There are many reasons why you might need to locate someone who has been arrested or is serving a jail or prison sentence in a state, local or federal facility. State and federal agencies maintain searchable databases that allow the public to locate an inmate. If a person is held in a local facility, such as the Multnomah County Jail in Oregon, the sheriff's department is usually the place to begin your search.

Inmate custody information is a public record, and searchable databases make accessing it a relatively easy process as long as you have an internet connection. There are three methods you can use to locate an inmate. Which method you choose depends on where the person is being held.

Searching for someone held in federal custody

The Federal Bureau of Prisons oversees 122 institutions located throughout the United States housing almost 200,000 inmates. It maintains a database containing the names and information about all inmates imprisoned in the federal prison system since 1982. Searches may be conducted using the inmates Bureau of Prisons registration number or by searching for the individual using a name.

A successful search will disclose the inmate's first, last and middle names. It will also provide you with the inmate's age, race, gender, BOP registration number and the name of the facility at which the person is being held. If the individual has been released from prison, the search will give the release date.

Once you locate an inmate who remains incarcerated, the website offers instructions on the procedures for contacting the inmate by phone, mail or email. It also provides information about the various methods you can use to send money to an inmate.

Conducting an inmate search for someone incarcerated in a state prison

Each state prison system has its own website that allows you to conduct a search to locate an inmate imprisoned within that particular state's prison system. The searches can be conducted using the individual's name or you can use the state issued prisoner identification number assigned to that person.

Conducting a search for someone in a state prison can be difficult if you do not know the state in which the individual is incarcerated. The best procedure to follow is to begin by searching in the state in which you believe the individual last resided. If you do not have any information about the individual, then you will have to search the database of each state and the District of Columbia.

Finding a person held in local jails

If the person you are trying to find is serving a sentence in a local jail or has recently been arrested, the task of locating that individual becomes more difficult than searching in state or federal databases. As a general rule, most jails throughout the country are under the jurisdiction of a county sheriff's office or a local department of corrections. Chances are that either one of those agencies will have an online database that you can search to find someone who is being held in a local jail.

For example, the Multnomah County Jail in Oregon is under the jurisdiction of the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. Accessing their website allows you to search for an inmate using the individual's first and last name. If the individual for whom you are searching is being held in a jail in a different county, you must go to that particular county's website to conduct your search.

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