How Can I Find Out If Someone Is Incarcerated?
Finding out whether someone is incarcerated is not that difficult if you have an idea as to what state the person would be incarcerated in. Information regarding incarcerated people is made available online by the individual states and federal government as a public service. There is no cost or fee associated with searching online for an incarcerated person.
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Instructions
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Federal
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Search the Inmate Locator website provided by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. If you have an inmate locator number (if the person has been in federal prison before), this will result in the most reliable match. Otherwise, enter as much information you have about the person, including race, sex and age. At the very least you must enter the person's first and last name. If no satisfactory results are obtained, remove extraneous data and search again by first and last name only.
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Decide which state the person is likely to be incarcerated in. Use an online search engine to find the state's inmate locator website, most often called an "offender search" or "offender locator." If you are unable to find this website via a search, contact the state Bureau of Corrections and solicit this information. As with the federal inmate locator, an inmate number is ideal, but you can also search via first and last name alone.
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Contact the individual institution where you think the person might be incarcerated by phone if online search efforts fail. Many institutions will simply tell you if the person you are looking for is incarcerated at their institution.
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Contact your regional office for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by phone if you are looking for someone who may be held on an immigration issue (even if they were apprehended due to alleged criminal activity). While the person may appear via an inmate locator search, they may just as well not. Those held on immigration issues will be more difficult to locate than those subject to incarceration for criminal reasons.
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Tips & Warnings
Just because a person was convicted in a particular state does not mean that they are incarcerated in that state, as some facilities, particularly prisons, outsource incarceration to other states. With some in depth research and calls to your state Bureau of Corrections, you may uncover which states inmates who are removed from your state are likely to be sent off to.
While the online inmate locator websites are updated regularly (often daily), the information is subject to change quickly, so it might not be entirely accurate. Keep in mind that just because someone is listed as incarcerated, it does not mean that they have already been convicted (they may be awaiting trial).
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