How to Find Out If Someone is in County Jail
Locating a person who has been arrested is sometimes daunting. You are not sure whether the person is in one county or another and whether there is a centralized system for locating your friend or relative. It can be a nightmare. However, you will soon find out the tricks to locating someone in the county jail.
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Things You'll Need
- First and last name of person being searched.
- Date of birth, if available.
- Social Security Number, if available.
Instructions
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Determine the last known location of the person being searched. This will help you in narrowing down which counties may have your friend or relative.
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Contact the county jail where the person is incarcerated. The phone line for the jail usually will have several phone prompts to choose from if a main operator is not available.
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Request a search of the inmate using his full name. If the person has a common name such as John Smith, it is advisable to also provide a date of birth or some other identifying characteristic.
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Ask to be transferred to the original arresting officer if the individual still cannot be located. This person should let you know where the person was transported to.
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Tips & Warnings
If you do not have the exact name of an individual, you may be able to locate the person by the charge, date of arrest and a nickname, if it was provided. You may also be able to locate the individual using other identifiers such as tattoo designs, birthmarks, or unusual hair or eye color.
If the person has a "hold" from another county, once the inmate serves the criminal sentence for the current county, the next county will send an officer to pick him up. A hold is a mandatory barring of release from jail until a certain requirement is completed. The requirement could be as simple as paying a traffic ticket before release.
If the location is not known, you will need to use online search engines and perform a search of county websites. This may become time-consuming since some counties do not have jail websites to search inmates.
