What VINELink Covers Locally
VINELink is the public web version of VINE, the National Victim Notification Network. In San Bernardino County, the important local fact is that the JIMS individual inmate record template includes a "Release Notification: VINELink Website" entry. That record-level integration means a person checking a county jail booking can move from the Sheriff's inmate locator to California VINE for status-change notification instead of treating VINE as a separate, disconnected search.
Use California VINE at https://vinelink.vineapps.com/state/CA. For San Bernardino County jail custody, VINE is most useful for a specific person: it can help confirm custody status and can send notices when the selected record has a release, transfer, escape, or other custody-status change available through the system. It is not a complete archive of every old release record. For older county jail releases, the stronger trail is JIMS by booking number or name, the San Bernardino Superior Court Access Portal, and a targeted public-records request through the county portal.
Keep the custody system straight before relying on any alert. A county detainee at Central Detention Center, West Valley Detention Center, Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center, High Desert Detention Center, or a local Type I holding facility starts with the Sheriff's JIMS locator. A person serving a California prison term at California Institution for Men, California Institution for Women, or another CDCR institution starts with CDCR/CIRIS and CDCR's release-processing vocabulary. A federal prisoner at FCC Victorville or a person held under federal authority uses BOP or U.S. Marshals channels. A person in immigration custody at Adelanto ICE Processing Center uses ICE channels.
How to Search One Person
The cleanest San Bernardino workflow is to identify the booking first, then register for the matching custody record. JIMS is the county's official starting point for a recent local booking because it can show booking number, arrest date, custody facility, projected release date, release date, released-to information, and the VINELink release-notification link. If you know the person was in a state prison rather than a county jail, begin with CDCR/CIRIS instead of JIMS.
- Open the San Bernardino County JIMS inmate locator at https://jimsnetil.shr.sbcounty.gov/bookingsearch.aspx.
- Search by booking number if you have it. If not, use name, date of birth or approximate age, and other identity fields carefully.
- Open the individual record and compare booking number, age or date of birth where shown, arrest date, arresting agency, and custody facility.
- Use the "Release Notification: VINELink Website" link on that record when it is present, or go directly to California VINE.
- Search California VINE by the person's name or ID fields available in the interface, then compare the agency and custody status before selecting a record.
- If the person is no longer visible in VINE, use JIMS, court records, or a records request. VINE is a custody-status and notification tool, not the county's permanent release-record archive.
Common names require extra care. Do not rely on a name match alone. Match the person against the booking number, age, arrest date, agency, facility, and current or released status. JIMS and the court portal may also disagree on timing because custody processing and court calendars update through different systems. A JIMS release date confirms a custody event; it does not, by itself, prove the court case is over or that supervision has ended.
What VINELink Shows
VINE labels can change, and the exact field names should be confirmed on the live record. The useful point for a San Bernardino County release check is that VINELink centers on custody status and notification, while JIMS and court records carry more of the booking and case context. Use the systems together rather than forcing one system to answer every release question.
| Field or detail | How to use it |
|---|---|
| Custody status | Shows whether the matched record is in custody, released, transferred, or otherwise changed according to the participating agency feed. |
| Agency or facility | Helps distinguish a San Bernardino County jail record from CDCR, another county, or a different person with a similar name. |
| Name or ID fields | Useful for matching, but they should be checked against JIMS booking information or CDCR number when available. |
| Release or status-change language | Can indicate that the person is out of custody or no longer at the facility. Confirm legal meaning with JIMS, court, CDCR, BOP, or ICE as appropriate. |
| Notification options | Allows registration for phone, email, text/SMS, or TTY notices when those methods are available for the record. |
Register for Release Notice
VINELink is strongest before the release happens. If the person is still in county custody, registration gives you a way to receive a custody-status change notice instead of repeatedly refreshing JIMS. San Bernardino's JIMS template specifically points users to VINELink for release notification, and the VINE description in the research says victims and other concerned citizens can receive notices by phone, email, or TTY device.
- Open the matching JIMS record or California VINE record for the person.
- Select the get-notified or registration option for that record.
- Add available notification methods, such as phone, email, SMS/text, or TTY.
- Create the required four-digit PIN for phone confirmation or notification management.
- Complete the registration and keep the contact method current while the person remains in custody.
- After a notice arrives, confirm the event with the originating agency if the exact release destination or court status matters.
The PIN matters because phone notices generally require confirmation. If contact information changes, update the registration before the release date. A missed or unconfirmed notice does not change the actual custody event, and a notice should not be treated as the final court disposition. For court dates, warrants, charges, dismissed counts, sentencing, or probation terms, use the San Bernardino Superior Court Access Portal at https://cap.sb-court.org/.
CDCR Notices Are Separate
California VINE and CDCR victim services overlap in purpose but not in jurisdiction. CDCR's victim-services materials say VINE can be used to track county jail status and register for notice of a transfer to CDCR. Once the person is transferred into CDCR custody, eligible victims, family members, or witnesses can register through CDCR's online victim-services request system.
That distinction matters in San Bernardino County because the county includes CDCR institutions in Chino and many local cases can move from county jail to state prison after sentencing. CDCR victim-services notices can include custody-status changes such as release, death, escape, parole hearing, transfer, discharge from parole, contract, or scheduled execution. County VINELink registration should not be described as replacing CDCR registration after a prison transfer. If the person has a CDCR number or appears in CIRIS, use CDCR's system and CDCR victim services for the state-prison portion of the record.
Limits Before You Rely
VINELink is not the Bureau of Prisons, ICE, the San Bernardino Superior Court, or CDCR case records. It is a notification layer built around participating custody records. For a federal prison release from FCC Victorville, use the BOP inmate locator, which covers federal inmates from 1982 to present and can show release information. For an immigration detention release or transfer at Adelanto ICE Processing Center, use ICE's detainee locator, the facility contact channel, counsel, or immigration-court information. For a U.S. Marshals transfer, remember that Central Detention Center can house federal detainees, but the federal agency controls the federal custody path.
Data can also lag. A same-day San Bernardino County release may still be processing, especially for court-order, cite-release, own-recognizance, not-filed, medical, mental-health, or structured-living releases. Sentence-completion releases have local time windows, and Penal Code section 4024 can affect discharge timing. If a VINE notice, JIMS status, and family report do not line up, verify with the jail record, the Sheriff's Records Division, the court portal, or the agency that received the person. For a named-person search that starts outside VINE, use the site's home page workflow and then return to VINE when notification is the goal.