St. Joseph County Booking Releases

St. Joseph County booking releases are public records maintained by the St. Joseph County Police Department in South Bend, Indiana. The St. Joseph County Jail processes bookings from eleven police departments operating in the county. Anyone arrested in St. Joseph County by any of those agencies is brought to the county facility. This page covers how to search St. Joseph County booking records online, what information those records contain, and how to contact the jail directly for assistance.

St. Joseph County Jail and Inmate Search

The St. Joseph County Police Department operates the county jail at 401 W. Sample St. in South Bend. The jail serves as the single intake facility for all eleven police departments operating in St. Joseph County. Anyone arrested in the county, whether by the South Bend Police Department, the Mishawaka Police Department, or any other agency, is brought to this facility for booking. The jail is NIBRS compliant, meaning crime incident data is reported to the national system.

The SJCPD inmate search is available at sjcpd.org/inmate-search/. This is the direct county tool for finding current inmates at the St. Joseph County Jail. You can search by name to find a person currently in custody and see their booking information. This tool is maintained by the county police department and reflects current data.

Indiana's Access to Public Records Act gives the public the right to access booking releases from St. Joseph County. The relevant statute is IC 5-14-3-3. Booking records are among the categories of records that must be made available. The sheriff's office and SJCPD are both required to respond to public records requests.

The Indiana County Jail Portal at public.indianajail.gov also includes St. Joseph County as a participating facility.

The statewide portal is an additional tool for searching St. Joseph County booking releases alongside the SJCPD's own inmate search system.

St. Joseph County Jail Details

Sheriff William Redman oversees the St. Joseph County Sheriff's Office. The county jail operates with 102 Corrections Officers and is a modern facility with state-of-the-art security systems including more than 130 cameras. Warden Andrew Finn manages the jail's day-to-day operations. The facility is built to handle the booking volume from eleven different law enforcement agencies in the county.

For booking records, contact the Records line at 574.245.6535. For questions about who is in custody right now, the Booking Desk at 574.245.6518 is the best starting point. The jail's multiple contact numbers reflect its size and the complexity of managing bookings from across the entire county.

Online Tools for St. Joseph County Booking Releases

St. Joseph County has better online booking record access than many Indiana counties. The SJCPD inmate search at sjcpd.org is the primary county-level tool. The Indiana County Jail Portal provides a second online option. Both are free and available without registration for basic searches.

For people who were convicted in St. Joseph County and transferred to state prison, the Indiana Department of Correction Offender Locator at offenderlocator.idoc.in.gov is the correct database. State inmates are not listed in the county jail systems. If you cannot find a person through the county inmate search or the state portal, check the IDOC locator.

Indiana SAVIN at indianasavin.in.gov handles victim notification for St. Joseph County. You can register to receive alerts when a specific person in St. Joseph County custody has a status change. SAVIN covers both county jails and state facilities and sends notifications by phone, text, or email at no cost.

SAVIN is the state's victim and family notification system, connecting to St. Joseph County Jail booking records for automated release alerts.

Court records from St. Joseph County criminal cases are searchable on the Indiana MyCase portal. Cases filed in St. Joseph County Superior Court appear there by name and case number. Court records give you the full picture of what happened after a booking, including charges, hearings, and outcomes.

What St. Joseph County Booking Records Include

St. Joseph County booking releases include the person's full name, date of birth, charges listed at intake, booking date and time, and a booking number. Physical details are typically included. Because the county runs a modern facility, records tend to be well-organized and consistently formatted.

It is worth noting what the county itself says about booking records: the fact that a person has been arrested or charged with a crime is merely an accusation, and the person is presumed innocent. A booking record shows that someone was taken into custody. It does not reflect the outcome of any charges. That outcome is tracked in the court system, not the jail booking system.

Juvenile records are sealed. Some details in adult records may be withheld during active investigations. Under IC 5-14-3-3, the SJCPD must follow Indiana's public records rules when responding to booking record requests. If a request is denied, you can contact the Indiana Office of the Public Access Counselor for review.

Cities in St. Joseph County

St. Joseph County includes several qualifying cities with dedicated pages on this site:

Nearby Counties

St. Joseph County is in northern Indiana near the Michigan border. Use the links below to search booking releases in neighboring counties.