Transfers & Finding Someone in Colorado (CDOC)

State prison or county jail

A felony prison sentence — generally a year or more — is served in a CDOC state prison. Shorter sentences and almost all detention before trial are served in a county jail run by the sheriff. Time spent in county jail before sentencing is credited toward the prison term. So if a person’s case is pre-trial or the sentence is short, look to the county jail, which sets its own rules.

Reception: where it begins

Everyone entering CDOC is processed first at a Denver reception center — men at the Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center (DRDC) and women at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility (DWCF) — for roughly three to six weeks of medical, mental-health, and classification screening before being assigned to a permanent prison. During this period a person may not yet appear in the locator or be able to receive visits. Many women later transfer to La Vista in Pueblo for general population.

Finding someone

Use the CDOC Offender Search to look someone up by name or DOC number (the up-to-six-character identifier CDOC assigns). It shows the person’s current facility. If a person does not appear, they are most likely in a county jail — contact that county.

A key distinction: VINE versus CDOC

Colorado’s VINE system covers participating county jails, not state prisons. Once a person is in CDOC custody, VINE will not track them — use the CDOC Offender Search to locate them and CDOC’s Victim Notification Program to sign up for custody and release alerts.

Transfers between prisons

A person can be moved between prisons for custody level, programs, medical needs, or capacity, and moves are not always announced in advance. If mail starts coming back or a scheduled visit is affected, re-check the CDOC Offender Search to confirm the current location.

Verify Before Acting

For the general, nationwide overview of this topic, see the national guide: Know Your Rights.