One roster covers the city's jail buildings. Try this:

1. Open the Sheriff's roster in any browser.
2. Type the family name. A crowded list calls for the given name too.
3. Click the matching row. Confirm the age or birth date, as two inmates may have similar names.
4. Copy down the booking number if one shows. Staff use it to pull the file fast.
5. Return later in the day, because the list trails real arrests.

The jail desk, 434-799-5130, can run the name for you.

A blank result is normal early on. The usual reasons:

• Booking is not finished. Intake can run for hours.
• A police holding room. The person may wait at the station before the jail accepts them.
• Already out. Perhaps a magistrate allowed release, or someone paid the bond.
• A summons. Some people are sent home with a court date.
• Moved. The person could be held by another locality or by the state.
• Name variants. Vary the spelling and try nicknames, middle names or maiden names.

Phone the jail at 434-799-5130 and give the name plus birth date for a manual lookup.

The city keeps its own jails and does not use a regional jail. There are two adult buildings:

• Danville City Jail and Annex, 401 Patton Street, Danville, VA 24541, 434-799-5130. This maximum-security jail is run by the Sheriff's Office on the first floor of the Courts and Jail Building. Together with its annex it has room for about 213 people. New arrests land here first.
• Danville Adult Detention Center, 1000 S Boston Road, Danville, VA 24540, 434-799-5233. This is a minimum-security work prison for about 120 men, with work release and weekender programs.

To learn which one has the person, call the Sheriff at 434-799-5135.

Our review of the roster did not confirm photos. Ask staff at 434-799-5130 whether any appear.

Under Virginia's open-records act, an adult's booking photo from intake is public. Police and sheriffs hand it over unless it would endanger a felony probe. Your best bet is the agency that arrested the person, like city police at 434-799-5111. Pictures of juveniles are never public.

• A photo taken by ICE comes only from ICE, so send a request through ICE's FOIA office.
• Booking photos from federal arrests are withheld. The U.S. Marshals Service alone may release one, for a manhunt as an example.

Yes, VINE does this at no cost. It reports custody status, and it pings you at a release or move. Local and regional lockups and state prisons are in the system.

• Register on VINELink, or dial 800-467-4943, which answers around the clock.
• Type the full name, then pick a call, text or email.

A message can lag. If timing matters, phone the jail too.

A magistrate sets bail shortly after booking, day or night. That office sits in the Courts and Jail Building, 401 Patton Street, Danville, VA 24541, 434-799-5143. Virginia favors release. The magistrate picks from three kinds of release: a signed pledge to appear, a bond that is only owed on a missed court date, or a bond that needs backing. Backing can be cash, equity in a home, or a licensed bondsman.

• Anyone kept in custody goes before a judge when the court next opens. A motion to lower bail must then be heard inside three business days.
• Orders may come with release, like a ban on contact with the person who was hurt, a nightly curfew, or random drug tests.
• A bondsman's premium runs from 10% up to 15% of the bond and is not refunded.

For depth, use our bail page, plus the statewide Virginia bail laws summary.

Ask the jail, then check court records. The state's Online Case Information System looks up traffic and criminal files in the district court, adult criminal files in juvenile court, and every Circuit Court file. It leaves out juvenile cases.

Clerks can look up a case too when you give a name and birth date. The General District Court clerk is at 401 Patton Street, Danville, VA 24543, 434-799-5179. The Commonwealth's Attorney, the city's prosecutor, is at 427 Patton Street, Danville, VA 24541, 434-797-4809.

A private lawyer is always an option. When money is short, the free choice is the Danville Public Defender Office, 315 Lynn Street, Suite A, Danville, VA 24541, 434-791-5306.

1. At the opening hearing, the person asks the judge for a state-paid lawyer.
2. The person swears to a financial form about earnings, debts and assets.
3. Qualifying is the judge's decision alone.
4. If that office has a conflict or no room, the judge then chooses one private lawyer from the court's roster.

Family can pass along facts, but the person charged must make the request.

Each building has its own rules. For the City Jail, call 434-799-5130. The city's jail page links to IC Solutions for video visits. Our visiting guide has more.

At the Adult Detention Center, in-person visits follow these rules:

• Visiting is Sunday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., in 30-minute blocks.
• The inmate must have been held more than 30 days.
• Up to four adult immediate family members may attend at once.
• Each visitor shows a photo ID.

Call 434-799-5233 before driving over.

A deposit covers commissary snacks, toiletries and phone time. The city's jail page sends families to JailATM, and the Adult Detention Center lists deposits.jailatm.com.

Bring the full name and booking number to the screen. Ask staff at 434-799-5130 about fees and limits. Our money guide and commissary guide give extra help. Cash never goes in the mail.

Because call plans change, phone 434-799-5130. Ask the price per call, the way to start an account, and whether texting or tablets are offered.

Expect recorded lines. Only the lawyer should hear the details of the case. Our jail calls page and jail messaging page have general tips.

Use this layout on the envelope:

Full name of the person
Danville City Jail
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131

An outside site screens each letter. The person then gets it on a kiosk or as paper copies. Call 434-799-5130 about allowed items and whether to add a booking number. Put your return address on it. See our mail guide.

The jail keeps what it took at booking until release. To bring or claim items, phone 434-799-5130 and ask about pickup hours, release paperwork for the person and which photo ID to carry. The City Jail stands at 401 Patton Street, Danville, VA 24541.

Phone 434-799-5130 right away. Share the name, the symptoms, any drug and dose, and the doctor's contact. Ask staff to alert the nurse. The person may also put in a sick-call request inside.

Anyone in immediate danger needs 911 first. A mental health emergency should be named to the dispatcher.

Deputies serve court papers, and city officers make many arrests. Phone the Sheriff's Office at 434-799-5135 or city police at 434-799-5111 and ask about a warrant. For a case check, call the Circuit Court clerk at 434-799-5168 or use the state case search. If one turns up, call a lawyer first. Then reach the clerk who handles the issuing court. The clerks' office is at 401 Patton Street, Danville, VA 24543, open weekdays.

Ask the court that owns the case. All three sit at 401 Patton Street, Danville, VA 24543:

• General District Court, 434-799-5179: traffic tickets, misdemeanors and early felony hearings.
• Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, 434-799-5173: cases about children and about relatives.
• Circuit Court, 434-799-5168: felony trials and appeals.

Our court page walks through the case stages.

Even though Danville once had its own federal courthouse, that building closed to new filings in late 2025. City cases in the Western District of Virginia now run through Lynchburg: 1101 Court Street, Suite A66, Lynchburg, VA 24504, 434-847-5722.

1. At the first federal appearance, a judge chooses jail or release until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. The U.S. Marshals Service keeps federal defendants. Its district office is at 210 Franklin Road Southwest, Suite 210, Roanoke, VA 24011, 540-857-2230. Ask there where the person is.
3. Once sentenced, find the person with the Federal Bureau of Prisons locator.

1. A detainer is ICE's written hold request. The jail receives it on Form I-247A.
2. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), the jail may keep them up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.
3. ICE then takes custody. Try the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Search by A-number, or by the full name and birth country.
4. Still nothing? Call the ICE Washington Field Office, 14797 Murdock Street, Chantilly, VA 20151, 703-633-2100.

Virginia is changing its detainer law in 2026, so ask the jail how a detainer is handled now. A directive from February 2026 ended the state agencies' 287(g) deals. It applies to state agencies only.

Someone sentenced to state time may be held in a local jail first, and moves once the state has a bed free. VADOC then classifies the new inmate and picks a prison.

• On the VADOC Inmate Locator, type a name or DOC number. New data posts daily.
• The VADOC main line is 804-674-3000.
• Visiting and mail rules are on our Virginia state prison directory.

Adult jails do not take children. Court intake staff, a magistrate or a judge must order a child held. Then the case moves to Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, 401 Patton Street, Danville, VA 24543, 434-799-5173.

The state's list of regulated programs names the W.W. Moore, Jr. Detention Home, 603 Colquohoun Street, Danville, VA 24541, 434-799-5295. Ask them whether the child is there.

No towns lie inside the city, so these offices cover it:

• Danville Police Department, 1 Community Way, Danville, VA 24541, 434-799-5111 (ask for the police department). Its officers patrol the streets and make most of the city's arrests.
• Danville Sheriff's Office, 401 Patton Street, Danville, VA 24541, 434-799-5135. This office operates the jail, secures the courtrooms and serves court papers.
• Virginia State Police, Division Six, 3775 W. Main Street, Salem, VA 24153, 540-375-9500. Troopers who patrol nearby highways answer to this division.