Duffield Jail Custody
Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority lists the Duffield facility as one of its regional jail locations and gives the facility address and phone line for public contact. For Lee County jail purposes, this is the key local facility. The Lee County Sheriff's Office publishes weekly arrest and jail commit reports, and the inspected June 2026 report repeatedly identified the location as SWVRJA Duffield. That means a search for a recent Lee County arrest usually begins with the regional jail authority, not with a separate "Lee County Jail" page.
The custody mix is local and regional. Duffield can hold male and female pretrial detainees, local sentenced inmates, probation or parole violators, and people committed by law enforcement or court order from Lee County and nearby Southwest Virginia jurisdictions. A pretrial detainee is a person held while a case is still pending. A local sentenced inmate is serving a shorter jail sentence or waiting on transfer. Those groups are different from federal prisoners at United States Penitentiary Lee and from sentenced Virginia prisoners in VADOC custody.
The official SWVRJA current-inmates path is also the best place to confirm whether a person is still in custody. Weekly sheriff reports can show recent commits, charges, courts, and booking dates, but they are snapshots. A person may bond out, transfer, or be released after the PDF is posted.
Duffield Jail Capacity
The strongest official capacity source for Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority - Duffield Facility is the State Board of Local and Regional Jails Capacity Report dated October 1, 2025. The Duffield row lists permanent beds, temporary beds, special-purpose beds, rated capacity, and actual capacity including double-bunking. The report also warns that jail capacity is not a simple single number, because classification, medical housing, segregation, security level, and special housing can limit how beds are used.
| Capacity measure | Official figure | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent beds | 657 | Regular bed count reported for Duffield. |
| Temporary beds | 100 | Separate temporary-bed category in the BLRJ report. |
| Special-purpose beds | 103 | Used for housing needs that may not function like general-population beds. |
| Rated capacity | 405 | Design capacity assigned for the jail. |
| Actual capacity including double-bunking | 760 | Budget-reporting measure, not a guarantee that every bed is usable for every classification. |
Do not assign the SWVRJA combined annualized average daily population to Duffield alone. The research source notes that the combined ADP covers the regional authority's Abingdon, Duffield, Haysi, and Tazewell facilities, so it should not be treated as a Duffield-only count or as a Lee County-only jail population.
Duffield Jail Roster Search
The correct online path for a current Duffield inmate lookup is SWVRJA's Current Facility Inmates page, which routes users to the Public Safety Cloud JailTracker roster. The roster is regional, so the result must be checked for the facility or location field. For Lee County arrests, the sheriff's recent commit reports point to "SWVRJA Duffield" as the relevant location, while other SWVRJA facilities may appear for other counties.
The official roster application was captured as a public JailTracker shell. The app strings and the sheriff's weekly JailTracker PDF show the main fields a user should expect: first and last name search, current-only filtering, facility, booking dates, charges, court, bond, holds, cases, and possible image fields when enabled. If the roster does not load, the fallback chain is phone, records request, VADOC, BOP, ICE, and Virginia VINE.
- Open the SWVRJA current-inmates page and follow the JailTracker link for current facility inmates.
- Search by last name first. Add a first name if the result list is too broad or the name is common.
- Complete any captcha or search-type prompt before submitting the roster query.
- Check the facility field for SWVRJA Duffield before treating the result as a Lee County regional jail match.
- Open the profile when the roster allows it and review booking date, charge, bond, hold, court, and release-status fields.
- If no result appears, call Duffield or check the statewide and federal locators, because the person may have been released, transferred, or booked into a different custody system.
The official SWVRJA current-inmates page shows the public entry point used for the regional JailTracker roster.
That source page matters because it is maintained by the jail authority, while the sheriff's weekly reports are useful recent-commit snapshots rather than the live roster.
| Search or result field | Use for Duffield lookup |
|---|---|
| First Name / Last Name | Name search fields identified in JailTracker app strings. |
| Current inmates only | Filters toward people still in custody when enabled. |
| Facility | Confirms whether the person is at SWVRJA Duffield or another SWVRJA site. |
| Booking date | Helps match a person to a recent arrest or weekly commit report. |
| Charges and court | Shows booking charge lines and the related court when the profile provides them. |
| Bond and holds | Flags release conditions, detainers, or other custody reasons when available. |
Duffield Jail Contact
Questions about a current Duffield inmate, roster problem, visit issue, or inmate-service account should start with the jail authority or the facility line. The Lee County Sheriff's Office can answer sheriff-record questions and local law-enforcement questions, but SWVRJA controls the custody roster, inmate services, mail routing, video visitation, phone accounts, commissary deposits, and jail authority FOIA requests.
Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority - Duffield Facility
1037 Boone Trail Road
Duffield, VA 24244
276-690-9550 / 276-431-8000
Fax: 276-431-8017
SWVRJA FOIA Contact
Melissa White
P.O. Box 279
Meadowview, VA 24361
276-739-3520
mmwhite@swvrja.com
The SWVRJA contact page lists Duffield with its address, phone, and fax, along with the other regional jail authority facilities.
Use that official contact table to avoid mixing Duffield with Abingdon, Haysi, or Tazewell when a roster result names a regional facility.
Duffield Jail Visitation
SWVRJA visitation for Duffield is built around remote video sessions through Smart Communications. The posted rules say remote visits run daily in set windows, must be scheduled in advance, and are subject to monitoring and recording. Onsite video visitation is posted as suspended, so a person should not drive to Duffield assuming a public lobby visit is available. Visitors must be on the inmate's approved visitor list, and valid photo identification is required if onsite visiting resumes.
| Visit item | SWVRJA rule | Practical note |
|---|---|---|
| Remote video | Monday through Sunday, 7:30-10:30 a.m.; 1:30-4:30 p.m.; 8:00-10:00 p.m. | Schedule through Smart Communications. |
| Scheduling | At least 24 hours before the appointment, up to two weeks ahead. | Last-minute visit requests may fail. |
| Length | 15 minutes. | Keep account funds ready before the session starts. |
| Cost | $0.33 per minute after connection. | Cost comes from the Smart Communications account. |
| Onsite video | Posted as currently suspended. | Call Duffield before any travel plan. |
| ID and approval | Photo ID and approved visitor list rules apply. | Name and ID details should match the approved visitor record. |
The SWVRJA video visitation page gives the remote visit windows, scheduling rule, cost, identification rules, and dress restrictions.
The visit table is especially important for Lee County families because Duffield is outside the Jonesville courthouse area and remote video is the posted default.
Dress restrictions are detailed. SWVRJA bars sheer or mesh clothing, excessive exposure, tight body-accenting clothing, short skirts or dresses more than four inches above the knee, shorts except for minor children, non-approved hats, gang or obscene messages, and clothing that resembles uniforms or inmate clothing. Visits can also be cancelled or changed for holidays, safety, inmate programs, court, trustee assignments, community release programs, or attorney visits.
Duffield Jail Mail Money
Mail and money at Duffield follow SWVRJA rules, not a Lee County sheriff mailbox. Personal mail is routed through Smart Communications for scanning. Legal mail and money orders for Duffield use the Duffield P.O. box. Because originals are destroyed after scanning, family members should not send original birth certificates, Social Security cards, marriage certificates, or photos they need returned.
| Service | Provider or address | Fee or rule |
|---|---|---|
| Personal mail | Smart Communications, P.O. Box 9113, Seminole, FL 33775 | Include inmate name and ID number clearly. |
| Legal mail | Inmate name, P.O. Box 367, Duffield, VA 24244 | Must be marked as legal mail from a qualifying sender. |
| Lobby kiosk | Facility lobby kiosk | Cash, credit, and debit accepted; $3.25 cash deposit fee. |
| Cash bills | Kiosk accepts $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills | Funds post in real time. |
| JailATM | Online deposit vendor linked by SWVRJA | Use the inmate identity details from the roster. |
| Phone and messages | Smart Communications / SmartInmate | Voicemail costs $1.00; electronic messages cost 50 credits or $0.50 per sent message. |
| Money order | Inmate name, P.O. Box 367, Duffield, VA 24244 | Only money orders by mail; must include sender name, return address, and inmate ID. |
The SWVRJA inmate funds page identifies kiosk, JailATM, and money-order options for commissary deposits.
Deposit method matters because mailed cash is not the same as a money order, and a missing inmate ID can delay or prevent posting.
Duffield Jail Records
For custody records held by the regional jail authority, use the SWVRJA FOIA contact. The research identifies Melissa White as the SWVRJA FOIA officer, with mail, phone, fax, and email channels. Virginia FOIA can support requests for public jail authority records, but law-enforcement and criminal-investigation records may have limits, redactions, or release rules under Virginia law.
For recent Lee County booking snapshots, the sheriff's Busted archive links weekly JailTracker PDFs. Those PDFs are not the same as a live roster. They can help when a person was booked during a recent week and no longer appears in the current-inmates search, but the current custody decision should still be checked with SWVRJA Duffield or the live roster. For a broader walk-through of current local custody records, the Lee County jail inmate records page separates roster fields, weekly reports, VADOC, BOP, ICE, and VINE.
Note: A weekly commit report can preserve a booking event after the live roster changes, but it does not prove current custody.
Duffield PREA Oversight
SWVRJA posts a Prison Rape Elimination Act page with a zero-tolerance policy for inmate-on-inmate sexual assault or abuse and staff sexual misconduct or harassment. For Duffield, the research lists a PREA contact extension at 276-431-8000 ext. 2072. SWVRJA states that allegations are investigated, and substantiated findings are referred to Virginia State Police for further investigation and possible criminal proceedings. Incidents of sexual abuse may be referred for prosecution to the Commonwealth's Attorney.
Oversight also comes through the State Board of Local and Regional Jails. The BLRJ annual inspections and audits report says compliance staff conduct annual in-person life, health, and safety inspections and triennial certification audits for local and regional jails, lockups, and federal detention centers. Those reviews test compliance with Virginia's minimum standards for jails and lockups. Capacity and operations still have to be read facility by facility, because bed counts do not show medical, security, or segregation pressure by themselves.
Lee County Custody Caveat
Lee County custody searches have a name problem. "Lee inmate search" can mean a Lee County arrest routed to SWVRJA Duffield, a sentenced federal inmate at USP Lee, a person under VADOC custody after a state sentence, or an immigration detainee checked through ICE ODLS. Duffield is the local and regional jail path. It is not the federal prison, and it is not searched through the BOP locator.
When a roster search fails, use custody type as the next filter. A person held after a local arrest or court order may still be at Duffield. A person sentenced to federal prison should be checked through BOP. A person sentenced to Virginia state prison should be checked through VADOC. A victim or family member who needs notification can also use Virginia VINE. The United States Penitentiary Lee inmate lookup page covers the federal route for the other Lee County facility.
Note: Confirm custody, visit status, and mail rules with Duffield before travel, mailing documents, or sending money.