Look Up Broward County Jail Inmates

Broward County Jail Roster Overview

The Broward Sheriff's Office Department of Detention runs the county jail system and publishes a public lookup called Arrest Search. It lives at apps.sheriff.org/arrestsearch and is reached from the sheriff's detention arrest-search page. The result list refreshes every 15 minutes, and the sheriff warns that information changes quickly, so a record can lag a recent booking by a short time.

The county roster does not cover everything. It does not list people sentenced to state prison, federal defendants in U.S. Marshals custody, or immigration detainees. For those, the search moves to the Florida Department of Corrections, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, or ICE. The arrest search is also not a complete court file or a public warrant list. It is the booking and custody record, and it is the right first stop for a recent Broward arrest.

How to Use the Broward County Inmate Roster

You need very little to start. A last name will do, though a first and last name together gives the cleanest result. The steps below match the live tool.

1. Open the arrest search at apps.sheriff.org/arrestsearch.
2. Enter at least two letters of the last name, the first name, or both.
3. Complete the CAPTCHA if one appears, then click Search.
4. Open the arrest number to read the booking photo, charges, bond, and current facility.

Use the location field on the record to learn which of the four jails holds the person. The sheriff assigns housing by classification and need, not by where the person lives, so the location can change after booking. For court charges that go beyond the booking data, the arrest search itself points users to the Broward Clerk.

Broward County Roster Search Fields

The search form is deliberately simple. It accepts only name fields and may add a CAPTCHA before it returns results. There is no public date-of-birth field on the form, which is one reason a common name can return many records.

The result list returns the arrest number, name, sex, and current location. Everything else waits behind the arrest number on the detail page.

What a Broward County Inmate Profile Shows

The detail page is where the real data sits. It pairs the booking photo with demographics, the current location, and a panel for each charge. Bond and release fields appear when set, and holder fields show when another agency has placed a hold. The table maps the fields you are most likely to use.

Read the expected release date and bond fields with care. The sheriff's disclaimer says these change quickly, and a hold can keep someone in custody even after bond is posted.

Finding County, State, and Federal Inmates

Four systems split the work, and using the wrong one is the top reason a search fails. The county arrest search covers pre-trial and short-sentence inmates. Sentenced felons move to the Florida Department of Corrections offender search. Federal inmates appear in the Federal Bureau of Prisons locator, and immigration detainees appear in the ICE detainee locator.

For release and movement alerts across these systems, VINELink and Florida VINE provide notifications. Booking photos for current inmates appear on the Broward County jail mugshots page, and the charges a prosecutor files later show up in court records after a jail arrest.

Broward County Jail Facilities

The county jail population is held across four sheriff facilities, each rated for a published capacity. The Main Jail in downtown Fort Lauderdale runs central booking; the other three sit in Pompano Beach. The screenshot below shows the sheriff's facility list, with address and phone cards for each building.

The sheriff publishes one address and phone line for the system, with separate mailing addresses for each jail. The contact cards below cover the two facilities most people reach first.

Booking Process in Broward County

Almost every Broward arrest runs through Central Intake, the booking unit inside the Main Jail. Central Intake handles arrests from all county law-enforcement agencies, plus a remote booking site in Pompano Beach. After arrest, a person is transported in, identified, given an arrest number, photographed, fingerprinted, and screened for medical and mental-health needs. Pre-magistrate holding and first-appearance prep follow.

Classification then decides housing across the four jails. Once a permanent housing assignment is set, the person can make calls, receive mail, and have funds deposited. The arrest search updates every 15 minutes, so a new booking usually appears soon after intake is complete. First appearance, where bond and conditions are reviewed, happens at the adjacent courthouse.

Visitation Hours and Rules

Routine visits in the Broward jail system are video-based through Securus, not in-person contact visits. Visitors register once with Securus, and account approval can take up to 48 hours. Visits are scheduled no less than one day and no more than seven days ahead, and inmates receive two one-hour visits per week. The video page lists availability seven days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 7:45 p.m., subject to restrictions.

The video visitation page, shown above, covers Securus registration and scheduling. The weekly windows below summarize when visits are generally available.

Note: The sheriff lists two different addresses for the Video Visitation Center, so confirm the current location with the sheriff or Securus before traveling.

How to Contact a Broward County Inmate

Routine incoming mail is postcard-only under the sheriff's June 21, 2021 notice. Postcards must be 3.5 by 5 inches up to 4.25 by 6 inches, in blue or black ink, and addressed with the inmate's full name, arrest number, and the facility mailing address. Legal mail is handled separately and opened only in the inmate's presence. Each jail has its own post office box, such as PO Box 9356 for the Main Jail.

Phone service runs through Securus, reachable at 1-877-800-5729. Inmates can call after housing assignment, calls are collect or prepaid, and there are no incoming calls. The inmate's PIN is the arrest number, and non-attorney calls are monitored and recorded. Video visits also run through Securus.

Phone, In-Person, and Records Request Options

The online roster is the fastest route, but it is not the only one. The sheriff's general jail and inmate information line is (954) 831-5900. For charge and bond questions after a booking, the sheriff lists (954) 982-6924 and (954) 982-6925, and the Main Jail lobby information window at 555 SE 1st Ave. is open 24 hours a day. The Cash Bond Unit answers at (954) 831-5932.

When a record is older, missing online, or you need a copy, the route is the sheriff's Public Records Unit through its GovQA portal. The unit answers at (954) 831-8700, Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and a mailing fallback goes to PO Box 9507, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33310. Requests are worked first come, first served, and fees depend on the record and the staff time, with an estimate given before paid work. A Broward local records check covers county arrests only and is not a full criminal history, which routes to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

To narrow a request, it helps to have the person's full name, date of birth, an approximate arrest date, and the arrest number if you found one. For statewide wanted-person information, the FDLE Wanted Persons search is the right tool, and the FDLE Mobile App carries the same statewide functions on a phone.

Common Broward Inmate Search Problems

A failed search usually has a simple cause. The arrest search may show a CAPTCHA before it returns results, so a direct or automated query can be blocked. The form also needs at least two letters of a name and has no public date-of-birth field, so a common last name can return many records. The list refreshes every 15 minutes, but booking can lag the physical arrest, so a very recent arrest may not appear right away.

The biggest trap is searching the wrong system. A "Broward County inmate search" can point to at least six different places: the sheriff's jail roster, the Broward Clerk court case search, the state offender search, the federal Bureau of Prisons locator, the ICE detainee locator, or VINELink notifications. If the arrest search comes up empty for someone you believe is held in Broward, check whether they were sentenced to state prison, taken into federal or immigration custody, or simply not yet booked.

Commissary and Inmate Funds

Money can be deposited through lobby kiosks, Western Union, or Access Corrections Secure Deposits. Kiosks take cash only, run from 7:15 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and need the inmate's name, arrest number, and exact cash amount. Deposits can take 30 minutes to two hours to post. Care packs come through Access SecurePak, limited to one every seven days. The sheriff's funds page does not list an exact deposit service fee. Cash sent by mail is treated as contraband.