-8544

A village court date comes from that village's court clerk. Each hearing type, from arraignment onward, is explained in our court guide.

Long Island's federal prosecutions run through Central Islip, at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 100 Federal Plaza, Central Islip, NY 11722, 631-712-6000.

1. Day one in federal court brings a detention hearing about custody until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Pretrial custody is the Marshals' job. Phone their office at 225 Cadman Plaza East, Room G20S, Brooklyn, NY 11201, 718-473-3000, to ask where.
3. Many federal detainees are at MDC Brooklyn, 80 29th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232, 718-840-4200. Some sit in East Meadow, since the Marshals list a housing agreement with the county jail.
4. After sentencing, look them up on the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator by name or register number.

Immigration custody tends to follow a set pattern:

1. A Form I-247A detainer lands at the Sheriff's office.
2. With that paper, ICE seeks a hold lasting up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE officers pick the person up. Long Island detainers are handled out of Manhattan by ICE's regional office, 26 Federal Plaza, 9th Floor, Suite 9-110, New York, NY 10278, 212-436-9315.
4. ICE chooses where to hold them. Its own center in the state is the Buffalo (Batavia) Service Processing Center, 4250 Federal Drive, Batavia, NY 14020, 585-344-6500.
5. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator using the A-number, or a name paired with country of birth.

New York law limits local help. A 2018 Second Department decision, People ex rel. Wells v DeMarco, says New York never handed its local police and deputies the authority to arrest anyone on a civil immigration basis. Executive Law § 170-k voided every 287(g) agreement as of August 25, 2026. Both of the county's big law enforcement agencies, the Sheriff's Office and the Police Department, got letters about it from the Attorney General that July. A courthouse visit is protected too: Civil Rights Law § 28 blocks civil arrests there unless a judge signed off.

A sentence over one year is served in state prison, run by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). The person usually stays in East Meadow until the state takes them. A reception center screens them before they are assigned a permanent prison.

• On the DOCCS Incarcerated Lookup, type the DIN for the quickest match. A last name with a birth year also works.
• Expect the site to be offline for a while near 11:45 p.m. each night.
• For someone on parole, use the DOCCS Parolee Lookup.
• Our New York state prisons guide lists visiting and mail details prison by prison.

Anyone under 18 goes to juvenile detention, never the adult jail. Police must tell a parent at once, and a child may only be questioned in a room set aside for youth or at home with a parent's OK (Family Court Act § 305.2). Older teens with felony charges start in the Youth Part of County Court in Mineola. Younger children's cases go to Family Court, 101 County Seat Drive, Mineola, NY 11501, 516-493-4000.

The county's 32-bed Juvenile Detention Center holds younger youth. Sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds facing adult charges are placed by state rule in a specialized secure center. To learn where a youth is, call Probation's Family Division at 516-571-9000.

Call the agency that made the arrest to learn where the person was taken. The non-emergency numbers below come from the county's official lists.

Sheriff and county police

• Sheriff's Department, 100 Carman Avenue, East Meadow, NY 11554, 516-572-4100. Communications desk 516-572-4204.
• County Police Department headquarters, 1490 Franklin Avenue, Mineola, NY 11501, 516-573-8800 (alternative number 516-573-7000)
• First Precinct, 900 Merrick Road, Baldwin, NY 11510, 516-573-6100
• Second Precinct, 7700 Jericho Turnpike, Woodbury, NY 11797, 516-573-6200
• Third Precinct, 214 Hillside Avenue, Williston Park, NY 11596, 516-573-6300
• Fourth Precinct, 1699 Broadway, Hewlett, NY 11557, 516-573-6400
• Fifth Precinct, 1655 Dutch Broadway, Elmont, NY 11003, 516-573-6500
• Sixth Precinct, 100 Community Drive East, Manhasset, NY 11030, 516-573-6600
• Seventh Precinct, 3636 Merrick Road, Seaford, NY 11783, 516-573-6700
• Eighth Precinct, 299 Hicksville Road, Bethpage, NY 11714, 516-573-6800

City police

• Glen Cove Police, 516-676-1000
• Long Beach Police, 516-431-1800

Village police in the Town of Hempstead

• Floral Park, 516-326-6400
• Freeport, 516-378-0700
• Garden City, 516-742-1211
• Hempstead Village, 516-483-6200
• Lynbrook, 516-599-3300
• Malverne, 516-599-3141
• Rockville Centre, 516-766-1500

Village and district police in the Town of North Hempstead

• Great Neck Estates, 516-487-7700
• Kensington, 516-482-0480
• Kings Point, 516-482-1000
• Lake Success, 516-482-4600
• Old Westbury, 516-626-0200
• Sands Point, 516-883-3100
• Port Washington Police District, 516-883-0500

Village police in the Town of Oyster Bay

• Centre Island, 516-922-6466
• Cove Neck, 516-624-0700
• Laurel Hollow, 516-367-3350
• Old Brookville, 516-626-1300
• Oyster Bay Cove, 516-922-6363

State Police

• Troop L, East Meadow station, 101 Merrick Avenue, East Meadow, NY 11554, 631-756-3300. Troop headquarters is at 7140 Republic Airport, East Farmingdale, NY 11735.

For an arrest anywhere else, including the other villages and the unincorporated hamlets, call county police headquarters. Staff there can tell you which agency covers that address.