Steps:

1. Pull up the jail lookup tool in any browser.
2. Start with the surname alone. Bring in a given name when the list is too long.
3. No luck? Swap in a nickname or another spelling.
4. Check the birth date against the one you know.
5. Jot down the custody status and the location listed.

Screens trail what happens on the floor. Confirm by phoning 757-391-3177, or use the jail's second status line, 757-391-3178.

• Intake not finished. Prints, photos and screening happen first, and the entry follows.
• Still with police. Detectives sometimes talk with a person before the jail receives them.
• Back home. A summons, a written promise or a posted bond lets many people out within hours.
• Another place. An arrest outside the city, or a state hold, may land the person in another facility.
• A minor. Anyone younger than 18 goes down a different path.

Phone 757-391-3177 and ask if the person is on the books. The magistrate's office knows whether a bond was set. It sits at 700 Port Centre Parkway, Suite 100, Portsmouth, VA 23704, 757-393-8648.

Adults in this city are housed in a single place, the city jail at 2690 Elmhurst Lane, Portsmouth, VA 23701, 757-391-3177. One phone line reaches intake, classification and records.

• Waiting for trial. People without a bond stay here while their case moves.
• Serving a short sentence. A term of up to a year is served here too.
• Classes. Programs include A.R.C.H., Think for a Change and GED study.
• Sentenced to more than a year. A person may sit here until the state has an open bed.

Ask for classification to learn which housing area holds the person. Arrested somewhere else? Jail staff can tell you where the person ended up.

Adult mugshots, meaning booking photos taken at intake, are public under state records law (FOIA). Police and sheriffs must hand them over. An open felony investigation is the only listed reason to hold one back, as section 2.2-3706 explains. Contact whoever arrested the person.

• Portsmouth Police Department, 700 Port Centre Parkway, Portsmouth, VA 23704, 757-393-5255
• Sheriff's Office, 2690 Elmhurst Lane, Portsmouth, VA 23701, 757-391-3177
• Pictures of children are kept private.
• ICE keeps its own booking pictures; ask for them at the ICE FOIA page.
• Federal agencies hold their mugshots back from the public, though the U.S. Marshals Service may share a picture if it is searching for a defendant who fled.

VINE is a free, round-the-clock service that follows custody status. Its coverage includes city, county and regional jails plus the Department of Corrections, and it alerts you once a release or transfer occurs.

• Look the person up on VINELink, then choose phone, text or email.
• Operators pick up at 800-467-4943.

Treat alerts as a backup. The jail's own line, 757-391-3177, is the best source for what is true this minute.

A magistrate sets release terms shortly after booking, day or night, at 700 Port Centre Parkway, Suite 100, Portsmouth, VA 23704, 757-393-8648. The default is release. Section 19.2-120 lets a magistrate say no to bail when probable cause shows the person would not return or would hurt someone.

• Choices run from a signed promise, to an unsecured bond, to a secured bond.
• Secured bonds use cash, home equity or a licensed bail bondsman.
• Bondsmen are licensed by the state. Their premium runs 10 to 15 percent and is lost for good.
• Terms can add a curfew, a stay-away order, drug screens or GPS tracking.

Anyone not freed first goes before the General District Court judge as soon as that courtroom is next open. A lawyer can file to cut the amount, and the hearing must come within three business days. Ask the jail at 757-391-3177 where a bond can be paid. Our bail walk-through adds detail, and state bail rules are laid out too.

A filed case has a court record, and the record lists every charge. Try the state's online court records search. It covers criminal and traffic cases in General District Court, adult cases in Juvenile and Domestic Relations (JDR) Court, and Circuit Court files. Nothing about a child shows there.

A phone call works too. A clerk can look up a case from a full name and birth date:

• General District Court criminal clerk, 1345 Court Street, Suite 104, Portsmouth, VA 23704, 757-393-8681
• Circuit Court clerk, 1345 Court Street, Suite 101, Portsmouth, VA 23704, 757-393-8671
• Commonwealth's Attorney, the office that picks the final charges, 1345 Court Street, Suite 105, Portsmouth, VA 23704, 757-393-5135

Where a jail term could follow and the person lacks funds, counsel is appointed. Someone in custody raises it with the magistrate or the judge, completes a sworn list of income and expenses, and the judge rules on it (section 19.2-159). The criminal clerk at 757-393-8681 gives out the form.

• Portsmouth Public Defender Office, One Guardian Court, Portsmouth, VA 23705, 757-396-6840
• When the defender cannot serve, the judge names a private lawyer instead.

A family may also pay for an attorney of its choice. Keep case talk off the jail phone.

Visits here run by video. The person can use a kiosk inside the jail, while you can join from home through a free phone or tablet app. The vendor is Securus.

• Phone 757-391-3177 for days, hours and how to book.
• Ask what identification is needed and whether a visitor list applies.
• Ask how long a session can last.

Rules shift without notice. The visitation page on our site lists general tips.

Deposits cover snacks, soap, calls and similar items. The Sheriff's Office gives families two ways to add them:

• A deposit kiosk in the jail lobby.
• The website accesscatalog.com, which the Sheriff's Office points families toward.

Bring the person's full name. Phone 757-391-3177 to ask about fees and caps. Learn more from our deposit page and our store page. Cash by mail is a bad idea.

The jail decides how this works. Call 757-391-3177 and ask how the person can phone out, the price of each call, and whether texts or tablets are offered. Video sessions use the Securus service, either at the lobby kiosk or from home.

Assume calls may be recorded. Share details of the case with the lawyer only. See our calling page and messaging page for background.

Before you stamp anything, phone 757-391-3177. Ask for the correct mailing address, whether a book number is needed, and which items pass inspection, such as photos or paperback books.

Plain paper, plain envelope. Put the whole legal name on the front. Your own return address goes in the upper left. Background rules sit on our mail page. Skip cash and stickers.

What the person carried in is kept in jail storage until the person leaves. Questions about picking it up go to 757-391-3177. Learn who may pick them up, what the person has to sign and which days work.

Items families want to hand in follow jail rules too, so ask before heading to the Sheriff's Office at 2690 Elmhurst Lane, Portsmouth, VA 23701.

Reach the medical unit at 757-391-3181. Give the full name and explain what is wrong. Name each medicine, the daily amount and the doctor who ordered it. Your loved one should hand in a written sick-call form as well.

When someone could die, phone 911, and tell staff at once if you fear a person is in a mental crisis.

Deputies from the Sheriff's Office and officers from city police carry warrants out. Phone the Sheriff's Office at 757-391-3177 or Portsmouth Police at 757-393-5255 to ask if one exists. Court files show open cases: contact the criminal clerk of General District Court at 757-393-8681 or the Circuit Court clerk at 757-393-8671, or use the state records search. See an attorney before surrendering. After that, get in touch with the court behind it. The clerk's address is 1345 Court Street, Suite 104, Portsmouth, VA 23704.

All three courts share the Court Street judicial center, 1345 Court Street, Portsmouth, VA 23704:

• General District Court, Suite 104: criminal 757-393-8681, traffic 757-393-8506
• Juvenile and Domestic Relations (JDR) Court, Suite 103: 757-393-8851
• Circuit Court, Suite 101: 757-393-8671

Misdemeanors and traffic matters start in the first court. Felony cases move to the third after a grand jury indicts. Names can also be searched in the online court records. Our hearings page describes each stage.

Federal judges for this city sit in Norfolk, in the Norfolk Division of the Eastern District of Virginia, at the Walter E. Hoffman Courthouse, 600 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23510, clerk 757-222-7202.

1. Soon after the case begins, a detention hearing is held to choose jail or release (federal law cites 18 U.S.C. § 3142).
2. Pretrial housing is chosen by the U.S. Marshals Service, often a local jail. The Marshals' Norfolk office, 600 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23510, answers at 757-963-5963.
3. A person without money can ask for the federal defender, 500 E Main St, Suite 500, Norfolk, VA 23510, 757-457-0800.
4. Once sentenced, look in the federal prison locator.

Typical steps, in order:

1. First comes the detainer, a form numbered I-247A that tells the jail ICE wants a hold.
2. A hold of up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released is allowed (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE takes over custody. The ICE detainee locator wants the person's name with a birth country. A number from ICE, called an A-number, also works.
4. If nothing comes up, phone the ICE Washington Field Office, 14797 Murdock Street, Chantilly, VA 20151, 703-633-2100.

Virginia's detainer rules are in flux during 2026, so a lawyer can explain what applies today. State agencies lost their 287(g) deals under a February 2026 order. The order names only state agencies.

After a state sentence, the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) receives the person at an intake unit, reviews their needs and picks a prison. The person may stay at the city jail until a bed opens.

• Enter a name or DOC number at the Virginia DOC locator, which refreshes each day.
• Questions go to VADOC, 804-674-3000.
• Prison-by-prison details are in our Virginia prisons directory.

A child arrested here is not held with adults. Cases go before the city's JDR (Juvenile and Domestic Relations) Court, 1345 Court Street, Suite 103, Portsmouth, VA 23704, 757-393-8851.

The first stop for a complaint about a child is the Court Service Unit of the 3rd District, up in Suite 201 of that building, 757-393-8571, where an intake officer screens them and may order detention. A child who must be held from here is typically sent to the Merrimac Juvenile Detention Center, 9300 Merrimac Trail, Williamsburg, VA 23185, 757-887-0225. Juvenile photos and files are shielded from the public.

The jail, at 757-391-3177, can say who brought the person in. Agencies working here:

• Portsmouth Police Department, 700 Port Centre Parkway, Portsmouth, VA 23704, 757-393-5255, the main city police line.
• Sheriff's Office, 2690 Elmhurst Lane, Portsmouth, VA 23701. Deputies run the jail and carry out court orders. Civil process: 757-393-5030.
• Virginia State Police, Division Five, handles this area. The division's field operations office: 7511 Burbage Drive, Suffolk, VA 23435, 757-956-3968.

No separate towns sit inside the city, so all charges end up in the same Court Street building.