How to Find and Access Illinois Inmate Records

The felony offenders of the state of Illinois are housed at the facilities operated by the Illinois Department of Corrections. The Department is responsible for the units that are operated by it. The county or federal facilities do not come under its jurisdiction. Once you know the type of crime committed by the convict that you are looking for, it becomes easier for you to narrow down the search. Extracting the information of an Illinois inmate from Illinois Department of Corrections is quite easy with distinct sections provided for each search.

How to Begin Your Search

You can start your search by going to http://www.idoc.state.il.us/subsections/search/default.asp. This page gives you the option to conduct an online search. The cues required for conducting the search are the last and first names (separated by a comma), date of birth of the convict, or the IDOC number. If you know any one of these cues, you can search for the inmate there. If you find that the site is not working properly (which occasionally happens if you visit it when it is down for maintenance or updating the database), you can call the office at (217)558-2200. This line is exclusive for the private organizations, such as non-governmental and non-state organizations and for the general public. The law enforcement agencies or other governmental agencies of Illinois can call 1-888-446-9103. If you want to get information on inmates on parole or supervision, you can reach the Parole Office at (800) 666-6744.

County Jail Records and Illinois Inmate Locators

The information on the Illinois inmates incarcerated in county jails can be found by going to the website of specific counties. County jails house those convicts who have been sentenced for a misdemeanor or a less serious offense. Sometimes, the convicts of federal or state prisons, who are due for an appearance in court, are detained in these facilities on a temporary basis.

The records of the inmates of county jails are maintained and updated by the sheriff’s office. If the county has no such provision for online searches, you can reach the local sheriff via postal service. You can receive a list of these counties and their website links by visiting http://www.statelocalgov.net/state-IL.cfm.

However, not all the counties have correctional facilities or inmate locators. The counties that do have these facilities are Adam County, Cook County, Crawford County, Preoria County, St. Claire’s County, and Will County. If the inmate you are looking for is not in one of those county's facilities, you can send a request via the mail. You can receive the mailing addresses as well as the phone numbers from the links of respective counties.

The Metropolitan Correctional Center is the federal prison for Illinois located in Chicago. Federal facilities are those where the convicts, sentenced for violating federal laws, are housed. MCC houses inmates of all kinds; of different security levels and both male and female, who are supposed to appear before the Federal Court. To search for a federal inmate from Illinois, go to http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/LocateInmate.jsp. Or you can contact the warden at the following contact information:

MCC Chicago, Metropolitan Correctional Center
71 West Van Buren St.
Chicago, IL 60605

Telephone #: (312) 322-0567
Fax #: (312) 347-4012
Email address: CCC/EXECASSISTANT@BOP.GOV

There are various divisions of prisons under IDOC. Boot camps, work camps and Adult Transition Centers, which are also known as work release centers, have been developed along with 28 correctional centers in the five districts of the state. The list of these units can be accessed at http://www.idoc.state.il.us/subsections/facilities/instaddress.asp. The inmates and staff members are not allowed to access the Internet in these units. As a result, easiest way to reach these establishments is to call their office. The contact information is provided in the page itself.

Inmates of Illinois in IDOC provide various services to society. In 2008, they gave a total of about 39000 hours of community service, following a natural disaster, and in various other projects. This sends a very positive signal to the greater community. People look at the inmates repaying them, which increases their acceptability into society, upon their release from incarceration.

The specific information on Illinois inmates that you can extract from the database of county jails varies from one facility to another. For example, some websites provide information about the kinds of bond or bail required, while some provide with information of offense type, description of the sentence and the offense, arresting agency, type of arrest, sentence date, and so on. However, date of release is not specified in most records.

Whether you are looking for the inmates of state prisons or county prisons, your online search will return with the results of existing inmates only. For all of the Illinois inmates who have served the sentences in the past, you will need to send a special request to http://www.idoc.state.il.us/subsections/records/default.shtml. There you will receive information about how to get information on inmates from the archived database of the IDOC. You can send an email to info@doc.illinois.gov. Make sure to include the mandatory inmate details, like full name with correct spellings, date of birth, the year from when he or she had served their sentence, and preferably the facility. Send one request per inmate. That is, you need to send separate letters for multiple searches.

You should also provide your mailing address where the documents can be sent to, along with a valid email address where you would can be reached. The information sent to you will include the name, IDOC identity number, existing location, present status, description (that would include height, weight. etc.), date of sentence, date of release, offense type, and sentence description. If you do not consider the information to be sufficient, you can bring a court order or subpoena to extract the details on the inmate.