How to Conduct a Georgia Inmate Search

The Georgia Department of Corrections documents, maintains, and regularly updates information about inmates in Georgia. According to the rules specified by the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), those records that are deemed “public records” or not have been exempted under Section 3-4-40 of the FOIA must be made available to the public on request. This rule also applies to the inmates serving terms in various Georgia prisons or correctional facilities and you can conduct a Georgia inmate search to obtain information on them.

Why Do You Need to Conduct an Inmate Search?

An inmate search serves the same purpose as a criminal background check of an individual. Do a quick check to see if a person is actually an inmate at a Georgia prison or correctional facility and you can lay to rest your doubts and niggling worries. A Georgia inmate search will also help you find a person who may be housed in a jail or correctional facility, or is admitted in a treatment center in the state.

You cannot use any Georgia inmate search information for commercial purposes.

What Inmate Information is Available?

A Georgia inmate search result will contain only that information that can be made public as per the guidelines of the FOIA: the name of the convict, a photograph of the inmate, details of his physical appearance including scars and tattoos, his/her aliases, past and present addresses, the nature of his/her offense, and the details of his/her conviction.

As per the guidelines of the court, the Department of Corrections cannot release to the public records of juvenile offenders. Nor can the Department make public those records that have been ordered sealed by the court.

How to Conduct a Georgia Inmate Search

You can access Georgia inmate records in any one of the following ways: look in the publicly available records listed in the many sites dotting the Internet, visit a government web site, or call the Georgia Department of Corrections. It is a good idea to acquire the information from a government source, which will be more reliable.

You may get in touch with the Georgia Department of Corrections by calling these numbers: (404) 656-4569 and (404) 656-4593 to request Georgia inmate information. You will be asked to provide the first and the last names of the person about whom you would like to obtain information, his/her date of birth, and/or the Social Security Number (SSN).

The Department of Corrections regularly upgrades the Georgia prison search records but does not vouch for their authenticity. So, when you are searching information about Georgia prison inmates, do keep in mind that the Department of Corrections cannot be held responsible for any discrepancy in the information provided by them. You should thus be very careful before you use the information or quote from it.

How to Obtain Information on Federal Inmates

Acquiring information about federal prison inmates in Georgia is easy. Federal inmates are convicts who have breached federal laws, that is, the laws of the United States, and serve sentences in federal prisons. The Federal Bureau of Prisons may also house some state inmates. To obtain information about incarcerated federal inmates of Georgia, visit the Inmate Locator database at http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/LocateInmate.jsp.

Information here, however, dates back to 1982 only. Information about Georgia federal inmates who were released before 1982 is not documented in the Inmate Locator database. You will have to ask for this information by writing to:

Federal Bureau of Prisons
Office of Communications and Archives
Attn: Historic Inmate Locator Request
320 First Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20534

To obtain the requisite information, you will have to fill out these details in your request application: the full name of the convict including the middle name or his/her initials, the date of birth or at least his/her approximate age when incarcerated, race, and the estimated time period when s/he was serving the sentence. The Register number, aliases used, the nature of the offense, and the name of the prison where s/he was housed are some nuggets of information which are not mandatory, but if included in the request form will speed up the search process.

Georgia inmate search is easy and hassle-free, when you know which channels to proceed along.