România prison guides

Romanian prisons: ANP guides, Rahova, Jilava and family visits

Rahova and Jilava are the Bucharest names that come up first; Aiud and Craiova sit in a different part of the map. ANP does not run a public inmate search. Forty-one județe plus Bucharest (municipality) and Ilfov around it.

Bucharest houses versus the provincial estate

Jilava sits just south of Bucharest and is easy to confuse with Rahova if you only have a neighbourhood rumour. Bring the last official paper. Visit days are allocated; do not assume weekend walk-ins.

How Romania is carved up on this site

Romania (România) is a separate country folder — not a tab on a mixed European roster, and not a US state code. The analogue of a US state here is the first-level unit: Counties (județe). Forty-one județe plus Bucharest (municipality) and Ilfov around it. Cluj is not Timiș. Constanța is the coast. Transylvania is not a prison filter — the județ is. We publish the first-level units that actually exist. Open a județ page when you already know the slice of Romania; stay on this hub when you need the national rules, the official locator, and the list of those units.

ANP. Rahova and Jilava are the Bucharest names; they are not the same gate. Aiud, Craiova and others sit on the provincial map. No public inmate search. Facility articles under /romania/ are building guides (address, operator, how a visit is booked). They are not who-is-inside tables. If a județ has few prison guides, that is coverage on this site, not an empty prison system. Confusing Jilava and Rahova, or treating Moldova the region as the country Moldova (not on this hub).

Finding someone held in Romania

Romania does not publish a Google-style inmate spreadsheet. Administrația Națională a Penitenciarelor is the named official route (anp.gov.ro/). ANP or the penitenciar. Neighbourhood rumour south of Bucharest often mixes Jilava and Rahova. Romania does not publish prisoner names. Confirm visits with ANP or the penitenciar.

A US reader used to sheriff websites will type “Romania inmate search” and find nothing of the kind. That is the law. Court lists, Facebook groups and paid “worldwide jail” products are not Administrația Națională a Penitenciarelor. If the person was remanded overnight, reception can lag; if they were transferred out of the județ you had in mind, the old desk is the wrong door. Use the județ pages below to stop treating Bucharest as a synonym for the whole country.

Visits, money and staying in touch

Visiting in Romania is not a US-style walk-up. Allocated visit days, not weekend walk-ins. ID. Money follows ANP. Do not copy a Hungarian BV slot onto Oradea. Where a facility guide on this site quotes hours, they were taken from that establishment’s official page — re-check the day before you travel. This country hub will not invent a national timetable.

Dress codes, dog searches and what you may carry are house rules. Money and remote contact, where they exist, go through the official national channel — not a personal transfer to a cellmate. OTP for Bucharest/Ilfov. Cluj, Timișoara, Iași airports serve other județe. Jilava is a southern city-edge trip, not Universitate.

Travel, borders and the wrong-gate problem

OTP for Bucharest/Ilfov. Cluj, Timișoara, Iași airports serve other județe. Jilava is a southern city-edge trip, not Universitate. Print the gate address from the official prison page, not from a maps pin that only names Bucharest or “Romanian prison”. Neighbouring countries on this site have their own URLs; a cheaper flight into the next capital is not a visiting permit.

Confusing Jilava and Rahova, or treating Moldova the region as the country Moldova (not on this hub). If you only know a town name, match it to a județ first, then to a facility guide. Confusing one județ of Romania with another is the most common way to book the wrong visit.

Counties (județe) of Romania — each on its own URL

Romania is not mixed with the United States or with other European countries. Below is this country’s own first-level map (Counties (județe)). Open a unit for a longer article on how custody, visits and travel actually work there. US readers looking for a county inmate spreadsheet will not find one: Romania does not publish that, and neither do we.

Counties (județe)

42 pages, written so Romania does not collapse into a single mixed list. This is the analogue of opening a US state after you choose the United States.

county · Alba IuliaAlbaAlbaAlba County is the union city of Alba Iulia and the prison town of Aiud. The citadel is a national symbol. Aiud’s penitentiary is the custody fact, and the two should not be walked as one visit. An arrest recorded in Alba is the start of a paper trail. The National Prison Administration (ANP) decides where the person actually sleeps.Open this area →county · AradAradAradArad County is the western gate on the Mureș, a border city with Hungary, and a plain that runs to the Zarand hills. It is an ANP county, not a Hungarian BV county, however easy the crossing. An arrest recorded in Arad is the start of a paper trail. The National Prison Administration (ANP) decides where the person actually sleeps.Open this area →county · PiteștiArgeșArgeșArgeș County is Pitești, the car-plant city on the road from Bucharest to the mountains, and the Argeș valley toward Curtea de Argeș. It is the first mountain county north-west of the capital and an ANP county of its own. Official visits are arranged with ANP, not with the town hall in Pitești, and anp.gov.ro does not publish a roster.Open this area →county · BacăuBacăuBacăuBacău County is the Siret valley city between Moldavia’s north and the south, an airport town and a rail junction. It is not Iași and not Galați, though both are the cities people name instead. An arrest recorded in Bacău is the start of a paper trail. The National Prison Administration (ANP) decides where the person actually sleeps.Open this area →county · OradeaBihorBihorBihor County is Oradea, the Art Nouveau border city, and the western gate of Crișana. Hungary is a tram-ride feeling away and a different prison system. An arrest recorded in Bihor is the start of a paper trail. The National Prison Administration (ANP) decides where the person actually sleeps.Open this area →county · BistrițaBistrița-NăsăudBistrița-NăsăudBistrița-Năsăud is the northern Transylvanian county of Bistrița town and the Someș hills, on the road toward Bukovina. It is not Cluj and not Suceava, though both steal the itinerary. Treat Bistrița-Năsăud as the name on the stamp and Bistrița-Năsăud as the English name of the same county. ANP still decides the gate.Open this area →county · BotoșaniBotoșaniBotoșaniBotoșani County is the far north-east, a plain against Moldova and Ukraine, and a county seat that English maps under-describe. It is Moldavia’s northern corner, not Iași’s suburb. Treat Botoșani as the name on the stamp and Botoșani as the English name of the same county. ANP still decides the gate.Open this area →county · BrăilaBrăilaBrăilaBrăila County is the Danube port city upstream of Galați, a nineteenth-century grain port and a modern county. The two cities face related water and are not one penitentiary. Treat Brăila as the name on the stamp and Brăila as the English name of the same county. ANP still decides the gate.Open this area →county · BrașovBrașovBrașovBrașov County is the Saxon city under the Tâmpa, the Bran road, and a mountain basin that foreign families treat as Romania. The penitentiary is not Bran Castle and not a Bucharest day trip. The National Prison Administration (ANP) runs closed institutions for Romania. Start at anp.gov.ro. It will not offer a name search.Open this area →municipality · BucharestBucharestBucureștiBucharest is a municipality, not a județ, and it is not Ilfov. The slug stays bucharest because the prisons people mean — Rahova in the city, Jilava outside it — already have their own pages. Rahova is the city penitentiary. Jilava is the next county. The National Prison Administration (ANP) runs closed institutions for Romania. Start at anp.gov.ro. It will not offer a name search.Open this area →county · BuzăuBuzăuBuzăuBuzău County is the bend of the mountains where Wallachia meets the mud volcanoes and the wine hills. Buzău city is the seat on the road from Bucharest toward Moldavia. Treat Buzău as the name on the stamp and Buzău as the English name of the same county. ANP still decides the gate.Open this area →county · CălărașiCălărașiCălărașiCălărași County is the Danube bend south-east of Bucharest, a port town facing Bulgaria and a flat Bărăgan edge. It is close to the capital and still a different județ from Ilfov. An arrest recorded in Călărași is the start of a paper trail. The National Prison Administration (ANP) decides where the person actually sleeps.Open this area →county · ReșițaCaraș-SeverinCaraș-SeverinCaraș-Severin is the Banat mountain county, Reșița the steel town, and the Danube gorge at the Iron Gates edge. It is not Timișoara, which is the city people fly into instead. Treat Caraș-Severin as the name on the stamp and Caraș-Severin as the English name of the same county. ANP still decides the gate.Open this area →county · Cluj-NapocaClujClujCluj County is Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania’s largest city, and Gherla, the penitentiary town on the Someș that families must not merge with the university square. Official visits are arranged with ANP, not with the town hall in Cluj-Napoca, and anp.gov.ro does not publish a roster.Open this area →county · ConstanțaConstanțaConstanțaConstanța County is the Black Sea port, Mamaia’s resort strip, and Poarta Albă, the penitentiary commune inland that matters more than the casino. The sea is not the gate. Treat Constanța as the name on the stamp and Constanța as the English name of the same county. ANP still decides the gate.Open this area →county · Sfântu GheorgheCovasnaCovasnaCovasna County is the Székely seat of Sfântu Gheorghe, a small eastern Transylvanian județ where Hungarian is a daily language and ANP remains the Romanian prison administration. Treat Covasna as the name on the stamp and Covasna as the English name of the same county. ANP still decides the gate.Open this area →county · TârgovișteDâmbovițaDâmbovițaDâmbovița County is Târgoviște, the old Wallachian capital, and a county pressed against Bucharest’s north-west. The princely court is a museum. The penitentiary question is modern ANP. Treat Dâmbovița as the name on the stamp and Dâmbovița as the English name of the same county. ANP still decides the gate.Open this area →county · CraiovaDoljDoljDolj County is Craiova, the city of Oltenia, a university and a car plant on the Jiu plain. It is the south-west’s capital and an ANP city, not a Bucharest suburb and not Drobeta. The National Prison Administration (ANP) runs closed institutions for Romania. Start at anp.gov.ro. It will not offer a name search.Open this area →county · GalațiGalațiGalațiGalați County is the steel city where the Danube becomes the border with Moldova and Ukraine’s geography begins to matter. It is not Brăila, the neighbouring port, and not a Moldovan prison town. Official visits are arranged with ANP, not with the town hall in Galați, and anp.gov.ro does not publish a roster.Open this area →county · GiurgiuGiurgiuGiurgiuGiurgiu County is the Danube bridge to Bulgaria’s Ruse, the southern road from Bucharest, and a flat county that includes the approach past Jilava without containing that prison. Jilava is Ilfov. Giurgiu is the border. An arrest recorded in Giurgiu is the start of a paper trail. The National Prison Administration (ANP) decides where the person actually sleeps.Open this area →county · Târgu JiuGorjGorjGorj County is Târgu Jiu, Brâncuși’s public sculptures, and the Jiu valley into the coal hills. The Endless Column is not a landmark for a penitentiary. ANP still has to be asked where the person is. Official visits are arranged with ANP, not with the town hall in Târgu Jiu, and anp.gov.ro does not publish a roster.Open this area →county · Miercurea CiucHarghitaHarghitaHarghita County is the Székely highlands, Miercurea Ciuc the cold county town, and a landscape of mineral springs. Hungarian is everyday. The prison administration is Romanian ANP. An arrest recorded in Harghita is the start of a paper trail. The National Prison Administration (ANP) decides where the person actually sleeps.Open this area →county · DevaHunedoaraHunedoaraHunedoara County is Deva’s citadel town, the steel city of Hunedoara, and the dacian mountains of the Orăștie hills. The castle and the furnaces are both famous. Neither is automatically the penitentiary. Treat Hunedoara as the name on the stamp and Hunedoara as the English name of the same county. ANP still decides the gate.Open this area →county · SloboziaIalomițaIalomițaIalomița County is the Bărăgan plain east of Bucharest, Slobozia the seat on the road to Constanța. It is flat, agricultural, and easy to drive through without noticing it is a județ. An arrest recorded in Ialomița is the start of a paper trail. The National Prison Administration (ANP) decides where the person actually sleeps.Open this area →county · IașiIașiIașiIași County is Moldavia’s historic capital, a university city near the Moldovan border, and an ANP city in its own right. It is not Botoșani and not Bucharest, however many cases feel national. Official visits are arranged with ANP, not with the town hall in Iași, and anp.gov.ro does not publish a roster.Open this area →county · BufteaIlfovIlfovIlfov is the county that wraps Bucharest, with Buftea as its seat and Jilava as the penitentiary town families actually need. The airport, the ring, and many commuter towns are here. The city of Bucharest is not. An arrest recorded in Ilfov is the start of a paper trail. The National Prison Administration (ANP) decides where the person actually sleeps.Open this area →county · Baia MareMaramureșMaramureșMaramureș County is the wooden-church north, Baia Mare the mining city, and a border with Ukraine. The churches are the English search. The penitentiary is a Romanian ANP question in and around the city, not in a village churchyard. The National Prison Administration (ANP) runs closed institutions for Romania. Start at anp.gov.ro. It will not offer a name search.Open this area →county · Drobeta-Turnu SeverinMehedințiMehedințiMehedinți County is the Iron Gates, Drobeta-Turnu Severin the Danube city, and a Serbian border along the gorge. It is Oltenia’s western edge, not Dolj and not Caraș-Severin. Treat Mehedinți as the name on the stamp and Mehedinți as the English name of the same county. ANP still decides the gate.Open this area →county · Târgu MureșMureșMureșMureș County is Târgu Mureș, a bilingual city on the Mureș and a medical and administrative centre of central Transylvania. Hungarian is everyday. ANP is the Romanian prison service. An arrest recorded in Mureș is the start of a paper trail. The National Prison Administration (ANP) decides where the person actually sleeps.Open this area →county · Piatra NeamțNeamțNeamțNeamț County is Piatra Neamț under the Ceahlău, the monastery country of Moldavia, and a mountain edge that tourists treat as a pilgrimage. The monasteries are not penitentiaries. The National Prison Administration (ANP) runs closed institutions for Romania. Start at anp.gov.ro. It will not offer a name search.Open this area →county · SlatinaOltOltOlt County is Slatina, the Olt river city between Bucharest’s south-west and Craiova. It is a plain county with an aluminium works and a habit of being driven through. Treat Olt as the name on the stamp and Olt as the English name of the same county. ANP still decides the gate.Open this area →county · PloieștiPrahovaPrahovaPrahova County is Ploiești, the oil city, and the Prahova valley to Sinaia and the Bucegi. It is the mountain door north of Bucharest and a county with more than one kind of famous address, only one of which might be a prison. The National Prison Administration (ANP) runs closed institutions for Romania. Start at anp.gov.ro. It will not offer a name search.Open this area →county · ZalăuSălajSălajSălaj County is the Meseș hills between Cluj and the north-west, Zalău the seat, and a county travellers cross on the motorway without naming. It is still a județ with courts and an ANP question. Treat Sălaj as the name on the stamp and Sălaj as the English name of the same county. ANP still decides the gate.Open this area →county · Satu MareSatu MareSatu MareSatu Mare County is the north-western corner, a city on the Someș against Hungary and Ukraine. It is not Oradea and not Baia Mare, though both are the cities people fly toward instead. Treat Satu Mare as the name on the stamp and Satu Mare as the English name of the same county. ANP still decides the gate.Open this area →county · SibiuSibiuSibiuSibiu County is the Saxon city that became a European capital of culture, the Mărginimea villages, and a Transylvanian crossroads. The old town is exceptionally visitable. That is not the same as a prison visit. An arrest recorded in Sibiu is the start of a paper trail. The National Prison Administration (ANP) decides where the person actually sleeps.Open this area →county · SuceavaSuceavaSuceavaSuceava County is Bukovina: the fortress town, the painted monasteries, and a Ukrainian border. The monasteries are the reason foreigners come. They are not the reason ANP will open a door. An arrest recorded in Suceava is the start of a paper trail. The National Prison Administration (ANP) decides where the person actually sleeps.Open this area →county · AlexandriaTeleormanTeleormanTeleorman County is the Danube plain south-west of Bucharest, Alexandria the seat, a flat județ with a name that confuses anyone who thinks of Egypt. It is Wallachian farmland and a Bulgarian border. Treat Teleorman as the name on the stamp and Teleorman as the English name of the same county. ANP still decides the gate.Open this area →county · TimișoaraTimișTimișTimiș County is Timișoara, the Banat city where the 1989 revolution is remembered, a university town near Serbia and Hungary. Memory of the revolution is not a visiting procedure. ANP is. Official visits are arranged with ANP, not with the town hall in Timișoara, and anp.gov.ro does not publish a roster.Open this area →county · TulceaTulceaTulceaTulcea County is the Danube delta, a river town, and a Ukrainian border along the northern arm. The delta is a biosphere reserve. It is not a prison, and the boats are not a search method. Official visits are arranged with ANP, not with the town hall in Tulcea, and anp.gov.ro does not publish a roster.Open this area →county · Râmnicu VâlceaVâlceaVâlceaVâlcea County is the Olt valley, Râmnicu Vâlcea the city, and Călimănești’s spas under the Cozia. It is the road from Sibiu to the south and a county of resorts that are not prisons. An arrest recorded in Vâlcea is the start of a paper trail. The National Prison Administration (ANP) decides where the person actually sleeps.Open this area →county · VasluiVasluiVasluiVaslui County is the eastern Moldavian plain, Vaslui town and Bârlad the two centres, and a border with Moldova. It is between Iași and Galați and identical to neither. An arrest recorded in Vaslui is the start of a paper trail. The National Prison Administration (ANP) decides where the person actually sleeps.Open this area →county · FocșaniVranceaVranceaVrancea County is Focșani, the old border town between Moldavia and Wallachia, the wine hills, and the seismic country of the Vrancea mountains. Earthquakes are the county’s reputation. ANP is the custody fact. An arrest recorded in Vrancea is the start of a paper trail. The National Prison Administration (ANP) decides where the person actually sleeps.Open this area →

Prison guides in Romania

Each page is written for that establishment — address, how families actually locate someone, and how visits work — not a copied country intro.

Ilfov

Jilava · PenitenciarPenitenciarul București-JilavaJilava south of Bucharest is the fortress penitenciar Romanians know from history and court news — ANP vizite with a Ilfov commute, not Rahova’s urban grid.Read the guide →

Bucharest

Bucharest · PenitenciarPenitenciarul București-RahovaRahova is the Bucharest penitenciar name in Romanian headlines — ANP vizite where Jilava’s southern belt is a different gate entirely.Read the guide →

Questions families actually ask

Is there a Romanian inmate roster online?
No. Contact ANP or the penitenciar.
Does CurrentPrisonList list who is in jail in Romania today?
No. Romania pages are geographic and procedural guides. Romania does not publish prisoner names. Confirm visits with ANP or the penitenciar.
Why does Romania have Counties (județe) instead of one mixed list?
Forty-one județe plus Bucharest (municipality) and Ilfov around it. Cluj is not Timiș. Constanța is the coast. Transylvania is not a prison filter — the județ is. We publish the first-level units that actually exist. Mixing those units would be the same mistake as putting Ohio inmates under California.
How do I visit a prison in Romania?
Identify the establishment through Administrația Națională a Penitenciarelor or the lawyer, get on the visitor list, and book that house. Allocated visit days, not weekend walk-ins. ID. Money follows ANP. Do not copy a Hungarian BV slot onto Oradea. Plan travel via Bucharest only if the letter actually names a house there — the județ pages exist because it often does not.

Other countries

Each country is a separate area of the site so US county rosters, UK prisons and European JVA / maison d’arrêt guides never share a URL.

GBUnited Kingdom13 Nations and regions · 140 prison guidesDEGermanyDeutschland16 Länder (federal states) · 10 prison guidesFRFranceFrance13 Régions · 8 prison guidesDKDenmarkDanmark5 Regions · 3 prison guidesIEIrelandÉire26 Counties · 4 prison guidesNLNetherlandsNederland12 Provinces · 3 prison guidesBEBelgiumBelgië / Belgique13 Regions and provinces · 3 prison guidesESSpainEspaña17 Autonomous communities · 3 prison guides

All countries →

Source

Confirm location, visits and hours on the official service. This site does not list who is in custody.

Official locatorAdministrația Națională a PenitenciarelorOpen official site →