Contact a Federal Prison About an Inmate

Confirm the current BOP facility in the official inmate locator, then open that facility’s official page for its public telephone number, mailing address, visiting information, communications, and local notices. Use BOP Central Office for general agency questions rather than facility-specific matters.

How to use the official locator

1. Open the official BOP Inmate Locator.
2. Choose Find By Name or Find By Number.
3. Enter only fields you know accurately.
4. Confirm the Register Number, age, status, and location.
5. Check state or county custody if the federal result is missing.

Confirm the institution first

Use the Register Number and current locator result. Do not contact an institution based only on an old news article, court docket, third-party profile, or search-engine snippet.

Use the facility page

The current BOP facility page can provide address, telephone, visiting, communications, and local information. Mailing and visiting rules can differ by institution and can change.

General BOP contact

The BOP publishes Central Office contact information for general questions about the agency and website. Facility-specific questions should start with the current institution page.

Urgent legal or safety concerns

Use the responsible official channel, legal counsel, emergency services, or published concern-reporting process as appropriate. A directory page cannot confirm an emergency or private case detail.

Information to prepare before searching

Have the person’s complete legal name, likely age or date of birth, and any document that shows a federal identifier. Do not guess demographic fields when the official form makes them optional. A wrong filter can remove the correct result, while a precise Register Number or correctly labeled agency number can reduce same-name matches.

How to confirm the correct federal record

Compare more than the displayed name. Review the BOP Register Number, age, status, facility, and projected release information together. If the facility is shown, open the current BOP facility page for contact and visitation details. A same-name result, an old screenshot, or a third-party profile is not enough to establish current federal custody.

When another custody search is more appropriate

The BOP locator does not replace state Department of Corrections or county jail systems. A person may be awaiting federal placement in a local facility, held by another federal agency, serving a state sentence, or recently transferred. Use the current housing agency first when reliable information identifies it, then search BOP after federal designation or transfer. Save the official identifier and recheck the current source instead of relying on an old screenshot.

Federal search limitations

• The online locator starts with records from 1982.
• A federal case does not guarantee current placement at a BOP facility.
• Projected release dates can change.
• A person no longer in BOP custody can remain under another agency or supervision.