How to Find the Location of an Inmate

When this is your first time dealing with prison life, it can be terrifying, especially when you do not live close to the disciplinary building that your friend or family member is in. If this is the case, you are not alone. Many family and friends are going through the same thing. All you want to do is check in on them to make sure he/she is doing okay.

If you do not know where to look or how to look for them, calling the department they are housed in can take all day long if you are lucky.

If you still don’t know where to begin, we will break down how you can do a quick, easy, and painless inmate search to help ease your mind.

City & County Jails Inmate Search

Before we fully begin, you should know that county and city facilities are different from the rest. When an inmate is sentenced to a county or city facility, he/she typically only got sentenced to under 12 months.

If they are in a city jail, the city jail is operated by that city’s police department. This means if you have questions about an inmate in a city jail, you will need to get with the police department for answers. Nearly all of the city jails in 2021 do not have an inmate roster online. If you need information on an inmate, you must call the police department to locate said information.

Now, these facilities are managed by the sheriff’s department when it comes to the county facilities. Yes, that county’s specific sheriff’s department will handle any inmate search requests you may have. Unlike the city jail, you will have a much easier time locating an inmate when it comes to the county jail. You can find an inmate using that facility’s inmate list. This list is typically published right on the sheriff’s official website. Nearly all county jails, as of 2021, have their inmate list on the sheriff’s website for the public to use. When using these sheriff offender locators, please know you will need the inmate’s information such as their birth date, full name, sex, race, ethnicity, or intake date.

However, if that facility doesn’t have a locator on the sheriff’s site or the site is currently down, you can contact the sheriff’s department directly for information. They will be able to lead you in the right direction.

Who’s in Jail in State Prisons?

Like the other jails that we’ve talked about when it comes to state prisons, they are also responsible by one department. This department is known as the Department of Corrections or DOC for short. The Department of Corrections is a state-run department. It is responsible for all inmates, whether they are incarcerated or in an alternative program such as parole, house arrest, or probation.

However, another task on their already big list is to keep a list of all inmates they have custody of. Again, this list is for ALL offenders. It doesn’t matter if they are incarcerated or in an alternative program; they will be on this list.

So, if your family or friend got sent off to state prison, you can start by scoping out your state’s department of corrections. You can simply search [insert state name here] department of corrections. This will pop up on your state’s official website. From there, you can quickly locate the locator.

When you are on the locator, all you will need to do is follow the prompts. As long as you know a few pieces of information about the inmate in question, you will be able to do an inmate search in under 5 minutes successfully.

Federal Prisons Prisoner Lookup

Like the other correctional facilities that we’ve talked about so far today, the federal prisons are also under one organization. This organization is known as the Federal Bureau of Prisons or commonly referred to as the FBOP.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons only deals with correctional facilities on the federal level. Each state has at least one federal prison, so the FBOP has many lands to work with. But like the state department of corrections, the FBOP also has the task of maintaining an inmate list. This is an even bigger list than the state DOCs deal with.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons has exactly over 100 facilities within the 51 states. These facilities come in all security levels. With that being said, this list is massive. This list can be located in the FBOP inmate locator section on their website.

The locator is simple to use as long as you follow the directions it gives. And before you ask, no, you cannot search for inmates by their facility. You’ll need to know the inmate’s full name to get to the inmate you are looking for. This site has everything you need to know about inmates from mugshots to why they are sitting behind bars.

This list is updated at least once a day, so depending on what time you check, it may not just have been updated or going to be updated shortly. You are always more than welcome to contact the facility directly for questions about an inmate and their information in the list.

Bonus Content: VINELink

We all love bonus content. Suppose you are one of those who want up-to-date information on an inmate, such as getting transferred, going to court, etc. You will love VINELink. VINELike is a nifty tool for family, friends, or victims to get notifications in real-time about the inmate they subscribe to.

You can get these notifications on your phone or in your email. For you to use VINELink, you must know the inmate’s full name. This is a free service to use, and it is one of the best services you can have when you are curious about what is going on with your family, friend, or abuser.