Yakima Inmate Population Lookup

Yakima inmate population records are maintained by Yakima County Department of Corrections, which handles all bookings for arrests made by Yakima Police and the county sheriff within the Yakima area. The detention facility is at 111 North Front Street in downtown Yakima. The county provides two online lookup tools for the public: the general inmate lookup page at yakimacounty.us and a dedicated DOC Incarcerated Selection Screen that displays current bookings alphabetically. Both update multiple times each day. An important note for Yakima specifically: most detailed inmate records, including booking photographs, are confidential under RCW 70.48.100. The public roster is available, but more specific records require a formal release authorization or a court order. This page covers both online tools, record request procedures, and state-level search options.

Where Yakima Arrests Are Processed

Yakima is the county seat and the largest city in Yakima County. All city police arrests are transported to the Yakima County Department of Corrections at 111 North Front Street, Yakima, WA 98901. This is the main booking facility for the county and processes both misdemeanor and felony arrests. Yakima Police are headquartered at 200 South 3rd St, Yakima, WA 98901, phone 509-575-3571, and their website is at yakimawa.gov. The Yakima County Sheriff, which handles county-wide enforcement and jail operations, is reachable through yakimacounty.us/departments/sheriff.

One thing to know about Yakima County's approach to records: the county is fairly explicit about what is and is not available to the public. Most inmate records, including booking photos, are considered confidential under the county's interpretation of RCW 70.48.100. The online roster shows basic custody information, which is the publicly required portion. Anything beyond that, such as medical records, non-medical inmate records, or booking photos, requires a formal request with authorization from the inmate or a court order. This is stricter than some other Washington counties, so it is worth knowing before you make a records request.

How to Search the Yakima Inmate Population

Yakima County provides two online search tools for the public. Both are free and do not require an account. Each pulls from the same underlying system but presents the data slightly differently.

The general inmate lookup page is at yakimacounty.us/2240/Inmate-Lookup. This is the main entry point and links to the active roster system. The second tool, the DOC Incarcerated Selection Screen at yakimaco.us/inmatelookup/YcDocPublicIncarcerated.aspx, displays current bookings in alphabetical order by last name, first name, and middle name. Each entry shows the booking number, full name, date of birth, and scheduled release date. This system updates multiple times each day, so it reflects a current snapshot of the active jail population.

The screenshot below is from the Yakima County inmate lookup portal, which serves as the main public search interface for Yakima city arrest records.

If you need to request records beyond what the online systems show, the Yakima County Jail Records page explains exactly what forms are required for different types of requests.

If someone does not appear in either online tool, they may have already been released, bonded out, or transferred. Weekend bookings are updated as they occur since the system runs multiple times daily, so Yakima's tools are generally more current than counties that batch their updates once per day.

Public Records Rights and Limitations in Yakima

Washington's Public Records Act under RCW 42.56 gives the public broad rights to request government records without giving a reason. Yakima County complies with this law but applies a narrower interpretation to jail-specific records than some other counties. The basic inmate roster data, required by RCW 70.48.100, is publicly available. That includes names, booking numbers, dates, and release dates.

Beyond the roster, Yakima County requires specific authorization to release additional inmate records. For non-medical records such as inmate files and incident documentation, the county requires a completed Authorization for Release of Inmate Records form signed by the inmate. For medical records, a separate HIPAA-compliant form is required. Both forms are described on the Yakima County Jail Records page at yakimacounty.us/1891/Jail-Records. If you are a family member, attorney, or researcher seeking records beyond the basic roster, start on that page to understand what forms apply to your situation.

Yakima Police Department records, including incident reports and arrest data generated by city officers, are separate from county corrections records. Contact Yakima Police at 200 South 3rd St, Yakima, WA 98901, phone 509-575-3571, for city-specific records. Those requests follow the standard RCW 42.56 process with a five-business-day response timeline.

VINE Custody Alerts for Yakima County Jail

VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday) is a free notification service that tracks custody status at Yakima County Department of Corrections. You can register at VINELink.com to receive alerts by phone, text, or email when a specific inmate is released, transferred, or has a scheduled court event. The service is anonymous and registration does not require you to give your name or explain your connection to the case.

For Yakima city arrests that go through the county corrections facility, VINE covers all booking status changes. It updates roughly every 15 minutes. If the inmate is later transferred to a Washington State DOC facility after sentencing, a separate DOC-level registration through VINELink can track them at the state facility. VINE is run statewide by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and is available 24 hours a day.

Yakima Court Records and Case Outcomes

A booking record only shows what the charge was at the time of arrest. Court records are where you find out what charges were actually filed, what happened at hearings, and how the case was resolved. These are kept separately by the court clerk's office and require a different search than the jail roster.

The Washington Courts statewide case search at courts.wa.gov lets you search by name across all Washington courts in a single query. For Yakima cases, this covers Yakima County Superior Court for felonies, Yakima Municipal Court for city misdemeanor and traffic cases, and Yakima County District Court for county-level matters. The portal shows hearing dates, charge status, and basic disposition data. For full case documents, contact the Yakima County Clerk at 128 North 2nd Street, Yakima, WA 98901, phone 509-574-1430. Court records at the Superior Court level are subject to public access under RCW 42.56, with exceptions for certain sealed or juvenile records.

State Search Tools for Yakima Inmate Records

Yakima residents convicted of felonies and sentenced to more than one year are transferred to Washington State DOC facilities. The Washington State DOC incarcerated person search at doc.wa.gov covers all state prisons and reentry centers. You can search by name or DOC number. Results show the current facility, projected release date, and crime of conviction. The search is free and reflects current DOC housing assignments. This system is entirely separate from the Yakima County corrections roster and covers only people under state-level supervision.

The Washington State Patrol WATCH system at watch.wsp.wa.gov provides paid fingerprint-based criminal history searches for $11 per lookup. WATCH covers statewide convictions and arrests within the past year that have pending dispositions. It is more thorough than a court name search because it uses biometric records rather than relying on name matching. For verified background information on a Yakima individual, WATCH is the most complete public option available and is particularly useful when the person may have records under different name variations or aliases.

Yakima County Inmate Population Records

Yakima city arrests are processed through the Yakima County Department of Corrections. The county page covers the detention facility, both online search tools, the jail records request process, and contacts for Yakima County public records.

View Yakima County Inmate Population

Nearby Cities

These cities are in eastern Washington and each routes arrests through its own county jail system.