The jail inquiry list works like this:

1. Open the jail inquiry list in any browser.
2. Type the last name. If hundreds of names appear, narrow it down with a first name.
3. Check for an alias, a second given name, or the name a woman used before marriage.
4. Jot down the charge and any bond amount you see, because staff will ask.
5. Return in the evening, since fresh bookings may take a while to show.

Still stuck? Phone the Pamunkey Regional Jail at 804-365-6400 and ask for offender information. Say the full name and birth year clearly.

A blank result is common and often harmless. Think through these possibilities:

• Booking is slow. Paperwork can take hours.
• Wrong building. The deputy may have driven them to Henrico's jail in Barhamsville, not to Hanover.
• Back on the street. Some people are freed after a summons or a posted bond, so no jail stay occurs.
• Another agency has them. That could be a trooper, a nearby county or a federal officer.
• Spelling. One wrong letter hides a match.
• Age. A child goes to a youth program, not the adult list.

The Sheriff's line, 804-966-9500, is answered day and night. Ask where the deputy took the person.

The sources disagree, so try both. County pages say the Sheriff relies on Pamunkey. Henrico's pages say Jail East was built under a deal that included New Kent.

• Pamunkey Regional Jail, 7240 Courtland Farm Road, Hanover, VA 23069, 804-365-6400. It lies in Hanover County, north of Richmond, and has room for 519 people. One housing unit is for women. A special management unit is for men.
• Henrico County Jail East, 17320 New Kent Highway, Barhamsville, VA 23011, 804-652-1120. It stands in the northeast part of the county and is run by Henrico's Sheriff.

Pamunkey's own partners are Hanover, Caroline and the town of Ashland. At either jail, ask which housing area has the person. For the county's view, use the Sheriff's number above.

We could not confirm that the jail list displays mugshots. State law helps, though. Under § 2.2-3706 of the state's open-records law, a sheriff or police agency must release an adult's booking photo from intake. A felony investigation can delay it.

Whoever booked the person holds the photo. Deputies' bookings are tracked by the Sheriff, at 804-966-9500. A child's photo stays private.

• Booking pictures from immigration officers: file a request through ICE's records portal.
• Federal mugshots stay private, with one narrow exception: the U.S. Marshals Service might circulate a photo of someone who is a fugitive.

VINE is the free tracker to use. It reports on inmates of state prisons as well as local and regional lockups, and it names the place a person is held today. Use VINELink or phone 800-467-4943 at any hour.

It is most useful when you cannot tell which jail has the person. Enter the name once. A call, text or email follows after a release or a move. Also keep the Pamunkey number handy in case the alert lags.

Soon after an arrest, a magistrate picks the release terms, and that office works at all hours. The magistrate may accept a bare promise to appear. Or the magistrate may require a bond that costs nothing now, or one backed by cash, a house or a bondsman. Virginia's bail statute (§ 19.2-120) says to free people unless the facts show a likely no-show or a real threat to others. Release may come with orders to avoid the victim, stay home at night, take drug screens or wear a monitor on the ankle.

A person who remains in jail has a bail review at the General District Court when it next opens: 12001 Courthouse Circle, New Kent, VA 23124, 804-966-9530. A bondsman keeps 10 to 15 percent for good. To learn where bond is paid, ask the Sheriff. Browse Virginia bail laws and our bail page for this area.

The inquiry list may show a charge and bond. The court file has the whole story. Virginia's statewide case lookup covers traffic and criminal matters from district courts, grown-up cases from juvenile court, and Circuit Court files. Anything involving a minor is missing from it.

• District court clerk, 12001 Courthouse Circle, New Kent, VA 23124, 804-966-9530, open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Circuit court clerk, 12001 Courthouse Circle, New Kent, VA 23124, 804-966-9520
• The prosecutor, called the Commonwealth's Attorney, 12001 Courthouse Circle, 2nd Floor, New Kent, VA 23124, 804-966-5548

Before calling, check the exact spelling of the full name and the birth year.

The state has no public defender office for this area. People who cannot pay are given a private attorney chosen by a judge. Tell the magistrate you need one, or raise it with the judge when you first appear. You will sign a form swearing to your income. Under § 19.2-159 of the Virginia Code, the judge alone rules on who qualifies.

You can ask the district court clerk, 804-966-9530, how it works. Families with funds can also hire a lawyer right away and have that lawyer contact the jail.

Each jail has its own rules, so phone first. Henrico's Jail East books video visits ahead of time through 804-652-1120. It sits at 17320 New Kent Highway, Barhamsville, VA 23011.

For Pamunkey, ring 804-365-6400 and ask about days, hours, age limits and accepted ID. Our visiting guide has general tips. Dress plainly, plan for a search and expect a visit to be called off at times.

Deposits buy snacks, soap and calls. For people in Henrico's Jail East, a money order payable to the Henrico Sheriff's Office Inmate Funds works, and so does overnight delivery by FedEx or UPS. That office refuses cash and personal checks.

Pamunkey handles deposits its own way, so ask at 804-365-6400. Further tips sit in our deposit guide and our commissary article. Know the full name and inmate number first.

Henrico's jails use Global Tel*Link for phones, and its official pages send families there. Pamunkey may use a different company. Call 804-365-6400 to learn how accounts are set up and the price per minute.

Jail calls are taped, and a prosecutor can play them. Keep the story for the lawyer. For prices and policies, read our jail phone article and our article on inmate email and texts.

At Henrico Jail East, address the envelope to the full name, 17320 New Kent Highway, Barhamsville, VA 23011, and add your return address. For Pamunkey, phone 804-365-6400 to get the right address, because the known box is P.O. Box 510, Hanover, VA 23069.

Find out whether photos or books may be sent. Never tuck cash into a letter. Typical rules appear in our inmate mail guide.

Items taken at booking are stored. Ask what can be picked up and whether the person must fill out anything first. For Pamunkey, call 804-365-6400. For Henrico Jail East, call 804-652-1120. Carry a photo ID.

On release, the jail hands back what it stored. Before you collect anything for someone else, make sure the jail allows it.

Phone the jail's staff at once. At Pamunkey the number is 804-365-6400, and at Henrico Jail East it is 804-652-1120. Name the pill, the amount taken each day and the prescribing doctor.

Also urge the person to submit a sick-call slip on paper. A medical crisis calls for 911. If their mental health worries you, mention it when you phone.

Sheriff's deputies serve warrants in this area, because no city or town police force exists. Phone the Sheriff's Office at 804-966-9500 and ask whether one exists. For the case itself, ring the district court clerk at 804-966-9530 or the circuit clerk at 804-966-9520, or use the state case lookup. Get legal advice before showing up anywhere. Your lawyer can then contact the judge or clerk on the case. Both clerks work at 12001 Courthouse Circle, New Kent, VA 23124.

Ring whichever court has the file:

• District court (misdemeanors, traffic, early felony hearings): 12001 Courthouse Circle, New Kent, VA 23124, 804-966-9530
• Circuit court (felony trials, appeals): 12001 Courthouse Circle, New Kent, VA 23124, 804-966-9520
• Family and youth court, second floor of the same building at 12001 Courthouse Circle, New Kent, VA 23124, 804-966-9620

A name search also works on the state lookup. Our court page walks through the steps of a case.

The federal court for this area is in Richmond, 701 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219, within the Eastern District's Richmond Division. The clerk answers at 804-916-2200.

1. At a detention hearing, a judge weighs 18 U.S.C. § 3142 and decides if the person is jailed before trial or released.
2. The U.S. Marshals Service holds people until trial. Its Richmond office is at 701 East Broad Street, Suite 2800, Richmond, VA 23219, 804-545-8501.
3. Docket entries appear on PACER, the federal case system.
4. After sentencing, the federal prisons locator shows where they were sent.

A hold generally runs in this order:

1. An ICE officer requests a hold by giving the jail a detainer, Form I-247A.
2. Federal rule 8 CFR 287.7(d) lets the jail keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.
3. Look up the person on the ICE Online Detainee Locator, using the complete name and birth country.
4. Or call the ICE Washington Field Office, 14797 Murdock Street, Chantilly, VA 20151, 703-633-2100. It serves Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Virginia changed its rules on detainers during 2026, and a lawyer can explain what binds the jail right now. In February 2026 a state directive told Virginia's own agencies, like the State Police, to end their deals with ICE.

Someone given a prison term might stay at the county or regional jail until a state bed opens. Staff at a reception center screen them, and then a prison is picked. The Department of Corrections locator finds people by DOC number or by their names. The data is renewed daily, and the tool also covers inmates the state has placed in local jails. The Corrections main office answers at 804-674-3000.

Our guide to Virginia prisons lists each facility.

Teens and younger kids never share space with adults. A youth center may take the child by order of a judge, magistrate or intake worker, and the family and youth court owns the case: 12001 Courthouse Circle, 2nd Floor, New Kent, VA 23124, 804-966-9620. Ask that clerk where the child is being kept.

For intake paperwork on a child, call the 9th District Court Service Unit, 4093 Ironbound Road, Suite D, Williamsburg, VA 23188, 757-564-2460. Youth files are not on the online lookup, and their photos are not public.

No town or city police exist here. Patrol, investigation and arrests across the whole area fall to the Sheriff's Office, which never closes.

• Sheriff's Office, 11995 Courthouse Circle, New Kent, VA 23124, non-emergency 804-966-9500
• Virginia State Police, Division 1, 2434 Pine Forest Drive, Colonial Heights, VA 23834, 804-609-5500. Troopers also make arrests on the interstate.

No campus police were found. Ask the Sheriff which agency made the arrest.