Delaware Inmate Search

Like many other states in the United States, Delaware has been experiencing increased crime rates, leading to a high number of inmates in correctional facilities. Most of the inmates in Delaware are incarcerated for non-violent crimes like property and drug crimes. However, there are also prisons for inmates convicted of felonies.  

How Do I Search for an Inmate in Delaware?  

Unlike other states in the United States, Delaware doesn’t have a state-run website where you can perform an inmate search. Interested parties can use VINELink. Simply enter the inmate’s full name, ID number, and case number. If you don’t know the full ID number or name, you can use the box that allows you to use a partial name or number. Use the first two characters of the ID number or name.  

You can also use the Freedom of Information Act to ask for inmate information from the Department of Corrections. All you need to do is fill out the FOIA Online Request Form and send it online. As you fill out the online form, click on corrections on the drop-down menu. Alternatively, you can print the request form, fill it out, and then email it to [email protected]. You can also fill out the form and drop it at: 

Tim Martin, Legal Services Administrator 

Department of Corrections 

245 McKee Road 

Dover, DE, 19904 

You can also search for an inmate’s release date in Delaware correctional facilities. The release date of the inmates is made public, and you can retrieve the information when doing an online search. However, when the release date is not provided online for safety or privacy reasons, you can only get the exact release date if you are an immediate family member, an attorney, a crime victim, or a criminal justice official.  

Information in the inmate roster is public data in the country. The information is made public by government agencies, third-party organizations, and websites. Thus, you can utilize third-party organizations or websites when looking for information about a certain inmate. You can get faster results since they are not geographically limited.  

You will get full details of the inmates, such as the name, gender, crime committed, sentence duration, and probable release date. Besides, you also get other details, such as the county and the inmate’s city. It’s worth noting that juveniles aren’t considered criminals in Delaware. Thus, their details cannot be revealed to the public, so they are not included in the inmate roster.   

Inmate Roster 

Delaware inmate roster consists of official documents, information, and data of the inmates in the correctional facilities run by the counties, state, and municipalities. The roster contains the inmates’ crucial personal information, including physical descriptions, date of birth, sentence, charges, and status in the state correction system. 

The inmate roster also contains information such as time served, the institution they are placed in, and the length of their sentence. You can get all the information in the roster upon request, as stipulated by the Delaware Freedom of Information Act. 

Delaware Department of Corrections 

The Delaware State Department of Correction runs all the correctional facilities in the state. The agency runs a unified correctional system in which all Delaware correctional facilities are multipurpose. They house both prison and jail inmates together.  

The department distinguishes a prison from a jail depending on the duration of the sentence. All inmates serving one year or less are given a jail sentence, while those serving longer terms than one year are given a prison sentence.  

County jails in Delaware are run by the counties, with the State Department of Correction providing oversight and funding. The agency also runs several programs to rehabilitate inmates to change their behaviors.  

There exists a strong network between the inmates, their families, and the community aimed at helping the inmates be able to re-enter back to society after their release dates. Those nearing the end of their term are usually put under parole to prepare them for life ahead in the community.