Searching Federal Prison Records

If you need to find either a specific federal prison or records concerning an individual inmate, you'll need to look to the databases maintained by the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). The BOP website at http://www.bop.gov/ offers both of these options to the public free of charge. Here, you may input information to find the nearest federal facilities to your specified area, or those holding an inmate you may know personally. In addition, this site provides information about various programs implemented to help get the inmates ready for life after their release.

Using the BOP Inmate Locator

The inmate locator allows you to input either ID number or name, age, sex and race of the inmate to find out where he or she is being held. The actual or projected release date is included in the results, as well as their register number and the facility where they are found if currently incarcerated.

If the information about the facility is shown, you can click through and learn about the level of security at that facility, types of inmates housed there and even the city and judicial district it is located in.

Facility Information

Each of the federal prisons has its own website and information available online. Using the BOP site's section that offers these links, you can learn about visiting hours, population and types of inmates found there, as well as contact information. These facilities are classified as low, minimum, medium or high security prisons and are found within one of six regions in the country: Mid-Atlantic, North Central, Northeast, South Central, Southeast and Central.

Residential Re-entry Center (RCC) information is also available on the site. This is where inmates are sent prior to being fully released and helps to train them for employment and life outside of prison. Here, they are expected to work 40 hours a week.

Sex Offender Information

If the inmate you are searching for was a sex offender, the National Sex Offender Public Website at http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/cac/registry.htm will allow you to gain more personal information about that individual. This includes current and past addresses, work information, level of offense committed and the dates of release or proposed release.

Other Inmate Services

The BOP site also provides information about several inmate programs provided at each of the federal prisons within the system. This information includes details about female inmate facilities, inmate money and employment, health, dental and mental care provided to the inmates, religious programs, release preparation, personal property, juvenile offenders and temporary release. Educational and skill-developing program information is also available here for the public to learn about how their tax dollars are being spent within the federal prison system.