Finding out a federal inmate’s charges is relatively complex, and may involve some legwork, including a visit to the district court. But you can find federal inmate records online and searching out their charges is possible as long as you are on the right way. The process can be easy if you are searching with the right tool. Read on to find how.

Federal Records Lookup

Step 1: Verify the inmate

You need to verify the person is a federal inmate otherwise, you can’t find what you want. A federal inmate is somebody convicted of a federal offense or crime in multiple states or countries. They are incarcerated under the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the records are available online.

You can use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator to verify whether this person is a federal inmate.

1) Go to BOP official website.

2) If you have the BOP register number, click Find By Number. Or, click Find By Name to search a federal inmate.

3) You may get several results, you can identify the person by age, race, sex, release date and which facility is located.

4) Find and click the person’s name, you can visit, send money, mail, or package to the person.

Note that you can’t find mugshots from BOP, which means you can’t get a picture of an image from BOP and you can’t find out how many visitors the inmate had in prison.

Step 2: Search federal inmate’s records

1. Use TruthFinder to find out a federal inmates charges

TruthFinder is a powerful federal records lookup tool online. You can find the picture of federal inmates from it and also the charges. TruthFinder has robust database that gathers information from government and private sources. They offer the most accurate background check including federal records, court records, criminal records and almost everything you want to know.

1) Go to TruthFinder.

2) Enter the name and states, click Search.

3) Find the possible reports and open it. You may need to try several reports as there are many people have the same name.

4) Go to the Criminal & Traffic section, click Show Details to find Charges Filed and more.

2. Searching with PACER

Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) is a service of the federal judiciary. This site gives the public possible access to federal court records. You can register online, then search the court file for a criminal complaint, and purchase copies of case file documents and docket information for all district, bankruptcy, and appellate courts. The file should also have records of every court proceeding, including a verdict or guilty plea, and the sentencing. Documents filed by prosecutors may note whether the defendant has previous criminal convictions or arrests. So you can find out a federal inmate’s charges from PACER.

Note that some case information is not available to the general public:

• Certain personal identifiers are removed or redacted before the record becomes public
• Documents from pre-2003 bankruptcy cases.
• Documents filed before Nov. 1, 2004 in criminal cases.
• Documents in social security and immigration cases.

You need to pay PACER to get the needed files. Check PACER pricing for more details.

3. Visit the district criminal court and police departments

If you can’t search online, go to the local federal courthouse and the police department would suit you better. The client there can help you search for records for public use.

Some states allow you to obtain your own records but not someone else’s. It varies by state, you can ask the client.