Free Ohio Inmate Search (Access Details on Anyone Incarcerated)

Conduct a free Ohio inmate search to reveal insights on anyone behind bars throughout the state.

Inmates are people incarcerated for crimes, and there are many online tools and other methods available for accessing information about them. Look up inmates to learn important information about someone you know — or even about a stranger — to familiarize yourself with these records.

Under Ohio’s public records law, citizens have the right to inspect and copy government records, including inmate information — but the key is knowing who hosts this information and how to access it.

This resource will provide you with the information you need to understand where and how to perform your search for Ohio inmate information at no cost.

This resource was written by Attorney Robert Bailey Jr, who holds a Juris Doctorate from Widener University School of Law.

Contrast Between Prison Inmates & Jail Inmates

When performing an inmate lookup, it’s important to understand the difference between prisons and jails. While some might consider the terms interchangeable, there are important differences in which type of inmate each holds.

In Ohio, there are many jails and they operate at the county level. Unlike some states, Ohio does not have city jails run by a local police department. Arrested individuals are initially placed in a county jail maintained by the local sheriff’s office.

Jails in Ohio are primarily used for people convicted of minor crimes who will be serving shorter sentences. Jails are also used as a temporary holding facility in any of the following situations:

• Someone who was just arrested and will either be released or is waiting to post bail
• An inmate awaiting trial for a serious offense
• An inmate transitioning from one facility to another

The Department of Rehabilitation & Correction runs Ohio state prisons.¹ Prisons house inmates who have been convicted of more serious crimes, often referred to as felonies.

People in state prisons usually serve longer sentences than those in jail. In addition, because of the types of offenses people are convicted of in prisons, there is typically a higher level of security.

There are also federal prisons that contain inmates guilty of crimes against the United States. There is a different set of federal criminal laws (e.g., drug trafficking, money laundering etc.) that, when violated, result in this type of federal incarceration. There are federal prisons throughout the United States, two of which are located in Ohio.

How To Review Details of Anybody in an Ohio Jail

To find an inmate in an Ohio jail, you will hopefully know the county where the individual was arrested, as that is likely where they are incarcerated. Beyond that, you will hopefully know the inmate’s name and any additional details that can assist with your search (e.g., age, race, sex).

For many counties, you can run an Ohio inmate lookup using online tools. However, the process is not uniform across every county.

Different counties may require you to submit a public records request or talk to someone directly to request inmate information. That is because, while there are laws that require access to these records, there is no requirement for how this information is provided.

Since each county is different, it’s important to have Ohio criminal information resources that can point you in the right direction with contact information for county jails and available online search tools. To give you an example of how you can look up someone at this level, below is information on searching for inmate information in Ohio’s largest county, Franklin.

The quickest way to find details about someone in jail is to use the free online inmate search tool provided by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. They are responsible for the inmates at the Franklin County Corrections Center and the James A. Karnes Corrections Center.

This is a name-based search tool, and you can narrow down your search results by including an offender’s race, sex or age if you have that information available. You can also choose to filter your results by the status of the offender (e.g., released or in custody).

The search results will provide the following information:

• Name
• Inmate number
• Booking number
• Sex
• Race
• Incarceration location
• Status
• Earliest release date
• Maximum discharge date

You can then click on the “details” link on the left-hand side for additional information. Here, you can see the inmate’s mugshot and other descriptive information (e.g., weight, height, eye color etc.). You can also view specific offense information, which includes the following:

• Offense description
• Date of arrest
• Bond amount and type
• Criminal case number
• Sentence date and length
• Conviction type
• Next court date
• Court location

For additional information, you can contact the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division at either facility they manage below:

James A. Karnes Corrections Center
2551 Fisher Rd.
Columbus, Ohio 43204

614-525-3368

Franklin County Corrections Center
2460 Jackson Pike
Columbus, Ohio 43223

614-525-7100

How To Track Down Information on State Prisoners (Ohio Inmate Search)

To execute an inmate search of Ohio state prisoners, a citizen can use the Department of Rehabilitation & Correction Offender Search Tool.

This search tool can be used to find inmates by name or their ID number. If searching by name, you have the option to narrow down the list of offenders by choosing to view those currently incarcerated, under supervision or violators at large. Once you perform a search, the results page will provide you with all matching inmates names, ID numbers and custody status.

For additional inmate information, you can click on their name. The complete inmate record contains the inmate’s mugshot and the information listed below.

Summary: This section contains the inmate’s identifying information (date of birth, race and gender), admission date, institution of incarceration and status.

Offense Information: Here, you can view the specific charges an inmate was convicted of (including the specific statute and degree), the sentence date, min and max sentence and case number.

Sentence Information: This section provides you with the range of the total sentence and the expected date the inmate is eligible to be released or placed under parole.

Parole Hearing Information: In this final section, you can view a summary of the latest parole board hearing and the results.

For additional inmate information, you can contact the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction at 614-387-0588 or by visiting them at the address below:⁵

Ohio Department Rehabilitation & Correction
4545 Fisher Rd., Ste. D
Columbus, Ohio 43228

The following are some additional resources that may be helpful:

• List of all Ohio Correctional Facilities
• Visitation Information
• Registered Sex Offenders
• Parole Violators Listing

How To Complete a Search for Federal Prisoners

As was discussed earlier, there is a distinction between state and federal prisoners. A record seeker will need to use different resources to find federal inmates, whether in Ohio or elsewhere. There are three primary options for accessing federal inmate information, depending on the inmate you are searching for.

Federal Inmate Search Tool: For any inmates incarcerated from 1982 to the present, a record seeker can use the Inmate Search Tool provided by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). This search tool allows you to find federal inmates by number (e.g., BOP, FBI, etc.) or name. For name-based searches, you can filter your results by also adding certain descriptive information (sex, race and age).

Once you complete your search, you will be able to view the following information for any federal inmate:

• Name
• Register number
• Age
• Race
• Sex
• Release date
• Location (or indication that inmate has been released)

If you have additional questions about searching for inmates, you can contact the Federal Bureau of Prisons at 202-307-3198 or at the address below:⁷

Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 1st St., NW
Washington, DC 20534

National Archives & Records Administration (NARA): A record seeker can access older prison records with the National Archives Records Administration (NARA). The NARA is a record custodian of several different prison indexes and related digitized documents.

For additional information on how to search these archived records, you can contact NARA by phone at 866-272-6272 or by going to one of their available locations.⁸ You can also write to them at:

The National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Rd.
College Park, Maryland 20740

Federal Case Search: If you’re still looking for federal inmate information, you can perform a criminal case search with the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) Search Tool. This tool will allow you to search federal criminal case records to find sentencing and other data related to a particular inmate. Note: This search tool does charge a fee per document accessed.⁹

You should now have a firm understanding of how jails and prisons (state and federal) operate and the type of inmates they house. Use this information and the resources provided in this article to conduct your own Ohio inmate search.