Locate Lakin Prison Inmates

Lakin Prison Custody

Lakin Correctional Center and Jail is operated by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It is physically located in Mason County, but it is not the primary jail for Mason County arrests. The research identifies Western Regional Jail and Correctional Facility as the regional jail serving Mason County for pretrial and sentenced jail custody. Lakin serves a different role: sentenced female state prison custody and related WVDCR operations.

WVDCR describes Lakin as West Virginia's only all-female prison and a maximum-security correctional facility with custody levels from minimum to maximum. The FY2025 annual report adds that Lakin has intake, diagnostic, behavioral health, KIDS Unit, long-term and short-term segregation units, a correctional industries work site, and supervised outside work crews for eligible people within 18 months of parole or discharge. Those functions make it a statewide prison facility, even though its address is in West Columbia.

Lakin Prison Population

The official Lakin facility page lists a current capacity of 543. The WVDCR FY2025 annual report lists Lakin's rated population as 607. Both numbers are useful, but they should not be read as a live headcount. Capacity and rated population describe the facility in official planning and reporting terms. A custody search result answers a different question: whether a named person is under WVDCR prison custody and currently tied to that facility or status.

Mason County searchers can be thrown off by Lakin's location. A person arrested in Point Pleasant or elsewhere in Mason County is not automatically taken to Lakin just because the prison sits inside the county. The usual jail search path for a recent Mason County arrest remains Western Regional Jail. Lakin becomes relevant when the person is a sentenced female state prisoner, is going through WVDCR prison intake or classification, or is otherwise held under WVDCR prison authority.

Lakin Prison Lookup

Use the WVDCR Prison Offender Search for Lakin Correctional Center and Jail. The regional jail search is for WVDCR jail custody, including Western Regional Jail. Lakin is a prison facility, so the prison locator is the correct tool for sentenced custody, active WVDCR supervision, and parole status. WVDCR notes that discharged people and people moved outside WVDCR custody will not appear in that prison search.

1. Open the WVDCR Prison Offender Search, not the regional jail offender search.
2. Search by OID number with at least four numeric characters, or search by first and last name.
3. Use at least three characters for each name field when searching by name.
4. Review the result for prison status, facility location, supervision status, and identifying details.
5. If the person was just arrested in Mason County, search Western Regional Jail and Daily Incarcerations instead.

Lakin Facility Contact

Facility contact should be used for current visiting rules, mail questions that are not answered by WVDCR's statewide mail page, and questions about prison-specific procedures. WVDCR lists J.D. Sallaz as superintendent. The facility's public contact information includes a main phone number and fax number. For criminal case records, bond, or court dates tied to a Mason County arrest, use the court or jail record source instead of calling Lakin unless the person is actually in prison custody there.

Lakin Prison Visits

The research did not locate a published Lakin-specific visitation schedule in the facility excerpt. That absence matters. Lakin is a prison facility, so visits may require approval, identity checks, scheduling, dress-rule compliance, and security screening. A visitor should not rely on the Western Regional Jail schedule for Lakin because regional jail visitation and state prison visitation are separate. Confirm current procedures directly with Lakin before traveling to West Columbia.

Because Lakin's published details are limited in the research, the safer practice is to confirm the visitor approval process, allowed identification, arrival time, cancellation policy, and any special rules for minors before making the trip. Prison visitation can be restricted by classification, discipline status, medical status, staffing, and facility security conditions.

Lakin Mail and Money

Lakin uses the WVDCR statewide offender service system unless a facility-specific rule says otherwise. The WVDCR mail rules route personal mail to a scanning address in Phoenix, Maryland. The envelope should list the inmate's first and last name, OID number, and the full facility name without abbreviations. The physical West Columbia address is not the routine scanned-mail address for letters under the rules in the research.

For phone and video, WVDCR identifies GettingOut as the contracted provider. For deposits, WVDCR banking information lists ConnectNetwork by phone, web, and mobile app. No Lakin-only commissary fee table, tablet rule, or package limit was found in the research. Confirm current rules with the facility and provider before sending funds, because account limits, fees, and posting times may change.

Lakin Intake and Housing

Lakin intake is not the same as street-arrest booking at a regional jail. A person normally reaches prison custody after a criminal case has moved through court and WVDCR has legal authority to hold the person as a sentenced prisoner. Intake and diagnostic functions can include record review, medical and behavioral health screening, classification, program assignment, and housing placement. Classification means the prison's process for matching a person to custody level, housing, supervision needs, and facility rules.

The FY2025 report names housing levels 1-5, behavioral health services, segregation units, correctional industries, and outside work crews for eligible people within 18 months of parole or discharge. Those details support Lakin's statewide prison role. They also show why a person can be in Mason County without being part of the Mason County jail population. For current jail custody after arrest, the regional jail search remains the first path. For sentenced prison custody at Lakin, the WVDCR prison search is the right path.

Lakin vs Mason Jail

Mason County has two facility names that can confuse custody searches. Western Regional Jail and Correctional Facility is the regional jail serving Mason County for pretrial and sentenced jail custody. Lakin Correctional Center and Jail is a state prison physically located in Mason County. The word jail in Lakin's name does not make it the public Mason County jail roster for a new local arrest. The search tool, visitation process, and custody meaning are different.

For a broader overview of how Mason County custody is counted and searched, use the Mason County inmate population hub. For a direct sibling facility page, Western Regional Jail explains the jail side of the system for recent arrests, bond status, and daily admissions.