Conducting a California Inmate Search

A California inmate search can be conducted to locate prisoners in county, state, or federal incarceration in the state of California. The database of inmates holds the names of all prisoners who have been incarcerated in any prison in California. The California inmate search service is provided by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation of California (CDCR). The information in the database has been made available to the public to promote safety; any unauthorized use of the information is subject to criminal prosecution. When conducting a search, you may encounter entries for inmates who were detained but never incarcerated because their charges were dismissed or because the case is being withheld.

Searching Online for California Inmates

If you are searching for an inmate in a California prison, and you know his or her name, you can visit the website of the specific county in which the inmate is incarcerated; you do not have to contact the CDCR. For example, if the inmate is in the Almeda County Jail, you can visit the Almeda County government website at http://www.acgov.org/sheriff_app/. Enter the inmate's information on this website according to the instructions to access the inmate's information. It should be noted that although the details provided on this website represent the most recent information according to the county sheriff's office, they may not be entirely accurate due to the continuous process of the judicial system. It takes seven to ten working days for the online database to reflect any changes in an inmate's status. If you still have any questions, contact the local county sheriff's office.

Almost all counties in the state have their own California inmate search tool. To obtain the web location of a particular county's search tool, visit http://www.ca.gov/OS_Government_http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/locator.html. If your county isn't listed, contact the county sheriff's office; visit http://www.ca.gov/About/Government/Local/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/counties.html to get the contact information for the sheriff's office of any county in California. For example, if you are a resident of Trinity County, or if you are searching for an inmate being held in Trinity County and that county's search engine is unlisted, go to http://www.trinitycounty.org/ to find out the contact information for the sheriff's office.

Other Methods of Obtaining Information on Inmates

For information on inmates being held in California prisons, you can also call the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation at 916-445-6713, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., on weekdays. To inquire about an inmate's information over the phone, you will need to provide his or her date of birth, along with the CDC number or full name of the inmate. You will be provided with the mailing address and contact number of the inmate, but his or her date of release will not be given. If the inmate is newly incarcerated or has been recently transferred, it will take about seven days before the new information is reflected in the database.