Indiana Inmate Records

Indiana's incarceration rate stands at 349 per 100,000 residents, slightly lower than the United States average of 355 per 100,000 total population. Each year, an average of 25,286 inmates are housed in correctional facilities run by the state and approximately 19,000 in local jails. Similarly, an average of 3,900 persons are held in privately-run prisons in Indiana annually. Records of each inmate incarcerated in the state prison system are maintained by the agency in charge of a correctional facility. This may be an agency of the local, state, or federal government.

A typical Indiana inmate record has the following information:

• Personal Information - This includes the inmate's name, race, date of birth (or age), gender, and physical descriptors like eye color, hair color, scars, and tattoos.
• Arrest Details - This list includes information about the arresting agency, the time of the arrest, the date of the arrest, the location of the arrest, the arrest date, charges filed, and the arrest warrant.
• Sentence Details - These include the date of sentence, county of conviction, earliest possible release date, projected release date, length of the prison term (in years), and the type of conviction.
• Court Information - This includes the case number, trial details, fines, orders, and judgments.

Are Inmate Records Public in Indiana?

Yes. Indiana's Access to Public Records Act (APRA) codified in Section 5-14-3 of the state's Code, gives members of the public the right to access government records, which generally include inmate records. Hence, anyone may request to inspect or obtain copies of inmate records in the state as long as they are not confidential or otherwise non-disclosable by statute.

While most inmate records are considered public documents in Indiana, some pieces of information in arrest records or certain records are exempt from public disclosure under the APRA. These include information declared confidential by state law, confidential financial information, inmate medical records, and Social Security numbers. Sealed inmate records are also exempt from public disclosure in Indiana.

What Agencies Are Responsible for Inmate Records in Indiana?

Several agencies are charged with the responsibility of managing the correctional facilities throughout Indiana and maintaining records of inmates held in such facilities. These agencies include the following:

• The Indiana Department Of Correction (IDOC) - The Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) oversees over 20 correctional facilities, including 18 adult facilities, 3 juvenile facilities, and over 10 work release centers. It also keeps records of inmates housed in these facilities and makes them available to interested members of the public upon request. Generally, IDOC state-run prisons hold offenders convicted of grave crimes, such as violent offenses, death row inmates, and inmates serving long prison sentences.
• County Sheriff's Offices - The 91 county jails across Indiana are supervised by the county sheriff's offices. Each county jail has a sheriff's office managing it, as well as keeping records of inmates held in the jail facility. Offenders held in county jails include individuals charged with offenses punishable by less than one year jail sentence and persons awaiting trial but cannot afford bail.
• Police Departments - Local police departments in Indiana keep records related to arrests that led to inmates' convictions and subsequent sentences to state prisons or local county jails. While the police departments do not technically house inmates, the arrest records in their custody are an important part of inmate records in the state.
• The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) - Indiana has one federal correctional facility operating within the state's boundaries. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) manages this facility and keeps the records of all inmates sentenced there to serve prison terms. Generally, only individuals convicted of violating federal laws in the state are housed in this facility.

How To Search for an Inmate's Information in Indiana

When planning to locate an inmate or search their information, it is crucial to determine if the inmate is housed in a local, state, or federal correctional facility. This will help identify where to begin the search.

Find an inmate in Indiana State Prisons

The IDOC Incarcerated Individual Locator makes it easy for anyone to find basic information about individuals incarcerated in Indiana state prisons. The inmate locator allows both name and DOC number searches. Users can generally search by an inmate's last name, but where the first and last names are known, using both is recommended to help narrow the search results. With an inmate's DOC as the search parameter, users can skip one step in the search process. Generally, search results retrieved using the IDOC Incarcerated Individual Locator contain inmates' personal details and sentence information.

While looking up an inmate housed in an Indiana prison through the IDOC Incarcerated Individual Locator is more convenient, the search result only provides basic information. Hence, it is best to visit the state prison facility where an inmate is currently being incarcerated if looking to obtain a more detailed record. Typically, requesters will have to provide certain details, like an inmate's name, date of birth, and the DOC number, to help the record custodian locate the inmate's file.

Find an Inmate in Local Jail

Most county jails operating in Indiana have online inmate search tools that help members of the public locate inmates held in such jails and look up certain information about them. These tools are usually featured on the supervising county sheriff's offices' websites and largely allow search by inmates' names and inmate numbers assigned by the jail facilities. Common names adopted for these online resources include inmate locator, inmate lookup tool, inmate roster, and inmate listing.

Alternatively, anyone who intends to find a complete record on any inmate held in a local jail in Indiana should visit the jail facility where the inmate is physically housed. They will find as many details as they want, as long as the information sought is not confidential, once they provide the custodian with basic details to help facilitate the search.

Find an Inmate in Federal Prison

Interested persons can retrieve information about any inmate incarcerated in Terre Haute FCC, the only federal prison in Indiana, using the BOP Inmate Locator. Users can generally look up any inmate housed in a federal prison from 1982 to the present through the Inmate Locator using the inmate's name or BOP register number. A typical search result includes an inmate's full name, registration number, age, race, gender, release date, and location.

How Can I Access Old Inmate Records?

Most inmate lookup tools offered by correctional facilities in Indiana generally provide information about inmates who are currently in custody. Anyone looking to find information about an old or former inmate in the state should consider checking the Indiana Archives and Records Administration (IARA). They may contact the IARA Central Office at (317) 591-5222 to make inquiries about locating old inmate records in the state through the Archives and Records Administration. Similarly, anyone interested in locating information about an old inmate housed in Indiana's federal prisons may start by looking up the National Archives. They may also consider submitting an FOIA request to the BOP.

Alternatively, independent websites like Indianapublicrecords.us usually keep records of inmates collected and uploaded on their database for a long time, and in most cases, these records remain there permanently. Interested persons may search these websites with the available inmate information to retrieve detailed records. However, these sites often charge a small fee to enable access to old inmate records in their database.

Another way to obtain detailed information about Indiana's former inmates is to visit the prisons or jails where the inmates were physically held while serving jail or prison sentences. With information such as an inmate's name, date of birth, admission date, and release date, a record custodian should be able to locate an old inmate file and furnish the requester with the sought information. Alternatively, interested persons may consider submitting a public records request to the IDOC to retrieve old inmate records in Indiana.

Can I Find an Indiana Inmate Record for Free?

Generally, each agency in charge of the correctional facilities in Indiana provides free access to inmate records through their online inmate locators or search tools. However, each inmate locator (or database) only contains records of offenders housed in the correctional facility maintained by each prison/jail authority.

With third-party sites like Indianapublicrecords.us, anyone may access records of all inmates in the state's prison system, regardless of the facilities where they are being held or the prison/jail authority in charge of those facilities. In other words, these websites serve as a one-stop database for records of inmates housed in local, state, and federal correctional facilities in Indiana and are centrally accessible. However, services offered by these websites are not free, as users are usually required to pay a nominal fee.

Jails and Prisons in Indiana

Indiana prisons and jails are categorized as follows, based on how they are being managed:

• State Prisons - Indiana has about 31 state-run correctional facilities. These include adult prison facilities, juvenile facilities, and work release centers, and all are managed by the state's Department of Correction (iDOC).
• Local Jails - At least 91 local jails operate in Indiana. Each is supervised by a county sheriff's office in the state.
• Federal Prisons - The only federal prison in Indiana is under the purview of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
• Private Prisons - Indiana has one privately managed prison, although owned by the state's Department of Correction.

State Prisons in Indiana

Listed in the table below are some of Indiana's state-run prisons:

Private Prisons in Indiana

The only private prison in Indiana is New Castle Correctional Facility, a minimum, medium, and maximum facility. Although it is privately run, it is owned by the state's Department of Correction (IDOC).

Indiana Inmate Statistics

• Indiana Incarceration Rate - 349 per 100,000 residents
• Male Incarceration Rate - 635 per 100,000 males
• Female Incarceration Rate - 67 per 100,000 females
• Youth Custody Rate - 113 per 100,000 youths
• Number of Prisoners in Private Prisons - 3,906
• Black/White Imprisonment Disparity - 4.6:1
• Latino/White Imprisonment Disparity - 0.7:1
• Number of offenders under community supervision - 2,206 per 100,000 people
• Number on probation - 1,888 per 100,000 people
• Number on parole - 120 per 100,000 people
• Felony Disenfranchisement Rate - 0.6%

* Source: United States Bureau of Justice Statistics