Roanoke County/Salem Jail Overview
Roanoke County/Salem Jail is operated by the Roanoke County Sheriff's Office, not by the Roanoke County Police Department. The sheriff's office is the constitutional office responsible for corrections, court security, and civil process. The jail sits in the Salem courthouse area at 401 East Main Street, and its custody role covers Roanoke County and the independent City of Salem. That local geography matters because the jail is in Salem, not in the City of Roanoke, and the roster labels the housing facility as "Roanoke County - Salem Jail."
The facility holds people in the local-custody stage: pretrial detainees, inmates serving local sentences, people waiting for court dates, people awaiting transfer to the Virginia Department of Corrections, and local holds. A public sample record inspected in the research showed prisoner type and classification fields, including a pretrial prisoner type and minimum classification. Those fields may appear when available, but the public roster should not be treated as a complete classification file.
Roanoke County/Salem Jail Capacity and Population
Roanoke County's FY2024 jail capital-project memo describes the jail as a six-story brick building of about 63,000 square feet, completed in 1979 and opened in 1980. The same county memo gives a rated capacity of 108 and states that double bunks increased capacity to 145. It also reported an average daily population of about 80 during fifth-floor shower work, when 44 beds were unavailable. Those are dated project figures, not a live population count.
City of Salem's July 29, 2025 notice added historical context: the jail opened in October 1980 with 104 cells, cost $5 million to build, and was paired with the courthouse that opened in March 1985. The same notice reported Salem's vote to withdraw from the Roanoke County-Salem Jail agreement and move additional inmates to Western Virginia Regional Jail, so custody searches should include both local facilities when a Salem or Roanoke County case is not found in the county jail roster.
How to Look Up an Inmate at Roanoke County/Salem Jail
The correct online route is the official Roanoke Inmate Search. It covers Roanoke County/Salem Jail bookings and has fields for name, subject number, booking number, in-custody status, booking date range, and housing facility. If the question is current custody and the online system is unclear, the jail docket number is the direct phone fallback.
- Open the Roanoke Inmate Search and select "Roanoke County - Salem Jail" in the housing-facility field when narrowing to this jail.
- Check "In Custody" for active custody, or use booking date fields when searching older or released records.
- Search by name first if no subject number or booking number is known.
- Open the linked result to review booking number, booking date, custody status, charges, court rows, bond or bail totals, booking origin, and photo information if present.
The roster footer warns that jail information reflects initial charge information received by the jail. For amended charges, court dates, dispositions, or formal case status, use the Virginia Judiciary case search or the Roanoke County Circuit Court Clerk's public records room. For people already sentenced to state custody, use the VADOC Inmate and Supervisee Locator. Federal prisoners use the BOP Inmate Locator, and immigration detainees use ICE ODLS.
Roanoke County/Salem Jail Address and Contact
The jail is in the courthouse complex near Thompson Memorial Boulevard and East Main Street. The sheriff FAQ gives a practical route from Interstate 81: take Exit 140 for Salem/Roanoke College, follow Thompson Memorial Boulevard to East Main Street, and look for the jail and courthouse complex on the right. Before traveling, confirm parking, accessible entrance details, and current check-in rules with the Jail Division.
Roanoke County/Salem Jail
401 East Main Street
Salem, VA 24153
540-283-3145
Jail docket and inmate-status help: 540-283-3162
Visiting Someone at Roanoke County/Salem Jail
Roanoke County/Salem Jail visitation is video-based through ICSolutions/The Visitor. Visitors register at no cost and may use onsite terminals or offsite video from a Windows computer, Android device, or iOS device. Offsite visits are fee-based, and the vendor page says facility-specific costs apply. The system replaces traditional face-to-face glass visits, so the inmate normally remains in the housing unit while the visitor uses video.
The county's ICSolutions Roanoke County video visitation page is the source for registration and scheduling details.
Use the vendor page together with the county visitation rules because registration, visit technology, ID requirements, and behavior rules come from different official pages.
| Visit Issue | Roanoke County/Salem Jail Detail | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | Visitors register through ICSolutions/The Visitor at no cost before scheduling. | Video |
| Onsite visits | Visitors may use onsite terminals in the facility visitation center. | Video |
| Offsite visits | Offsite visits may be conducted from supported devices and are fee-based. | Video |
| Rules | Proper ID, orderly conduct, no food or drink, controlled minors, search rules, dress rules, and sobriety requirements apply. | Facility rules |
| Restrictions | Disciplinary separation, classification holding, or medical isolation may restrict personal visits, with professional exceptions. | Facility rules |
Mail, Phone, and Money at Roanoke County/Salem Jail
Roanoke County publishes a specific mail routing address through its sheriff FAQ. Use the inmate's name and inmate number, and confirm current mail rules before sending photographs, books, magazines, or other items. The captured county pages did not publish a complete contraband list or fee table.
| Service | Provider / Detail |
|---|---|
| Mail Address | Roanoke County/Salem Jail, Inmate Name, Inmate Number, PO Box 16120, Jonesboro, AR 72401 |
| Phone / Video | Outgoing collect calls are allowed; inmates cannot receive incoming calls. Video visits use ICSolutions/The Visitor. |
| Money Deposit | Cash or credit card deposits through the secured lobby ATM, or online deposits through JailATM. Checks are not accepted. |
Inmates may be able to communicate by text using a jail-issued tablet. If unwanted collect calls are arriving, the county FAQ says a person may refuse the charges or call the jail docket office at 540-283-3145 to request a block.
Booking and Intake at Roanoke County/Salem Jail
After an arrest by Roanoke County Police, Salem Police, Vinton Police, or another agency, a person may be transported to the local jail or another authorized holding facility. Jail intake normally includes identity verification, subject-number creation or update, booking data, booking photo, fingerprints, medical and mental-health screening, property inventory, and housing classification. The public detail page can show booking date, photo timestamp, prisoner type, classification, housing facility, bond and bail totals, booking origin, court rows, and charge rows.
A sample record inspected in the research had a booking time shortly before its booking-photo timestamp, but that single example is not a promised timeline. The county does not publish a roster refresh frequency, so use the roster for routine lookup and the jail docket for current custody verification when timing matters.
About Roanoke County/Salem Jail
The Jail Division states a philosophy of temporary supervised housing, meeting basic human needs, and providing programs that help people return to the community. Research also identified a local reentry focus through Jail Division leadership content, including behavioral health case management and reentry coordination. Confidential professional visit rights are published for attorneys, bondsmen, medical and mental-health professionals, clergy, probation officers, and social workers.
Virginia public-records law also shapes jail access. Virginia FOIA presumes public records are open unless an exemption applies, but law-enforcement and criminal records may be withheld or redacted under Va. Code ยง 2.2-3706. Booking photographs held by a local agency may be treated as public records under FOIA analysis, yet Roanoke County does not publish a separate mugshot removal or retention policy.
Note: Confirm custody, visit eligibility, mail rules, and payment rules with the jail before traveling or sending funds.