Vista Detention Facility

The Detention Services Bureau of the San Diego County Sheriff's Office operates the Vista Detention Facility (VDF) in Vista, California. It is one of seven detention facilities located throughout San Diego County, and serves as the primary intake point for male and female arrestees in northern San Diego County.

This 170,000 square-foot facility opened in 1978 and has been remodeled twice. It currently has the capacity to house 886 inmates. 

VDF is just one building in the massive North County Regional Center complex (NCRC). Other buildings include the North County Superior Courts, Vista Sheriff’s Station, and the North County Law Library. All buildings (except the Law Library) are physically connected.

The population at Vista consists mostly of inmates waiting for court proceedings for cases in northern San Diego county. In addition, VDF also houses a special handling inmate population, which consists of those with medical challenges, those under psychiatric care, an administrative segregation unit, as well as defendants facing high-publicity trials.

Inmate Search

To find out if your loved one is being held in a Vista Detention Facility facility, click here or use VINE (see below). 

VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday)

Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) is a free and anonymous telephone service that provides victims of crime both information and notification. VINE monitors the custody status of offenders in the Vista Detention Facility and receives updated information every 15 minutes.

The Toll Free Number for California VINE is 1.877.411.5588. Anyone can call the California State VINE line to determine an inmate's custody status. To search for offender information, callers will need one of the following items:

• Offender name or alias
• Secondary search option (if there is more than one offender with the same name), such as:
  • Arrest date
  • Date of birth
  • Middle initial
  • Offender identification number

VINE will let callers know about the offender's current custody status, the location of the inmate, and their offender number.

Prison Insights

Visiting Hours and Rules

Due to COVID-19, visitation at the Vista Detention Facility may be suspended. Please call the Sheriff's Custody Information Office at (760) 936-0014 for information and to schedule your in-person or video visit.

The visiting room operates with strict protocols in place to protect from COVID-19. Guidelines include mandatory face coverings, symptom and temperature screenings, and limiting visitors to one adult and one child per visit. 

Visit Reminders

• Visits are scheduled on a first come, first served basis and are subject to change without notice.
• You must check in 30 MINUTES prior to your scheduled visit.
• NO same day visits are allowed.
• Visit reservations must be scheduled 24-hours in advance via the Sheriff's Custody Information Office at (760) 936-0014.
• Visitors under the age of 18 years must be accompanied by a qualified adult who possesses valid photo identification and is cleared for visits. 
• Only those visitors with the valid photo identification will be allowed to visit.
• A maximum of three visitors (including children) may visit an inmate at any one time. Minors must be accompanied by their parent or legal/court appointed guardian.
• Nothing is to be brought into the facility except I.D. and car keys. The following items are specifically prohibited: purses or bags, diapers, diaper bags, toys, food or beverages, pets, firearms, knives, or other weapons, drugs or alcohol, and cigarettes.

Visiting Schedule

Video Visit Times (schedule based on housing unit)

N1, N4, N5, N6, S1-S6, M2, M3, E5, LW3, UW1-UW6  - 30 Minute Visits

N2, N3, E4, E6 - 30 Minute Visits

In Person Visitation Times

Lower West - Disabled Visitors - 30 Minute Visits

Lower West 3 (LW3) - 30 Minute Visits

 Upper West 1 (UW1) - 30 Minute Visits

Upper West 2 (UW2) - 30 Minute Visits

Upper West 3 (UW3) - 30 Minute Visits

Upper West 4 (UW4) - 30 Minute Visits

Upper West 5 (UW5) - 30 Minute Visits

Upper West 6 (UW6) - 30 Minute Visits

East House 2 (EH2) - 30 Minute Visits

East House 3 (EH3) - 30 Minute Visits

East House 4 (EH4) - 30 Minute Visits

East House 5 (EH5) - 30 Minute Visits

East House 6 (EH6) - 30 Minute Visits

North House 1 (N1) - 30 Minute Visits

North House 2 (NH2) - 30 Minute Visits

North House 3 (NH3) - 30 Minute Visits

North House 4 (NH4) - 30 Minute Visits

North House 5 (NH5) - 30 Minute Visits

North House 6 (NH6) - 30 Minute Visits

M2 - 30 Minute Visits

M3 - 30 Minute Visits

Medical Isolation - 30 Minute Visits

South House 1 (S1) - 30 Minute Visits

South House 2 & 3 (S2,S3) - 60 Minute Visits

South House 4 (S4) - 30 Minute Visits

South House 5 (S5) - 30 Minute Visits

South House 6 (S6) - 30 Minute Visits

Rules for incoming inmate mail

All inmate mail must have a return address, the inmate’s full name under which they are booked, and the correct booking number.

Mail that contains any of the following will be rejected: 

• Items that cannot be inspected without damaging (e.g., multilayered cards, Polaroids, laminated or glued items, etc.).
• Items containing foil or metal of any type, glass, wood, hard plastic, rubber, hair, leaves, flowers, paperclips, jewelry, staples, whiteout, colored paper, tracing paper, heavy art paper, glitter, confetti, stickers, tape, glue, paint, watercolors, tobacco products, other prohibited substances or any items written in crayon, chalk, or markers. 
• Items that may compromise the security of the facility. 
• Wall posters, travel brochures, catalogs, wall calendars or any other item larger than a legal-size piece of paper. 
• Personal photographs that contain nudity, partial nudity or are sexually suggestive.
• Photographs depicting gangs, gang hand gestures, weapons, drugs, or unlawful activities.
• Any material tending to incite or promote racism, violence or any other prohibited conduct. 
• Photographs can be no larger than 4”x6”. 
• Mail containing correspondence material (i.e., envelopes, paper, pencils, stamps, etc.) will not be accepted. All correspondence material must be purchased through the Sheriff's commissary. 
• Any item that contains any unknown substance or unknown odor (e.g., stains, lipstick, perfume, smoke, etc.). 

Deputies review everything sent into the facility. Do not send cash, stamps, coins, drugs, cigarettes or any other property with your letter. 

Instructions for sending email to your inmate

Search for your inmate on the San Diego County Sheriff's Department Who’s in Jail page using the inmate’s name. To prevent spelling conflicts, you may search using only the first two letters of the first and last name.

When you submit that search, you will get a screen asking you to enter a 5-letter code. Enter the five letters and submit it—the letters are not case sensitive.

Next, the result list should include one or more names. Click on the last name of the correct inmate to view the inmate’s page in the Who’s in Jail system. Please note that the last name may not look like a link, but it is.

There is an envelope icon located about halfway down the page that you can click in order to send a message. When you do so, you will be asked to verify your email address. 

How to Call an Inmate

Inmates at the Vista Detention Facility cannot receive incoming phone calls. However, they have access to phones and can make outgoing calls from the inmate housing area on a daily basis. 

How to Send Money

To deposit money into an inmate's account—or to send a care package—click here for the San Diego Sheriff's Office online commissary.

In order to send money or place an order, you'll need to provide the Booking Number that identifies the inmate you are placing the order for. If you don't know the Booking Number of the inmate, you will be able to verify the inmate's booking number from the checkout page.

Money deposited to the inmate’s account is available the moment it is processed and approved. Gift packs are delivered Monday through Friday in the evening. For orders placed before 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, delivery is scheduled the same day.

Programs For Inmates

Educational Courses

Educational courses offered at Vista Detention Facility include High School Equivalency and Computer Literacy. College-level courses are provided by Southwestern Community College, Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College, and Palomar Community College. 

STEM workshops are offered that cover scientific investigation, concepts in biology, DNA and genetics.  

Vocational Opportunities

Vocational program participants learn valuable skills and may receive certifications, preparing them for employment opportunities in the community after their release. 

Vocational opportunities at the facility include Culinary Arts, Commercial Laundry, Industrial Sewing, Landscape Maintenance, Construction Trades, and CIVICS.

Commercial Laundry:

This program gives students instruction and hands-on experience in various commercial laundry operations.  Students work in a variety of different areas, including receiving and sorting garments for cleaning, operating and controlling industrial washing machines and drying machines, preparing products for storage, and dispatch. 

CIVICS:

The Community Involved Vocational Inmate Crew Services (CIVICS) program is a partnership between the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the San Diego County Parks and Recreation Department in an effort to complete various park projects throughout the county. 

Construction Trade:

This program provides practical, commercial-level experience in the construction field. Students work on such projects as carpentry, masonry-concrete, plumbing, electrical, drywall, painting, welding and other areas of expertise involving tenant improvements, remodeling, and small building structures.

Culinary Arts:

Students in this program work in the kitchen and the coffee cart. They learn about sanitation, safety, terminology, weights and measurements, functions of ingredients, recipes, and formulas. 

Wellness

Yoga is offered as a stress management tool through different exercises and meditation. 

Trauma Art workshops are taught by an artist to help participants use drawing techniques of lines, figures, perspective, etc. to process their emotions.

Theater Arts offers inmates a creative outlet via a partnership with The Old Globe and Playwright Projects. 

The Old Globe program examines Shakespearean and other theatrical characters through reading and the performance of monologues. Participants perform at least one published monologue-style piece, develop, write and edit at least one original personal narrative piece. 

Participants in the Playwright Project develop their own script for a play with the mission of improving literacy, communication, and creativity.

Psycho-Social

Psycho-social classes include Thinking for a Change, a 12-week course addressing self-cognitive change, social skills and problem solving. Beyond Anger and Violence focuses on anger along with the traumas experienced while addressing cognitive behavioral restructuring and grounding skills for trauma triggers. 

Veterans Moving Forward

In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Vista Detention Facility opened the first ever Veteran’s Module in the San Diego jail system in 2013. 

The Veterans Moving Forward program is dedicated to helping incarcerated veterans by providing them the necessary programs while in custody. Along with services and community resources to reduce their rate of recidivism.

Pictures of Vista Detention Facility

Careers at Vista Detention Facility

If you are interested in a career with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and would like more information about the job openings in the Vista Detention Facility, click here.