Free Inmate Searches. Jail Exchange has information on every Jail, Prison and Detention Center in America. Arrests, Booking Inmate Search, Visitation, Courts, Laws and Most Wanted. Free public records. Family help.
Years ago, the founder of this website found himself arrested and thrown in jail with no opportunity to get out on bail. He was arrested on the east coast of the United States and was wanted on a warrant by a court in a western state. Because of this, he spent months being shuttled on 'Con Air' from one jail and detention center to another, eleven facilities in all, before arriving to his destination over a month later.
Members of his family were victims of this episode. Although they were smart, capable, educated people, they couldn’t manage to figure out how to obtain the most basic information about him.
How could they call him? How could he call them? How could they write to him? Where was he? Could they visit him? How could they help him?... It was a desperate situation for both the inmate and the inmate’s family.
When they did finally reach the jail of his destination where he was being housed, they were met with harsh treatment, as though they were criminals themselves. They were seen as a nuisance. Often a call was disconnected abruptly if the phone was answered at all. The minimal online information that existed was inadequate, outdated and incorrect.
Innocent friends and family members of someone arrested should never experience these problems. We never want to see another person in this tragic situation. Jail Exchange does everything possible to ensure that other families and friends have a different, less traumatic experience overall when someone they know is in trouble.
Jail Exchange is the most comprehensive source of information about Jails, Detention Facilities and Prisons in the world. Our sole purpose is to cut to the facts. If you are looking to find someone who has recently been arrested in a city jail or any of the 3,200+ county jails, or you are wanting to learn about how those serving longer sentences in the thousands of US prisons spend their days, you have found the place.
Beginning in 2010, Jail Exchange grew from a simple website of jail and prison addresses, phone numbers and government links, to a giant database, arguably the largest most comprehensive and most accurate of its kind in this field, now numbering over 235,000 pages.
We make it easier for you to navigate the entire jail and prison system and find the information you need, from first locating your inmate, to then finding out how to visit them, how and what you can mail them, receive phone calls from them, send and receive texts and/or emails, send them money or care packages.
You can learn about the booking process and how and when you can post bond or bail. We have a comprehensive section for each county on how the criminal court process works so you know what to expect with the long, drawn-out process of the judicial system.
Jail Exchange clearly understands that each facility is unique in terms of its rules and guidelines. Some are not very accountable to the public. We show you how to deal with each facility and locate and communicate with any inmate in every facility nationwide.
And when an inmate gets sent from county jail to state or federal prison, there are entirely new processes to learn and understand how to communicate with them and what is allowed.
The same goes for alien detainees caught in the web of immigration detention centers. It is a difficult maze of rules, regulations and policies that you are expected to understand and follow. Jail Exchange breaks it down into simple, easy-to-understand sections for both locating the prisoner, and then explaining how to be a part of their lives through constant communication.
We do our best to give you everything you need to know about every jail and prison. We work exhaustively to update every facility with changing information. We use an advanced proprietary content management system, staffed with a world-class website developer programmer and a data manager, both with decades of experience working with Google. We employ expert researchers and content creators with firsthand knowledge of jails and prisons, some who have been in jail and prison themselves.
Our legal advisor and content writer of the various criminal court systems throughout America has years of experience as an owner of a law practice that specialized in Criminal Law and was involved in many high-profile state and federal cases in New York.
Jail Exchange is an authoritative source. We have been used as an information source by major news outlets and specialists in the field.
We continue to build on Jail Exchange to provide detailed, accurate information for people impacted by the criminal justice system, whether they are related to an inmate, or they’re residents of local communities who want to follow up on crime news to see and keep track of offenders they have an interest in. We do not take sides. We are neither advocates for inmates, nor the law enforcement community. Our goal is straightforward; to provide free information to those who need, without communicating a political agenda.
We try to create a platform for the debate surrounding the world of corrections from many perspectives both inside and outside the walls, including those who work in this industry.
We do have advertising on our pages; however, they are third party companies like Google, who decide what ads to put in front of you based upon your own particular interests and search requests. Advertising pays us to be in business. Without it we wouldn’t have the resources to provide this information.
Jail Exchange has a page for every jail and prison in the United States; City, County, State, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Immigration (ICE), and Juvenile Detention, both at the state and county level..
The following is just some of what you will find on each page:
The name(s) of the facility, the physical and mailing addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses and the number of beds.
We also provide detailed information for all relevant information available about each jail, such as:
• Arrests - recent
• Inmate Rosters and Searches
• Mugshots
• Bail policy
• Recent Booking information
• Contact information
• Correspondence (Inmate mail, phone, email, tablet rentals)
• Criminal Court process and contact information
• Employment Opportunities
• Facility information
• Facility News
• FAQ
• Images of the Facility
• Inmate searches and lists
• Sending money or commissary
• Inmate Correspondence Information
• Jail or Prison History
• Most Wanted Fugitives
• Violent Sexual Offenders
• Visitation Information & Schedules
• How to receive inmate phone calls
• How to email and text inmates
• How to send inmates money and commissary
• How to rent tablets for your inmate
• Active Warrants
Many people have seen the movie called 'Con Air' in which felons are moved across the United States in a plane staffed by US Marshals. Con Air is basically a flying jail. While the movie itself is fictional, Con Air does exist. In fact, there is a large fleet of dozens of white Boeing 707s crisscrossing the United States daily, each staffed by a dozen or more US marshals. Each plane is filled with approximately 100-150 inmates being transferred to various federal and state prisons, to court appearances where they have warrants for their arrest, or to county jails.
A passenger on Con Air is handcuffed, shackled to a chain around their waist, and forced to wear leg cuffs attached to a short length of chain. They’re allowed to go to the bathroom only when the marshals allow it. Because they are handcuffed to a chain around their waist, they cannot lower their pants on their own, nor can they use proper hygiene after relieving themselves. They are fed unhealthy baloney sandwiches for sustenance.
The entire process is meant to be degrading and tortuous. There is usually no more than one hour between each takeoff and landing. A typical Con Air jet will leave at 9:00AM, make four to five stops throughout the day, and make their final landing for the day at about 4:30PM.
These jets, operating under the official title of the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System, transport roughly 200,000 inmates a year. They usually stop at military airfields close to the final destination for the transported offenders and inmates. Civilian airports aren’t used because of the risk that inmates will get in contact with civilians and either attempt to flee or take hostages.
Inmates that are picked up and/or dropped off are shuttled by buses or vans, known as jails on wheels, with armed guards keeping them from escaping. Notably, there is one facility that is the hub of the entire system, a civilian airport at the Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City.
The Federal Transfer Center (FTC), located at the far end of the Will Rogers Airport, away from all civilian traffic, is an underground, multi-story prison facility that houses over 1,000 men and women being transferred across the country.
While offenders and prisoners are being moved from one facility or court to another, spending time in any one of hundreds of jails and detention centers along the way, many end up passing through the FTC. They are held there anywhere from one night to weeks or even months at a time, before being loaded back on a plane to their final destination. Little do passengers in the Oklahoma City Airport know that beneath their feet, on any given day, are over 1,000 of the country's most dangerous felons.