The Sheriff's lookup is powered by VINE, a statewide custody service. To use it:

1. Pull up the Sheriff's inmate lookup.
2. Fill in first and last names. Adding a birth date weeds out people who share a name.
3. Pick the match held by the county jail and read the custody status.
4. Zero results? A middle name, nickname or earlier last name sometimes works.

You can also go straight to VINELink for New York, or search by phone around the clock, in English or Spanish, at 888-846-3469. For charges, bail figures and the Inmate ID #, phone Jail Administration at 315-349-3300, or 315-349-3388 outside office hours.

• Booking isn't finished. Fingerprints, photos and paperwork come first, so a fresh arrest can lag.
• They already left. Many people walk out after arraignment on their own promise. Others got an appearance ticket and never came to the jail at all.
• They were moved. Custody may have shifted to DOCCS, federal marshals or immigration officers, which ends the county entry.
• They're under 18. Juveniles are sent to youth detention instead.
• The spelling differs. Try another spelling or a shorter version.

A staff member can clear this up fast. Call Jail Administration at 315-349-3300, or 315-349-3388 at night and on weekends.

Every adult arrested in this county is held at the county jail, 39 Churchill Road, Oswego, NY 13126, 315-349-3300. Someone stopped just over the line, or picked up on an outside warrant, may sit in one of these instead:

• Onondaga County Justice Center, 555 S. State Street, Syracuse, NY 13202, 315-435-1770
• Oneida County Correctional Facility, 6075 Judd Road, Oriskany, NY 13424, 315-765-2222
• Madison County jail (Correction Division), 138 N Court Street, Building 7, Wampsville, NY 13163, 315-366-2300
• Lewis County Jail, 5252 Outer Stowe St, Lowville, NY 13367, 315-376-3511

The reverse happens too: Churchill Road has housed federal prisoners under an agreement between the Sheriff's Office and the Marshals.

New York treats a booking photo as private. Police and jails may release one only when doing so serves a real law enforcement goal, such as catching someone who is wanted (Public Officers Law § 89(2)(b)(viii)).

• Photos of wanted people appear on the Sheriff's Most Wanted page.
• Reporters and others with a question about a photo can reach Sheriff's administration at 315-349-3304.
• For an immigration booking picture, file on the ICE records request page.
• Federal mugshots generally stay sealed. The Marshals sometimes release one when hunting a fugitive.

Yes. VINE watches custody changes at New York's county jails. Register a phone number or email on VINELink, or by calling 888-846-3469. After a change, the system phones you again and again, for as long as two days, until you key in your PIN. Registration is confidential, so the person held won't find out.

Prisoners in DOCCS facilities are covered by a separate victim notification sign-up for parole hearings and release dates.

Bail reform took hold here January 1, 2020, and was revised in 2020, 2022 and 2023. Arraignment, where release is decided, generally comes a day or so after arrest.

• Lower-level and nonviolent charges mean going home, either on a signed promise or with rules, and no cash bail (CPL 510.10(3)).
• Qualifying charges, like violent felonies, can bring bail. Some felonies can bring remand, which is jail without bail.
• If bail is set, the order lists at least three payment forms, including a partly secured or unsecured bond (CPL 520.10).
• The Sheriff's Corrections Division page offers a "Posting Bail" link to an online payment site. Call 315-349-3300 about fees and paying in person.

Our bail and release page covers bond agents, refunds and holds in depth.

Ring Jail Administration at 315-349-3300 and read off the legal name and birthday you have. Staff can say what the charges are and which court took the case. The appearance ticket or release paper lists them too.

Final charges are up to the District Attorney's Office, Public Safety Center, 39 Churchill Road, Oswego, NY 13126, 315-349-3200. If the case sits in either city court, WebCrims shows the charge on pending cases with an upcoming date.

A lawyer has to be there when release is decided, and a person short on money gets one assigned (CPL 510.10(2)). Being locked up is itself a reason to presume a person qualifies. Two county offices handle it:

• Public Defender's Office, 74 Bunner Street, Oswego, NY 13126, 315-746-4210, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Assigned Counsel Program, 74 Bunner Street, Oswego, NY 13126, 315-349-8575, by appointment

Families who would rather pay a lawyer of their choosing may do that whenever they like.

Book every visit at least a day ahead through Jail Reception, 315-349-3346, between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Only one visit may be on the books at a time.

• When: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. General housing slots are 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. and 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Protective and close custody units rotate times week to week.
• How often: one visit a day, two a week, with two visitors at most.
• Arrival: sign in 15 minutes early, or entry may be refused.
• ID: driver's license, non-driver ID, military ID or another government photo card.
• Kids under 18: an original birth certificate with a raised seal, plus a parent or legal guardian.
• Clothing: skip tank, halter, crop and tube tops, sheer shirts, hoodies, coats, short shorts, miniskirts, flip-flops and boots higher than the ankle. Leave watches and wrist jewelry behind.
• No visits on: the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's Day.

Free lockers hold coats, keys and purses, and everyone walks through a metal detector. Our visiting guide has more tips.

An account balance buys commissary items. Two deposit routes exist:

• A kiosk in the jail's front lobby, open 24 hours, takes cash or a credit card. It is at 39 Churchill Road, Oswego, NY 13126.
• An online deposit service, linked from the Sheriff's Corrections Division page.

Use the person's full name and Inmate ID #. Questions about fees go to Jail Administration, 315-349-3300. Background on deposits is in our money guide, and store items are in our commissary guide. Keep cash out of the mail.

Every person gets to make phone calls at admission and must be told about that right (9 NYCRR 7002.8). After that, calls and messages run through the jail's tablet provider. Families sign up on the provider's site, linked from the Sheriff's Corrections Division page, to swap tablet messages.

Letters and photos can also go out electronically through a service on that same county page. For call rates and rules, phone 315-349-3300. See also our phone call page and our inmate messaging page.

Personal letters go to a post office box in Syracuse, not to the Churchill Road building. Address them this way: Oswego County Jail, NY, Inmate Name, Inmate ID #, P.O. Box 807, Syracuse, NY 13201.

• Ask Jail Administration, 315-349-3300, for the Inmate ID # before you mail.
• Reading material has to be paperback. Books need to be new and come from a distribution company.
• Food and hygiene items are not accepted by mail.
• A religious medal must arrive by mail with a receipt, cost under $50 and measure 1 inch or less.
• Officers can open regular letters to look for contraband. Reading them needs a written order. Legal letters from attorneys or judges are unsealed only with the addressee present (9 NYCRR 7004.3, 7004.4).

Our mail guide has general tips.

Wallets, phones and clothes taken at intake go into storage. To collect items for them, phone Jail Administration at 315-349-3300. Find out if a signed permission slip is needed and what time to show up at the Public Safety Center, 39 Churchill Road, Oswego, NY 13126. Visiting reception won't accept property for anyone in custody.

Evidence follows its own path, and a release letter signed by the DA's Office is required. Send that office a request at the Public Safety Center with a list of the items, the defendant's name and your contact details, or call 315-349-3200.

Under Civil Rights Law § 28, officers with someone in custody owe that person care for physical and mental health needs. If a prescription is late or a health problem flares up, phone Jail Administration at 315-349-3300, or reach the Corrections Administrator at 315-349-3327. Be ready with each medication, its dose and the prescriber's number.

Life-threatening situation? Call 911. Concerns about jail conditions can go to the New York State Commission of Correction, 80 S. Swan Street, Albany, NY 12210, 518-485-2346.

Deputies handle warrant arrests across the county. The Sheriff's warrants desk answers at 315-349-3336, and tips can go to warrants@oswegocounty.com. Check the Sheriff's Most Wanted list and the New York State Police wanted page. The clerk of the court that signed the warrant can confirm it too. To clear it, get a lawyer, then surrender at that court or have the lawyer seek a new date. For County Court, the clerk sits at 25 East Oneida Street, Oswego, NY 13126, 315-207-7504.

The court with the case keeps the calendar:

• County Court, 25 East Oneida Street, Oswego, NY 13126, 315-207-7504
• Oswego City Court, 20 West Oneida Street, Oswego, NY 13126, 315-207-7251
• Fulton City Court, 141 South 1st Street, Fulton, NY 13069, 315-207-7231
• Town and village courts: use the number on the ticket or release paper.

For the two city courts, WebCrims lists upcoming dates. Our court guide names all 26 local courts with phones.

Syracuse is home to the federal trial court for this region, the U.S. District Court at the James M. Hanley Federal Building, 100 South Clinton Street, Syracuse, NY 13261, 315-234-8500.

1. Day one in court includes the detention hearing, where jail or release gets decided (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Pretrial, a federal defendant is in Marshals Service custody, possibly right here, since the Sheriff has had an agreement to house their prisoners. Ask the Marshals at 100 South Clinton Street, 10th Floor, Syracuse, NY 13261, 315-473-7601.
3. Read case filings on PACER.
4. Once a sentence begins, look the person up with the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

1. Paperwork arrives first: Form I-247A, ICE's detainer request.
2. The request covers up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. A holding site ICE uses in this state is its Buffalo (Batavia) Service Processing Center, 4250 Federal Drive, Batavia, NY 14020. Its detainee information line, 585-344-6500, runs 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
4. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator, or call ICE's Buffalo Field Office at 130 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14202, 716-843-7600.

New York sets limits on local help. In People ex rel. Wells v DeMarco (2018), judges ruled that holding people on civil immigration detainers goes past local officers' authority under state law. The Attorney General recommends holding someone on a detainer only with a judge's warrant. Executive Law § 170-k ended every 287(g) agreement statewide on August 25, 2026. Civil Rights Law § 28 adds that a civil immigration arrest tied to a court visit requires a judicial warrant or order.

After a sentence longer than one year, custody passes from the Sheriff to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). The county must first declare them "state ready." A reception center then assigns a DIN, a number that follows them through the whole term, and picks the prison that fits.

• The DOCCS Incarcerated Lookup takes a DIN or a surname, ideally with birth year. Expect it to be down for maintenance around 11:45 p.m.
• Offline families can reach DOCCS weekdays at 518-457-5000.
• Visiting and mail rules for each lockup sit in our New York state prisons guide.

Kids under 18 skip Churchill Road entirely. When detention is needed, it happens at a secure youth facility. An officer who detains a child has to contact the parent without delay (Family Court Act § 305.2). Family Court must see a detained child inside 72 hours, sooner if court opens first (Family Court Act § 307.3). To learn where a youth is, call Probation at 315-349-3477 or Family Court at 315-207-7533. Both work from the Public Safety Center, 39 Churchill Road, Oswego, NY 13126.

Check the court papers for the agency's name. Roughly 118,305 residents (Census estimate, July 1, 2024) are protected by these:

• Sheriff's Office, Public Safety Center, 39 Churchill Road, Oswego, NY 13126. Road patrol dispatch: 315-349-3411. Administration: 315-349-3304. Deputies cover all 968 square miles, plus Lake Ontario, Oneida Lake and snowmobile trails.
• New York State Police, Troop D: Fulton station, 1013 South First Street, Fulton, NY 13069; Hastings station, 100 Wilson Road, Central Square, NY 13036; Pulaski station, 3273 County Route 2, Pulaski, NY 13142. All three share 315-366-6000.
• Oswego Police Department (city), Conway Municipal Building, 169 West Second Street, Oswego, NY 13126, 315-343-1212. Alternative number: 315-342-8200. Open 24 hours for calls and walk-ins.
• Fulton Police Department, Municipal Building, 141 S. First St., Fulton, NY 13069, 315-598-2007
• Central Square Police Department (village), 3125 East Avenue, Central Square, NY 13036, 315-676-4303
• Pulaski Village Police Department, Snow Memorial Building, 4917 Jefferson Street, Pulaski, NY 13142. Reach it through the Sheriff's dispatch desk.
• Phoenix Police Department (village), reached through the Sheriff's dispatch desk. The village office is at 455 Main Street, Phoenix, NY 13135.
• University Police at the state university campus, Pathfinder Hall, 7060 State Route 104, Oswego, NY 13126, 315-312-5555, staffed 24/7

Deputies and troopers patrol every community lacking a local department:

• Towns, A to M: Albion, Amboy, Boylston, Constantia, Granby, Hannibal, Hastings, Mexico, Minetto
• Towns, N to W: New Haven, Orwell, Oswego, Palermo, Parish, Redfield, Richland, Sandy Creek, Schroeppel, Scriba, Volney, West Monroe, Williamstown
• Villages: Cleveland, Hannibal, Lacona, Mexico, Parish, Sandy Creek

For any non-emergency, the county's E-911 center answers 315-343-1313. It also works with State Park Police, state environmental officers and forest rangers, the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard.