Find Cumberland County Inmates

Cumberland County Jail Roster Overview

Cumberland County Prison is the county jail. It holds people awaiting trial and those serving short sentences, under the direction of the courts. The prison is led by Warden Travis Shenk and sits at 1101 Claremont Road in Carlisle, away from the downtown courthouse. The county posts a current inmate listing online, and it updates live with a timestamp and a running population total.

The roster covers only county custody. It does not include state prisoners held by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, federal inmates held by the Bureau of Prisons, or people booked in other counties. For those, you use a different locator, covered later on this page.

The prison publishes its mission, address, and department contacts. See the Cumberland County Prison page.

That page is the right starting point for booking and records phone numbers.

How to Use the Cumberland County Inmate Roster

The listing is a single page of names, not a search form. You open it and scan or use your browser's find tool to locate a name. Names appear in all capitals, last name first. The page header shows the current total population and the date and time it was generated.

Open the Cumberland County current inmate listing to begin.

Because there is no search box, the steps below keep it quick.

1. Open the current inmate listing page.
2. Note the population total and timestamp at the top.
3. Use your browser find tool to search the page for a last name.
4. For charges, bond, or court dates, search the UJS docket or call the prison, since the list does not show them.

What the Cumberland County Inmate Listing Shows

This is where expectations need adjusting. The public listing is a custody confirmation tool, not a booking-detail report. It shows very little by design. The table below lays out exactly what appears and what does not, so you know when to pick up the phone instead.

If a name is missing, it may mean release, transfer, or a data update, so do not assume release without confirming it.

Combine the Roster with the Court Docket

The roster answers one question: is this person in county custody right now. To learn why, you pair the name with the court record. The statewide UJS Case Search shows the criminal docket, including the charges, the arresting agency, bail, and the next court date. Together, the two sources give the full picture that the names-only list cannot.

The listing is also a live snapshot, not a history. A recent count showed 351 inmates one morning and 349 a few days earlier, which is normal day-to-day movement. It cannot tell you whether someone was booked last month or when they were released. For those questions, you call the prison or file a records request. Search the Pennsylvania UJS Case Search to match a name to a case.

Cumberland County Jail Facilities and Contacts

There is one county jail, but it has several direct phone lines for different needs. Families often call the main number for everything, which slows things down. Use the contact that fits your question. The prison handles intake, records, and medical through separate departments, so a booking question and a records question go to different desks. Calling the right line the first time usually gets a faster, clearer answer.

Booking Process in Cumberland County

Booking begins at intake, when a person is processed into custody and money carried at admission is placed into an inmate account. The case side starts with an arrest, then a preliminary arraignment and a preliminary hearing at the Magisterial District Court level. The hearing tests probable cause, and most cases that clear it are bound over to the Court of Common Pleas.

Formal arraignment is the first appearance at the Carlisle courthouse, where the defendant hears the charges and the case schedule. Inmates held 30 days or longer receive an individualized treatment plan, and the prison provides religious services, therapy, and drug and alcohol programs.

Bond is the other early step. A Magisterial District Judge may set bail at the preliminary arraignment, and a defendant who posts bail can be released while the case continues. If bail is not met, the person stays in county custody, which is why a name on the roster does not by itself say anything about guilt. The prison's stated mission is to detain people as directed by the courts, keep the facility safe, and offer programs aimed at positive change.

Visitation Rules at Cumberland County Prison

Visitation here is driven by the housing unit, not a single posted schedule. An inmate must first build an approved visitor list, then visits are scheduled by unit, and the inmate is responsible for telling visitors their times. Do not show up without confirming approval. The rules below come from the county visitation page.

Note: everyone entering is subject to search, and the facility is tobacco-free.

How to Contact a Cumberland County Inmate

Phone and video calls run through a vendor. Inmates can make outgoing calls, but community members who want to accept inmate phone or video calls must set up a ViaPath Technologies account. Prepayment can be made by cash, money order, credit card, MoneyGram, or Western Union, and live-operator prepayments must be at least $30 or carry a $5 minimum payment fee.

The county groups its inmate-service links in one place. See the Cumberland County inmate resources page for mail, money, property, and phone information.

From there you can reach the money, telephone, and visitation pages without hunting through the main site. The same hub links the inmate handbook, which sets out mail, property, and clothing rules in more detail.

Commissary and Inmate Funds

Each inmate has a money account opened at admission. Funds support commissary and, when added at the facility, phone use. Deposits can be made at the administrative lobby kiosk, which takes cash in $5 bills or larger and credit-card transfers, or off site through OffenderConnect. The kiosk runs Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., except county holidays and during visiting hours. A transaction fee applies to transfers. Money orders are not accepted, and funds cannot be moved between inmate accounts.

• Commissary is held once per week, with orders placed Saturday morning through Tuesday night.
• Maximum spending and delivery days are posted in each housing unit.
• Indigent inmates, with a zero balance for two weeks, may request limited hygiene items and legal-mail postage.
• Adding any amount removes an inmate from indigent status.

State and Federal Custody Searches

If a person is not on the county list, they may be in state or federal custody. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections runs an inmate and parolee locator for state-sentenced prisoners. It is not the same as the county roster and does not include county inmates. The official page says you can search by last name or inmate number.

Search the Pennsylvania DOC inmate locator for state custody.

The locator uses a short set of fields.

Federal prisoners are found through the Bureau of Prisons locator, covered on the released inmates page.

Inmate Programs and Reentry

The county supports people leaving custody through the Cumberland County Adult ReEntry Program. It helps with basic needs and barriers like housing, jobs, education, substance abuse, and mental health, and it pairs people with trained volunteer mentors. The coordinator is Ashley Rohm Ferguson, reached at 717.240.6522 or ReentryProgram@CumberlandCountyPA.gov, with an office at 37 East High Street in Carlisle.

The program also advertises job-fair, license-restoration, and record-review clinic information. See the Adult ReEntry Program page.

More on the release side sits on the released inmates page.

Requesting Historical Custody Records

The public listing answers only today's question. It cannot tell you whether someone was booked last month or the exact date they left custody. For a historical booking or release record, you make a targeted request to the right county office. Identify the person by full name, give a clear date range, and state the type of record you want.

Inmate Records, at 717.960.5528, is the contact for county custody history, while Central Booking handles intake questions. If your need is tied to a court case, the docket may already show the bail, sentence, or transfer entries you are after. Keep your request specific, because a vague ask slows the response.

Quick question: Does removal from the list confirm release? No. A missing name can mean release, a transfer to state custody, or a routine update, so confirm by phone before you rely on it.

Related Searches

For people recently released, see released inmates. For broader population data, see inmate population. For active warrants, see warrant records, and for the underlying cases, see arrest records.