Chester County Prison

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The Chester County Prison is located at 501 Wawaset Road in West Chester, PA and is a medium security county jail operated by the Chester County Sheriff’s Department.

This site will tell you information about anything one might want to know about the Chester County Prison, like how to locate an inmate, the jail’s phone number and address, intake procedures and booking, court information, and much much more.

Top 10 Searches for Chester County Prison

1. Chester County Prison Information
2. Chester County Prison Inmate Search
3. Chester County Inmate Search in West Chester, PA
4. What Are the Visitation Rules for Chester County Prison
5. Chester County Prison Visitation Hours
6. How To Save Money on Inmate Calls at Chester County Prison
7. How to Send Inmate Care Packages to Chester County Prison
8. What is Inmate Commissary?
9. How to Send Money to an Inmate at Chester County Prison
10. How to Search Chester County Arrest Records

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to offer advice and information that you’ll need to make helping a friend or family member get out of jail less stressfull. If you have specific questions, just ask them, and also any comments or tips that could be beneficial to other people in the same situation would be much appreciated.

Chester County Prison Inmate Search

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Who’s In Jail

The Chester County Prison Inmate Search has information about people who were arrested and are now in jail, which includes current status, and schedule for visitation. Also, you can find information on anyone who has been arrested or discharged in the past 24 hour period. Prisoners are listed in alphabetical order by their last name. You can find the information quicker if you’ve got your friend or family member’s first and last name, date of birth, or inmate ID.

Chester County Prison Policies and Procedures

Intake Procedures

The jail intake procedure at the Chester County Prison takes you through each of these steps:

You will be placed in a waiting area or cell. If the jail is really busy, you will have to wait a while to get processed.

The first step is that you will have to answer some basic questions, like your full name, street address, date of birth and contact person, and they’ll also ask about your mental and medical history. Next, you will be issued an inmate ID number and your fingerprints will be taken. Then, Any property you have will be taken away from you and stored until you get released.

You will be allowed to make a telephone call so you can talk to a family member, friend, or loved-on.

If you think you will get released quickly, you might be allowed to keep wearing street clothes, but if you are not expected to make bail quickly you will be issued a jail issued jumpsuit.

Discharge Procedures

When you finally post bail, you will be allowed to leave jail. Getting discharged takes anywhere between 30 minutes to many hours. In other words the faster you can post bail, the sooner you will get out of jail. How quickly you get discharged might depend on whether or not you have a cash bond amount or if the judge must figure out how much to set your bail at. For minor charges, you will be booked and then released on your recognizance without having to pay bail. If you have served a sentence in jail and have a release date, plan to get discharged between 9am and noon.

Chester County Prison Visitation

Inmates have to provide the name and date of birth of each visitor to the Chester County Prison before you can visit. Your visitor’s information will be put in the visitors log for the inmate. Each and every visitor is required to provide identification. Anyone arriving late or any visitors that are not approved to visit will not be able to attend visitation.

Visitation procedures can change, so you should call the facility at (610) 793-1510 before you visit an inmate.

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Visitation Rules

In order to visit an inmate at the Chester County Prison you have to be on their visitation list.

Make sure to take your valid driver’s license or government issued ID when you go to visitation or you will not be allowed to enter.

No phones at Chester County Prison, and you will be searched. Personal belongings are not allowed. Persons under must get the permission of both the superintendent and their individual supervising officer prior to a visit. Such visitation is not normally approved.

If a visitor is under the age of 18 is related to the inmate, they must be accompanied by an adult family member or guardian to include a member of the inmate’s extended family. If the visitor is younger than 18 years old and is not a family member of the inmate, this visitor must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Sending Mail to Inmates

This is what you need to know in order to send letters, photos, postcards, greeting cards and even magazines to an inmate at the Chester County Prison. Incoming and outgoing inmate mail at the Chester County Prison is always searched and inspected for contraband that might threaten the security, safety or well-being of the facility, its staff, and inmates. Inmates can only receive metered, unstamped, plain white postcards no larger than 4″ x 6″ as mail. The writing on the postcard has to be in pencil or blue or black ink. If it has a stamp on it, it will get returned. If you write in green ink, then it will get returned. If you send any other kind of mail will be returned to the sender. If there is no return address on it, then the unauthorized mail will be stored in the inmate’s locker until the inmate gets release.

Do not include any of these things in the mail that you send to an inmate: any kind of threat to jail order, any description of the manufacture of weapons, bombs, incendiary devices, or tools for escape; do not encourage or advocate any kind of violence, hate speech, or racial or ethnic supremacy. Inmates are not allowed to write to other inmates.

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Sending Other Things to an Inmate

There are strict procedures that you must follow to send anything to an inmate at the Chester County Prison. This includes sending money for to spend in the commissary, sending regular mail or photos, sending money for phone calls, and even postcards.

This page covers everthing you need to know about the Chester County Prison to help you follow these procedures and guidelines. If you have questions, or there is something that you were looking for, but did not find, please contact us using the contact link in the site menu.

Public Records

Warrant Inquiry

If you think you might have a warrant out for your arrest, you are able to check the arrest warrants on the Chester County court website or you are able to call the court directly. You have to have their first and last name. Or, you can just go the jail in person and ask one of the officers. Keep in mind that if there is a warrant for your arrest, you should be prepared to get taken into custody immediately.

Arrest Record Search

If you know the person’s first and last name, as well as their arrest date, contact the Chester County jail, either by phone, go there in person, or find out online. Arrest records are a matter of public record and this information is freely available.

Court Records

Court Records are public, and are accessible by anyone. These records include a case file that includes a court docket and all of the documents and filings filed in the court case. You are able to access your court records via the internet, or at the Chester County Clerk of Court in the county where the case was filed.

Criminal Records

Each and every state maintains a record of their state citizen’s criminal history. These databases are connected so you are able to track criminal backgrounds from other states. You can go to the Chester County Courthouse and check in person, or check the website. You must know which county the crime occured in, and in the event that the crime was in a totally different state, you might have to pay for a more intensive search.

A search of someone’s criminal history you will be able to find out if a person has ever been arrested, charged or convicted for any crimes, which can include, drug offenses such as possession or trafficking, kidnapping, sex offenses which could include rape, and sexual assault, violent crimes like assault or murder, or theft, breaking and entering.

Money & Commissary

The process for sending funds to inmates at the Chester County Prison can change at any time, so we suggest that you double check the Chester County Prison site before you send money to an inmate there.

How To Send Money to an Inmate at Chester County Prison

You will have your own ‘bank account’ while in jail. This money is used to purchase items from the Commissary. Family and friends can deposit money into this account for you, and any money you earn while in prison will also be deposited into your account. Outside money can be paid in to your account via a money order, cash or check. If someone sends a check or money order, make sure that they write your inmate ID on it. The maximum amount you are allowed in your account is $290 per month.

Guidelines For Sending Money To An Inmate

Before you send any money you should find out what online money transfer companies the jail your inmate is incarcerated in uses. The exact method that the Chester County Prison uses changes frequently, so it is best to call them at (610) 793-1510 to get the current payment method.

You may be required to be on the inmate’s visitation list in order to send them money, and be aware that they may have a limit on how much you deposit at one time, like $200-300 at a time, or a limit on how much money may be in the inmate’s account at one time.

Some of the money transfer firms being used by various facilities include JPay, MoneyGram, AccessCorrections, OffenderConnect, Touchpayonline, JailATM, WU, smartdeposit, and tigercommissary.

If an inmate has fines or are required to pay restitution then they will be subject to garnishment of their commissary/trust account. If the inmate has a garnishment, then money to pay them will be taken from the inmate’s bank account. In some cases it may be a percentage or the entire amount of the obligation, but the actual percentage depends on the circumstances. We recommend that inmates talk to the counselor at their facility and try to find out. You can also try to make an arrangement so that only a percentage of your commissary funds are taken, instead of all your funds take at one time.

Commissary

The commissary is the Chester County Prison store. Inmates can purchase several different things here, such as toiletries, snacks and writing supplies. Bear in mind that you will probably need to use the commissary every day, and any infractions will get that privilege taken away from you.

The Commissary will sell an assortment of different items that the inmate can purchase if they have enough money in their commissary account. These products include clothes, shoes, small snacks and other food items, in addition to personal hygiene products such as soap, shampoo, and disposable razors for shaving. The commissary also sells other things like books and magazines, televisions and radios, playing cards, headphones, MP3 players, and electronic tablets. They also sell everything need to write home to family, friends, and loved ones: paper, envelopes, and stamps. If an inmate is indigent and cannot afford paper and stamps, the jail will provide these things to an inmate who has not had any money in their commissary account for at least 30 days.

Phone Calls & Phone Usage Policy

All phone calls from the Chester County Prison are made through a jail approved pre-paid phone account or phone card . Phone calls made in jail are a lot more costly than phone calls made outside of jail. There are certain restrictions about how often you can use the phone, but you should keep in mind lots of people want to use the phone – so you have to share. If you break the jail rules, your ability to use the phone could be reduced or totally denied.

Phone Number: (610) 793-1510

How To Save Money on Inmate Calls

Correctional facility phone service companies have exclusive contracts at every facility that they are the exclusive phone provider for, which means that they they control how much it costs to make phone calls. The profits these phone service providers make off of all inmate phone calls are shared with the facility, so there is no incentive for the jail or the counselors at the facility to show inmates or their family how to save money on inmate phone calls at the Chester County Prison. The rates are posted and there are at least two different prices based on where the inmate is calling. The following three things will determine the cost of an inmate phone call: Where you are located; Where your inmate is located, What type of phone number you have.

For example, if your inmate is in federal prison, if you get a new local number then this will decrease your inmate’s phone call rate from $.21 per minute to only $.06 per minute.

For state prisons and local jails finding out how to decrease your inmates phone charges is more difficult. ArrestedResources.com keeps up to date with all of the changes that affect your inmate’s rate and in most cases is able to offer you an inmate calling number that will save you a lot of money on inmate phone calls. In some cases, we will not be able to save you any money, and therefore we will not offer you an inmate calling number. In cases like this, the jail has set their phone rates so high that nobody can save you money.

For more detailed information on how to save on inmate calls at Chester County Prison, click the link below.

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