Florida County Jails - How to Locate a Detainee Florida County Jails - How to Locate a Detainee The best way to locate an inmate in FL prisons and in county jails - helpful guidelines. Facts about Florida Jails including inmate statistics & inmate rights.

Florida County Jails - Running an Inmate Lookup

County Jails Articles

If your loved one or relative has been arrested, it suddenly becomes much more important to know the difference between jail and prison, and how to contact someone being held in one of them. Florida jails, for instance, are designed to hold suspects still waiting for a trial date, or anyone convicted of a crime with less than a year sentence. Florida prisons, on the other hand, are designated only for those who have been convicted of a crime with a sentence of more than 365 days.

Florida Inmate Search

Where your friend or loved one is held makes a huge difference in how you go about finding them. Because the prison system in Florida is owned and operated by the state, to find an inmate in one of these facilities, you should simply use the offender locator provided by the Florida Department of Corrections. It can be found at http://www.dc.state.fl.us/OffenderSearch/InmateInfoMenu.aspx. This database includes current inmates, released inmates, former inmates currently under supervision, released inmates who have violated parole, and escaped inmates.

The FDLE puts at your disposal its Criminal History Search (https://cchinet.fdle.state.fl.us/search/app/default?2). This database unfolds people incarcerated in all of FL counties. To access the information it stores, you will be asked to register. In addition, each name being search comes with a fee of $24.00.

Running a Local Inquiry

Trying to carry out an inmate search for one of the state's county jails can prove a bit more challenging because there is no centralized database for these facilities.

Fortunately, most county jails have their own searchable data banks, which the public can use to find arrest records. These data banks can usually be accessed via the Sheriff's website. For example, if you were to do an inmate lookup at the Escambia County jail, you could use the search tool found at http://inmatelookup.myescambia.com/smartwebclient/jail.aspx. All you have to do is insert the detainee's relevant details.

Another example - to run an arrest seach which covers Collier County jail, you should utilize the local Sheriff's jail tracker. You will be asked to fill out a detainee's name and additional details to narrow the search: booking date and number.

In summary, a Florida inmate search can be done in two ways. You can use statewide databases to find prison records. Alternatively, you can run a local inquiry revolving around a specific county jail.

Useful facts and statistics

As of end-of-year 2021, there were 111,253 male inmates and 33,026 female inmates housed in the Florida prison system which includes 128 correctional facilities.
50.5% of the inmate population in FL prisons were White, 31% were Afro-Americans and 17.9% were Hispanic.
The Florida prison system is the third largest in the United States. Its annual budget stands at $2.4 billion.
The average annual cost of one inmate in Florida is $19,069.
In 2020, 99,980 people were arrested and taken to county jails in all of Florida.
The average daily population in Florida jails in january 2021 was 54,720.

Inmates rights and prerogatives

Florida inmates have the same basic rights that any person in any other correctional facility in the United States has, including:

The right to be housed in "humane" facilities, and inmates awaiting trial in a pre-trial jail facility cannot be treated as though they are guilty.
The right to receive medical care if needed, including mental health treatment, in a manner that is "appropriate under the circumstances."
The right to receive mail, although it may be opened by prison guards to ensure no contraband or weapons are contained.
The right to receive money while in prison/jail.
The right to place a collect call to pre-approved numbers, which may include cell phones or landlines. Inmates may not receive phone calls.