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Direct answer

Identify Pennsylvania State or County Custody

To find your mugshot or custody information in Pennsylvania, first identify whether the person is in state or county custody. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections locator covers state-sentenced inmates and parolees and expressly does not include people held in county facilities. Court dockets and State Police criminal-history checks are separate sources.

Important
Start with custody level
A county jail and the state Department of Corrections are different custodians. The state locator specifically excludes county facilities.
Source map

Pennsylvania source by question

Question Official source Boundary
State-sentenced inmate/parolee PA Department of Corrections locator State DOC population only
County jail booking County jail/sheriff Not in the state DOC locator
Court case Pennsylvania UJS docket Court case, not custody photo archive
Criminal-history check Pennsylvania State Police PATCH Repository result, not booking photo
Process

A safer mugshot/custody search

  1. 01
    Identify the arresting or holding agency

    Start with county versus state custody.

    For county custody, search the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records agency directory by county or agency name to find the county jail, prison, sheriff or arresting agency’s Open Records Officer. Confirm which agency holds the booking photograph; the directory supplies request contacts, not mugshots.

  2. 02
    Use the correct locator

    Check DOC only for state-sentenced/parolee records.

  3. 03
    Use court dockets for case context

    A case number helps verify identity and charges.

  4. 04
    Avoid overclaiming a photo

    If the official source does not publish a booking image, do not imply that it does.

    If you have been released or no image appears online, request the existing photograph from the holding agency’s Open Records Officer. Follow the official Right-to-Know request instructions and use the agency form or the standard form, identifying your name, approximate booking date, facility and any booking/case number. Send the request to that agency by email, fax, mail or in person and keep a copy. Ask the agency separately about any own-record procedure; do not send a county-photo request to the Office of Open Records as though it stores county records.

    A request is not a guarantee of release. The OOR’s inmate-photograph advisory distinguishes a county-prison intake photograph from an investigative police arrest photograph and recognizes applicable exemptions. Identify the record accurately rather than assuming every photograph is publicly releasable.

Use this

Identity checks that matter

  • Full legal name and aliases.
  • Approximate arrest/booking date.
  • County or facility.
  • Case number where available.

Related Record Guides

Sources

Authoritative next stops

Official state corrections source

Pennsylvania DOC - Locate an Inmate or Parolee

State-sentenced inmate and parolee locator; county-facility inmates are excluded For this page, it supports the find my mugshot pa research route.

Pennsylvania
Official state judiciary source

Pennsylvania UJS - Case Information

Public docket sheets for Pennsylvania appellate, criminal Common Pleas, Magisterial District and Philadelphia Municipal courts For this page, it supports the find my mugshot pa research route.

Pennsylvania
Official state police source

Pennsylvania State Police - PATCH

PATCH checks request information against the criminal-history database maintained by the Pennsylvania State Police Central Repository For this page, it supports the find my mugshot pa research route.

Pennsylvania