Find Erie County Inmates

How to Use the Erie County Jail Roster

Erie County does not offer a typical name-search form for jail records. Instead, the Sheriff links "Inmate Information" to a public PDF roster. You open the file and read or scroll through it. That makes the search simple but a bit manual. Follow these steps.

1. Open the Sheriff's site and find the Inmate Information link, which opens the public roster PDF.
2. Use your browser's find function to search the PDF for a last name.
3. Check the facility or custody listing next to the name.
4. Note any booking identifier shown so you can reference it when you call.
5. If the name is not there, the person may be released or moved, so verify by phone or another locator.

The Sheriff's Office homepage is shown below. See it at the Sheriff's official site.

The homepage also links online services such as inmate packages and fund deposits. Those tools tie back to the same custody system.

Erie County Jail Facilities

The Jail Management Division runs two facilities. The Holding Center sits downtown and handles pretrial custody. The Correctional Facility is in Alden, east of the city. Each has its own visitation schedule and services.

Sheriff John C. Garcia leads the office, with administrative offices at 10 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, and 13 Centre Drive, Orchard Park. The Jail Management Division is led by Superintendent Joseph Noeth.

The Roster and Its Search Fields

Because the roster is a PDF and not a live database, there is no set of search boxes. You search the file itself. The table below shows what the roster lists and how to work with each item.

Treat the roster as a periodically updated jail list, not a state prison locator. For sentenced state custody, use DOCCS. For federal custody, use the Bureau of Prisons locator. For release alerts, use VINELink, all covered on the released inmates page.

What an Erie County Inmate Record Shows

The roster gives a basic custody snapshot. It is not the full case file. The fields below are the ones the public roster and Sheriff context support.

No public mugshot profile page was found on the Sheriff's official site, and there is no public bond-by-charge profile page there either. For booking and charge questions, see the arrest records page.

Holding Center vs Correctional Facility

The two jails serve different roles. The comparison below explains how they differ for someone trying to locate or visit an inmate.

The Sheriff has noted that running two separate facilities creates service duplication. For data on jail counts and capacity, see the inmate population page.

Booking and Custody Process

Booking is the intake step when a person enters jail. Staff record the name, the charge, and basic details, then assign housing. The Holding Center handles most fresh bookings because it sits next to the downtown courts. A person may move to the Alden facility for longer custody.

Custody status can change fast. Someone booked at night may be arraigned the next morning and released, or moved up to County Court on a felony. Because of that, the roster is a snapshot. Always confirm a person's status by phone before traveling to visit.

The Jail Management Division has its own leadership chain. Joseph Noeth serves as Superintendent. Jeffrey Hartman is the Deputy Superintendent at the Holding Center, and William Whalen holds that role at the Alden facility. A chief of operations runs day-to-day work at each site. Knowing the structure helps if a call needs to reach the right facility office rather than the general Sheriff line.

County Jail vs State Prison

County jail and state prison are different systems. The Erie County jails hold pretrial detainees and people serving short county sentences. People sentenced to longer terms go to New York state prison, run by DOCCS. If a name drops off the county roster, the person may have been transferred to DOCCS, moved to federal custody, hospitalized, or released. The released inmates page explains how to track each path with the state and federal locators.

Visitation at Erie County Jails

Both facilities publish visitation schedules on the Jail Management Division page. Times change by week, so always check the current schedule before you travel. The schedule below reflects the posted blocks.

The Jail Management Division page is shown below. See it at the Jail Management Division page.

Video visitation scheduling is offered through an outside provider. The provider page tells visitors to check onsite visitation status at both facilities before they go.

Note: electronic devices that record or transmit are strictly prohibited in jail facilities, and bringing one can violate Penal Law § 205.25.

Mail, Money, and Commissary

The Sheriff's homepage offers online services to purchase inmate packages and deposit inmate funds. Both run through outside providers, so confirm any provider fees before you pay. Specific package pricing was not posted on the official county pages, so check the current online-services links for the latest terms. Keep the booking identifier handy when you send money.

Detailed mail rules were not posted on the official pages either. Envelope format, banned items, and any scanning policy are best confirmed straight with the Jail Management Division before you send a letter. A quick call avoids a rejected piece of mail and a wasted trip to the post office.

Medical, Mental Health, and PREA Contacts

Both jails provide health services through the Sheriff's Correctional Health Unit. Mental health services run through the county's Adult Forensic Mental Health Clinic. A confidential PREA tip line takes reports of sexual abuse or harassment. Use the contacts below for health and safety concerns.

The Correctional Health Unit provides access to medical providers, nursing care, medication, urgent treatment, and referrals for mental health and dental needs. The county Department of Mental Health Services handles behavioral care at both adult facilities through its Adult Forensic Mental Health Clinic. A PREA caller should be ready to give the victim and suspect names, the date and time, the location, and a short description.

The Sheriff also posts segregated confinement data under the HALT Act. The Jail Management page links monthly, semiannual, and annual reports on segregated confinement, with the breakdowns the state rule requires. Those reports are a window into how the jails use restrictive housing.

Jail Programs

The Sheriff offers rehabilitative programs at both jails. They include a high school program with Buffalo Public Schools, Project Blue case management and workshops, workforce development, fatherhood and literacy classes, peace and healing circles, and medically assisted treatment for diagnosed opioid use disorder that began in July 2022. The office frames these as ways to cut repeat offending and ease the move back into the community. It reported recidivism fell from 67% to 59% between 2021 and 2024.

The Jail Rehabilitative Programs page is shown below. See it at the jail programs page.

For help after release, including reentry support, see the released inmates page.

Related Erie County Searches

For release tracking and state or federal custody, see released inmates. For jail counts and capacity, see inmate population. For active warrants, see warrant records, and for booking and charges, see arrest records.