The first step for finding information on an inmate is to identify if they are held in a state prison or a jail specific to a county. If you would like to get information on an inmate who is held up in state prison, then you use the inmate locater found at the website of the Ohio Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (ODRC), found on this link.
Ohio Offender Search
The information you will find by using the inmate locator on this link will only include the information of offenders who are currently held in prison in Ohio or those under the Department’s supervision. You can use a combination of search fields to get nearly accurate results; however, it’s better to use lesser criteria than a lot.
You can search with both the first name and last name and even the names singularly, but having both the search fields’ names will give you more accurate results. You can also search for offenders by the name of the county where they have committed the crime. If you feel that the offender you are looking for is under APA supervision or is absconding from APA supervision, you can search by the zip code or residential county.
If you would like to find out the offenders who will be scheduled for the next parole board hearing, you can search by the Next Parole Board Hearing Date. The date format should be YYYYMM.
Searching by offender number will give your information on a specific offender. Offender number is always six digits, with absolutely no hyphens or spaces, and have a prefix which could A, R, and W. W is used only for women, while A and R is used for males. Offender number for the females are generally 5 digits, in which case an extra 0 should be added at the beginning of the number to get the desired result.
How can I use information about Ohio inmates?
The information you can get by searching for an inmate with the inmate locator can get in touch with a friend or a family member serving time in an OH prison. Additionally, you can also use this tool to run a background check on a potential employee, for example, a baby sitter. You can also use this tool in case you are suspicious of a new friend or a neighbor.
Statistical Information about Inmates and Crime
There is a list of reports that can be found at this link, which will give you a deeper insight into the working of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC). You will go through reports from the offices of Administration, Director’s office, Division of Parole and Community Services, Human Resources, Office of offender Reentry, Recovery services, Office of prisons, Bureau of Planning and Evaluation, Community Services, and Miscellaneous Publications.
In 2010 the recidivism rate for Ohio’s Department of Rehabilitation and Correction was the lowest in the last 11 years. The percentage of inmates required to return to prison after their release dropped down to 34%. The drop in percentage reflects the department’s dedication and hard work towards offenders’ better life after their release. This also positively affects the safety of the areas where the released offenders reside. Before this drop in the rate of recidivism, it used to be around 36.44%. As per the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, the national rate of recidivism stays around 50%. A key piece of information to keep in mind is that the rate of recidivism is calculated every three years. So the 34% is for the offenders that were released in 2007. 7.29% of offenders who returned to the prison returned only due to some technical violation of sanctions, and only 26.73% returned after committing another crime.