Search the ICE Detainee Locator
The official ICE Online Detainee Locator System, often shortened to ODLS, provides two main search paths. One uses the person's A-number with country of birth. The other uses biographical name information. Enter the identifiers exactly and compare the complete result rather than relying on a partial same-name match.
- Open ODLS and choose the A-number or biographical search method.
- For an A-number search, enter the number and country of birth as requested.
- For a name search, enter the biographical fields shown by the interface, including the correct spelling and name order.
- Read the matching custody or facility information exactly as displayed and record the search time.
- Use the contact or ERO field-office information presented by ICE for the appropriate follow-up.
- Compare the result with the PRJ transfer entry when the inquiry began with an Amelia local custody event.
Do not publish a guessed result or expose an A-number unnecessarily. It is a sensitive identifier and should be handled with care. Search variants may be needed when names contain multiple family names, hyphens, or spelling differences. The correct record must align with more than a name.
Note: Keep the ODLS search time and exact status wording because immigration custody and facility assignments can change between checks.
ICE Locator Limits for Amelia
A negative ODLS result is not definitive. The system has eligibility and timing limits, some people are not displayed, and transfers can occur before a public result catches up. Misspelled biographical data or an incorrect country of birth can also block a match. A missing result should be recorded as “not located as of” the search time, not as proof that ICE never took custody.
ODLS is also a custody locator, not a permanent released-person archive. Its value can diminish after ICE custody ends. When no current record appears, use the PRJ transfer notation, the ICE contact route shown by the official system, and any controlling immigration or federal record available to the authorized requester. The destination matters as much as the departure.
| Finding | Safe interpretation |
|---|---|
| Current ODLS match | ICE reports the person through the location or custody information displayed at the time checked. |
| No ODLS match | The person was not located with those inputs at that time; it does not prove release. |
| PRJ transfer to ICE | Regional-jail custody ended through a handoff to immigration authority. |
| PRJ release with no receiving agency | More confirmation is needed before assigning an ICE or community destination. |
| Past ICE custody | Historical confirmation may require agency records beyond the current locator. |
The failed project screenshot of ODLS is not used. An error capture cannot demonstrate a working search, field label, or result. The official live page remains the source, and every label should be copied from the interface actually displayed during the search.
PRJ Records Bridge ICE Custody
For an Amelia adult local detainee, PRJ owns the regional-jail booking and departure event. Its current offender lookup covers people incarcerated at PRJ and under its custody. When a name disappears, the public tool does not explain whether the person entered the community, moved to VADOC, went to another jail, or was transferred under federal or immigration authority.
Request the existing PRJ release entry. Ask for the booked name, booking number, release or transfer date and time, release type, authority, receiving agency, and detainer or hold disposition. Include the Amelia arresting, committing, or court identifiers so the request is tied to the right member county and case. A receiving-agency field naming ICE is the bridge to ODLS and ERO follow-up.
A court disposition may explain why the Amelia criminal detention ended, but it does not decide the immigration case. Likewise, an ICE result does not rewrite the state or local case. Keep the two legal tracks separate. The Amelia County released-inmate search path provides the broader PRJ and court sequence before a federal follow-on search is added.
Read Amelia Immigration Detainers Correctly
A detainer does not itself show that ICE took physical custody. It can affect how a local facility handles a departure, but the PRJ record should state what actually occurred. Ask whether another agency received the person and on what date. Avoid treating the existence of a request as the completed transfer.
Several events may appear close together: a local court order, PRJ's release processing, an interagency handoff, ICE intake, and a later facility assignment. Preserve each source and time. A person can be “released from PRJ” while still detained elsewhere, because the statement names only the custodian that ended its hold.
- Immigration detainer
- A request or process under immigration authority, not a criminal sentence.
- ICE transfer
- A handoff into federal civil immigration custody.
- Community release
- The available records support return to the community rather than another custodian.
- Discharge
- Use this term only when an official source says the relevant custody or process ended.
Note: A PRJ release time and an ICE intake time may differ, so do not force both events into one unsupported timestamp.
Confirm ICE Release or Transfer
Start with the last verified custodian. If PRJ records the handoff, search ODLS and use the ERO field office or contact information displayed by ICE. Ask a narrow custody question and provide the identifying information required by the agency. If ICE then moved the person, seek the named facility or field-office record. If ICE custody ended, request the official status or release information available through the proper channel.
Record who supplied the answer, the agency unit, the date, and the exact custody system discussed. A statement that ICE no longer holds someone does not establish where that person went next. Ask whether the available record identifies a transfer or other destination, and avoid adding a destination that the source does not give.
Do not use VINE as the default ICE source. Virginia Jail VINE follows participating local-jail events, while ICE maintains its own federal locator and contacts. A VINE event can help show departure from PRJ, yet it cannot alone identify every immigration destination or confirm later ICE release. Each platform must stay tied to its reporting agency.
Federal criminal and immigration systems also differ. BOP covers sentenced federal criminal custody and can show a released date for a matching record. ODLS concerns immigration detention. A person can pass between systems, but one locator cannot stand in for the other. Search a federal court docket when criminal custody is part of the trail.
ICE Locator Records and Contact
Use the official ODLS result to identify the detention facility or ERO follow-up route. ICE can change locations and contact details, so a hard-coded Amelia office would be inaccurate and unsupported. The live locator and official ICE facility information should control. There is no researched Amelia County ICE facility address to publish.
ICE Detention and Online Detainee Locator SystemNationwide civil immigration custody system
Online Detainee Locator System
Use the facility or ERO contact shown by ICE
For PRJ's own transfer record, contact Piedmont Regional Jail at 801 Industrial Park Road, Farmville, VA 23901, or P.O. Drawer 388, Farmville, VA 23901. The main telephone number is (434) 392-1601, and the researched contact page lists Records at extension 732. PRJ can document its departure event, but it cannot replace ICE as custodian of the later federal record.
Retain the source URL, access date, page title, and a short statement of what each source proves. When no result is found, describe the negative finding by date and inputs. That approach preserves the difference between a search limit and a verified release.
Recheck the live ICE facility list before relying on an old location. Transfers are part of the system, and the research supports no fixed Amelia detention site. Current official information should replace assumptions based on a prior placement.