SCI Somerset Inmate Lookup

SCI Somerset Overview

SCI Somerset is operated by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections at 1590 Walters Mill Road, Somerset, Pennsylvania. PA DOC describes it as a medium-security male state correctional institution. That classification matters for records work. A new Somerset County arrest normally starts with police processing, a magisterial district judge, and possible commitment to Somerset County Jail. SCI Somerset is different. It houses sentenced adult male state prisoners and other people in PA DOC custody, so the lookup, visiting, mail, release, and account rules come from the state prison system.

The PA DOC facility page lists 63 acres inside the secure perimeter, 300 acres outside the perimeter, 10 housing units, and an average employee count of 652. The institution broke ground in 1991 and was dedicated on April 13, 1993. Those details help separate the institution from the county facilities nearby: Somerset County Jail handles local pretrial and county-sentence custody, while SCI Somerset is part of the statewide prison network.

The official PA DOC facility page for SCI Somerset is shown in the screenshot below. Open the SCI Somerset facility page before relying on any visit, mail, or contact rule because state prison procedures can change by policy notice.

The facility page is useful for institutional identity and public contact, while the separate PA DOC inmate locator is the correct search tool for an individual prisoner.

SCI Somerset Capacity and Population

The current PA DOC facility page did not publish a rated bed capacity in the research file. The sourced population figure is the PA DOC monthly population report dated May 31, 2026, which listed Somerset, code SMR, at 1,951 people. That number is a state-prison population count. It should not be added to the Somerset County Jail count when describing the county jail roster or local pretrial population.

How to Look Up an Inmate at SCI Somerset

Use the PA DOC inmate/parolee locator for SCI Somerset. PA DOC says the locator finds state-sentenced inmates and parolees in Pennsylvania, is updated daily, and excludes people incarcerated in county facilities or another state. That means a recent Somerset County booking will not be found here unless the person has moved into PA DOC custody. For a new local arrest, check PA SAVIN/VINE or the county jail route instead.

1. Open the PA DOC inmate/parolee locator or the PA DOC service page titled locate an inmate or parolee.
2. Search by last name or by PA DOC inmate number. Add a first name when the last name is common.
3. Review the result for the current facility and confirm that it lists SCI Somerset or the correct PA DOC custody status.
4. Use UJS Case Search for court dockets, charges, and sentencing entries. The DOC locator is not a full criminal docket.

A PA DOC public profile can show the DOC number, name, current facility, state custody or parole context, and related public information. PA DOC cautions that some personal information may be self-reported and not independently verified, so court and agency records should be checked when exact legal status matters.

SCI Somerset Address and Contact

Direct facility questions about SCI Somerset should go to PA DOC or the institution, not the Somerset County Sheriff, Somerset County Jail, or the county roster path. The county jail officer station can help with county custody, but it is not the normal source for a PA DOC inmate housed at this state prison.

Visiting Someone at SCI Somerset

SCI Somerset follows PA DOC prison visitation rules, not Somerset County Jail's local visitation schedule. State-prison visits generally require the inmate's approved visitor process, identity checks, scheduling rules, and compliance with PA DOC security procedures. Because the research did not capture a fixed SCI Somerset day-by-day visiting timetable, the safest documented instruction is to confirm current visit availability through PA DOC and the institution before traveling.

Mail, Phone, and Money at SCI Somerset

Mail, phone, video, and money services for SCI Somerset are controlled by PA DOC statewide policy and approved vendors. Do not use Somerset County Jail's SmartInmate instructions for a person at SCI Somerset. The county jail mail-processing address in Seminole, Florida belongs to the local jail material, not this state prison page.

State Prison Intake and County Case Records

SCI Somerset does not perform street-arrest booking for Somerset Borough Police, Pennsylvania State Police, or the Somerset County Sheriff's Office. A local arrest may involve short-term police processing, preliminary arraignment before a magisterial district judge, and county jail custody. If the case later results in a state sentence, the person may be committed to PA DOC, classified, and assigned within the state prison system. At that point, the PA DOC locator becomes the central custody lookup.

Court records remain separate. UJS Case Search is the public route for Somerset County criminal dockets, including docket number, OTN, participant name, county or judicial district filters, filed charges, events, dispositions, and sentencing entries when public. PATCH remains the official Pennsylvania State Police criminal-history background check route. A PA DOC locator result should not be treated as a complete court file or background check.

Records and Public Access for SCI Somerset

Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law presumes agency records are public unless an exemption, privilege, court order, other law, or nonpublic status applies. For state-prison records, start with PA DOC because SCI Somerset is a state institution. For Somerset County court records connected to an inmate's local prosecution, use UJS Case Search or the Somerset County Clerk of Courts. For county jail booking records, use the county Right-to-Know process. For borough police records, use the Somerset Borough open-records officer.

CHRIA, the Criminal History Record Information Act, governs criminal-history definitions, dissemination, access, correction, expungement, and limited access. That law is one reason custody information, criminal dockets, prison information, and background checks are not interchangeable. A person can have a public docket in Somerset County, a PA DOC custody record at SCI Somerset, and separate nonpublic or restricted records that do not appear in either public tool.

About SCI Somerset

SCI Somerset is one of two PA DOC prisons physically located in Somerset County. Its presence can make local inmate searches confusing because the prison population is much larger than the county jail population, yet it is not part of the county jail roster. The key distinction is custody authority: Somerset County Jail is the local jail, PA SAVIN/VINE is the county custody notification route, and PA DOC is the state prison locator route.

PA DOC reported a January 23, 2025 inmate death at SCI Somerset and stated that Pennsylvania State Police were notified and that the Somerset County Coroner's Office would determine cause of death. That is state-prison news, not county jail news. Deaths in state prisons and local jails also connect to Pennsylvania death-in-custody reporting processes through PCCD.