Schoharie County Correctional Facility Inmate Search

Schoharie County Correctional Facility Overview

The official Schoharie County jail page identifies the facility as the Schoharie County Correctional Facility, also known as the Schoharie County Jail. It is operated by the Schoharie County Sheriff's Office at 157 Steadman Way in Howes Cave, New York, on the Harvey E. Stoddard Public Safety Facility campus. The Sheriff's Office lists Sheriff Albro Fancher as the current sheriff, and the county jail page identifies Lieutenant Roger Butler as Jail Administrator.

This is a county-jail facility, not a New York State prison, a federal Bureau of Prisons institution, or an ICE detention center. The county page describes the population as sentenced inmates, non-sentenced inmates, pre-trial detainees, and inmates boarded in from other county facilities. That matters for search strategy: current local custody starts with the jail, while a person sentenced to state prison must be searched through DOCCS, and federal or immigration custody requires the separate federal or ICE systems.

The county states that the current jail has a maximum capacity of 69 inmates. Its housing model is direct supervision, with an officer station in each housing unit common area and a Corrections Deputy assigned around the clock. The county contrasts that model with the older linear-supervision jail, describing more frequent observation and interaction within the living units. The official page also ties the operation to New York Correction Law and State Commission of Correction standards for local correctional facilities.

The county jail page screenshot below comes from the official Schoharie County Correctional Facility page, which is the local source for the jail's contact, capacity, mail, vendor, bail, visitation, PREA, and history information.

Schoharie County Correctional Facility Capacity and Population

The facility capacity and population figures come from two different kinds of sources. The county's own jail page gives the rated maximum capacity: 69 inmates. The public population counts come from DCJS/SCOC jail population reporting. In May 2026, the monthly report showed a Schoharie County Jail facility census of 17, 1 boarded out, 4 boarded in, and 19 in house. Because the county census and in-house number count different things, the facility census is the cleaner count of Schoharie County jail population, while the in-house count reflects people physically held at the jail after accounting for boarded-in inmates.

The same May 2026 monthly row showed 2 sentenced inmates, 1 civil category, 0 federal inmates, 0 technical parole violators, 1 state-ready inmate, and 16 other unsentenced. The annual DCJS report showed a 2025 census of 21 and annual in-house count of 20. Against a 69-person capacity, the May 2026 in-house count was about 28% of capacity, and the May 2026 facility census was about 25% of capacity. The public data reviewed did not show an overcrowding pattern.

How to Look Up an Inmate at Schoharie County Correctional Facility

No official public web roster was found in the Schoharie County or Sheriff's Office materials reviewed for this facility. The county jail page does not publish a browser-accessible inmate search, booking report, roster profile, or mugshot gallery. For a current county-jail custody check, start with the jail phone line and then use the official app, records, notification, court, state, federal, and immigration paths only when they fit the custody type.

1. Call Schoharie County Correctional Facility at 518-295-2264 for current local custody, release, visitation, mail, bail, and facility-status questions.
2. Use the official Schoharie County Sheriff (NY) mobile app as a county-supported information channel. The app is listed for iOS and Android, but the store descriptions reviewed did not verify an inmate roster or mugshot tool.
3. For sheriff-generated incident, accident, arrest, or complaint records, use Sheriff's Records Management. Written report requests may be mailed or made in person, and the records page lists a $5 check or money order fee for accident or incident reports.
4. For formal county public-records access, use the Schoharie County FOIL process. New York FOIL may allow access to releasable records, but investigatory, privacy, and statutory exemptions can apply.
5. Register or search with New York VINE for custody notification and status-change alerts. VINE is useful for notification, but it is not the same as a county roster.
6. Search NY WebCriminal for criminal cases with future appearance dates. WebCriminal helps with court events and filed charges, not jail housing.
7. Use the DOCCS incarcerated lookup only after a person has been sentenced or transferred to New York state-prison custody.
8. Use the BOP inmate locator for federal sentenced custody, U.S. Marshals channels for federal pretrial custody, and ICE ODLS for immigration detention when those systems apply.

Schoharie County Correctional Facility Address and Contact

Use the jail phone number for custody and facility questions. Use Sheriff's Records Management for sheriff-generated reports and written records requests. The jail and Sheriff's Office are based at the Howes Cave public safety facility, but inmate mail uses the post office box format listed in the mail section below rather than lobby package drop-off.

Visiting Someone at Schoharie County Correctional Facility

The official public visitation rules set a reservation-based weekend schedule. Visitors must call 518-295-2264 between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday before the upcoming visitation weekend. Calls outside that window are not accepted for reservations, and slots are first-come, first-served.

Each incarcerated person receives one hour Saturday and one hour Sunday during a visitation weekend. Visitors must arrive at least 30 minutes early to sign in. Late arrival can result in denial. Valid current photo ID is required. The rules also require screening, search compliance, storage of personal property in a vehicle or lobby locker, and clothing compliance. Visitors under 18 must be accompanied by an adult parent or legal guardian and need proper documentation, including a birth certificate when required by the rules.

Clothing restrictions include see-through clothing, tank tops, bathing suits, sleeveless shirts, bare midriffs, bare backs, plunging necklines, revealing tops, hooded garments, lack of footwear, gang-identifying clothing, and clothing with obscene language or drug, sex, or violence references. Outerwear, hats, scarves, jewelry, watches, and wearable fitness devices generally must be removed, with limited staff-approved exceptions such as wedding bands and religious headwear subject to search.

Mail, Phone, and Money at Schoharie County Correctional Facility

Mail must go to the facility post office box. Use the incarcerated person's first and last name, and put the sender's first and last name plus complete return address in the upper-left corner. Incoming mail is inspected for contraband. Privileged mail from attorneys, courts, legal service organizations, and government officials is inspected in the inmate's presence. The research materials state that envelopes are destroyed after the contents are delivered and that postage stamps may not be received in correspondence.

Visitors should not bring packages, books, magazines, or other property to leave in the lobby. The rules identify money deposited in the lobby kiosk as the visitor-delivered item accepted for an incarcerated person. General package items such as magazines, softcover books, and newspapers must be mailed directly from a company whose ordinary business includes sale and shipping. Commissary packages use the approved vendor channels referenced by the county jail page.

Booking and Intake at Schoharie County Correctional Facility

A local arrest in Schoharie County may come from the Sheriff's Office, Cobleskill Police, New York State Police, SUNY police, or another agency operating in the county. If custody is required, the person may be taken to Schoharie County Correctional Facility for intake or held pending court action. The county does not publish a minute-by-minute booking procedure, so practical confirmation of current custody should come from the jail phone line.

The usual local sequence is arrest, transport to the jail or court depending on the situation, identification, search and property inventory, booking paperwork, fingerprinting and photograph when required by law and procedure, medical and mental-health screening, classification, housing assignment, phone access, and arraignment or another court appearance. Court orders then control bail, release, remand, or other conditions. Posting bail on one case may not lead to release if another warrant, parole hold, state-ready transfer, federal hold, ICE detainer, or court order remains active.

History, Programs, PREA, and Conditions Reporting

The Schoharie jail history is unusually local. The former jail in the Village of Schoharie was destroyed by Hurricane Irene in August 2011. The county reports that inmates were safely transported that day to Albany County Correctional Facility. Albany then served as the primary boarding facility for people committed to the custody of the Schoharie County Sheriff until the new Howes Cave jail opened. In September 2020, Schoharie County inmates returned from Albany and moved into the new facility.

That history explains the older jail population reports. From 2016 through 2019, DCJS annual data showed Schoharie census numbers but zero in-house population because the county was boarding people elsewhere. The return to Howes Cave changed the operational picture: the annual in-house count moved from 5 in 2020 to 13 in 2021, 21 in 2022, 28 in 2023, 24 in 2024, and 20 in 2025. The modern facility uses direct-supervision housing rather than the older jail's linear design.

The county jail page states that civilian staff provide food, medical, dental, mental-health, and educational services. Volunteer staff provide substance-abuse counseling and religious services. No separate public program calendar, GED schedule, vocational list, or reentry coordinator page was found in the research materials, so family members with urgent medical or mental-health concerns should call the facility directly.

The facility has a PREA zero-tolerance policy for sexual abuse and sexual harassment. Reports can be made verbally, in writing, anonymously in writing, or by telephone using jail administrator contact information. The policy applies to employees, inmates, visitors, civilian staff, and volunteers. The jail page also states that Schoharie County Correctional Facility does not participate in segregated confinement as standard practice, except for a facility-wide emergency or medical or mental-health treatment circumstances, and the county maintains a public segregated-confinement statistics index for Commission of Correction reporting.