San Juan Holding Overview
The official San Juan County Holding Facility page describes a temporary facility in Friday Harbor, not a full-service county jail that keeps most people through every court date or jail sentence. The San Juan County Sheriff's Office operates the holding facility. The same county source says all persons taken into custody are held locally in Friday Harbor, while in-custody people awaiting trial or serving a sentence are sent to South Correctional Entity, usually called SCORE, in Des Moines.
That structure is the main fact to keep in mind when checking San Juan County custody. A person arrested in the islands may first be local, may be released before transfer, may be screened for electronic home detention after a qualifying sentence, or may later appear in SCORE's regional system. The county source does not publish a bed count, pod layout, public lobby schedule, or routine family visiting program for the local holding area. Unsupported capacity figures should not be used for the San Juan County Holding Facility inmate population.
The county screenshot below comes from the San Juan County Holding Facility source page and shows the local temporary-holding and SCORE-transfer language that controls this custody search.
The image matters because it confirms the county's own distinction between short local holding in Friday Harbor and longer regional jail custody at SCORE.
San Juan Custody Lookup
San Juan County does not publish a separate county-branded online roster for the Friday Harbor holding facility in the official pages reviewed. For a very recent arrest, call the Sheriff's Office first and ask whether the person remains at the San Juan County Holding Facility, has been released, is being handled through electronic home detention, or has been transferred to SCORE. If the person has moved to SCORE, the public lookup shifts to the SCORE Jail Inmate Lookup System.
- Call the San Juan County Sheriff's Office for a new custody event when transfer timing is unclear.
- Open the SCORE Jail Inmate Lookup System if the person may have been sent to regional jail custody.
- Use the current roster for active SCORE custody, recent bookings for new SCORE intake, and recent releases for the last-day release feed.
- Use the SCORE search page for older booking or release history, refining the search if the first result set is too broad.
- Check Washington Courts case search for court status because a jail entry is not the official court record.
This two-stage process prevents a common search error. A person can be in San Juan County custody before any SCORE entry appears, then later appear in SCORE's roster after transfer. The SCORE roster lists regional custody fields such as name number, booking number, booking date, release status, scheduled release date, and a VINE link. The local holding facility does not publish the same public list.
Important: For a same-day San Juan County arrest, the absence of a SCORE entry does not prove release.
San Juan Facility Contact
Use the Sheriff's Office contact point for local custody questions, attorney access, local reports, and questions about whether a person is still in Friday Harbor. The research did not locate a separate public phone number for the internal holding area, so the published Sheriff's Office address and phone are the supported contact details. Call before travel, especially for attorney entry, records routing, or custody confirmation.
San Juan County Holding Facility
San Juan County Sheriff's Office
96 2nd Street
Friday Harbor, WA 98250
360-378-4151
Temporary local holding facility; call ahead for custody and attorney-access questions.
| Contact Need | Where to Start |
|---|---|
| Very recent custody | San Juan County Sheriff's Office phone line |
| Transferred jail custody | SCORE Jail Inmate Lookup System or SCORE phone line |
| Local sheriff reports | San Juan County Sheriff's public-records request path |
| Court case status | Washington Courts search or the court of record |
San Juan Facility Visits
Visitation at the San Juan County Holding Facility is narrow. The county holding page states that visits are limited to attorneys only, and other visits are not permitted. Family and friend visits should not be planned for the Friday Harbor holding facility. After a transfer to SCORE, visitation changes to SCORE's Securus video-visitation process, with online registration and scheduled visit windows.
| Visitor Type | Local Holding Facility Rule | Practical Note |
|---|---|---|
| Attorney | Permitted as attorney visitation | Call the Sheriff's Office to confirm entry procedure before arrival. |
| Family or friend | Not permitted | Use SCORE visitation rules after transfer if the person remains in custody. |
| Public lobby visit | No general visit schedule published | Do not travel without custody and access confirmation. |
San Juan County's island geography adds one more practical step. Friday Harbor is on San Juan Island, and many off-island trips depend on Washington State Ferries. Attorney access, release pickup, and records visits should be coordinated with the Sheriff's Office before ferry travel. The county source did not publish parking rates, transit details, or disability-access procedures for the holding area.
San Juan Mail and Money
The San Juan County Holding Facility page does not publish a local commissary program, public money-deposit vendor, ordinary inmate mail format, or family phone-service account for the Friday Harbor holding facility. Those details should not be inferred from other counties. For someone still in local temporary custody, call the Sheriff's Office before sending anything or trying to arrange contact. For someone transferred to SCORE, use SCORE's published mail, Securus phone and video, iCARE commissary, and TouchPay trust-account rules.
| Service | San Juan Holding Facility | After SCORE Transfer |
|---|---|---|
| No public local inmate-mail format located | Use inmate full name and name number, SCORE Jail, 20817 17th Avenue South, Des Moines, WA 98198. | |
| Phone or video | No local family service schedule published | SCORE uses Securus for phone and video visitation. |
| Money deposits | No local deposit vendor published | SCORE uses TouchPay for inmate trust deposits and iCARE for commissary gifts. |
| Bail | Call for very recent local custody routing | SCORE accepts bail at its reception window for SCORE-held inmates. |
SCORE also warns families about release-payment scams. If a caller claims to work for SCORE and asks for money, use the official SCORE number instead of the caller's number. San Juan County users should apply the same caution during any custody search, since a transfer can make families more likely to rely on a phone call from an unknown person.
San Juan Jail Records
Records access depends on which agency holds the record. Local sheriff case and accident reports follow the San Juan County public-records path. SCORE jail records after transfer follow SCORE public disclosure. Court documents follow the court or clerk, not a county Public Records Act request, because Washington court records have their own access channels. A custody entry may help find a case, but it is not the final source for charges, plea status, conviction, or sentence.
Washington jail records are also limited by RCW 70.48.100, which SCORE cites on its public-records page. That statute treats jail records as confidential except for limited jail-register information, such as the arrestee's name, booking and release times, booking reason, and release reason. Complete jail files, medical records, security records, and some booking-photo requests may be withheld or reviewed before release.
| Record Type | Likely Office | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Local arrest or incident report | San Juan County Sheriff's Office | Useful for the local law-enforcement report tied to the arrest. |
| SCORE custody record | SCORE public disclosure | Applies after transfer to the regional jail. |
| Criminal case file | San Juan District Court or Superior Court Clerk | Controls the formal charge and case outcome. |
| State prison location | Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) | Applies after a state prison sentence, not local holding. |
San Juan Custody Systems
San Juan County holding, SCORE, DOC, BOP, and ICE answer different questions. The San Juan County Holding Facility is for local temporary custody. SCORE is the regional jail used for San Juan County people awaiting trial or serving jail time in custody. The Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) is for state-sentenced prison custody and supervision. The federal Bureau of Prisons locator covers federal prison custody from 1982 forward, while the ICE Online Detainee Locator System is for immigration custody.
| System | Use It For | Do Not Use It For |
|---|---|---|
| San Juan County Holding Facility | New local custody before release or transfer | Long-term public roster search |
| SCORE | Transferred jail custody, recent bookings, releases, and court-event listings | State prison sentences after DOC transfer |
| Washington DOC | State prison and DOC-supervision lookup | Fresh San Juan County arrests |
| BOP or ICE | Federal prison or immigration custody | San Juan County jail custody unless a federal or immigration transfer occurred |
No Washington DOC prison, federal Bureau of Prisons facility, or ICE detention facility was found in San Juan County in the official source sweep. That does not rule out later transfer to those systems. It means the facility search should start with San Juan County and SCORE, then move outward only when the case facts point to state, federal, or immigration custody.
San Juan EHM Custody
The Sheriff's Office also operates electronic home detention for some post-sentenced convictions. The county page says EHM is for people sentenced to less than 365 days in jail who apply by questionnaire, are scored, and are approved if they pass. Corrections officers supervise the program seven days per week. This matters for inmate lookup because a sentenced person may not always be sitting in a SCORE jail bed after conviction.
The San Juan County WA Sheriff app and tip411 program are public-safety alert and anonymous-tip channels, not inmate search tools in the official feature description located. The app may be useful for alerts, but it should not replace a custody call, SCORE roster search, court search, DOC lookup, BOP locator, or ICE locator.
Note: Confirm custody and attorney-access rules with the Sheriff's Office before traveling to Friday Harbor.