Crime, Courts, and Corrections Guide:Jail

This guide is part of a larger guide on Crime, Courts and Corrections in the City of Pittsburgh.

Jails operated by county government in Pennsylvania typically hold inmates following an arrest prior to their trial (if not released on bail), convicted inmates prior to sentencing, sentenced inmates awaiting a transfer to another facility, and people sentenced for less-serious crimes of a fairly short duration (typically two years or less). Inmates receiving longer sentences are typically transferred to Pennsylvania’s prison system. While it is much less-common, transfers from the state or Federal prison systems to the county jail system in Pennsylvania have occurred.

The population of the Allegheny County Jail changes on a daily basis as people are arrested, released on bail, exonerated, sentenced, transferred to another facility, paroled, or released. A daily jail census is available as open data on the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center’s open data portal.

What's Included in the Data

Publicly Available

• Inmate’s age at booking
• Current age
• Gender
• Race

Not Publicly Available

• Inmates most-recent home address
• Inmate’s name

Where to Find the Data

• The Allegheny County Jail Census contains updated data on inmates housed at the prison, and can be found on the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center’s open data portal. It is updated daily.
• There is no website currently available allowing for an inmate lookup at the County prison.

Things to Know

For more information on the jail system in Pennsylvania, please see the Penn State Criminal Justice Research Center website.