Washoe County Detention Facility Inmate Search

The Washoe County Detention Facility is a fairly large detention operation administered by the Washoe County Sheriff's Department in Reno, Nevada. The facility receives prisoners from 30 local jurisdictions, most of which are awaiting various forms of adjudication. Others are serving minor sentences at the facility. Seen as a model jail by many penologists, and receiving many distinguished visitors viewing the jail for its innovative approaches to housing inmates, the detention facility works closely with the courts to relieve crowding through pre-trial release, has innovative work-release programs for those who will continue to housed at the facility

Formed in 1988, one of the elements of the Sheriff's department is a Detention Response Team, tasked with preventing and combatting combative prisoner situations, as well as escorting high-risk prisoners.

One of the more enlightened aspects of the sheriff's department is the Community Work program. Low-risk detainees are teamed with various charitable and public works department to perform public service rather than to serve time at the detention facility, significantly reducing not only the detention population but saving the county millions of dollars in taxes. The sheriff's department also utilizes prisoners who do not qualify, into performing works such as graffiti removal. Inmates also perform janitorial services at the facility, making it one of the cleanest detention facilities in the country.

Visits to general population inmates can be made in one of two ways, either in-person at the jail, or via computer from home or office. Visits, in either case, are limited to 20 minutes at a time. Those visiting at the jail are limited to two visitors at a time, and a child counts as a visitor. Personal, no-contact visits are allowable Monday through Friday, from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m, but only on the days corresponding with the prisoners last name. Ie, a prisoner with the last name Corona, can receive personal visits only on Monday's. A prisoner named Zalinski can only receive personal visits on Friday. See the Sheriff's Department website at Visiting Hoursfor more information. General population inmates are allowed only one visit per their scheduled day at the jail, while they may receive up to two 20-minutes per day remotely, Monday through Sunday. Remote hours are: 8:30 to 11 a.m., Monday through Friday and 7:30 to 10:30 in the evening. On weekends, remote visits are limited to 8:30 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 6 p.m. All visits, whether personal or remotely are monitored, and appropriate clothing must be worn by visitors.

Those electing to visit from a home or office computer must have a computer with high-speed internet, a microphone and a camera, and set up a special account to make visits.