Where to find Kansas inmate records

An inmate is someone in custody or incarceration either after an arrest for charges or as a penalty, respectively. A lot of documentation goes on when a person comes into confinement. There are local incarceration facilities across the State of Kansas under the supervision of the law enforcement agencies. At the state level, there is a network of state penitentiaries that house persons serving prison sentences. The state further stratifies them into low, medium, or maximum security level prisons. These are all under the State Department of Corrections management in collaboration with the Kansas state police. A critical difference between a jail and a prison in Kansas is that jails house persons undergoing trial or recently arrested. Prisons house persons that have received convictions and are serving time in incarceration.

Are incarceration records public information in Kansas?

Going by the Kansas Open Records Act, incarceration records are public information. For certain types of data, the facility examines the eligibility of the requester. Medical and financial information is accessible to only the bearer of the record and their immediate family. General information about sex offenders and other public information regarding correctional inmates are available under the KSA §45–221(a).

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 person resides in or was accused in.

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

What information is contained in a Kansas inmate record?

All information in an inmate’s record reflects their identity, activities, and progress within the facility. Guaranteed elements of this record are:

• Comprehensive identification of the inmate, including names, physical descriptions, fingerprints, race, and gender;
• Concise information about the basis for imprisonment. At least arrests, charges, court convictions, and penalties by the court;
• Information about the unit within the facility, including the location of the inmates within the facility, identification number, rehabilitation programs, and medical notes, psychological evaluations, and other progress reports;
• Prospective dates of parole or release if available. Exceptions are persons serving life sentences without parole.

Where do I look up an inmate in Kansas?

Inmates get placed in incarceration facilities systematically in Kansas. An initial arrest puts the party in custody at the local county or city jails. As a criminal justice process progresses, there are movements from local jails to prisons during the trial. If the defendant ends up convicted and served a prison sentence, readmission into the prison facility occurs. The choice of facility depends on the nature of the crime committed and the available facilities. Some are strictly gender-based, while some are mixed. Therefore, understanding the criminal trial phase that the inmate is in will significantly help locate information about them. If the location is known, proceed to schedule a visit to the facility or make inquiries using other processes. Some of them provide online access or email information in their facilities. The State Department of Corrections, in particular, offers online access to inmate information.

How do I conduct an inmate search in Kansas?

There is over one way to search for an inmate in Kansas. The first is to follow the trail of the criminal justice process in tracking where the inmate is. If the location is known, contact the facility to schedule an appointment and request the search criteria for an inmate. Most county and city jails across the state serve as temporary custody facilities and therefore may be restrictions about inmate information.

The Kansas Adult Supervised Population Electronic Repository (KASPER) is an online database with information about offenders with prison sentences in the custody of the Secretary of Corrections. Inmate information in this database dates back to 1980. It also provides information concerning each inmate’s status as to whether they are currently in incarceration, under post-incarceration supervision, or discharged. It does not include information about inmates sent to the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) from other states. KASPER will provide information on the following about an inmate:

• Name and registration number of inmates
• Physical identifying information such as height, hair and eye colors, body tattoos or markings, and mugshot photographs
• Information about the conviction, the county where the case had the trial, the committing court, and court case number
• Projected date of release
• Housing location of the inmate
• Custody level
• Records of institutional discipline

For more information, call (785) 296–3317 or send an email.

There is no definite information about requesting physical copies of inmate records. However, they are free to access under the provisions of the Kansas Open Public Records Act. Contact the Records Division by calling (785) 746- 7470.

How can I search for an inmate for free in Kansas?

Options for initiating an inmate search for free in Kansas include a direct visit to the jail facility or an electronic search at the KDOC website. Requests to view are for free. Printing electronic copies will attract service costs, just as requesting physical copies of records.

How to find old inmate records in Kansas

All inmate records in Kansas remain in the online database at KDOC. No record gets deleted unless the conviction is removed. Removal happens as a result of an appeal, expungement, or executive pardon.

How do I find inmate death records in Kansas?

It depends on which inmate’s death record is needed. If the inmate sentence is capital punishment by execution, then the records will be available at the KDOC inmate locator site. All prisoner records remain in the database regardless of the sentence.

Kansas has not conducted an execution since 1965. However, the El dorado Correctional Facility (ECF) typically houses persons who are sentenced to death. The Topeka Correctional Facility (TCF) houses female inmates on death row. The Lansing Correctional Facility is where executions take place in the state of Kansas if any. Death by other means such as health problems or an accident happens. The KDOC notifies the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHEK) by filing a notice of death. To put it differently, death due to reasons besides execution are traceable to the Office of Vital Statistics, KDHEK.

How do I conduct a federal prison inmate search?

Federal prisons are under the supervision of the Bureau of Prisons in the United States. Use the BOP inmate locator to search out information about a prisoner within any facility across the United States. Identity number searches are more effective than name searches because they produce accurate results. Identity numbers in federal prisons can be a prefix of any of this:

• Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS)
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• Bureau of Prisons Register (BOP)
• DC Department of Corrections (DCDC)

How long does it take for an inmate information to be published in the Kansas inmate locator?

City or county jails across Kansas function primarily as temporary custody centers for arrestees and persons awaiting/undergoing trial. Paperwork is relatively concise, and therefore updates should reflect within 24 hours of an arrest or being taken into custody.

The Kansas Department of Corrections uses a more elaborate process in admitting prisoners in any one of their facilities.

When the court commits a convict to the state prison facilities, KDOC staff receive the individual into an initial holding center. The inmate gets assigned an ID number, and the authorities determine the custody classification based on various factors. An orientation program for the inmate is necessary to aid in settling down in the facility. After all these processes, the inmate information gets published on the Inmate Locator of the KDOC website.