California Inmate Records

California's incarceration rate currently stands at 319 per 100,000 residents, lower than the national average of 453 per 100,000 total population. The state's prison population is distributed in various prison/jail facilities operated by the state, local, and federal governments. Each facility, run and managed by different levels of government, keeps records of inmates in its custody.

A typical California inmate record includes the following information:

• Personal Information - Inmate's full name, gender, date of birth, identifying marks or scars, and nationality.
• Arrest Details - These include arrest date and time, arrest location, arrest warrants, and information about the arresting agency.
• Booking Information - This includes the booking number, charges filed, and bail amount.
• Court Details - These include court dates, case numbers, trial details, and verdicts.
• Parole, Probation, and Release Details - These include parole and probation conditions, expected or actual release date, eligibility for parole, probation status, and supervised release terms.
• Sentencing Details - These include fines, sentencing outcome, and length of imprisonment.

The local jail facilities in California hold an average of 78,000 inmates. While the state prisons accommodate about 101,000 inmates, an average of 12,000 persons are incarcerated in the federal prison facilities in the state.

Are Inmate Records Public in California?

Yes. California inmate records are considered public per the state's Public Records Act (CPRA). Under this Act, members of the public have a right to access public records held by public bodies. These include inmate records in the custody of the relevant government agencies. In addition, unless exempt, inmate information is considered public information under Section 13030.23.3 of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Operations Manual.

While the CPRA generally allows public access to California inmate records, some inmate records or certain information in those records are restricted from public disclosure. Exempt records/information include certain personal information about inmates, medical records, juvenile records, and expunged or sealed inmate records.

What Agencies Are Responsible for Inmate Records in California?

The following agencies generally supervise inmates incarcerated in California and are responsible for managing inmate records:

• The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) - The CDCR oversees inmates in over 60 state-run prison facilities, which include adult facilities and fire camps. Most inmates in California state prison facilities are sentenced for a set amount of time under the Determinate Sentencing Law.
• Police Departments- Although no police department in California (local or state) holds inmates or maintains inmate records, recently arrested offenders are generally held in their cells before transfer to a jail or prison facility. As a result, they may have some information about such offenders in their records.
• County Sheriff's Offices - The sheriff's offices in California's 58 counties operate county jails where individuals arrested for crimes and are awaiting court decisions or trials and inmates who are serving time for committing a crime are housed. The county jails are responsible for maintaining records of persons incarcerated in their jail facilities.
• Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) - The BOP operates 12 federal prisons in California (all at varying security levels) where persons convicted of federal crimes in the state are incarcerated. It also maintains records of such inmates.

How To Search an Inmate's Information in California?

It is vital to identify where an inmate is incarcerated (local, state, or federal prison facility) in California to be able to look up their information.

Find an inmate in California State Prisons

The California Incarcerated Records and Information Search (CIRIS) allows anyone to find information about individuals incarcerated in state-run prisons. Interested persons may search for inmates using their names (last names required) or their CDCR number. To narrow down the search, select the sought inmate's age range and commitment county. Typical information returned from an inmate search conducted on CIRIS includes name, age, admission date, current location, CDCR number, and commitment county.

While California inmate searches performed on CIRIS return ample information about an inmate, some details may not be available at the time of the search. For instance, information for inmates transferred between facilities or recently admitted to a facility may not be available for some days. To find detailed and comprehensive records on an inmate, visiting the prison facility where they are being incarcerated is often recommended. In addition, an interested party may submit a public record request to the CDCR to find inmate information in California.

Find an Inmate in Local Jail

Local jails in California are generally managed by the county sheriff's offices, police departments, and other local correctional departments in the state. These local agencies have online rosters/locators of inmates housed in their facilities that allow interested persons to look up information about inmates incarcerated in local jails by name or jail number.

Alternatively, anyone can find records of inmates incarcerated in local jails in California by visiting their holding facilities in person. Records obtained during such visits are usually more detailed. However, it is important to check whether a local jail requires scheduling an appointment before making any trip to the facility.

Find an Inmate in Federal Prison

About 12 federal prisons managed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), including the following, operate in California:

• Herlong FCI
• Los Angeles MDC
• Western RO
• Dublin FCI
• San Diego MCC

Anyone can find records of federal inmates housed in any of these federal prison facilities using the BOP Inmate Locator. Interested persons may look up an inmate by their BOP register number or name through this tool. Generally, only records of federal inmates incarcerated from 1982 to date are available on the BOP inmate Locator.

How Can I Access Old Inmate Records?

The California Incarcerated Records and Information Search system and inmate rosters maintained by local authorities in the state basically hold information about inmates currently incarcerated in state prisons and local jails. Old inmate records in the state may be found online through the California State Archives or the National Archives (for inmates incarcerated for committing federal offenses in the state). Alternatively, reliable third-party sites like CaliforniaPublicRecords.usare an excellent resource for looking up records of former inmates in California, as information collected on such databases remains there permanently. However, requesters may be required to pay a small fee.

Generally, online resources provide a convenient way of finding records of inmates already released from California prisons and jails. However, anyone looking to obtain detailed information about former inmates may visit the correctional facilities in which they were incarcerated and submit their request. They may also submit a public record request to the CDCR.

Can I Find a California Inmate Record for Free?

Yes, but records obtained from such searches usually contain basic information. Typically, each local, state, and federal correctional facility in California maintains records of inmates housed in their facility and makes such records accessible online for free. The downside is that they can only disseminate records on inmates in their custody.

Anyone looking to find detailed inmate records in California, regardless of where the inmates are being incarcerated within the state, should consider using the services of third-party sites like CaliforniaPublicRecords.us. These centralized databases provide convenient access to publicly available records of inmates under the supervision of the CDCR, local county jails, and the BOP prison facilities in California. However, users may have to pay a nominal fee to access such information.

Jails and Prisons in California

The correctional facilities in California are broadly categorized based on how such facilities are managed:

• State Correctional Facilities - These are managed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) using the state's funds. Over 60 correctional facilities are currently under the supervision of the CDCR.
• County Jails - These are typically operated by county sheriff's offices or other authorized correction bureaus, and each county in the state has at least one county jail.
• Federal Prisons - The BOP manages 12 federal prison facilities in California.

State Prisons in California

The table below shows some of the state prisons in California, each with varying security levels:

Private Prisons in California

There are no private-owned prison facilities in California. The state abolished them in 2020.

California Inmate Statistics

• California Incarceration Rate - 250 per 100,000 residents
• Male Incarceration Rate - 481 per 100,000 males
• Female Incarceration Rate - 19 per 100,000 females
• Youth Custody Rate - 58 per 100,000 youths
• Number of Prisoners in Private Prisons - 0
• Black/White Imprisonment Disparity - 9 to 2.1
• Latino/White Imprisonment Disparity - 2 to 0.1
• Number of Offenders under community supervision - 640 per 100,000 people
• Number of Offenders on probation - 514 per 100,000 residents
• Number of Offenders on parole - 147 per 100,000 total population
• Felony Disenfranchisement Rate - 0.4%

* Source: United States Bureau of Justice Statistics