What Are Kentucky Inmate Records?

Kentucky inmate records are documents containing personal and incarceration details of persons held in prisons and correctional facilities in the state. Kentucky inmate records are maintained by the state’s Department of Corrections and the sheriff’s offices across the state. Records managed by the Kentucky Department of Corrections (KYDOC) are for inmates in state correctional institutions while the sheriff’s offices maintain inmate records for inmates in the county jail. Typical Kentucky inmate records include:

• Inmate’s full name and known aliases
• Inmate’s demographics such as race, gender, and date of birth
• Physical descriptors such as tattoos, height, weight, and hair color
• Mugshot
• Arrest and booking details
• Primary and secondary charges
• Bail and bond amounts
• Incarceration date
• Court information

Under the Kentucky Open Records Act, individuals are permitted to inspect or copy inmate records upon request, except where the record is exempted by law or court order. Examples of exempted information on inmate records include sealed arrest records and juvenile records.

How To Find An Inmate In Kentucky?

The Kansas Department of Correction is tasked with overseeing the operations of the twelve correctional institutions in the state. These include;

• One maximum/supermax prison;
• One women’s prison;
• Two medium/maximum-security prisons;
• Three medium-security prisons;
• Three minimum/medium-security prisons; and
• Three minimum-security prisons.

The Kentucky State Penitentiary holds male inmates on death row. Persons interested in finding inmates in any of these institutions may visit the facility or use the Kentucky Online Offender Lookup tool (KOOL) on the DOC website. 

The KOOL tool allows users to find inmates with as little known inmate information as possible. Users may provide an inmate’s last name, first name, or middle name to perform a search. The tool permits users to choose to include inmates with matching aliases or inmates with mugshots only in the search result. There is an advanced feature on the tool search that may be used to obtain a more accurate search result. The advanced feature includes filter options such as

• Offender type;
• DOC number;
• PID number;
• supervision status;
• Location type;
• Race;
• Gender;
• Crime type and date;
• Conviction date and county;
• Kentucky Revised Status Code (KRS);
• Escape or abscond date;
• The projected release date.

Therefore, through the advanced options, users can find inmates who have served their time, escaped inmates, death row inmates, inmates undergoing a pre-trial diversion program, inmates out on probation, parole, and under community supervision.

Upon providing a known inmate date, the lookup tool returns a list of inmates matching the information provided by the requester, along with the inmate’s current location, PID/DOC number, and offense counts. To view a more comprehensive record of the inmate, select the name matching the inmate in question. Additional information such as mugshots, expected time to serve, good time release date, inmate status, age, race, gender, aliases, and physical descriptors may be viewed on the personalized inmate pages.

To find inmates incarcerated in county jails, contact the local arresting agency for the inmate records. Most local jail administrators provide inmate information on their website for easy public access.

How To Find A Federal Inmate In Kentucky?

Kentucky has five federal correctional facilities. These are Ashland Federal Correctional Institution, Big Sandy U.S. Penitentiary, Lexington Federal Medical Center, Manchester Federal Correctional Institution, and the McCreary U.S. Penitentiary. Interested persons may find inmates held in any of these federal prisons through the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.

The BOP inmate locator tool allows anyone to locate a federal inmate incarcerated from 1982 till now. BOP advises persons interested in finding release dates for federal inmates via the inmate locator tool to check back on the site for changes. Due to the First Step Act, inmate sentences are sometimes reviewed and recalculated in line with good conduct time changes. Hence, current release date information on the BOP website may not reflect the most recent information available for an inmate.

Users may find federal inmates with the inmate locator tool by providing an inmate’s name or number. The BOP allows users to provide any of four known inmate numbers:

• Bureau of Prison Registration (BOP) register number
• D.C. Department of Corrections (DCDC) number
• The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) number
• The Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) number assigned to the inmate upon incarceration

The BOP does not currently have records for all inmates released from federal prisons before 1982. Therefore, persons interested in obtaining records for federal inmates released before 1982 are advised to forward their requests directly to the National Archives Records Administration (NARA). A federal inmate record request to NARA must include:

• Inmate’s last and first names, and a middle name or initial
• Inmate’s date of birth
• Inmate’s ethnicity or race
• Approximate dates in prison

How Do I Find Inmate Records In Kentucky?

Persons interested in securing a Kentucky inmate record may print a copy of the information provided on the result page of the KOOL tool. The result page offers basic information on the inmate under question. However, this photocopy may not suffice for legal representation as it is not a certified copy. 

Interested persons may also contact the Kentucky DOC to obtain an inmate record. Under the Kentucky Open Records Act, the DOC makes inmate records open for inspection or copy except in cases where records have been exempted in line with Kentucky statutes. To obtain an inmate record, send an email to correctionsopenrecords@ky.gov. Requesters are advised to include a mailing address on their requests for any further correspondence.

Note that the provided email will receive records requests but will not receive responses to inquiries on the requests. Similarly, requesters may provide the full name of the inmate, birth date, and any other relevant inmate information by mail or fax to:

Department of Corrections

Offender Information Services

RE: Open Records Request

P. O. Box 2400

Frankfort, KY 40202

Fax: (502) 564–9836

The Kentucky DOC charges 10 cents per page. Electronic records placed on a compact disc cost $1 plus postage, while electronic records placed on a USB drive cost approximately $2.50, plus postage. Requesters will receive a payment request letter from the DOC before the release of inmate records.

Inmate records may also be obtained by visiting the state prisons. Federal inmates may be found at the federal prisons at Ashland Federal Correctional Institution, Big Sandy U.S. Penitentiary, Lexington Federal Medical Center, Manchester Federal Correctional Institution, and the McCreary U.S. Penitentiary. To obtain an inmate record for persons held in the county or police jails, contact the sheriff’s office or the police department in the county or city where the inmate is held.

Records that are considered public may be accessible from some third-party websites. These websites often make searching simpler, as they are not limited by geographic location, and search engines on these sites may help when starting a search for a specific or multiple records. To begin using such a search engine on a third-party or government website, interested parties usually must provide:

• The name of the person involved in the record, unless said person is a juvenile
• The location or assumed location of the record or person involved. This includes information such as the city, county, or state that the person resides in or was accused in

Third-party sites are independent of government sources and are not sponsored by these government agencies. Because of this, record availability on third-party sites may vary.

How To Put Money On Jail Inmates Book In Kentucky?

Family and friends may transfer funds into a KYDOC inmate’s account with JPay. JPay allows fund transfers to be made online or by phone. However, using JPay to transfer funds requires creating a JPay account. Visit www.jpay.com or speak to a JPay agent at (800) 574–5729 to transfer funds in minutes with a credit or debit card. JPay also offers mobile transfers using the iOS or Android app. 

Deposits may be made in person by visiting any MoneyGram location, including any Consumer Value Store (CVS) or Walmart. The receive-code 1232 will be required. The standard rate for deposits with JPay are listed below:

For $0.01 - $50.00 

Online: $2.75

Phone: $3.75

Walk-in: $3.95

Lobby Kiosk (Cash) *: $2.00

Lobby Kiosk (Credit/Debit Cards) *: $2.75

For $50.01 - $100.00 

Online: $5.75

Phone: $6.75

Walk-in: $3.95

Lobby Kiosk (Cash) *: $2.00

Lobby Kiosk (Credit/Debit Cards) *: $5.75

For $100.01 - $200.00 

Online: $5.75

Phone: $8.75

Walk-in: $3.95

Lobby Kiosk (Cash) *: $2.00

Lobby Kiosk (Credit/Debit Cards) *: $7.75

For $200.01 and Over 

Online: $9.75

Phone: $10.75

Walk-in: $3.95

Lobby Kiosk (Cash) *: $2.00

Lobby Kiosk (Credit/Debit Cards) *: $9.75

Note that this is only available in select locations. Call JPay ahead at (800) 574–5729 for availability.