{"id":23148,"date":"2020-10-16T13:50:51","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T21:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spokeo.com\/compass\/?p=23148"},"modified":"2022-04-13T12:23:49","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T20:23:49","slug":"how-to-find-out-if-someones-in-jail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spokeo.com\/compass\/how-to-find-out-if-someones-in-jail\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Find Out if Someone\u2019s in Jail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Do you know how to find out if someone\u2019s in jail?&nbsp; Just thinking about it is daunting. Where do you even start?&nbsp; Just a few decades ago, you had to call around to jails and prisons all over the country in an attempt to locate the person you were looking for.&nbsp; Today, the internet makes it easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Records of every inmate exist, whether the person is held in a federal penitentiary or another jurisdiction.&nbsp; When you search these online databases, however, you need specific information to get information.&nbsp; In this article, we break down what you need to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Start With Basic Data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Make a list of everything you know about the person you are looking for, including the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>First, middle and last name<\/li><li>Any nicknames<\/li><li>Age<\/li><li>Race<\/li><li>Sex<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, where was the crime committed?&nbsp; If you don\u2019t know, your search can get complicated.&nbsp; Out of the more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/reports\/pie2020.html#:~:text=The%20American%20criminal%20justice%20system,civil%20commitment%20centers%2C%20state%20psychiatric\">6,800 <\/a>federal and state prisons, local jails and juvenile correction facilities in the United States, how do you know where to look?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you don\u2019t know the crime that was committed and where, you can use the information you have to narrow it down. Use the following tips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who Is Incarcerated and Where?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Jails and prisons are not the same.&nbsp; Jails are where inmates are typically housed for a short period of time while they await trial or sentencing.&nbsp; They also can be used for short sentences or misdemeanors of less than one year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next are state and federal prisons.&nbsp; Although there are a wide variety of federal violations, the inmates in a federal prison usually include those found guilty of political crimes and drug peddling.&nbsp; Bank robbers and white-collar criminals also are housed in federal prisons.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.differencebetween.com\/difference-between-federal-and-vs-state-prison\/\">State prisons<\/a>, on the other hand, often hold more violent criminals, such as thieves, rapists and murderers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s important to know the difference between the types of correctional facilities so you can determine where to look.&nbsp; Back in 2007, when Paris Hilton, the hotel heiress and reality TV socialite, often behaved badly, sensational headlines announced that she was going to prison.&nbsp; In fact, Hilton, sentenced to 45 days for parole violation on a reckless driving charge, was locked up in the Los Angeles County Jail.&nbsp; Because of this, her record does not appear in the California State Correctional Facility\u2019s record books.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You also can\u2019t always tell by the length of the sentence where the inmate will be held.&nbsp; If you think that Martha Stewart spent five months in the New Jersey city jail, you\u2019d be wrong.&nbsp; Stewart, who served time for securities fraud, among other offenses, went to federal prison in West Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Find Out If Someone Is in Prison<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Although there are only 110 federal prisons in the U.S. (compared to 1,833 state prisons), first try the federal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bop.gov\/inmateloc\/\">inmate locator<\/a> to eliminate federal prison as a possibility.&nbsp; While you\u2019re in the database, search for Stewart, born in August of 1941, to assure yourself it actually works.&nbsp; You\u2019ll find that she was released on March 4, 2005.&nbsp; If you can\u2019t find a record in the federal database, then move on to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theinmatelocator.com\/\">search by state<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In some cases, you may not find the information you need.&nbsp; This could happen for a number of reasons, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>You don\u2019t know which location to search<\/li><li>The database only includes people who are currently incarcerated, not those released<\/li><li>The database is incomplete or infrequently maintained<\/li><li>You have an incomplete or common name, a nickname, or the person has changed names<\/li><li>The inmate is being held in a county or city jail that has no online database<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, keep in mind that inmate databases typically do not reveal the reason for the incarceration.&nbsp; In Arizona, for instance, if you want to know which crime was committed, you must visit the Office of the Clerk of the Court where the offense was adjudicated.&nbsp; That\u2019s not much help if you live in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Look Up Inmates to Get the Information You Need<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>So, what do you do if you can\u2019t find the information you need?&nbsp; If your search attempts are fruitless, you need additional help.&nbsp; A criminal background check can help.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using Spokeo\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spokeo.com\/compass\/are-there-criminals-in-your-life\/\">powerful search engine capabilities<\/a> and a little sleuthing, you can find the missing information, such as aliases and location by leveraging the information you do have access to.&nbsp; You can even get access to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spokeo.com\/background-check\">criminal records<\/a> (for an additional fee) that may reveal offense locations, convictions, pending criminal cases, and more.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Is this a person you want to invite into your life or your business?&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spokeo.com\/\">Spokeo<\/a> can provide the information you need to enjoy greater peace of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/reports\/pie2020.html#:~:text=The%20American%20criminal%20justice%20system,civil%20commitment%20centers%2C%20state%20psychiatric\">https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/reports\/pie2020.html#:~:text=The%20American%20criminal%20justice%20system,civil%20commitment%20centers%2C%20state%20psychiatric<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bop.gov\/inmateloc\/\">https:\/\/www.bop.gov\/inmateloc\/<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theinmatelocator.com\/\">http:\/\/www.theinmatelocator.com\/<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you know how to find out if someone\u2019s in jail?&nbsp; Just thinking about it is daunting. Where do you even start?&nbsp; Just a few decades ago, you had to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":23481,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,612],"tags":[740],"class_list":["post-23148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","category-guides","tag-team"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Find Out if Someone\u2019s in Jail - The Compass Blog | Digital Identity and People Search | Spokeo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.spokeo.com\/compass\/how-to-find-out-if-someones-in-jail\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Find Out if Someone\u2019s in Jail - The Compass Blog | Digital Identity and People Search | Spokeo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do you know how to find out if someone\u2019s in jail?&nbsp; Just thinking about it is daunting. 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