The jail roster of St. Joseph County, Indiana, is a public resource that allows anyone to check who is currently in custody at the county jail. On the website StJosephCourt.us, you can find public information about current and recently released inmates. Additionally, data is available through the official website of the county jail, by phone, or during a personal visit. The roster is maintained by the St. Joseph County correctional facility division; it is regularly updated and posted on the state portal INjail Public Access. The search allows you to find out about a person's custody status, charges, and bail amount.
Search Current Inmates in St. Joseph Jail
To find information about an inmate in the St. Joseph County jail, use one of the methods below.
Online Search
- Go to the INjail Public Access portal — this is the official database for county jails in Indiana.
- Enter the person's last name. If necessary, add the first name or date of birth.
- Click the search button. The system will show a list of individuals matching the criteria.
- Select the desired record to view details: charges, booking date, bail amount.
To search for court cases related to the detention, use Indiana MyCase — it displays materials entered through the Odyssey system. Additionally, StJosephCourt.us will help you quickly access public court records of the county.
If the person has been transferred to a Department of Corrections facility, the search should be conducted through the IDOC Offender Locator.
By Phone
Call the jail directly. The operator can confirm if a specific person is in custody if you provide the detainee's full legal name.
Personal Visit
Visit the Records Division in the county jail building. You can also request a criminal history check there.
Note: Juvenile offenders are not displayed in the public roster. If you need information about a juvenile court case, contact the local court directly.
Find St. Joseph Jail Booking Records Online
A booking record is created at the moment when a detained person is officially registered in the jail. Everyone arrested by any of the nine police departments in the county goes through the booking process here.
During booking, the following data is recorded:
- Booking number
- Date and time of admission
- Charges
- Arresting agency (e.g., South Bend Police Department or county police)
- Photo of the detainee
- Bail amount, if set
Most of this information is available through the INjail portal. However, some records may be restricted according to Rule 5 of the Indiana Rules for Access to Court Records, which excludes certain categories of information from public access — including mental health data, social security numbers, and court-sealed records.
If you need an official document confirming an arrest or a criminal check, contact the jail's Records Division in person. For obtaining a Limited Criminal History at the state level, there is a separate tool — search by Indiana State Police. The result is provided in PDF format and contains only felonies and Class A misdemeanors.
Search the St. Joseph Jail Roster by Last Name or Booking Number
There are two main ways to search on the INjail portal.
By Last Name
Enter the last name in Latin letters in the appropriate field. This is the minimum requirement to start a search. Adding a first name will significantly narrow the results, especially for common last names like Smith or Johnson. A few tips:
- Check the spelling — even one incorrect letter will result in an empty result.
- If you are unsure of the spelling, try entering only the first few letters of the last name.
- The date of birth, if known, will help filter out namesakes.
By Booking Number
The booking number is a unique identifier assigned during jail registration. It provides an accurate result without duplicates. Usually, this number is communicated to relatives during the detainee's first call.
If the Search Yielded No Results
An empty response does not necessarily mean the person was not detained. Possible reasons:
- The booking procedure is not yet complete, and the data has not yet been entered into the system.
- The person has already been released on bail or by court order.
- The detainee has been transferred to another facility — check the IDOC database.
- The name was entered incorrectly or in a different format.
In such a case, call the jail and clarify the status personally.
Jail Roster Updates and Search Limitations in St. Joseph
The county jail roster is updated throughout the working day as staff complete the processing of new detainees and record releases. Between the actual arrest and the appearance of the record in the online database, it usually takes from several hours to one working day.
There are several important limitations to be aware of:
- Publication delay. If the arrest occurred late at night or on weekends, the record may appear only the next working day.
- Disappearance of records after release. The INjail portal primarily displays the current roster of detainees. After a person's release, the record disappears from the public search — it is not an archive of all past bookings.
- Technical delays. Data entry errors or system failures sometimes lead to temporary absence of records.
To check older records or obtain archival information about arrests, contact the jail's Records Division in person or by phone. State-level criminal history can also be requested through Criminal History Services of the Indiana State Police.
Court records related to the case are kept separately — they are maintained by the St. Joseph County Clerk's office. If you need a document from a court case that is not available online, contact the clerk's office directly at 574-235-9635.