Ohio Inmate Search

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction is responsible for keeping and maintaining an updated database on those individuals who are serving out their time in Ohio state prisons. The database is open to the public and can be found on the official Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction website. 

The database consists of those who are currently sitting in prison, those who died while being in prison, those who were released from prison, those on parole, those who are on probation, and anyone that is under supervision from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. You can search the database by the offenders first and last name, their status, their inmate number, and other identifying information. 

The database does not include the offenders serving time in Ohio’s city or county jails. 

When an offender is housed in a state prison, they are property of the Department of Corrections Division. As stated above every state’s Department of Corrections Division has their own jail roster or database that the general public may use.

The Ohio Department of Corrections offender search database can be found on the official Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction website.

You can search the inmate list by using the following pieces of information:

• Last Name
• First Name
• County of Commitment
• Residential County
• Zip Code
• Status
• Next Parole Board Hearing Date
• Number

You will see the following pieces of information in the Ohio jails inmate search:

• Mugshots
• Full Name
• Number
• Date of Birth
• Status
• Offenses

You can click on the inmate’s name to bring up their own personal file. When you do this, you will see the following information:

• Number
• Date of Birth
• Gender
• Race
• Admission Date
• Institution
• Status
• Offense Information
• Sentence Information
• Parole Hearing Information
• Notes

As we stated above, the only prisons you will be able to find in the Ohio inmate search are state-operated facilities. All city and county jails are NOT in this database whatsoever.

In the state of Ohio, there are 144 state prisons. These prisons are available in the above database. All other prisons that are not listed below will NOT come up in the roster. Keep this in mind when searching for an inmate in the Ohio prison inmate lookup database brought to you by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Looking for who’s in jail in city and county jails will be more difficult than trying to find out who’s in jail in a state or a federal prison. There is typically not much information on these smaller jails. A lot of city jails do not even supply an inmate database to the general public. However, it is not impossible to locate an inmate in one of those facilities, if you know exactly who to seek out with your questions.

As far as county jails, majority of county jails will be managed and operated by that county’s Sheriff’s department. They will be the agency, you should reach out to if you believe the person you are looking for is in a county jail.

As far as city jails, majority of city jails do not have much information about them. They are typically just holding pens for inmates to be transferred out to their “permanent” jail. If you believe the person you are looking for is in a city jail, it is best to contact that cities corrections division. You can typically find all department information on the city’s official website.

The Ohio Department of Corrections offender search database is updated regularly. It is typically updated during normal business hours. You will notice that inmate’s information can change quite frequently. Especially, if they have court proceedings and such.

If you have any questions or want to have the updated information, you will be required to contact the facility that the inmate is in. They will have the utmost updated information available on the inmate.

If you believe the information on an inmate is incorrect, you will want to contact the facility in which the inmate is held to dispute the information.

In the jail roster, you will also find the inmate’s mugshot. This mugshot is taken when an inmate is being booked and processed into a state prison. The mugshots typically do not change unless an inmate is getting transferred into another state prison facility.

You can also use the VINELink (VINE) to get notifications on inmate’s moving throughout the system. You will need to select the state of Ohio. You will then want to select that you are searching for an offender or a defendant.

You will need to click the notification section of the inmate’s profile to get notified through text, calls, or email. When they make any changes to their VINE account, you’ll get notified in real-time.

You may notice that there is not a way to search for sex offenders in the Ohio inmate search. That’s because the sex offender search is in a whole different database. Just like the DOC inmate locator, this database is available to the general public to use also.

The sex offender database can be found on the official Crimewatch site.

You can search this database by the following pieces of information:

• First Name
• Last Name
• City
• County
• Zip Code

Keep in mind that you will be able to search the database by either the offender's name or the address fields.

This offender search is strictly for offenders that are NOT in state prison. These offenders are out on their own in the community.

When you do a successful search, you will see the following information:

• Mugshots
• Offender Name
• Level
• Registration Number
• Age
• Sex
• Race
• Hair Color
• Eye Color
• Height
• Weight
• Scars, Marks, and Tattoos
• Address
• Offenses