Daviess County, Indiana Inmate Search

Call the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office directly to confirm whether someone is currently held at the Daviess County jail — no public online roster is confirmed for this county. The Sheriff’s Office is located in Washington, Indiana, the county seat. Booking records are public under Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act (Ind. Code § 5-14-3). For state prison inmates, use the Indiana Department of Correction offender search at Indiana DOC Offender / Incarcerated Locator.

Looking for someone booked tonight? See Daviess section 3 — If someone was booked tonight for phone-first contact info.

How to find an inmate in Daviess County

No confirmed public online roster exists for the Daviess County jail. The direct path is calling the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office — see Sources for the current number. The Sheriff’s Office administers the county jail in Washington, IN, and staff can confirm custody status by name. Daviess County government offices are reachable at the Government Center, 300 E. Hefron St., Washington, IN 47501. Phone lines at the courthouse can be busy; a second attempt or an in-person visit may be needed.

For court case records tied to a Daviess County arrest, use Indiana’s statewide case portal MyCase. Search by the person’s name to find filed charges, hearing dates, and case numbers. The Indiana Judicial Branch: Daviess County page lists local court contacts and links to the Circuit and Superior Courts serving the county.

What the roster does (and doesn’t) show

Because Daviess County does not publish a confirmed public online roster, update frequency is not applicable here. What matters is that any phone-based custody check reflects the jail’s current population at the moment of the call — not a cached snapshot. Staffed lines give you real-time information that a web roster, even one that refreshes hourly, cannot always match.

Phone-based checks also have limits. Juvenile detainees are not disclosed. Anyone held under a sealed or federal detainer may not appear in a standard county custody response. A person transferred to state custody at the Indiana Department of Correction will no longer show as a county jail inmate. Booking records in Indiana are generally public under Ind. Code § 5-14-3, but expunged records are removed from public view. If you’re reading this because someone was just booked tonight, the section below is for you.

If someone was just booked tonight

Tonight is hard, and the fastest path right now is the phone. Call the Washington Police Department at (812) 254-1060 if the arrest involved Washington city officers, or contact the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office — see Sources for the current number — for county-level bookings. The line is staffed around the clock for custody questions. That’s the one thing working in your favor right now.

Here’s what the booking-to-jail process looks like tonight. After an arrest, the officer transports the person to the booking facility. Processing — fingerprints, photos, paperwork — takes time before the person is formally entered into the jail population. That gap between arrest and completed booking is why a name may not come up on an immediate check. It’s a frustrating wait, but normal. Call again if the first attempt shows nothing.

Bond is not set at booking. In Indiana, bond is typically addressed at the first appearance before a judge, which happens within a window set by the court after booking is complete. Calling tonight confirms whether the person is in custody and when the first appearance is scheduled — not the bond amount. That part comes later, and knowing the hearing time is the most useful thing you can get right now.

Visitation is not available tonight. Visits at the Daviess County jail are scheduled, not walk-in, and new bookings are not accessible to visitors on the night of arrest. That’s a hard rule, not a judgment call. Plan to call the Sheriff’s Office the next morning to ask about visitation scheduling and hours. If you need to consult an attorney, Indiana’s public defender locator is at Indiana Public Defender Council, and the attorney roll search is at Indiana Roll of Attorneys.

If someone isn’t on the Daviess County roster

Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act (Ind. Code § 5-14-3) makes booking records public, but a name missing from a custody check does not mean the person was not arrested. The most common reason is timing: a booking completed very recently may not yet be reflected in any phone or database response, because jail staff must complete the intake process before a person is formally logged as in custody.

• State prison transfer: Check the Indiana Department of Correction offender search at Indiana DOC Offender / Incarcerated Locator — anyone sentenced or transferred to IDOC will appear there, not in county records.
• Released: The person may have been booked and released on bond or on their own recognizance before you called. A release can happen within hours of booking.
• Neighboring county: Arrests near county lines sometimes result in booking in Martin, Greene, Knox, Pike, or Dubois County rather than Daviess. Call the neighboring county’s Sheriff if the arrest location is unclear.
• Federal custody: Federal charges route to a federal detention facility, not the county jail. County staff cannot confirm federal holds.
• VINELink notification: Register for automated custody-status alerts at Vinelink — the service notifies you by phone, email, or text when a person’s custody status changes.

Nationwide inmate lookup

A nationwide third-party search may help fill gaps that local portals often leave — particularly when a person could be held in another Indiana county, a different state, or federal custody that Daviess County records never display. Results may include jail and prison records across multiple jurisdictions, but per-jurisdiction completeness varies and the search is a starting point, not a guarantee.

This tool is not a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA and may not be used to screen anyone for employment, housing, credit, or any other purpose covered by that law.

Sponsored: Nationwide Records Search (we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you).

Daviess County inmate search — resource guide