Dauphin County Prison

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

This site tells you all the information about anything you might want to know about the Dauphin County Prison, like how to locate an inmate, the jail’s phone number and address, booking and intake procedures, how to find your court records, and more.

Top 10 Searches for Dauphin County Prison

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

Introduction

This guide is meant to give information you need to make helping someone get out of jail a little less stressful. If you have a question, feel free to ask it, and any tips or comments that would be beneficial to other people in the same situation will be appreciated.

Dauphin County Prison Inmate Search

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Who’s In Jail

The Dauphin County Prison Inmate List is a roster of people who have been arrested and are in jail, including status, and times you can visit. Also, you can get the same information for anyone arrested and booked or released in the last 24 hours. Jail inmates are listed alphabetically by their last name. You’ll be able to get their arrest information quicker if you have your friend or family member’s full name, birth date, or arrest number.

Dauphin County Prison Policies and Procedures

Intake Procedures

The intake procedure at the Dauphin County Prison is made up of these steps:

You will be placed in a holding cell. If the jail is really busy, you may not be processed immediately.

You have to answer some simple questions, like what is your legal name, street address, birthdate and contact person, and they’ll also ask about your medical and psychological history. Next, you will be issued an inmate ID number and you will be fingerprinted. Then, all personal property will get taken away from you and stored until you are discharged.

You will then be allowed to make a phone call in order to contact family, friends, or loved one.

If you are expected to be released shortly, you might get to wear your street clothes, otherwise you will be issued a jumpsuit.

Discharge Procedures

When you post bail, you will be discharged from jail. Getting discharged from jail can take anywhere between 10 minutes to hours or even all day long. So, the faster you can post bail, the quicker you will get let go. Also, it might depend on if you have a cash bond or if the magistrate still needs to decide on how much your bail will be. For minor offenses, you will be booked and get released without having to post bail. When you have served out your jail sentence and are given a discharge date, you should plan to be released in the morning.

Dauphin County Prison Visitation

Inmates must give each visitor’s name to the Dauphin County Prison before anyone can visit them. Your visitor’s names will go into a log of approved visitors for the inmate that requested the visitor. All visitors is required to provide proof of identification. Any visitors arriving late or any visitors that are not approved to visit will not be allowed to attend visitation.

The Dauphin County Prison visitation procedures change often, so call the jail at (717) 780-6800 before you try to visit an inmate.

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Visitation Rules

In order to visit someone at the Dauphin County Prison you must first be added to the inmate’s visitation list.

Be sure to take your up to date government issued ID or valid driver’s license with you to visitation or you will not be allowed to enter without it.

No phones at Dauphin County Prison, and you will be searched before visiting. Personal belongings are not allowed. Persons on must obtain the permission of both the superintendent and their individual supervising officer prior to a visit. Usually is not normally approved.

If the 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 a visitor is under the age of 18 and is not a family member of the inmate, the minor visitor must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Sending Mail to Inmates

This is what you need to know about sending letters, photos, postcards, greeting cards and even magazines to an inmate at the Dauphin County Prison. Incoming and outgoing inmate mail at the Dauphin 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 Dauphin 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 Dauphin 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 believe you have a warrant out for your arrest, you are able to check the arrest warrants inquiry online or you can call the jail. You have to have the person’s first and last name. Or, you can just go down to the jail and inquire at the information desk. You should know that if there is a warrant for your arrest, you will be taken into custody immediately.

Arrest Record Search

If you know the person’s name, as well as their arrest date, contact the Dauphin County jail, on the phone, go there in person, or look online. Arrest records are public record and the information is available to anyone.

Court Records

Court Records are public, and are accessible by anyone. They include a court case file that includes a docket sheet and any documents and filings filed in your case. You are able to access your court records via the internet, or at the Dauphin County Clerk of Court office in the jurisdiction where the case was filed.

Criminal Records

Each and every state keeps a record of someone’s criminal background. These state databases are all connected and you can track criminal histories from other states. Go to the Dauphin County Courthouse and check in person, or you can check online. It helps to know which county the crime occurred in, and in the event that the crime was in a totally different state, you might have to pay a fee for a more complete search.

A criminal history search you will be able to get a report detailing any arrests, charges, or convictions that may be on a person’s record for DWI or DUI, drug crimes like possession or trafficking, kidnapping, sexual offenses including rape, assault, violent crimes, or breaking and entering, theft, larceny.

Money & Commissary

The process for sending money to someone in jail is likely to change, so you should double check the Dauphin County Prison website when you send funds to an inmate there.

How To Send Money to an Inmate at Dauphin 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 Dauphin County Prison uses changes frequently, so it is best to call them at (717) 780-6800 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 Dauphin County Prison store. An inmate can purchase several different things here, like toiletries, snacks and writing supplies. Bear in mind that you will probably need to buy things from 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 buy if they have sufficient funds in their account. These items include clothes, shoes, small snacks and other food items, as well as hygiene products like 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 Dauphin County Prison are made through a jail approved pre-paid phone account or phone card . Calls made in jail are much pricier than regular phone calls. There are certain restrictions about when you can make phone calls, how long you can talk, and how often you can make calls, but inmates should keep in mind lots of people want to use the phone – so you have to share. If you break the rules and are disciplined, an inmate’s phone privileges might get cut back or forbidden.

Phone Number: (717) 780-6800

How To Save Money on Inmate Calls

Correctional facility phone service companies have a monopoly at each facility that they operate the phone services for, which means that they get to set the prices. The profits from all of the phone calls that inmates make 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 Dauphin County Prison. The prices are posted and there are at least two different prices based on where the inmate is calling. These 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 the other correctional facilities like state prisons, and local and county jails learning how to lower your inmates phone charges is more difficult. ArrestedResources.com is an expert in keeping up 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 won’t be able to save you any money, and therefore we will not offer you an inmate calling number. In these cases, the jail has set their calling prices so high that nobody will be able to save you money.

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

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