Contact

Prison Visitor Guide is an independent reference website. It is not a prison, not a corrections department, and not a government agency. It has no records about anyone in custody, and a message sent to this site does not reach any facility.

Most messages sent here are meant for a prison. The sections below list where each kind of request actually goes.

To find or reach someone in custody

This site cannot look anyone up. Two tools that can:

• Each state’s inmate locator — free, run by the state, and linked from that state’s pages on this site. Choose the state from the states list, then open its Transfers & Finding Someone guide.
• VINELink (vinelink.com) — a free national service that searches custody records across many states and can send an alert when a person’s status changes.

To get a message to someone or ask about their situation, contact the facility that holds them. Each facility’s page on this site lists that facility’s own phone number and official website.

To submit a visitation application or any other form

Applications and forms go to the prison or the state corrections department — the state’s visiting guide on this site explains where. Sending a form to this website does not start any process, and no one here can submit it on your behalf. Documents emailed to this site are deleted unprocessed.

To report a problem inside a prison

A report sent to this website reaches no one who can act on it. Reports about conditions, medical care, or staff go to:

• The facility itself — ask for the warden’s office. Each facility page lists the phone number.
• The state corrections department’s central office, if the facility does not respond.
• The state’s independent oversight body — an ombudsman or inspector general, in states that have one. Where one exists, the state’s guides on this site name it.

To report an error on this website

Corrections to the website itself are read and acted on. Every page has a “Suggest a correction” link that fills in the page address, or email prisonvisitorguide@gmail.com. Including the page address and a link to an official source speeds up the fix.

What not to send

Do not email Social Security numbers, dates of birth, identification documents, or completed forms to this website. No one here can process them, and any that arrive are deleted.