The Inmate Look Up is the county's own list of people held. Five steps get you an answer:

1. Pull up the Inmate Look Up from a laptop or smartphone.
2. Key in the surname the way a driver's license shows it. A given name trims a long list.
3. Open the matching entry and read every detail it gives.
4. Copy down any booking number (BN#) or prison number (DCP#) you find. Mail, deposits and staff all use them.
5. No match? Try a second spelling, then call the prison at 717-780-6800.

The lookup tells you about custody, not the court case. Pair it with the UJS docket sheet, which lists charges, bail and court dates.

An empty result usually has an ordinary cause:

• Still in intake. Fingerprints, photos and the bail hearing come first. Central Booking answers at 717-547-4040, day or night.
• Released. Someone could have paid bail already, or the district judge chose ROR.
• Moved. Steelton's Work Release Center, a neighboring county, a state prison or the federal system may have them now.
• Spelling. Hyphenated, married and nickname versions of a name trip up searches.
• Under 18. Youths are never booked into the adult prison.

Prison staff can settle the question fastest. Dial 717-780-6800 with the legal name and birthday handy.

The county jail system has three parts, each with its own purpose:

• Central Booking, Judicial Center, 451 Mall Road, Harrisburg, PA 17111, 717-547-4040. Run by the prison and staffed 24/7. Every police department in the county drops off arrests here for fingerprinting, intake and a video bail hearing.
• The county prison, 501 Mall Road, Harrisburg, PA 17111, 717-780-6800. The main lockup, in Swatara Township. It holds men and women, both those awaiting trial and those serving county time. Its housing includes general blocks, therapeutic community blocks (one, J-Block, is for women), a Classification status and Restrictive Housing.
• Work Release Center, 919 Gibson Blvd, Steelton, PA 17113. A court-run community corrections center for eligible inmates. Women's unit 717-780-7001, men's unit 717-780-7002.

An arrest on the far side of the Cumberland, Perry, Lancaster or York line usually means that county's jail did the booking:

• Cumberland County Prison, 1101 Claremont Road, Carlisle, PA 17015, 717-245-8787
• Perry County Prison, 300 South Carlisle Street, New Bloomfield, PA 17068, 717-582-2262
• Lancaster County Prison, 625 East King Street, Lancaster, PA 17602, 717-299-7800
• York County Prison, 3400 Concord Road, York, PA 17402, 717-840-7580

The Work Release Center, 919 Gibson Blvd, Steelton, PA 17113, has run since 1996 as a department of the Court of Common Pleas. It works hand in hand with the prison but stands on its own site. Only inmates found eligible move there. In 2024 the prison sent 471 people to it.

• It stays open around the clock, all week.
• Residents wear electronic monitors and do community service.
• They buy and cook their own food.
• Office and billing staff work weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Call the women's side at 717-780-7001 or the men's side at 717-780-7002 to ask whether someone lives there and what the house rules are.

Booking photos are a gray area in Pennsylvania. Whether a county jail hands them out depends on that county and on recent state court rulings. News outlets and the public can put a request to the prison at 717-780-6800 or to the arresting department.

• Mugshots from federal arrests stay mostly private; a Marshals fugitive notice is a rare place one appears.
• To ask ICE for its own photo of a detainee, file a FOIA request on the ICE records request page.

Yes. PA SAVIN, the state's free notice service, covers county jails, state prisons and state parole. Its search page, VINELink, doubles as a custody check, showing if someone is held and at which facility.

• Pick a voice call, text message, email or the VINELink phone app for your alerts.
• Notices go out when the person is freed, moved or escapes.
• Live operators answer at 866-972-7284 at any hour. TTY users can dial 866-847-1298.
• Your sign-up stays private; the inmate gets no word of it.

Nobody is enrolled for you. Set up a separate alert for every inmate you care about.

A magisterial district judge sets release terms at the preliminary arraignment, usually by video from the Judicial Center. After hours, Night Court handles it at 451 Mall Road, Harrisburg, PA 17111, 717-547-4010.

• Pennsylvania guarantees bail in nearly every case. The judge can choose a simple promise to return, a promise with rules, unsecured bail, nominal bail or money bail (Pa.R.Crim.P. 524).
• Money bail goes to the district court office that set it. Once the file moves up, it goes to the Clerk of Courts, 2nd floor, 101 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101, 717-780-6530, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• The Clerk takes cash or a certified check. A licensed bondsman, a surety company or real estate can also back the bail.
• Another case, a detainer or a federal hold can keep a person inside even after one bail is paid.

Our bail and release page covers bondsmen, refunds and how to ask for lower bail.

The court docket spells out every count. Open the UJS case search, enter the name and county, and open the docket sheet. Each charge shows the law it falls under and its grade.

• Codes starting with F are felonies, and F1 ranks highest.
• Codes starting with M are misdemeanors, from M1 down to M3.
• An S code means a summary offense, the bottom rung.

The first charges come from the police complaint. After the preliminary hearing, prosecutors file the formal list, called the information, and may change it. That work happens at the District Attorney's Office, 101 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101, 717-780-6767. A very new case can take a day or two to show online.

When money for a private attorney is short, the person can turn to the Public Defender's Office, 2 South 2nd Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101, 717-780-6370. An application under oath lists household earnings, which the office measures against county eligibility limits.

The county urges clients to make the first contact quickly after an arrest. A family member can call to start the process. The prison also runs Attorney Day sessions where people held there can meet defenders.

Families may hire a private lawyer instead. On jail calls and visits, steer clear of case details and leave those for the attorney.

The prison allows a single 50-minute visit per inmate each week. Visits are non-contact, meaning no touching, and two visitors may come at a time. Schedules hang on each housing block, and only the inmate can pass along the day and time to family.

• No approval list is used. Visitors are registered electronically with a government photo ID and may see only the person they named.
• Kids under 16 need no ID. Visitors under 18 must be with a parent or guardian and may see only the inmate that adult visits.
• Arrive at least 30 minutes early. Lockers in the lobby hold your things. Only your ID and locker key go into the visiting room.
• Skirts and shorts must reach the knee and sleeves must be at least two inches long. Hoods, winter coats, hats, sunglasses, ripped pants and see-through or revealing clothing are turned away.
• Phones and anything that records sound or video stay in the locker.
• People in Classification or Restrictive Housing cannot have visits. Missed visits from a suspension are not made up.
• Finishing a therapeutic community or approved parenting program can earn contact visits.

Breaking the rules can mean a ban of at least a year. Clergy have separate daily hours. Our visiting guide has general tips.

The prison offers four ways to add money:

1. Drop box. Put a money order in the box at the front entrance with the full name and DCP number.
2. Mail. Send a money order to Dauphin County Prison, Attention: Business Office, 501 Mall Road, Harrisburg, PA 17111. Write the name and DCP number on a slip inside. Leave out any letter.
3. Lobby kiosk. The main lobby machine takes cash or a credit card. Card deposits post within three hours.
4. Online. Use the website of the prison's phone provider, and pick the prison before you make an account.

Money buys weekly commissary for people in general population. The prison's fee list includes a $125 booking fee and $3 for a nurse or doctor visit. People with no money may get help after 30 days, judged case by case. Ways to fund an account are compared in our inmate money guide. Snacks, hygiene items and order limits are in our commissary guide.

People held here cannot receive incoming calls. In a true emergency, such as a death or a hospital stay, call the prison at 717-780-6800. Staff deal with emergencies they can verify.

• Outgoing calls. Set up a phone account online or at 800-483-8314. It is tied to your phone number, not the inmate's name, and needs a credit card. Calls last up to 15 minutes during set hours.
• Debit calls. The person can also pay for calls from their commissary money.
• Tablets. People in general population get tablets with free and paid features. Add tablet funds online or at 866-516-0115.

Leave questions about the charges for the defense attorney. General tips live in our jail calls guide and our inmate email and messaging guide.

Personal mail goes to an out-of-state scanning center, and the person reads it on screen. Letters mailed straight to Mall Road come back to you. Address personal mail like this:

• Dauphin County Prison
• Person's full name, BN# (booking number)
• PO Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131

An old San Antonio, Texas, address no longer works, and mail sent there is returned.

Legal mail is different. Lawyers send it to the person's name and DCP#, Dauphin County Prison, 501 Mall Road, Harrisburg, PA 17111. It needs a return address that can be checked, and staff open it in front of the person.

Books and magazines must come by U.S. mail straight from the publisher or seller. Write the inmate's legal name, skip nicknames, and put the sender's name and address at upper left. Our mail guide covers the common rules.

Belongings stay at the prison, 501 Mall Road, Harrisburg, PA 17111, until release. To let a family member take them, the person inside sends a request slip that lists each item and the pickup person's full name and address. If the person is already out, they send a notarized letter instead.

• Pickups and drop-offs happen Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• For court clothes, the person sends a request slip to the Shift Commander first.
• Bring court clothes only with an approved slip, on those same weekday hours.
• Jeans, sneakers, underwear and t-shirts are refused as court clothes.

Questions go to 717-780-6800.

A contracted medical team works on site. Sick call runs seven days a week, and the person asks for it with a request slip. Emergency care is there around the clock. Visits cost $3.00 for a nurse or doctor and $4.00 for a dentist.

Worried about a condition or a missed prescription? Phone 717-780-6800 at once with the medicine's name, the daily dosage and the prescriber. Flag suicide risk or a psychiatric emergency first thing. For a life-threatening emergency, dial 911.

The Sheriff's Office handles bench warrants from the Court of Common Pleas, from Room 104 of the courthouse at 101 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101, 717-780-6590. Local officers and constables serve the rest. For posted names, try the Sheriff's CrimeWatch site, the countywide warrant board and most wanted page, the Harrisburg Bureau of Police page, the state's PSP Ten Most Wanted and the federal Marshals fugitive list. A phone call to the Sheriff or a UJS docket search also works. Clearing one usually means a lawyer sets up a planned surrender with the issuing judge. Upstairs on the 2nd floor, the Clerk of Courts takes calls at 717-780-6530.

The UJS docket sheet lists upcoming dates and the courtroom. Look the person up on the UJS case search, choosing this county from the menu. Brand-new filings can lag by a day or so.

• Early hearings happen at the magisterial district court named on the docket.
• Later dates fall at the courthouse, 101 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101, 717-780-6630.
• For someone still in jail, formal arraignment can take place at the prison.
• Public defender clients can call 717-780-6370 for their next date.

For each district court office and a walk through every hearing stage, open our guide to the county's criminal courts.

The Middle District of Pennsylvania's federal courthouse handles U.S. prosecutions from Dauphin: 1501 North 6th Street, Suite 101, Harrisburg, PA 17102, 717-221-3920.

1. The judge's first big decision is jail or release, made at a detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Before trial, the Marshals Service has custody and often rents space in a county jail. Call the Middle District office at 235 North Washington Avenue, Unit 215, Scranton, PA 18503, 570-346-7277, to ask where.
3. After sentencing, look in the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator, which covers federal prisoners back to 1982.

These are the usual steps when immigration agents step in:

1. Immigration agents send the county prison a detainer on Form I-247A.
2. The prison may hold the person for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE officers collect the person. The Philadelphia Field Office oversees Pennsylvania from 114 N. 8th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, 215-656-7164.
4. Look the person up on the ICE Online Detainee Locator with a name plus country of birth.

In the 2014 case Galarza v. Szalczyk, the Third Circuit appeals court ruled that detainers are requests that a county is free to refuse. Holding a person on that paper by itself leaves the county exposed to a lawsuit, so jails across the state write their own rules for detainers. Ask this prison about its policy at 717-780-6800.

A state sentence begins with weeks or months of intake testing and custody sorting at a DOC reception and classification center. A permanent state prison is picked after that.

• Type a name into the DOC inmate locator.
• Only the emergency contact a prisoner listed with the DOC can get details from staff.
• All state prison mail goes through one central processor. Its required address reads: Smart Communications/PA DOC, then the prisoner's name and DOC number, then the prison's name, then PO Box 33028, St Petersburg, FL 33733.
• The DOC central office is at 1920 Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050, 717-728-2573.

See our Pennsylvania state prisons page for visiting and mail details at each prison.

Teens are not booked into the adult prison or listed in its lookup. Their cases go to juvenile court through the Juvenile Probation Office, 100 Chestnut Street, 2nd Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17101, 717-780-7100. The county closed its own juvenile detention center, so juvenile probation decides where a youth is held. Parents can call there to learn the placement and the hearing schedule. The UJS portal shows no juvenile files. Murder charges, and certain violent felonies committed with a deadly weapon, send teens aged 15 through 17 straight to adult court.

All of these departments send arrests to Central Booking, Judicial Center, 451 Mall Road, Harrisburg, PA 17111. To learn which agency arrested someone, call Central Booking at 717-547-4040 and ask. The Census Bureau put Dauphin's population near 293,351 in its July 1, 2025 estimate.

Municipal police departments

• Derry Township Police Department
• Halifax Borough Police Department
• Harrisburg Bureau of Police
• Highspire Borough Police Department
• Hummelstown Borough Police Department
• Lower Paxton Township Bureau of Police
• Lower Swatara Township Police Department
• Lykens Police Department
• Middletown Borough Police Department
• Millersburg Police Department
• Penbrook Borough Police Department
• Steelton Borough Police Department
• Susquehanna Township Police Department
• Swatara Township Police Department

Pennsylvania State Police, Troop H, covers boroughs and townships that rely on troopers instead of a local department:

• Harrisburg station, 8000 Bretz Drive, Harrisburg, PA 17112, 717-671-7500
• Lykens station, 4673 State Route 209, Elizabethville, PA 17023, 717-362-8700

County agencies

• Sheriff's Office, courthouse Room 104, 101 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101, 717-780-6590
• County detectives (Criminal Investigation Division), 2 South 2nd Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101, 717-780-6200
• Department of Public Safety, which runs 911, 911 Gibson Blvd., Steelton, PA 17113, 717-558-6800