California Department of Corrections - Main (CDCR) — Inmate Records & Recent Arrests

Finding & Helping an Inmate in the California Prison System (CDCR)

This page holds the inmate records we have on file for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), the agency that runs the nation's largest state prison system. Because CDCR operates dozens of institutions spread across California, the person you are searching for could be housed almost anywhere in the state and may be moved during their sentence. Treat the records below as a historical directory and a starting point — a way to identify the right person and then take action — rather than a live count of who is inside any single prison today. For more on this facility — history, programs, and what to expect — see our full facility profile.

How to locate someone in CDCR

California maintains an official public tool, the California Incarcerated Records and Information Search (CIRIS), where you can look up a person by name or by their CDCR number, and a separate Facility Locator that tells you which institution currently holds them. The CDCR number is the single most useful piece of information you can have: it stays with a person for their entire time in the system and is required on mail, deposits, and visit applications. On this page you can also narrow the records we hold by last name (A–Z), gender, or age, which is handy when a name is common; once you have a match, confirm the current institution with the state locator, because transfers between prisons are routine.

Visiting a California prison

Visits at CDCR institutions are booked ahead through the Visitation Scheduling Application (VSA), which you can reach from any web browser. Before you can visit, you must be approved on the incarcerated person's visitor list, which involves submitting a questionnaire and passing a background check. Each prison sets its own visiting days, hours, and dress code, and processing at the gate is strict, so confirm the details for the specific institution and arrive with valid identification. If your visit is a family visit (an extended overnight visit), note that the money and scheduling rules differ from ordinary visits, and those funds cannot be sent by electronic transfer.

An important 2025 change: the phone and tablet provider switch

Families should know that CDCR has been transitioning inmate phone and tablet services from ViaPath (formerly GTL) to Securus, rolling out institution by institution through 2025. The practical fallout is real: media, messages, or credits purchased on the old ViaPath tablets do not automatically carry over to the new Securus tablets, and how any remaining balance is refunded depends on which company holds it. If your loved one's calls or tablet suddenly change, this transition is likely the reason. Check which provider is active at their current institution before buying credits, so your money lands in the right system.

Sending money — and the restitution deduction

You can add money to an incarcerated person's trust account electronically through CDCR's approved vendors — GTL/ConnectNetwork, JPay, and Access Corrections — with deposits typically posting within one to three days. There is one thing that surprises many families: if the person owes a court-ordered restitution fine, CDCR deducts a portion (commonly around 50 percent) of incoming trust deposits and wages toward that obligation. That means not every dollar you send is immediately available for commissary. It is not an error or a fee taken by the vendor; it is the state satisfying a court order, and it is worth explaining to family members who wonder where part of a deposit went.

Mail and packages

Incarcerated people in California can receive letters, photographs, and books, but everything is screened for contraband and there are firm limits on what is allowed. Importantly, families generally cannot ship quarterly packages directly to a person in a California state prison — those packages must be ordered through approved vendors, which then deliver to the institution. When you write, put the person's full committed name and CDCR number on both the letter and the envelope, include a complete return address, and avoid stickers, glitter, or anything with adhesive that will get a letter rejected.

What the records here can and cannot tell you

A directory like this reflects booking and custody entries captured from public data, not a live feed from inside a prison. A person may appear here after a transfer, a release, or a change in status, and individual fields can be incomplete — a middle name dropped, an ID recorded differently, or an age tied to the booking date. None of that says anything about the person; it reflects the limits of public records. Use an entry as a strong lead, then confirm the person's current location and status through CIRIS and the Facility Locator. If someone you are certain is in CDCR does not appear, they may be in county custody still, in transit through a reception center, or newly received and not yet fully processed, so wait a day and check again, or search by last name only in case a name was recorded differently than you expect.

Staying connected and next steps

Regular contact matters over a long sentence, and California gives you several channels: scheduled visits, monitored phone calls to approved numbers, tablet messaging through the current provider, and mail. Lower-cost calling arrangements can ease the expense of staying in touch when calls are frequent. If your loved one is still pre-trial in a county jail rather than in CDCR custody, bail through the court may be an option; once a person is serving a state sentence, the focus turns to communication, commissary, program participation, and parole planning. California also runs credit-earning programs and rehabilitative milestones that can affect a release date, so families who stay engaged are often the first to notice progress. Everyone listed here is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Start by confirming the CDCR number and current institution, then use this page to keep track and take the next step — a first letter, money on the books, or a scheduled visit are each a few clicks away, and the CDCR locator information line at (916) 445-6713 can help when the online tools are not enough.

Sources: www.cdcr.ca.gov/visitors/, www.cdcr.ca.gov/family-resources/send-money/, www.cdcr.ca.gov/facility-locator/