Hammond 72 Hour Booking and Jail Records

When someone is arrested in Hammond, they are booked at the Lake County Jail in Crown Point, about 20 miles south of Hammond. The Hammond Police Department handles law enforcement within the city, but Indiana law assigns custody and booking responsibilities to the county sheriff. All Hammond booking records are held by the Lake County Sheriff's Office and are available for public search online. This page explains how to search Hammond booking records, how the jail system works in northwest Indiana, and which statewide tools can help you track someone in Lake County custody.

Lake County Inmate Search for Hammond Arrests

The Lake County Sheriff's Office provides an inmate search at lcso.org/inmate-search. Search by name to find anyone currently held at the Lake County Jail. The jail is at 2293 N. Main Street, Crown Point, IN 46307. Call 219-648-6300 with questions about a specific booking or if someone does not appear in the online search. The Lake County Sheriff's website at lakecountysheriff.com covers jail policies, visiting rules, and contact information for the various divisions of the Sheriff's Office.

Hammond Police Department is based at 509 Douglas Street, Hammond, IN 46320, phone 219-853-6490. Their website is at gohammond.com/police-department. Officers from Hammond PD make arrests throughout the city. After an arrest, the person is transported south to Crown Point for booking. The trip takes roughly 25 to 30 minutes depending on traffic. This distance is a feature of how Indiana's county-based jail system works. Cities in Lake County do not have their own jails, so everyone goes to the county facility regardless of which city made the arrest.

The Lake County Sheriff inmate search portal is shown below. All Hammond arrests appear in this system once booking is complete.

Enter a name to find anyone currently held at the Lake County Jail following an arrest by Hammond Police or another Lake County agency.

The Booking Process for Hammond Arrests

Booking at the Lake County Jail follows a standard Indiana process. Once Hammond officers arrive at the jail with a person in custody, the Sheriff's staff takes over. Booking includes identity checks, fingerprinting, photographing, a health screening, and entering all charges into the jail management system. The person's property is catalogued and stored. A booking number is assigned and the record becomes accessible in the online search shortly after processing is complete.

Under Indiana Code 36-2-13-5, the county sheriff is responsible for keeping these records and making them available to the public. Under IC 11-8-2-5, Indiana jails must maintain complete records of every admission. These two statutes together are why Hammond booking records are public and searchable through the Lake County system.

Indiana's 72-hour rule applies here as it does statewide. An arrested person must appear before a Lake County judge within 72 hours. That initial hearing addresses bond and charges. If bond is set at an amount the person cannot pay, they remain in custody at the Lake County Jail until either a bond modification hearing or the case resolves.

All persons listed in booking records are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

The screenshot below shows additional Lake County Jail resources available to the public for Hammond-area booking lookups.

These Lake County resources provide current booking data, jail policies, and contact information for the facility that handles all Hammond arrests.

Indiana Public Records Law and Access

Indiana's Access to Public Records Act at IC 5-14-3 makes booking records public by default. No reason is needed to search or request them. The basic booking information, name, date, and charges, is available to anyone. Juvenile records and certain sealed records are not public, but standard adult bookings are open.

If the Lake County Sheriff's Office or another agency denies a records request without citing a valid legal exemption, the Indiana Public Access Counselor can help. The PAC handles records disputes statewide at no cost. Court records for Hammond criminal cases are searchable through the MyCase public portal, which covers Lake Circuit Court and Superior Court filings.

The screenshot below shows a third Lake County inmate-related tool that Hammond residents can use.

Multiple Lake County resources are available online for public access to Hammond arrest and booking data.

Statewide Indiana Tools for Hammond Searches

The Indiana County Jail Public Portal aggregates booking data from many Indiana county jails. Lake County participates, so Hammond bookings often appear there alongside records from other counties. This statewide portal is useful when searching across multiple county jails or when uncertain which county holds a specific person.

For individuals who have been sentenced and moved to a state prison, use the IDOC Offender Search. Convicted individuals transferred from the Lake County Jail to an Indiana Department of Correction facility will appear in IDOC rather than in county jail records. Both tools may be needed depending on what stage of the process you are searching.

VINELink provides free custody status alerts for Lake County Jail inmates. Call 866-959-VINE (8463) or sign up online to receive notifications when an inmate is released, transferred, or has a custody change. This is a helpful tool for family members of Hammond residents who have been arrested and are waiting for case developments.

Nearby Indiana Cities

Hammond is in northwest Indiana near the Illinois border. These nearby cities also have booking records pages.