Delaware Inmate Search

Delaware runs a unified correctional system. The Delaware Department of Correction holds everyone from pretrial detainees to sentenced prisoners; there are no county jails and the three county sheriffs do not run any. The main facilities are the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington, the Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown and the Delores J. Baylor Women's Correctional Institution in New Castle, plus community corrections centers for work release and violation of probation holds.

The Department does not operate its own public inmate locator website. Custody status is provided through VINELink, where anyone can search Delaware DOC inmates by name and register for release alerts.

Official sources on this page were checked on September 25, 2026.

Search VINELink with Delaware selected. The result shows the offender's name, State Bureau of Identification number, the facility and the custody status, and you can register for phone, text or email notification of release, transfer or escape. For details a status search cannot give, the DOC's Central Offender Records office in Dover answers written requests, and each facility's records office confirms whether a person is held there.

• VINELink DelawareCustody status and release alerts for Delaware DOC inmates, checked September 25, 2026
• Delaware Department of CorrectionFacilities, visiting rules, mail, phone and money deposits, checked September 25, 2026
• Delaware Board of ParoleParole hearings, decisions and victim notification, checked September 25, 2026
• Delaware Courts case searchSuperior Court and Court of Common Pleas case lookups, checked September 25, 2026

Wilmington, Dover and Newark police, the New Castle County Police and the Delaware State Police hold arrestees only until they see a magistrate at a Justice of the Peace Court. Anyone who cannot post bail is committed to a DOC facility, in New Castle County usually Howard R. Young, and appears in VINELink after intake. Delaware levels its sentences: Level V is prison, Level IV is a work release or violation center, and Levels III to I are supervision in the community.

• Delaware Police DepartmentsCity, county and state police records
• Delaware County Sheriff DirectorySheriff offices for New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties
• Delaware Criminal RecordsCriminal history through the State Bureau of Identification
• Delaware Most WantedWanted persons and warrants

The Delaware Freedom of Information Act, 29 Del. C. section 10001 and following, applies to the DOC, and the basic custody record of name, facility, status and release is public. Delaware does not post booking photos or sentence details online. Medical and mental health records, classification, disciplinary and investigative files are exempt. Certified criminal history reports come from the State Bureau of Identification and require fingerprints and a fee, and Delaware limits who may receive them.

Delaware abolished parole for crimes committed after 1990, so the Board of Parole hears mostly older cases and cases of conditional release. Most sentences end with a set period of probation at Level III or lower, supervised by the DOC Bureau of Community Corrections from offices in Wilmington, Dover and Georgetown. The judgment and sentencing order are held by the Superior Court prothonotary in the county of conviction.

• Delaware Court RecordsSuperior Court and Court of Common Pleas records
• Delaware ExpungementsMandatory and discretionary expungement under the Adult Expungement Reform Act

If VINELink shows nothing for Delaware, search the Delaware courts case lookup for a pending case, since many people are released on unsecured bail at the Justice of the Peace Court. A probationer at Level III or below is supervised by the Bureau of Community Corrections and appears in court records. Check the federal Bureau of Prisons locator for a federal case.

These federal and national sources complement Delaware's state-level records. They are the authoritative sources you should cross-check when Delaware state records are incomplete or out-of-state activity matters.

Federal BOP, Inmate Locator The Federal Bureau of Prisons locator returns federal inmates held since 1982 in any BOP facility, contract facility, or community corrections center.

VINELink, Victim Notification Operated by Appriss for the U.S. Department of Justice's victim-notification program. Free, anonymous registration for custody-change alerts across participating states.

U.S. Marshals, Prisoner Tracking The USMS Prisoner Tracking System is the authoritative source for federal detainees in pre-trial custody (before BOP designation).