How to Find Out If Someone Got Out of Prison on Parole

Many people wonder how to find out if someone is out of prison. There are a variety of reasons why someone might want to know this, like an assault victim concerned about her future safety or a distant relative wondering if his loved one is still incarcerated. Information about every arrest, conviction and sentence made in the United States is available for the public to access through court databases, many of which are available online.

Whether you’re a concerned grandparent wanting to find someone in a halfway house or a victim who needs to know, for their own safety, how to find out if someone is out on parole, you can access this information easily through the internet or at the court.

Parole is the early release of an individual from prison that enables her to re-integrate with society before her sentence ends. When searching for how to find out if someone has made parole, you can also find information about parole itself and the terms imposed on parolees in each state.

If an individual is out of prison on parole, he has been assigned a parole officer and is required to check in with that parole officer regularly for the remainder of his sentence. This ensures that he is complying with the terms of his parole, such as sticking to a curfew, maintaining a job and a consistent residence, and not using illegal drugs.

Once you know the jurisdiction where the person was released on parole, you can contact the supervising police department to find the parole officer to whom he was assigned. You can find the jurisdiction to which the prisoner was released through the online resources you use to find out about the details of his parole.

The resources for how to find out if someone is out of prison on parole are the same resources to use if you want to find someone in a halfway house. State governments and the federal government maintain databases of all persons arrested, convicted and sentenced – all of this information is freely available to the public. If you know where the individual in question was convicted, you can go right to that state’s inmate database to search for more information about him.

Similarly, if you know that the individual was sentenced in federal court and served time in a federal prison, you can find information that person and his current parole status through the federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator.

With an inmate locator, you can find the following information:

• When the individual was sentenced.
• The charge for which he was convicted.
• Where he is (or was) incarcerated.
• Whether he was released on parole.
• The individual’s release date.

The American Probation and Parole Association can be very helpful for someone wondering how to find out if a prisoner has made parole. The association can connect searchers with parole departments in each state.

When searching for information about whether someone is out of prison, having correct information about the individual in question is critical to finding the information you're after. If you know the inmate's number, you can easily find parole information through the database that contains her record. If you do not have the inmate number, knowing her legal name and date of birth can help you find the information you are looking for. Other information that helps determine where an individual is, or was, incarcerated, and which can also lead you to the information you need to find someone in a halfway house includes:

• Where the individual was arrested and the charges against him.
• Where the individual was sentenced.
• The nature of the offense.
• Identity of law enforcement officers, judges and criminal defense lawyers involved in the case.