Search Elk County Prison Inmates

Elk County Prison Overview

Elk County Prison is the county-operated detention facility in Ridgway. The facility is governed through the Elk County Prison Board and operated as the county correctional institution. The county says the prison maintains custody and control of inmates mandated by law, including people held pending disposition and people already convicted. In practical terms, it is the facility to check first for a recent local arrest, county-level sentence, work-release placement, or local court hold.

The official facility contacts are Warden Scott Atwell, Deputy Warden Rodney Constable, and Corrections Counselor Astasia May-Straneva. No separate county work-release building, city jail, regional jail, Pennsylvania state correctional institution, federal Bureau of Prisons facility, or ICE detention facility was identified inside Elk County in the official sources reviewed.

The official Elk County Prison page provides the county's published facility contact details and prison board information.

Use that page for facility identity and contacts, then use the lookup channels below for custody, charges, notification, or records requests.

Elk County Prison Population

The best official capacity source is the Pennsylvania DOC Office of County Inspections and Services. The 2026 county prison inspection schedule lists Elk County Prison at 78 beds, and PA DOC county statistics workbooks list the same 78-bed capacity for 2019 through 2024. The 2024 workbook reported a 34-person average in-house daily population, 287 admissions or bookings, and 291 discharges.

The January 16, 2025 Prison Board minutes reported 36 incarcerated people at 8:00 a.m., December 2024 average daily population of 33, and 8 female inmates on the meeting date. The December 3, 2024 minutes reported monthly ADP figures of 30 in August, 34 in September, 34 in October, and 27 in November, with one inmate on work release. These board minutes give local operational context to the state workbooks.

Who Elk County Prison Holds

Elk County Prison holds people at the county custody stage. That includes people waiting for case disposition, people already convicted, male and female county prisoners, work-release prisoners, and contracted out-of-county prisoners when accepted. The public information brochure identifies Male Housing Units A, B, and C, Administrative Housing, Female Housing Unit D, Disciplinary Housing, Female Housing Unit 210, Male Work Release Housing Unit 206, and Male Housing Unit 205a.

Those housing labels are not separate facilities. They are internal units used for scheduling and operations. They show that the prison handles male housing, female housing, administrative housing, disciplinary housing, and work-release housing. No official page lists a separate juvenile unit, ICE contract, U.S. Marshals contract, or state-prison unit inside the facility.

County jail

A local correctional institution for pretrial, county-sentenced, and related local custody.

Work release

Custody status that may permit approved employment outside the facility under jail rules.

Classification

The jail process for assigning housing, security, and program placement.

Detainer

A hold from another case or agency that may affect release.

Look Up Elk County Prison Custody

No official public online Elk County Prison roster was located. The lookup method is therefore based on custody type and record need. For current local custody, contact the prison and be ready with full name, date of birth if known, approximate arrest date, arresting agency, and any docket, OTN, or complaint number. For custody alerts, use PA SAVIN/VINELink. For formal charges, search UJS or contact the proper court office.

1. Start with Elk County Prison when the person may be held locally after an Elk County arrest or commitment.
2. Use Pennsylvania VINELink for release, transfer, furlough, or escape notifications.
3. Search UJS Case Search for charges, bail entries, docket events, and dispositions after arrest.
4. Use the Pennsylvania DOC locator only after state sentencing or parole supervision begins.
5. Use BOP or ICE only for federal or immigration custody.
6. Use Elk County's RTKL process for eligible jail records that are not online and are not court records.

Note: The county prison phone line is the local contact, but the county page does not publish a policy promising release of charges, housing, bond, or release dates by phone.

Elk County Prison Contact

The facility's public contact details come from the official county prison page and the PA DOC inspection schedule. Use the 225 Center Street address for facility and map purposes. The county also uses P.O. Box 448 in Ridgway for prison mail and county office correspondence, while personal inmate mail uses a separate TextBehind address.

Visit Elk County Prison

Elk County Prison visits are a privilege and can be revoked by jail staff for cause. Visitors must be on the inmate's visiting list. A person who is not listed should write to the inmate with full name, address, telephone number, and date of birth. Visitors report to the lobby officer, sign in, provide name and identification, store personal belongings in lockers, pass through a metal detector, and may be searched. All visits are recorded and monitored.

The Elk County visitation and inmate information page lists the visitation, commissary, deposit, mail, and telephone rules used for this facility.

Confirm the current visiting status before traveling, because visits can be changed or revoked by facility staff.

Elk County Prison Mail Money

Mail and money rules are split by purpose. Personal mail goes through TextBehind in Phoenix, Maryland. Money orders for inmate accounts go to Elk County Prison in Ridgway. Cash or money orders are not accepted through personal mail. The county says commissary orders are made weekly from inmate accounts and can include grooming aids, snacks, and hygiene items.

Phones are in each housing unit and operate during times set by the Warden. Calls are a privilege, can be removed by a supervisor, are limited to 20 minutes, and are monitored and recorded. Vendor-hosted material references ICSolutions video visitation, but the official page should be confirmed before relying on video availability.

Elk County Prison Entry

The visitor brochure gives concrete entry rules. Visitors must report to the lobby officer, sign in, give name and identification, place personal property in lockers, clear a metal detector, and submit to search if required. Personal belongings, purses, coats, cigarettes, tobacco products, cell phones, weapons, and food are not allowed in the visiting area. The county and prison do not accept responsibility for locker contents.

Accepted identification includes a valid photo driver's license, a PennDOT photo ID card, a valid passport with picture identification, a valid photo military card, or valid photo ID with documentation proving age. The dress code bars halter tops, half shirts, tube tops, short shorts, micro-mini skirts, fishnet stockings, see-through blouses, and provocative garments. Jail staff can deny visiting privileges for inappropriate dress.

Elk County Prison Programs

Prison Board minutes provide the best local program and condition details. December 2024 minutes reported that PA CareerLink was available for inmates so they could job search before release. Work release is confirmed in the visitor brochure and board minutes. The December 3, 2024 minutes reported one inmate on work release, and January 2025 minutes reported 2024 work-release fees collected.

Medical and mental-health details also appear in board minutes. December 2024 minutes reported Opioid Settlement reimbursement for medication-assisted treatment drugs and reimbursement from Cameron Elk Counties Behavioral and Development Programs for psychotropic prescription medication and mental-health assessments. Training notes included CPR, First Aid, AED instructor training and trauma-informed care training. These are specific local details, not generic jail programming claims.

Directions to Elk County Prison

Elk County Prison is in Ridgway, the county seat, within the downtown county government complex near the courthouse and courthouse annex. Use 225 Center Street, Ridgway, PA 15853 for the facility address. County materials also list the courthouse at 250 Main Street and the courthouse annex at 300 Center Street, and a jail facade bid notice refers to the jail's Broad Street main entrance.

From St. Marys, Johnsonburg, western Elk County, or neighboring counties, approach downtown Ridgway and the county courthouse area. Allow extra time for parking, sign-in, ID review, lockers, metal-detector screening, and any staff instructions. Official prison visitor material does not publish a visitor-lot map, public-transit route, or ADA entrance note, so confirm parking and accessibility needs with the facility before arrival.