Transfers & Finding Someone in Maryland (DPSCS)

Maryland’s adult prisons are run by the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS). A person’s assigned prison is set after reception and classification, can change through later transfers, and is currently affected by two facility changes — the men’s intake transition and the MCI-J closure. The current location is shown on the DPSCS Inmate Locator.

Reception and classification

A newly committed person is processed at a reception and classification center, where DPSCS assigns a security level and determines program needs before the person is sent to a general-population prison.

• Women are received at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCI-W) in Jessup.
• Men’s intake was historically handled at the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center (MRDCC) in Baltimore. That facility was depopulated in late 2025, and men’s intake is in transition. Confirm the current men’s intake location with DPSCS or on the Inmate Locator rather than relying on the former Baltimore center.

Because intake is a separate step from the long-term assignment, a person’s facility at the start of a sentence is often not where they will remain.

How to find where someone is held

DPSCS publishes an online Inmate Locator that searches by name:

• Go to the DPSCS Find an Incarcerated Individual page.
• Search by the person’s name. The result lists the current facility.

The locator reflects the current assignment, so it is the way to confirm where a person is held after intake or a transfer. The list of state prisons and their locations is on the DPSCS Prisons page.

Why a location changes

A person’s assigned prison can change for several reasons:

• Classification. After reception, DPSCS assigns the person to a prison that matches the assigned security level and program or medical needs; that assignment can be reviewed and adjusted over time.
• Transfers. People are moved between prisons as security level, program participation, medical needs, or population management require.
• The MCI-J closure. Maryland Correctional Institution–Jessup (MCI-J) is scheduled to close on June 30, 2026, and its population is being transferred to other prisons. A person held at MCI-J will be at a different facility after the closure.
• The men’s intake transition. With the Baltimore reception center depopulated, men entering the system are processed through a transitional intake arrangement; confirm the current intake facility on the locator.

After any move, the Inmate Locator shows the updated facility.

Pretrial and county detention

The DPSCS prison system holds people serving sentences. People held before trial or sentencing are in a separate tier:

• Baltimore pretrial detention is run by a separate DPSCS division, not the state prisons.
• County detention centers are operated by individual counties.

A person in pretrial or county detention may not appear in the state prison Inmate Locator the same way a sentenced person does; confirm a detained person’s location with the detention center or county where they are held.

Verify Before Acting

For the general, nationwide overview of this topic, see the national guide: Visiting Basics.