Georgia Inmate Records

Georgia inmate records are files and documents containing information about persons incarcerated in prisons and other correctional facilities in the state. The state's prison system incarcerates an average of 95,300 inmates, including about 47,813 in state prisons, at least 6,500 in federal prisons, and about 40,000 in county jails. Georgia's incarceration rate of 435 per 100,000 people is higher than the national average of 355 per 100,000 U.S. population.

Each inmate-supervising authority in Georgia exclusively maintains records of all inmates under their jurisdictions. For instance, the authorized agency overseeing state correctional facilities keeps records of all inmates housed in state prisons, while the one at the federal level maintains records of federal inmates incarcerated in the state. The same applies to local-level authorities in charge of local jails.

Information found in a typical Georgia inmate record includes the following:

• Personal Information - Inmate's full name, inmate's number, year of birth, mugshot, race, and physical descriptors like weight, height, eye color, tattoos, marks, scars, and hair color.
• Incarceration Details - Case number, major offense, conviction county, crime commit date, sentence length, most recent institution of incarceration, and maximum possible release date.
• Incarceration History - This shows an inmate's previous history of incarceration and typically includes the date an incarceration began and when it ended.
• Important Release Date - This shows the current status of an inmate and their actual release date.
• Arrest Record - This includes the date, time, and location of the arrest, information about the arresting agency, charges, and arrest warrants.

Are Inmate Records Public in Georgia?

Inmate records are public in Georgia, according to the state's Open Records Act. Under this Act, the public has the right to access all non-confidential government records, including inmate records. While most inmate records in Georgia are public documents, there are some exceptions. For instance, sealed or expunged inmate records are generally exempt from public disclosure. Similarly, information exempt from public disclosure may be redacted from an inmate record before making the rest of the record available to the public. Such information includes medical records, financial information, and certain investigative records.

What Agencies Are Responsible for Inmate Records in Georgia?

Georgia inmate records are maintained by certain authorized agencies, some of which are directly responsible for managing the correctional facilities where the inmates are housed. These agencies include the following:

• The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) - The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) keeps the records of inmates incarcerated in correctional facilities run by the state. At least 35 prison facilities across the state house inmates who are directly supervised by the GDC. The GDC also oversees the custody of state inmates in 21 county prisons and 4 private prisons by contract and maintains the records of each inmate in those facilities.
• County Sheriff's Offices - There are about 143 county jails across Georgia's 159 counties. These facilities are solely operated by county sheriff's offices, whose responsibilities also include keeping the records of all the inmates under their jurisdictions.
• Police Departments - In Georgia, local police departments are responsible for generating and keeping records of their official activities. These include records of arrests executed for varying offenses, which are also included in the state's inmate records.
• The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) - The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) operates five federal prisons in Georgia and is responsible for keeping records of all inmates incarcerated in those facilities. Typically, only individuals convicted of federal crimes in the state are sentenced to federal correctional facilities.

How To Search for an Inmate's Information in Georgia?

Once a person identifies which correctional facility in Georgia an inmate whose information is being sought is held, they can explore the varying options offered by the agency in charge of the facility to look up the needed information.

Find an inmate in Georgia State Prisons

The Find an Offender system maintained by the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) is publicly available to anyone who wishes to find information about inmates held in state prisons and county prisons run by the Department. Interested persons can find an inmate by name or description or by the inmate's ID or case number. Regardless of which search criterion is used, the search result typically contains the inmate's personal information, incarceration details, and release information.

While it is more convenient to find an inmate housed in a state correctional facility in Georgia using the GDC Find an Offender system, some information may not be available from the search. Anyone looking to obtain more detailed records or information about a state prison inmate should visit the correctional facility where the inmate is physically housed. They may need to provide certain details to facilitate the search, including the inmate's name, date of birth, race, and gender.

Find an Inmate in Local Jail

Most, if not all, of the county sheriff's offices in Georgia overseeing the county and local jails within their jurisdictions maintain online databases of the inmates housed in those jails. These databases come in varying nomenclature like inmate locator, inmate roster, inmate search, or inmate inquiry. Interested parties may find inmates in local jails by searching the online databases maintained by the county sheriff's officers in charge of such jails.

Alternatively, visiting a county jail where an inmate is held in Georgia to request inmate information provides an opportunity to obtain a comprehensive record about the inmate. Anyone who opts to find an inmate this way will be required to provide information like the person's name, gender, admission date, and year of birth to start the search.

Find an Inmate in Federal Prison

Records of inmates incarcerated in federal prisons operating in Georgia are available on the Federal Bureau of Prison's database and may be accessed through the BOP Inmate Locator. The database contains records of inmates sentenced to federal prisons from 1982 to date and may be searched by an inmate's name or BOP register number. Interested persons can look up the BOP Inmate Locator for inmates incarcerated in any of the following federal prisons that operate in Georgia:

• Jesup FCI
• Atlanta FCI
• Southeast RO
• Glynco
• Atlanta RRM

How Can I Access Old Inmate Records?

Usually, when looking for old inmate records in the state, the first place anyone should look is the Georgia Archives, as it may have some historic records of inmates who served time in the state's prisons. Also, historical records of old inmates who were incarcerated for committing federal crimes in the state may be available at the National Archives. Furthermore, independent companies like Georgiapublicrecords.us have collated in their databases inmate records from several years. These records typically remain in the databases indefinitely, allowing members of the public to access old inmate records in Georgia, although at a nominal fee.

A person may also visit the correctional facility where an inmate was incarcerated in Georgia to find the inmate's old records. However, it is advised to contact the facility managers in advance and inquire about the information required to conduct an in-person search before visiting. A small fee may be charged for conducting this search. Alternatively, anyone may submit a public record request to the GDC through the department's Open Records Request Portal to obtain an old inmate record in the state.

Can I Find a Georgia Inmate Record for Free?

Georgia inmate records are accessible free of charge from several online resources managed by relevant government agencies. For instance, the BOP Inmate Locator provides free access to records of inmates housed in federal prisons in Georgia, while the GDC's Find an Offender system does the same for inmates incarcerated in state-run prisons and county prisons. However, each of these resources can only provide information about inmates under the jurisdiction of the supervising agency and will not provide any information for other agencies.

Records of inmates housed in state, local, federal, and private correctional facilities operating in Georgia can all be found in databases maintained by reliable independent record service providers like Georgiapublicrecords.us. These sites are a one-stop shop for inmate records, and they provide centralized access to members of the public who wish to find inmate information, regardless of the inmates' holding facilities or the agencies in charge of the facilities' administration. This service typically comes at a small fee.

Jails and Prisons in Georgia

The categorization of correctional facilities in Georgia is largely based on which agency manages them and how they are being run. These facilities are classified as listed below:

• State Prisons - The Georgia Department of Corrections (DOC) manages 35 state prisons, 7 probation centers, 12 residential substance abuse treatment facilities, 13 transition centers, and 2 integrated treatment facilities. In addition, it supervises 21 county prisons by contract.
• County Jails - The 143 county jail facilities around Georgia's 159 counties are managed by county sheriff's offices.
• Federal Prisons - The five federal prisons in Georgia are exclusively managed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
• Private Prisons - Georgia has four private prisons housing state offenders. The custody of these inmates is overseen by the Facilities Division of the GDC by contract with two private prison companies, the GEO Corporation and the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).

State Prisons in Georgia

This table lists some of the state prisons in Georgia

Private Prisons in Georgia

• Jenkins Correctional Facility
• Wheeler Correctional Facility
• Coffee Correctional Facility
• Riverbend Correctional Facility

Georgia Inmate Statistics

• Georgia Incarceration Rate - 435 per 100,000 residents
• Male Incarceration Rate - 831 per 100,000 males
• Female Incarceration Rate - 58 per 100,000 females
• Youth Custody Rate - 71 per 100,000 youths
• Number of Prisoners in Private Prisons - 7,284
• Black/White Imprisonment Disparity - 2.8:1
• Latino/White Imprisonment Disparity - 0.6:1
• Number of offenders under community supervision - 4,399 per 100,000 people
• Number on probation - 4,169 per 100,000 people
• Number on parole - 183 per 100,000 people
• Felony Disenfranchisement Rate - 3.3%

* Source: United States Bureau of Justice Statistics