Clicking on any of the Ohio facilities below will direct you to an information page with Inmate Search, Visitation, Mail, Phone, Email, Most Wanted and FAQ for families and friends.
With nearly 46,000 people behind bars, Ohio has one of the largest state prison systems in the country. It is run by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC), which lawmakers created in 1972. For well over a century before that, the center of Ohio’s system was the Ohio Penitentiary in downtown Columbus, which opened in 1834 and finally closed in 1984. The castle-like Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, closed in 1990, is now a museum best known as the filming location for The Shawshank Redemption.
In December 2025, ODRC held 45,833 people, including about 3,700 women. Ohio’s prisons have run over their rated capacity for years. Back in 2021, even after the population fell during the pandemic, the department’s director told lawmakers the system was at 118% of capacity.
The state has 28 adult prisons. Most are run by ODRC; Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut is operated by CoreCivic and North Central Correctional Complex in Marion by Management and Training Corporation. Facilities worth knowing:
Lucasville is remembered for the 1993 Lucasville uprising, an 11-day riot involving more than 400 prisoners that left ten people dead, one of them a corrections officer. It was one of the longest prison riots in U.S. history.
Ohio sends most newly sentenced men to the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, south of Columbus. Men from Cuyahoga, Summit and Stark counties (the Cleveland, Akron and Canton areas) go instead to Lorain Correctional Institution in Grafton. All women are received at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville. Reception staff handle medical, mental health and security screenings before assigning each person to a “parent” prison, so expect a move after the first few weeks.
Search by name or inmate number with the ODRC Offender Search. Ohio inmate numbers start with a letter, usually A for men and W for women, followed by digits. Use the full number on letters, deposits and visitor forms.
Ohio still has the death penalty, but no one has been executed since Robert Van Hook on July 18, 2018. Gov. Mike DeWine paused executions in 2019 until the state can adopt a court-approved method, and he has issued reprieves every year since, most recently in January 2026, when he pushed three scheduled executions into 2029, citing drug companies’ refusal to supply the state. In June 2026 DeWine went further and publicly urged lawmakers to abolish capital punishment. Some legislators have instead proposed adding nitrogen gas as a method.
Ohio’s death row held about 112 people in 2026. Most men are at Ross Correctional Institution in Chillicothe, with a few at the Ohio State Penitentiary and other prisons; women are at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. Executions take place at Lucasville. Ohio has carried out 56 executions since 1976 and 438 before that. It used the electric chair from 1897 to 1963 and now uses lethal injection only. The 2014 execution of Dennis McGuire, which used an untested drug combination, drew national criticism.
The Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS) is responsible for youth ages 12 to 21 whom a juvenile court commits for felony offenses, about 470 young people in early 2025. Its three secure facilities are Indian River in Massillon, Circleville and Cuyahoga Hills in Highland Hills, near Cleveland. Youth awaiting a court decision are held in county juvenile detention centers instead.
Ohio is now remaking its youth system. After a 2023 newspaper investigation into violence and staffing shortages, a task force appointed by DeWine recommended moving away from large youth prisons. The state is spending about $260 million to build four 36-bed centers, two in Bedford and two in Grafton, starting with Grafton, which broke ground in May 2026. They will replace Cuyahoga Hills, whose open dormitories are considered unsafe, and the model will later spread to the other two sites. Juvenile records are confidential, so families should contact DYS or the facility directly.
To search for an inmate or juvenile, or to learn how to visit, call, write or send money to someone in the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction or Department of Youth Services, choose a facility from the list below.