The Ulster County Inmate Population
The local jail count is reported through the New York State Commission of Correction and DCJS monthly jail population data. That source treats the Ulster County Jail count as a local jail population, which means it includes people with pending court cases, people serving local jail terms, state-ready people waiting for transfer, and certain holds. The same county also contains four DOCCS prisons, but those are state facilities. A person at Eastern NY Correctional Facility, Ulster Correctional Facility, Shawangunk Correctional Facility, or Wallkill Correctional Facility is searched through New York State DOCCS incarcerated lookup, not through the Sheriff roster.
The main local custody source is the Ulster County Sheriff's Incarcerated Individuals Search/VINE. It shows current publicly listed jail custody, booking-photo cards, Read More links, VINE status notification links, and pagination. It is not a permanent booking archive. Older booking records, photos that are no longer shown, and arrest reports may require a request through the Sheriff's FOIL Request Form.
Ulster County Inmate Population Statistics
The most current researched local jail figures come from the DCJS/SCOC Monthly Jail Population Trends report prepared June 1, 2026. The report lists average daily counts by month and custody category. It defines census, boarded out, boarded in, in-house, sentenced, civil, federal, technical parole violator, state-ready, and other unsentenced categories. For Ulster County Jail, May 2026 showed a lower census than most months in the prior year. The current maximum facility capacity was not located in a crawlable current official source, so no capacity percentage is calculated here.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Date |
|---|---|---|
| Ulster County Jail average daily census | 152 | DCJS/SCOC, May 2026 |
| Ulster County Jail in-house average | 155 | DCJS/SCOC, May 2026 |
| Boarded out | 2 | DCJS/SCOC, May 2026 |
| Boarded in | 5 | DCJS/SCOC, May 2026 |
| Year-over-year census change | -19% | DCJS/SCOC, May 2025 to May 2026 |
| Current rated capacity | Not located | Current crawlable official source not found |
Ulster County Jail Population Trends
The Ulster County inmate population fell during the researched 13-month window. The local jail census was 188 in May 2025, rose to a high of 199 in August 2025, then moved down through winter and spring. April 2026 was the lowest month in the table at 148, followed by 152 in May 2026. That May 2026 figure was 47 below the August 2025 high. The state report also showed all New York jail facilities down 11 percent from May 2025 to May 2026, while all non-New York City jail facilities were down 10 percent. Ulster's 19 percent drop was steeper than both comparison groups.
| Month | Average Daily Census | Local Note |
|---|---|---|
| May 2025 | 188 | Baseline month in state report |
| August 2025 | 199 | Highest month in the researched table |
| December 2025 | 181 | Decline from fall levels |
| February 2026 | 155 | Sharp drop from January |
| April 2026 | 148 | Lowest month in the table |
| May 2026 | 152 | 19 percent below May 2025 |
Who Counts in Ulster County Custody
The May 2026 Ulster County Jail row is more useful than a single head count because it separates local custody categories. The sentenced count was 42, which means those people had been convicted and were serving a jail term. The other unsentenced count was 111, a category that includes pending cases and new-arrest parole violators under the report notes. The row listed no average civil group, no average federal group, and no average technical parole violator group for that month. One state-ready person was counted, meaning a person sentenced to state prison had not yet transferred to DOCCS custody.
| Category | Average Daily Count | Plain Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Sentenced | 42 | Convicted and serving local jail time |
| Civil | 0 | No average civil-process group that month |
| Federal | 0 | No average federal custody group in the jail row |
| Technical parole violators | 0 | No average technical-parole-only group that month |
| State ready | 1 | Sentenced to state prison but waiting for transfer |
| Other unsentenced | 111 | Pending cases and new-arrest parole matters in the state category |
Ulster County Jail Capacity Context
The current public maximum facility capacity was not located in a crawlable county or SCOC page. The researched capacity history still matters. A State Commission of Correction annual report from 2017 said Ulster County Jail had a 30-bed capacity reduction because second bunks in 30 cells were never installed. A 2020 Ulster County Comptroller audit summary later found a mismatch between jail population, maximum facility capacity, staffing assumptions, and health-care or food-service contracts. That audit recommended bringing facility capacity and staffing into line with community need. Those are historical and oversight points, not a current bed-count source.
Capacity note: Because the current MFC was not found in an official crawlable source, the researched pages do not state a current occupancy rate.
Laws Governing Ulster County Jail Records
New York law controls both access and limits. Public Officers Law Article 6, known as FOIL, creates the general request path for agency records. Public Officers Law section 87 states the access rule, while section 89 covers request procedure, denials, appeals, and privacy issues. Jail records may be public, but sealed cases, safety concerns, privacy rules, and law-enforcement exemptions can narrow what is released.
Key statutes: CPL 160.10 permits arrest photographs when fingerprints are required or allowed. CPL 160.50 affects access after a case terminates in favor of the accused. Correction Law section 45 gives SCOC inspection, standards, grievance, and reporting authority over correctional facilities.
Search the Ulster County Jail Roster
The Sheriff's current roster is the first place to check when the person may be in county custody. The Incarcerated Individuals Search/VINE page is free and did not show a login requirement during research. It uses a simple Type to Search box above photo cards. The public list showed names, booking-photo images, Read More links, VINE notification links, and pagination that extended to page 34. It did not expose charge, bond, booking date, housing unit, or court-date fields in crawlable text, so those details should be confirmed through the jail, the court system, or a FOIL request when needed.
The screenshot capture for the Sheriff's roster shows the card-based custody list. The source is the official Ulster County Sheriff inmate search page.
The photo-card layout is why a broad search can take more than one screen. Pagination is part of the lookup process, not a sign that the person is missing.
- Open the Sheriff's Incarcerated Individuals Search/VINE page.
- Type the last name first, then try a fuller name if the list is broad.
- Review the public custody cards and use pagination when the first page does not show the person.
- Open Read More if the card offers a profile, then use VINE when release or transfer notification is the goal.
- If the person is not listed, check DOCCS, BOP, ICE, WebCrims, and the Sheriff's FOIL process based on the custody type.
Ulster County Roster Search Fields
The Ulster County jail roster does not use a multi-field advanced form in the captured public text. The visible control is a general search/filter box. That makes spelling important. Try surname-only searches, alternate spellings, and pagination before assuming the person is not in custody. Recent transfers, sealed matters, data-entry variations, and name changes can also cause a search miss.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type to Search | Text search/filter | Unspecified | Filters the public card list; no separate first-name, booking-number, facility, or status field was visible. |
| Pagination | Page-number navigation | Optional | Pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...34 were observed during inspection. |
| Read More | Profile link | Optional | Opens an individual URL, though the clicked sample did not expose extra crawlable fields. |
| Notify Me of Status Change | VINE link | Optional | Sends the user to VINELink for custody notification. |
What Ulster County Inmate Records Show
The public Ulster County inmate record should be treated as a current custody pointer. Research confirmed names, photos, Read More controls, VINE notification links, search/filter access, and pagination. It did not confirm public charge fields, bond amounts, booking numbers, booking dates, housing units, arresting agency, or court dates in crawlable roster text. Those gaps matter because many users expect a roster to be a full case file. In Ulster County, the court record, the booking record, and the custody card are separate channels.
| Field or Control | What Research Confirmed |
|---|---|
| Name | Cards show names in last-name-first style. |
| Mugshot / photo | Public roster cards include image links and alt text for booking photos. |
| Read More | Links to an individual profile under the inmate search path. |
| VINE notification | Notify Me links connect to VINELink person-detail pages. |
| Charges, bond, court date | Not confirmed in crawlable roster text; use court records, jail contact, or FOIL. |
Ulster County Jail vs State Prison
A county jail lookup and a state prison lookup answer different questions. Ulster County Jail covers local custody after arrest, pending court cases, short jail sentences, and people waiting for transfer. DOCCS covers sentenced state prisoners. The four DOCCS facilities in Ulster County make this distinction especially important. A person can be physically in Ulster County and still be absent from the Ulster Sheriff roster because the person is in state custody, not county jail custody.
| Question | Ulster County Jail | New York DOCCS |
|---|---|---|
| Who is held | Pretrial detainees, local sentenced inmates, holds, state-ready inmates awaiting transfer | Sentenced state prisoners |
| Operator | Ulster County Sheriff's Office | New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision |
| Search tool | Sheriff Incarcerated Individuals Search/VINE | DOCCS incarcerated lookup |
| Best identifier | Name on public roster card | DIN, NYSID, last name, or birth year |
State and Federal Inmate Search
DOCCS says its locator may be searched by last name alone, last name with birth year, DIN alone, or NYSID alone. The direct DOCCS lookup portal is the correct place for sentenced people in Eastern NY, Ulster, Shawangunk, and Wallkill correctional facilities. Federal custody uses the BOP Inmate Locator, which covers federal inmates from 1982 to the present. Immigration custody uses ICE ODLS, searched by A-number and country of birth or by name, country of birth, and birth date. None of those systems is the same as the local Sheriff roster.
- VINE
- A notification service for custody status changes, not a full booking record.
- DIN
- A DOCCS Department Identification Number used for state-prison searches.
- State-ready
- A local jail inmate sentenced to state prison but not yet transferred to DOCCS.
- Detainer
- A hold or request from another agency that can affect release.
Ulster County Detention Facilities
Ulster County has one local county jail in Kingston and four state prisons in Napanoch or Wallkill. The facility name controls the search path. The local jail uses the Sheriff list. The state prisons use DOCCS. Federal and immigration channels are fallback systems because no BOP institution and no standalone ICE detention facility were identified in Ulster County research.
- Ulster County Jail holds local pretrial detainees, sentenced jail inmates, holds, and state-ready people awaiting transfer.
- Eastern NY Correctional Facility is a maximum-security male DOCCS prison in Napanoch.
- Ulster Correctional Facility is a medium-security male DOCCS prison in Napanoch and is also tied to the EOIR Ulster Immigration Court listing.
- Shawangunk Correctional Facility is a maximum-security male DOCCS prison in Wallkill.
- Wallkill Correctional Facility is a medium-security male DOCCS prison in Wallkill.
Ulster County FOIL Records
When the public roster does not show the needed booking record, New York FOIL is the records-request route. The Sheriff site provides an official FOIL form. A useful request should identify the person by full name, date of birth if known, arrest or booking date, case number or booking number if known, and the specific record requested. Booking photos, arrest reports, older custody records, and records not exposed by the live list may be subject to exemptions or sealing, so a request can be granted, denied, narrowed, or answered with instructions for appeal.
The Sheriff's Corrections Division hub links the jail lookup, pay bail, commissary, packages, phone, property, visitation, warrants, and VINE pages. The source is the official Corrections Division page.
The hub is useful because Ulster separates custody search, bail, visitation, property, and notification into different official pages.
Ulster County Inmate Population FAQ
How big is the Ulster County inmate population? The May 2026 DCJS/SCOC report lists the Ulster County Jail average daily census at 152 and in-house average at 155. Those figures describe the local jail, not the four state prisons in the county.
How do I search the Ulster County inmate population? Start with the Sheriff Incarcerated Individuals Search/VINE page for current county jail custody. If the person is sentenced to state prison, use DOCCS. If the person is in federal or immigration custody, use BOP or ICE.
Can I look up a released or past inmate? The Sheriff list is a current public roster, and the research did not find a posted retention period. Older booking records or photos may require the Sheriff's FOIL form, subject to New York public-record and sealing rules.
Do Ulster County inmate records show charges? The public roster crawl confirmed names, photos, Read More links, VINE links, and pagination. Charge and court-date details should be checked through WebCrims, the Ulster County Clerk, or a records request when they are not visible on the custody card.
Public Record Search
Sponsored Results