Montgomery County Inmate Records Channels
Montgomery County uses more than one custody channel. The Montgomery County Jail information line and jail email are the local source when a person may be held at the sheriff-operated jail in Christiansburg. Western Virginia Regional Jail provides the online public roster for people held at WVRJ, and Montgomery County is one of the regional authority's member jurisdictions. That means a person arrested by the sheriff, Blacksburg Police, Christiansburg Police, Virginia Tech Police, or another agency may not be searchable in a county-run roster even when the case began in Montgomery County.
Use the WVRJ JailTracker Public Roster for regional jail custody. Use Montgomery County FOIA for sheriff or county jail records that are not posted, and use WVRJ FOIA for regional jail records. If the person has been sentenced to state custody, the correct source becomes the VADOC locator. Federal and immigration custody use BOP, U.S. Marshals, court, or ICE routes instead of the county jail roster.
Important: A Montgomery County arrest does not guarantee the person is still in Montgomery County Jail custody.
Use the Montgomery County Roster
The online roster route is through Western Virginia Regional Jail's JailTracker system. The roster is free, public, does not require a login, and is configured for current offenders. Start broad with a last name, then narrow the result with a first or middle name, gender, offender ID, permanent ID, or intake date range. If no result appears, call the Montgomery County Jail before assuming the person has been released.
- Open the WVRJ JailTracker public roster and search by last name or another known identifier.
- Use first name, middle name, gender, or intake date range to narrow common names.
- Select a result to open the detail page for status, intake date, charges, bond fields, and photo availability.
- Use the Export PDF function only after confirming the visible record is the right person.
- If no WVRJ record appears, call Montgomery County Jail or use the correct state, federal, immigration, or court lookup.
Montgomery County Roster Search Fields
The public JailTracker fields are useful because they allow more than a basic name search. The agency settings found in the research show current-offender display, images enabled, no public login requirement, and the agency name Western VA Regional Jail. Released records should not be promised in the public interface because the current-only setting is active even though metadata includes a released-retention value.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Options / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Name | Text | No | Blank allowed; Enter key can trigger search. |
| Last Name | Text | No | Best first field for most searches. |
| Middle Name | Text | No | Narrows common names. |
| Gender | Dropdown | No | Blank, F, or M. |
| Offender Id | Text | No | Agency offender ID. |
| Permanent Id | Text | No | Persistent agency person identifier. |
| Intake Date Range | Date | No | From and to filters for booking date. |
| Export PDF | Button | No | Exports the current list or detail view. |
Montgomery County Inmate Profile Fields
A roster profile is a jail record, not a complete criminal-history report. It can still be detailed. Public WVRJ fields observed in the research include photo availability, name, status, intake date, agency, identifiers, charge tables, bond fields, and descriptive information. The public data did not show full birth date, Social Security number, driver's license number, or state ID.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Photo / Image | Booking-style frontal image when hasImage is true; otherwise image not available. |
| Name | First, middle, last, and suffix fields. |
| Intake Date | Book date and time in the roster system. |
| Status | Current records observed as Active. |
| Agency | Western Virginia Regional Jail when held at WVRJ. |
| Criminal Offenses | Offense, arrest code, statute, charge description, case number, and control number. |
| Bond | Bond type and amount, including no bond, secured, or attached entries. |
| Additional Info | Age, race, birthplace, height, weight, citizenship, hair, facial hair, and eye color. |
Montgomery County Jail Facilities
The jail record source depends on where the person is held. The county jail and WVRJ have different operators, addresses, and record channels. A person can also move between systems because of sex, classification, capacity, security level, sentence status, or regional placement.
Montgomery County Jail
16 S. Franklin Street
Christiansburg, VA 24073
540-382-6904
Jail information and local custody records.
Western Virginia Regional Jail
5885 West River Road
Salem, VA 24153
540-378-3700
Regional JailTracker roster and WVRJ records.
Booking Process in Montgomery County
Local booking begins after an arrest or service of process by MCSO, Blacksburg Police, Christiansburg Police, Virginia Tech Police, Virginia State Police, or another authorized agency. Intake records usually include name, identifiers, arresting agency, charges, and case or control numbers. Virginia law requires reportable arrest information, fingerprints, and corresponding photographs to be sent to the Central Criminal Records Exchange for qualifying arrests.
Classification follows intake. The Montgomery County Jail has special-management and classification holding cells, and the audit says maximum-security inmates are usually designated to a larger regional facility. Female inmates are held only for short periods before transfer for longer detention. A roster entry may appear at WVRJ after the regional system receives and enters the person, but the county jail page does not publish a refresh interval.
Bond Fields in Montgomery County
Bond is usually set by a magistrate or court after arrest. The WVRJ roster can show bond type and bond amount by charge, but one line does not always equal full release eligibility. A no-bond charge, capias, probation violation, detainer, federal hold, ICE detainer, VADOC hold, or court order can keep someone in custody even when another charge shows a dollar amount.
| Roster Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| NO BOND | No public bond amount is shown for that charge; release may require later court action. |
| SECURED | Money, property, or security must be posted if no other hold blocks release. |
| ATTACHED | Observed with some $0 entries and should be confirmed with the jail before action. |
Montgomery County Visitation Rules
The county jail and WVRJ use different visit systems. Montgomery County Jail publishes set in-person blocks by population. Visitors must register, show picture ID, be cooperative and orderly, dress properly, and may be searched. Children under 18 need a parent or legal guardian with proof of guardianship. Convicted felons may not visit unless the Jail Captain approves an exception.
| Population / Facility | Days | Hours / Type |
|---|---|---|
| Protective custody or juveniles, Montgomery County Jail | Saturday | 2-3 p.m. |
| Females, Montgomery County Jail | Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday | 6-7 p.m. |
| Males, Montgomery County Jail | Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday | 7-9 p.m. |
| WVRJ non-professional visits | Remote video | 30 minutes through GettingOut at $0.25 per minute |
Contact Montgomery County Inmates
Montgomery County Jail mail is scanned and viewed by inmates on tablets. The posted mail route uses Phoenix, Maryland, while money orders or certified checks still go to the S. Franklin Street jail address with attention to records. WVRJ also scans non-legal mail through Phoenix and sends legal mail directly to the Salem facility. Original documents sent to WVRJ are destroyed after scanning, so irreplaceable papers should not be mailed.
| Topic | Montgomery County Jail | WVRJ |
|---|---|---|
| Non-legal mail | Inmate name and ID, Montgomery County Jail, P.O. Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131 | Western VA Regional Jail, inmate name and ID, P.O. Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131 |
| Money | Money order or certified check to 16 S. Franklin Street, Attention Records | Lobby kiosk or GTL ConnectNetwork; mail payments not accepted |
| Phone / video | Confirm with jail information line | ViaPath / GettingOut and smart kiosk services |
State Federal ICE Inmate Records
Montgomery County has no VADOC state prison, BOP federal prison, or ICE detention center physically inside the county. That does not end the search. After a felony commitment, Code § 53.1-20 governs transfer to VADOC custody, and the VADOC Inmate and Supervisee Locator becomes the right search tool. Federal sentenced prisoners use the BOP Inmate Locator. Immigration detainees may be searched through ICE ODLS.
For notice rather than a full roster profile, use Virginia VINELink. It covers custody-status search and notifications, and VADOC materials list a phone route at 1-800-467-4943. No Montgomery County sheriff or police mobile app with inmate lookup was found during the research pass.
Montgomery County Records Requests
When the roster does not show enough detail, request an existing record from the office that keeps it. The Montgomery County FOIA page says requests may be made by mail, email, in person, by phone, or through the county form portal. A request does not have to use the word FOIA, but it should identify the existing record with reasonable specificity. For an inmate record, that means the person's name, an approximate booking date, arresting agency, charge or case number if known, and the type of record requested.
Regional jail records follow a different route. WVRJ directs FOIA requests to its FOIA officer, Deputy Superintendent Scott Booher. Court copies should go through the clerk, not the jail, because the court file tracks filed charges, hearings, dispositions, and copies. That separation matters: the jail record confirms custody and booking data, while the court record shows what happened to the criminal case after filing.