The search tool covers people held all over Oklahoma, so you have to narrow it to the right person. Here's how:

1. Open the inmate locator on a phone or computer.
2. Type the surname, then the given name. If nothing comes up, swap in a shortened first name or a premarriage last name.
3. Pick the result that matches the age or birth date you know.
4. Read the custody status and the facility named. It should say the county jail if they are held here.
5. Write down the booking or ID number shown. Staff may want it on letters or deposits.
6. Call 918-696-2106 to confirm before you drive anywhere.

The state calls this system OK VINE, Oklahoma's offender tracking and victim notice service. It also helps you follow a person who gets moved.

A blank screen can mislead you. The person may still be in custody for one of these reasons:

• Paperwork is still underway. Fingerprinting, the booking photo and records entry all happen before a name shows, sometimes over several hours.
• A typo or a variant. Drop the middle name, or test another spelling.
• Another jail has them. An arrest in a nearby county, or across the Arkansas line, leads to that area's jail.
• They're already out. Someone may have paid the bond, or the court freed them without one.
• A tribal or federal agency holds them. Those cases may use other jails.

One phone call settles most of these: the Sheriff's Office at 918-696-2106. If Stilwell police made the arrest, their non-emergency line is 918-696-2882.

Adults arrested here are held at the county jail, 600 Paul Meade Rd, Stilwell, OK 74960, 918-696-2106. When the arrest took place right past the county's edge, check the jail for that side:

• Delaware County Jail (north), 327 S. 5th Street, Jay, OK 74346, 918-253-4530
• Cherokee County Jail (west), 1513 N. Douglas, Tahlequah, OK 74464, 918-456-2583
• Sequoyah County Jail (south), through the Sheriff's Office at 119 South Oak Street, Sallisaw, OK 74955, 918-775-9155

The county's eastern edge is the Arkansas state line. An arrest on the Arkansas side means an Arkansas jail. For a person held by the Cherokee Nation, call its Justice Services office at 918-453-5610, since the Nation uses contracted jails.

The state locator is built to show custody status, not pictures. A booking photo request goes to the Sheriff's Office, 918-696-2106.

• Oklahoma's Open Records Act makes a few arrest facts public: the arrested person's name and appearance, the grounds for holding them and the jail's booking log (51 O.S. § 24A.8). The law is silent on photos.
• Reporters seeking a photo go through the Sheriff's Office as well.
• To ask ICE for a picture, file a request on ICE's FOIA page.
• Federal agencies usually keep booking photos to themselves. The U.S. Marshals Service is an exception and sometimes releases a fugitive's photo to the public.

Yes. The state runs VINE as a free notice service through Oklahoma's Attorney General. Alerts arrive by phone call, text or email the moment the person's custody changes: a release, a move, an escape or a death.

1. Look the person up on VINELink.
2. Pick the option to register, then add your phone number or email.
3. Prefer the phone? Register at 877-654-8463.

When someone moves from county custody to the Department of Corrections, they get a new ID number. Register again under the new record so the alerts keep coming.

Bail is the starting point in Oklahoma for nearly every charge. The state Constitution lets a judge say no only for a short list, like violent crimes or crimes punishable by life, and only with strong proof and a real safety risk (Okla. Const. art. II § 8). Bail may not be excessive (Okla. Const. art. II § 9).

Release usually comes through a signed own recognizance bond, a full cash bond (59 O.S. § 1323), a bondsman's surety bond or a property bond. After a second DUI arrest, nobody leaves until a judge sets the bail (HB 1222).

Ask jail staff at 918-696-2106 for the bond amount and any holds. Our bail and bond page walks through each step and every place to pay.

Staff at 918-696-2106 can tell you the booking charges by phone. State law treats key booking facts as public, including the reason for the arrest, the officer who made it and the jail register (51 O.S. § 24A.8).

Once the District Attorney files the case, it appears in state court records. Search by name on OSCN or ODCR. The prosecutor's local office is at 220 W. Division, Suite 201, Stilwell, OK 74960, 918-696-7150.

The charge written at booking may not match the one later filed. The court goes by the filed charge.

From inside, the person tells a detention officer they want the paperwork for a free lawyer. The finished form goes to the Court Clerk, and a judge decides it. In this county, the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System covers these cases through a private lawyer under contract.

• Expect a $40 fee to the Court Fund, which a judge may allow to be paid later.
• The judge looks at income, debts and property, not just whether bail was posted.
• Contract defense office: P.O. Box 848, Roland, OK 74954, 918-427-4878.
• OIDS statewide office: 111 N. Peters Ave, Suite 500, Norman, OK 73069, 405-801-2601.

Families can't get a lawyer assigned by calling OIDS. The request has to go through the court.

Call the jail at 918-696-2106 before your first visit. Ask about the visiting days, how to sign up, the ID you need and the dress rules.

Under Oklahoma's jail standards, security is the only reason a jail may cap how many people visit or how long they stay. A visitor under 18 can't come without a parent or legal guardian present (OAC 310:670-5-9).

Many jails also offer video visits, from home or from a screen in the lobby. Ask staff whether this jail does, what it costs and how to schedule. Our jail visiting guide has more tips.

Account money covers small comforts inside, such as snacks, soap and phone time. Phone 918-696-2106 to learn which deposit methods work right now, what fees apply and how much is allowed. Have the legal name and any booking number ready.

Never send loose cash through the mail, where it can get lost. Read our jail deposit guide for the usual choices. The commissary page explains the jail store.

After booking, a new arrival gets two free-to-them calls at the least, local or collect, under the state jail standards (OAC 310:670-5-1). Expect that first call to be collect, and maybe hours after the arrest.

After that, calls usually run through a prepaid account. Ask the jail at 918-696-2106 how to set one up and whether tablets or messages are offered. Anything about the case should wait for a private talk with the lawyer.

More help: our jail calling guide and our inmate email and text page.

Ring 918-696-2106 first. Find out how the envelope should be addressed and which number goes beside the name. Ask too whether pictures, books or magazines are allowed.

State standards protect a few things:

• Jails can't cap the amount of mail coming in or going out, though staff may search it for contraband.
• Staff may open legal letters from attorneys and judges only while the inmate watches.
• Outgoing legal mail is not opened (OAC 310:670-5-9).

Write the person's complete name as it appears on their ID, and put your own address in the corner. Our jail letters guide explains the common rules.

Whatever was taken at booking is listed and kept until release day (OAC 310:670-5-1). On that day, staff match the person's ID, go through the list item by item and collect a signature.

Collecting things for someone who hasn't been released yet? Phone 918-696-2106 and check if the jail needs the person's written OK before handing anything over, and when you can come to 600 Paul Meade Rd, Stilwell, OK 74960. Carry a photo ID.

State jail rules call for a health check during booking and tell inmates how to request care (OAC 310:670-5-8). Once a written request is in, a licensed health worker should see the person in 48 hours or less, faster if it is urgent.

• If a prescription is the worry, call 918-696-2106. Tell staff what the medicine is, the amount taken and the prescriber's name.
• For an emergency, call 911.
• Concerns about care can go to the state jail inspectors: OSDH Detention Program, 123 Robert S. Kerr Ave., Suite 1702, Oklahoma City, OK 73102, 405-426-8170.

If the worry is about their mental state, tell staff that clearly on the call.

County warrants are served by the Sheriff's Office, 918-696-2106. Ask staff there, or the Court Clerk through the county line at 918-696-7198, whether a warrant is active. Court files on OSCN and ODCR may show one. Statewide pages worth checking are the Attorney General's most wanted, DOC escape alerts and the Marshals' fugitive list. To settle a warrant, talk to a lawyer, then surrender together at the jail, 600 Paul Meade Rd, Stilwell, OK 74960. The issuing court can also be phoned about a bond or a new date.

The jail can often tell you the next hearing. For state cases, also check OSCN or ODCR, or ask the Court Clerk through 918-696-7198.

City tickets in Stilwell are heard once a month, on a Thursday. Call 918-696-3308 for the exact date.

Our criminal court page covers each hearing in order.

Federal crimes from this county are filed at the courthouse in Muskogee, 101 North 5th Street, Room 208, Muskogee, OK 74401, 918-684-7920. Early on, a hearing settles whether the person stays jailed until trial or goes home under conditions (18 U.S.C. 3142).

• A person charged federally stays in the Marshals' hands until trial. The Muskogee office of that agency, 101 North 5th Street, Suite 136, Muskogee, OK 74401, 539-239-5500, can say which jail holds them.
• Some federal prisoners pass through the Federal Transfer Center, 7410 S. MacArthur Boulevard, Oklahoma City, OK 73169, 405-682-4075.
• The Federal Public Defender is at 112 North 7th Street, Muskogee, OK 74401, 918-687-2430.
• After a federal sentence, look for them on the Bureau of Prisons inmate finder.

ICE often starts with a request to the county jail. Here is the usual chain:

1. The jail receives an ICE detainer request on Form I-247A.
2. A federal regulation lets the county hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Federal officers come for the person. The Dallas Field Office, 8101 N. Stemmons Frwy, Dallas, TX 75247, 972-367-2200, oversees ICE work in Oklahoma. ICE's Oklahoma City office is at 1220 Sovereign Row, Oklahoma City, OK 73108, 405-219-3199.
4. Many detainees go to Cimarron Correctional Facility, 3200 S. Kings Hwy., Cushing, OK 74023. Its detainee line, 918-225-3336, is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Callers should give the full name, any other names, the birth date, the home country and the A-number.
5. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator. It takes either the A-number or a name plus the home country.

A federal court has stopped Oklahoma from enforcing HB 4156 (21 O.S. § 1795), its state immigration crime, while the appeal plays out.

A state prison sentence usually means months more in the county jail first. DOC says 6 to 9 months is normal before its transport arrives. DOC then reviews the person at intake and rates their security needs. That rating decides the prison.

• Search the DOC Offender Lookup.
• For questions, contact the person's DOC case manager, or call DOC at 405-425-2500.
• Browse our Oklahoma prison listings for each facility's page.

Remember to register again on VINE after the move, because the DOC number is new.

Youths who need to stay locked up are placed in a juvenile detention center. Police or deputies may hold a youth for up to 6 hours while processing. During that time, any jail must keep the youth away from adult inmates (OAC 310:670-5-5).

This county works under the Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA), 2501 N. Lincoln Blvd., Suite 500, Oklahoma City, OK 73105, 405-530-2800. OJA or the Sheriff's Office at 918-696-2106 can tell you the center's name and the date of the detention hearing.

The county lies inside the Cherokee Nation Reservation, and the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service works across it. Since McGirt v. Oklahoma (July 9, 2020) and later state appeals court rulings, many cases against tribal citizens on the reservation go to tribal or federal court.

• Cherokee Nation Marshal Service dispatch: 918-207-3800.
• Justice Services, which handles detention through contracted jails: P.O. Box 948, Tahlequah, OK 74465, 918-453-5610.
• Cherokee Nation District Court: P.O. Box 1097, Tahlequah, OK 74465, 918-207-3900.

Ask Justice Services where the person is held and when they see a tribal judge.

Six agencies make most local arrests, listed below. Census figures for July 1, 2025, show 19,828 people living countywide.

• Sheriff's Office, jail at 600 Paul Meade Rd, Stilwell, OK 74960, 918-696-2106. Covers the rural areas and every community outside town limits.
• Stilwell Police Department (about 3,892 people), 17 South Second St., Stilwell, OK 74960, non-emergency 918-696-2882.
• Westville Police Department (about 1,413 people), 918-723-5101. Town Hall is at 221 Williams Ave., Westville, OK 74965, 918-723-3988.
• Watts Police (about 280 people), 918-422-8835. If no one answers, call the Sheriff's Office.
• Cherokee Nation Marshal Service, tribal police across the reservation, dispatch 918-207-3800.
• Oklahoma Highway Patrol, state troopers on the highways. The nearest troop offices are Troop C in Muskogee, 918-683-3256, and Troop L in Vinita, 918-256-3388. Ask which troop covers the road where the arrest happened.

For any emergency in the county's towns or countryside, call 911.