The Lehigh County, Pennsylvania inmate registry is a public resource that allows you to find out who is currently in custody at the county jail. Public information about current and recently released inmates can be found on the LehighCourt.us website. Additionally, data is available through the official website of the Lehigh County Sheriff's Office, the Inmate Locator of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, as well as by phone or during a personal visit to the facility. The registry is maintained by the Lehigh County Department of Corrections; data is updated daily and posted in the state's online system.
Search Current Inmates in Lehigh Jail
To find a person held in the Lehigh County Jail or Lehigh County Prison, use one of the methods below.
Online Search
- Open LehighCourt.us — enter the last name or booking number to check publicly available court and penitentiary information.
- Go to the Inmate/Department Supervised Individual Locator of Pennsylvania. Select "Lehigh County Jail" or "Lehigh County Prison" in the Location field. Search is possible by last name, inmate number, or date of birth. Note: this locator only covers individuals under the supervision of the state Department of Corrections; some county-level inmates may not be displayed.
- For court case checks, use the UJS Portal Case Search — free search by name, case number, or date.
By Phone
Call the facility directly. The operator can confirm if a specific person is being held if you provide the full legal name and date of birth.
Personal Visit
Visit the jail lobby during business hours. Bring a photo ID with you.
Juvenile offenders are not included in the public registry. If you are looking for information about a minor, contact the county juvenile court.
What You Need for the Search
- Full legal name and surname of the person
- Booking number, if known
- Date of birth — helps narrow down results, especially with common surnames
Find Lehigh Jail Booking Records Online
A booking record is created at the moment a detained person is brought to the facility and registered. It is the first official document that records the fact of custody.
A typical record contains:
- Unique booking number
- Date and time of registration
- Charges presented
- Arresting agency (e.g., Allentown Police Department or another municipal police)
- Basic demographic data: name, date of birth, gender
Access to these records can be obtained in several ways. The online registry shows basic information about current inmates — usually name, charges, and booking date. To obtain a full record, including arrest details, submit a request under the Right-to-Know procedure provided by Pennsylvania law. The request is submitted in writing to the appropriate authority — the county jail or the municipality that made the arrest.
If the person has already been transferred to a state-level facility, check the Locate an Inmate or Parolee page on the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania website. The state locator is updated daily but does not contain private information.
Search the Lehigh Jail Roster by Last Name or Booking Number
There are two main methods for searching the registry — by last name and by booking number.
Search by Last Name
- Enter the last name in Latin letters in the "Last Name" field. Optionally, add the first name.
- If the system supports partial search, enter the first few letters of the last name — this is useful when the exact spelling is unknown.
- Review the results. If the last name is common (e.g., Smith or Rodriguez), refine the search with the date of birth.
Search by Booking Number
The booking number is the most accurate way to find a specific record. It is assigned upon registration and is unique. Enter it in the appropriate field — the system will return exactly one result.
If the Search Yields No Results
- Check the spelling of the name: even one extra or missing letter changes the result.
- The person may have already been released or transferred — the registry only reflects those currently in custody.
- The booking may not yet be completed — there can be a few hours between physical delivery and the appearance of the record in the system.
- Call the facility and confirm the status directly.
Jail Roster Updates and Search Limitations in Lehigh
The state Inmate Locator is updated daily, usually overnight. The county registry is also updated regularly, but the exact frequency depends on the facility's internal procedures — it can be once a day or more often.
Several limitations should be considered:
- Delay between arrest and appearance in the system. After being brought to jail, the booking procedure (photographing, fingerprinting, medical examination) takes time. The record may appear in the registry only after a few hours.
- Disappearance of records after release. The registry reflects the current composition of inmates. When a person is released on bail, transferred, or let go, their record disappears from the active list.
- The registry is not an archive. It is not a complete history of all bookings. To obtain historical data, submit a Right-to-Know request or use the Pennsylvania Access To Criminal History (PATCH) system for criminal history checks.
- Data entry errors. Names are sometimes recorded with errors, especially if the detained person does not have documents. Try variations of spelling.
To check the judicial status of a case — whether a hearing is scheduled, or bail is set — use the public records section of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Information from the inmate registry and court portal data complement each other but are maintained by different agencies and updated independently.