how to find if someone is in jail

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Finding out whether a friend or relative is in jail or whether someone who has recently been arrested is nonetheless in jail may seem daunting, but it can usually be done with a chip of time and patience. To find out if someone is in jail there are a number of resource you can use. You will demand to assemble some information about the person and practise some searching, either online or over the telephone, but you will probably be able find the person you are looking for in the end.

1. i

   Get together information nigh the person yous are looking for. The more information you take, the easier it will be to find out if that person is in jail. At minimum, you lot should attempt to accept the individual's full name on hand. Other identifying characteristics, like that individual'southward birth date, age, gender, race, and hair color, can also be helpful in performing a search, especially if that person has a common name.^[1]

   • If you do not accept the total proper noun of an private, you might exist able to track that person downwards if you at least have a nickname and appointment of arrest. Y'all will not be able to use whatever online resources with this data solitary, though, and will likely have a harder time finding out the information y'all need.

2. 2

   Figure out if the person is likely in a jail or a prison. The people that are ordinarily housed in jail have been arrested but accept not yet been arraigned, are awaiting trial just take not been released on bail, or are serving sentences that are less than one year in length.

   • If someone is serving a sentence that is longer than ane year, they are usually housed in prison.

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3. three

   Figure out which jail that person would most likely be held at. If you know the status of the person that you believe may be in jail, it may be easier to figure out which jail he or she is being held in. If the individual has simply been arrested, it is likely that he or she volition exist in the jail of the county where he or she was arrested.

   • Additionally, if someone is awaiting trial or arraignment, they will most likely be held in jail in his or her abode county, or whichever county that person was arrested in.
   • All the same, sometimes if an inmate is serving his or her judgement, the jail will transfer the inmate for space reasons.

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1. 1

   Use an online search engine to detect a county's website. ^[2] If yous know where the person in question was arrested, get-go by searching for that county's website. If you do not know where the person in question was arrested, merely you lot practice know where the individual's home is, search for that county's website instead.

2. 2

   Check the websites for the canton sheriff, police department, or municipal court of the county. Some county jail websites have searchable databases of the people being held there. Oftentimes, yous practice non need anything more a person'due south proper name to search the database.

   • Not every county has an online resource that can be used to locate inmates, merely nowadays, many practice, and you can find the link to that resource on a county law enforcement page.
   • Not all online databases are updated often, and the information could hands be out of appointment.
   • If you lot do detect the person that y'all are searching for online, you lot will want to confirm that the private is yet there by calling the jail directly.

3. 3

   Cheque the websites of neighboring counties. If there is whatsoever chance that you have the county incorrect and that the individual might be held elsewhere, it would probable exist in a neighboring county. Try using an online resource that lists all inmate locators for your country.

   • Annotation, however, that these resources may only listing counties that have an online inmate locator and may non list neighboring counties that tin can just be contacted past phone.

4. 4

   Use the "Victim Information and Notification Everyday" (VINE) program. ^[3] VINE is a service that allows victims of crimes to obtain data near the custody status of offenders. Most states contract with VINE to provide the service, however, in some states, VINE is only available in sure counties or not at all.

   • To utilise VINE, simply visit the website hither and click on the state where the offender you are looking for is located. Y'all can search for the offender by name, or by using an identification number.
   • Additionally, you lot can register to be contacted by VINE (either through email, text message or a telephone call) when the offender's custody condition changes.
   • Yous tin can also download the VINE app to stay informed.

5. 5

   Utilise the Federal Bureau of Prisons website. If you are trying to locate someone who y'all believe could be in federal jail instead of a county jail then the Federal Bureau of Prisons' website volition be a good identify to look. This is a government run website that has a search engine to assistance yous find the person you lot are looking for.

   • To use this website, at the very minimum you need to know the person'due south starting time and last name. Both names must exist spelled correctly.^[4]
   • Go along in listen that the Federal Agency of Prisons' website only applies to people that are being held in federal custody, as opposed to state crimes. In most circumstances, garden variety crimes are punished under state law, while crimes that have place in multiple states or violate a federal statute will be punished under federal police force. For example, a DUI would likely exist punished under state law, while violations of the Securities and Exchange Commission rules would exist punished nether federal constabulary.
   • Also continue in mind that this government website but has records for inmates that were incarcerated from 1982 to the present.

6. 6

   Use an inmate locator website. If yous did not have luck finding the person you were looking for through the county website or Federal Bureau website, y'all could try to use a nationwide inmate locator website. In your online search engine of option, apply the search bar and type in 'find an inmate' or some variation of this phrase.

   • Quite a few websites will come. Avoid ones that await like they are a scam. For case, if they are littered with ads or inquire you to sign up for something, don't use that inmate locator.
   • Once y'all find a website, you can cull the state that you are interested in and can be directed to that land's website or inmate locator system.^[v]

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1. 1

   Call the canton jail or clerk of courts function. ^[6] If you practise non take internet access, cannot observe an online inmate locator for the suspected county of arrest, or if you do not take the necessary information required to use the online inmate locator, telephone call a non-emergency county law enforcement section and speak directly with someone there. These numbers will be on the county jail's website or in your local phone volume.

   • If you lot are unsure nigh which county the person yous are looking for has been arrested in, you may need to call several unlike offices.
   • There might be a special phone number or extension to use for inmate inquiries, but fifty-fifty if you do not know that number and cannot rails information technology down, simply calling non-emergency canton law enforcement tin can exist helpful.
   • The receptionist or operator should exist able to put you in contact with whomever you lot need to talk to. However, be aware that whomever y'all talk may non be able to give you the names of people held in that jail if you do not have enough information. Furthermore, understand that it may take a few days for people who have just been arrested to exist added to the arrangement.

2. 2

   Ask to speak with the arresting officeholder. If y'all however cannot locate the person who you are searching for, simply yous are sure that the person in question was arrested by an officer of that county, politely ask to speak with the officeholder who made the arrest. He or she might be able to tell you where the person in question was transported to.

3. iii

   Press forward until yous go through all possibilities. Afterwards y'all have contacted whatever of the counties in which the person in question might exist held and subsequently you take spoken with anyone who might exist able to directly you elsewhere, you may have to look a few days and and so try over again. Information technology might be that the person'southward information was misfiled or had not entered the system yet.

   • Know that if the person you lot are looking for is not being held in jail in any of the counties y'all would expect him or her to be at, there is a decent possibility that the individual is not actually in jail.
   • Also, information technology is possible that whomever you lot are searching for has given a false proper noun to law enforcement officials. This could result in a very difficult search process.

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• If yous are searching for a family member, you may want to mention that when calling the canton office. Clerks are more likely to give out data to concerned family unit members.

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Article Summary X

To find out if someone is in jail, endeavor to gather as much information well-nigh the person equally y'all can, like their full name, date of birth, gender, and pilus color. Once you lot've gathered this data, search online for the website of the county where they were arrested, or the county where the person lives. After yous locate the website, use the search tool to enter the person'south details then you tin perform a search for them. If you find nix, cheque the websites of neighboring counties in instance the person in question is being held in a jail at that place. Alternatively, if the county doesn't offering online resources, search for an inmate locator website, which contains a database of all inmates nationally. You lot could also try calling the county clerk records function if you're not having any luck online. For tips from our Legal co-writer on how to find out if someone is in prison, read on!

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