Find Lehigh County Inmate Records

Lehigh County Jail Records Overview

No Lehigh County government page reviewed published a public searchable inmate roster, daily booking report, or booking-photo gallery. That limitation changes the search path. Current custody questions should start with the Lehigh County Jail Records Information line at 610-782-3263 or General Information at 610-782-3270. The jail page also lists separate medical and mail information lines, which helps route questions without treating one switchboard as the answer to every inmate-record issue.

The jail is operated by the Lehigh County Department of Corrections, not the Sheriff’s Office. Lehigh County Jail holds pretrial detainees, people serving local terms, males and females, and some federal detainees. The Community Corrections Center is a separate work-release and reentry facility for sentenced residents. State-sentenced inmates and parolees move into the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections system and are not found in county jail records.

The county jail page lists the records and general information phone numbers used for Lehigh County inmate records.

The official contact block is the first practical source when the county does not expose a public roster search.

Search Lehigh County Jail Records

A successful Lehigh County inmate lookup starts with identifiers. Have the person’s full legal name, date of birth, arrest date, booking date, inmate ID, docket number, OTN, police complaint number, or agency name if known. If one channel does not match, switch systems based on custody status rather than assuming the person is not in custody.

1. Call Jail Records Information at 610-782-3263 for current custody confirmation, inmate ID questions, and booking-record routing.
2. Call General Information at 610-782-3270 when records staff cannot answer the specific facility or service question.
3. Check Pennsylvania VINE for custody-status notifications when covered data is available.
4. Search Pennsylvania UJS Case Search for charges, bail actions, hearings, and dispositions after arrest.
5. Use the Pennsylvania DOC locator service only for state-sentenced inmates and parolees.
6. Use BOP or ICE locator tools when federal or immigration custody is the issue.
7. Use a Lehigh County Right-to-Know request when a non-exempt jail record is not available by phone or online.

Lehigh County Roster Search Fields

Because no official county roster form was located, the field table below reflects the actual Lehigh County search channels documented in the research. The jail page and inmate guidelines support use of a full name and inmate identification number. Court and state systems add their own identifiers.

What Lehigh County Records Include

A Lehigh County public online profile could not be inventoried, so the page should not describe a fake roster screen. The county materials do show the kinds of information used by the jail, the visitor process, mail, court dockets, and records routing. Some items may be confirmed by phone, while others may require UJS, the Clerk of Judicial Records, or an RTK request.

Lehigh County Jail vs State DOC

Lehigh County inmate records are not the same as Pennsylvania DOC records. The state locator service says it covers state-sentenced inmates and parolees, is updated daily, and does not include county-facility inmates. A person newly arrested in Allentown or another Lehigh County municipality should be searched through county jail and court channels first. A person sentenced to state prison should be searched through the DOC locator after transfer or state supervision begins.

Lehigh County Jail Facilities

The county’s adult correctional map has two facilities. Lehigh County Jail is the secure detention site for pretrial and local-sentence custody. The Community Corrections Center is not the booking jail; it is a structured alternative to secure confinement for sentenced people approved for community work, service, resources, and reentry programming.

Booking Process in Lehigh County

After arrest by a municipal police department, Pennsylvania State Police, the Sheriff’s Office, or another law-enforcement agency, a person may be processed and then committed to Lehigh County Jail if detention is required. The inmate guidelines say each inmate receives a personal telephone identification number and an ID badge at booking. The ID badge must be worn when the inmate is off the assigned housing unit and must be presented for services such as commissary, medication call, sick call, and shaver access.

Intake also includes property handling, screening, classification, and housing assignment. The 2024 PREA audit reported minimum, medium, and maximum custody levels. First court stages then determine bail, hearings, and case routing. For the actual court charges, search UJS rather than assuming a jail intake label is the final charge list. For booking photos and what is available, use the Lehigh County jail mugshots page.

Lehigh County Inmate Visit Rules

Lehigh County Jail visits are non-contact, with visitors and inmates speaking by telephone while viewing through glass. Visit conversations may be monitored and recorded. General-population inmates may receive visitors every three days on a rotating schedule by housing assignment. Administrative segregation inmates receive one weekly 30-minute visit, while disciplinary segregation visits are more limited based on behavior.

The official visitation page should be checked before travel.

The county’s visitor rules are unusually specific, including original birth-certificate requirements for minors and a narrow baby-item allowance.

Contact a Lehigh County Inmate

Mail to a Lehigh County Jail inmate should include the inmate’s name and ID number with the jail address. The inmate guidelines describe limits on books, magazines, envelopes, attachments, personal checks, and other items. Books and magazines must come directly from approved publisher or Amazon sources, must be new and prepaid, and are subject to size and content limits. Legal mail is handled differently; mail-room staff do not open privileged mail before it is stamped as legal mail, and it is inspected for contraband in the inmate’s presence.

Request Lehigh County Jail Records

For records not provided by phone, use Lehigh County’s Right-to-Know process. The county identifies Open Records Officer Sheila Dutra-Michel. Requests may be sent to OpenRecords@lehighcounty.org, mailed or delivered to the County of Lehigh Government Center, Department of Law, c/o Open Records Officer, 17 S. 7th St., Allentown, PA 18101, or faxed to 610-871-2796. The county says it has five business days to grant, deny, or invoke a 30-day extension.

Keep the request narrow. Include the full legal name, date of birth if known, booking or arrest date, inmate ID, police agency, docket number, and the specific record requested. Copies are 25 cents per page, and advance payment is required if copying fees exceed $100. Criminal-investigative, juvenile, victim, personal-identification, security, medical, and CHRIA limits may affect release. Court case records after an arrest are covered separately on the Lehigh County court records after jail arrest page.