Fresno County's roster returns a housing code such as MJ or WJ, and the county publishes no legend explaining what those letters mean. Start with a name below and we will find them.
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Fresno County runs a live roster called the Incarcerated Person Search, and it is one of the better county tools in California: you can search by booking number or by name, wildcards work, and the record that comes back carries the booking date, the charges, the bail amount and the housing location. That last field is the one families need most and understand least, because it names a building, floor and pod in a code the county never explains. There is also a separate 72-hour booking log, which is where to look in the first hours after an arrest.
Fresno County publishes two separate lookups, and using the wrong one is why people conclude their relative is not there.
The Incarcerated Person Search at publicinfo.fresnosheriff.org is the live roster of everyone currently in custody. This is the one to use for anything ongoing: visits, mail, deposits, court dates.
The 72-hour booking blotter is a different page, and it lists people booked in the last three days regardless of whether they are still held. If someone was arrested this morning, the blotter will usually show them before the roster settles.
Enter a last name. First name is optional, which matters more than it sounds, because Fresno’s records use legal names rather than the name a family uses day to day.
The county documents a wildcard: an asterisk stands in for the rest of a name. Searching Jo* returns Jones, Johnson, Jordan and so on. Use it whenever the spelling is uncertain, which is most of the time with hyphenated and compound surnames.
If the name search returns nothing, try the booking number instead. The booking number is on any paperwork from the arrest, and it is the only field that returns exactly one person.
This is where families get stuck.
The record returns a housing location that combines a building code with a floor and a pod, along the lines of a two-letter code followed by numbers and a letter. The building codes in use are the Main Jail, the North Annex, the West Annex and the Pretrial Facility.
The county publishes no legend anywhere. Not on the search page, not in the jail section of the site. So the code is meaningful to staff and opaque to everyone else.
Why it matters: the visiting schedule at this jail is organised by building, then by floor, then by pod. Until you know which building the code means, you cannot work out when you are allowed to visit. Call 559-475-9491 and ask them to translate it. It is a one-minute call and it saves a wasted drive downtown.
If a search result, an older printout or another website refers to the South Annex, that building no longer exists. The Sheriff’s Office states it permanently closed on December 14, 2024, and the West Annex at 2208 Merced Street opened the same day to replace it.
Some pages on the county’s own website still describe the jail as three buildings including the South Annex. Treat any page mentioning it as out of date, including for visiting hours.
A few honest reasons, in the order they are most likely.
They were booked minutes ago. Check the 72-hour blotter rather than the roster.
The name is spelled differently. Try the wildcard, or search the last name alone.
They were released. The roster carries current custody only, and there is no public release history.
They are in a different county’s custody, or with CDCR. Someone sentenced to state prison leaves the jail. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) runs its own statewide lookup, and a person transferred there stops appearing in Fresno’s roster entirely.
They are held on a federal matter. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) publishes a separate locator.
Write down the booking number and the Jail Identification number the moment you find the record. Every other thing you might want to do at this jail depends on those two numbers: mail is returned without them, a TouchPay deposit needs the booking number, and the visiting desk asks for them.
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Use the Incarcerated Person Search at publicinfo.fresnosheriff.org. You can search by booking number, which returns exactly one person, or by last name with the first name left blank. The county supports an asterisk wildcard, so Jo* will return Jones, Johnson and Jordan, which helps when a spelling is uncertain.
Inmate SearchIt names the building, floor and pod, using a short code such as MJ, NJ, WJ or PJ followed by a floor and pod identifier. Fresno County publishes no legend for these codes anywhere on its site. Call 559-475-9491 and ask which building the code refers to, because the visiting schedule is organised by building, floor and pod, and the answer decides when you are allowed to come.
Inmate SearchThe live roster can lag the arrest by a few hours. Fresno County also publishes a separate 72-hour booking blotter listing everyone booked in the last three days, and that is usually where a fresh arrest appears first. If neither shows the person after a day, call 559-475-9491.
Inmate SearchNo. The Sheriff's Office states the South Annex Jail permanently closed on December 14, 2024, replaced the same day by the West Annex at 2208 Merced Street. Older pages, including some still on the county's own website, describe the South Annex as operating. Anything referring to it, including a visiting schedule, is out of date.
Inmate SearchBooking date, the charges, the bail amount, and the housing location. It does not show a release date, court dates, or anything about medical or classification status. Court dates live in the Fresno County Superior Court's own system, not the Sheriff's roster.
Inmate SearchThe booking number and the Jail Identification number, both. Every other process at this jail depends on them: mail without both numbers and the facility code 1900 is returned to sender, a TouchPay deposit requires the booking number, and the visiting desk will ask.
Inmate SearchThe roster carries people currently in Fresno County custody, so a person disappears on release or on transfer. If they were sentenced to state prison they move to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which runs its own statewide lookup. A federal matter moves them to the Federal Bureau of Prisons locator instead.
Inmate SearchFirst come, first serve, on a schedule set by floor and pod.
View ArticleTouchPay only, facility 293721, with fees the county actually publishes.
View ArticleViaPath since 2021, plus a $1 voicemail line most families never hear about.
View ArticleThe 1900 code, and a 30-day window before your original is destroyed.
View ArticleSearch for your loved one and start sending photos, letters, and messages today.
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All information on this page comes directly from official government and facility sources. How we verify information › Last verified September 8, 2026.