Conduct a Free Maine Inmate Search: Find Anyone’s Offenses

Run a free Maine inmate search efficiently and uncover valuable, trustworthy information about any individuals currently held at one of the state’s jails or prisons.

The Maine Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) determines that records relevant to the public should be made available to citizens. Consequently, data about inmates — including their charges, sentences, and more — can be conveniently accessed by any concerned individual.

This concise article explains the differences between the facilities inmates are held in as well as how to take advantage of all tools and resources available to find information about any offender in Maine.

Contrast Between Prison Inmates & Jail Inmates

When conducting a Maine detainee search, it’s important to understand that offenders may be placed at different facilities depending on their offense and what stage their trial is.

Individuals recently arrested, who are now waiting for their arraignment or trial, are mostly kept at local county jails. Those individuals have been charged, but haven’t yet been convicted.

However, when an offender is sentenced, they’re transferred to state facilities that have the necessary structure to keep them in the long run while their time is served. Knowing the status of the offender of interest is important because it helps perform more effective searches.

This article will address how to uncover information about inmates regardless of their situation.

How To Execute a Maine Inmate Search & See Who’s Detained in Jail

Each county in Maine offers different tools and resources for interested individuals to search and find current inmates in their facilities.

Whenever an occurrence is recent, those are the facilities that should be contacted. Whenever someone is booked and incarcerated while waiting for bail or trial, the local jails are the ones in charge and where a Maine detainee search should start.

For those searching in Kennebec County, for example, the sheriff’s office provides a list of individuals currently being held in their jurisdiction.¹ This isn’t a search engine by any means, but more like a simple list with names, booking dates and individual IDs within the system. It’s a starting point for any search, and those who need more information are advised to call the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office at 207.623.2270, extension 1230.

In that scenario, whenever trying to reach an inmate or find information about a case, searchers can choose between contacting the Sheriff’s Office directly or the Kennebec County Correctional Facility. This is the information to find them:

Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office
73 Winthrop St
Augusta, ME 04330

Phone: 207.623.3614
Fax: 207.622.0990

Kennebec County Correctional Facility
115 State St
Augusta, ME 04330

Phone: 207.623.2270
Fax: 207.623.8787

Some cities also provide means for concerned citizens to search about local inmates. The Portland Police Department, for example, the largest city in Cumberland County, makes a weekly arrest log available, that shows who has been arrested by the agency, under which charges and where in the city the incident involving them took place.²

For more information about the arrests mentioned on the log or the arrested offenders, searchers can contact the Portland Police Department using the following information:

Portland Police Department
109 Middle St
Portland, ME 04101

Phone: 207.874.8479

It’s always important to remember that victims of crimes have access to a different set of resources, which are usually not available to the average searcher. Each county has a different office to handle victim services.

In Cumberland County, for instance, often victims are not only entitled to be informed as their case moves along but also to compensation. Victims in Cumberland County can contact the District Attorney’s Office using the information below:

Victims’ Compensation Board
Office of the Attorney General
6 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333

Phone: 207.624.7882

In some situations, while running an inmate search in Maine, it may become necessary to do more than just find an offender. People may need to run broader background checks and uncover an individual’s full criminal history. When that’s the case, there are resources and information available that can help uncover arrest records and more.

How To Look Up Maine State Prisoners

The Maine Department of Corrections provides plenty of information to concerned citizens searching for individuals who are currently serving a sentence.

For those performing a Maine detainee search, the Adult Resident Search shows information about convicted offenders all over the state, including both those serving their sentences at one of the Department’s facilities and those held at a local county jail.³

The system doesn’t include data about juveniles but will show facts about offenders on probation, parole or who are monitored sex offenders. Because the scope of the system is convicted individuals, it won’t show arrested individuals who’ve been booked but still await trial. The information on the Adult Resident Search is updated daily and isn’t intended to provide a full criminal history of the individuals registered in the system.

Searchers can make inquiries by name (first and last) and narrow their search down using different criteria, such as physical appearance details (height, weight, eye and hair color, etc.), location, offense, and current status.

The results that match the criteria appear as a list and include a mugshot to facilitate the identification of the offender. Concerned citizens are able to see their registration number (also known as MDOC), date of birth, location and earliest possible release date.

By clicking on the MDOC number, they can also see details about the case that led to the conviction, including the offense, sentence, and more.

There are many correctional facilities in Main, and searchers can contact any of those locations. They can also contact the Department of Corrections using the following information:

Maine Department of Corrections
Central Office
25 Tyson Dr. – 3rd Floor
State House Station 111
Augusta, ME 04333

Phone: 207.287.2711
Fax: 207.287.4370

It’s important to keep in mind that each correctional facility in Maine has a different policy regarding inmate’s visitation and mail. Those interested in connecting with an inmate are advised to contact the location they wish to visit (or send mail to) in order to obtain more information on how they operate. They can do so by clicking on the red button connected to the facility of interest on their website.

Victims can find support within the Department of Corrections by contacting the Victims Services Division.⁴ Their services include a special program for victims of harassment and domestic violence. The division can be contacted by phone at 800.968.6909 or 207.287.4385, and for those who prefer connecting by email, it’s possible to do so at tessa.mosher@maine.com.

How To View Details of Individuals in Federal Prison

Inmates kept at federal prisons can also be found and, in some cases, contacted. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has a system that allows people to search for inmates currently held at their facilities.⁵

Individuals can be searched by name (first and last), and results will always include the offender’s full name, location, release date (if available), and age, among other things.

Those who wish to obtain more information can contact the BOP using this information:

Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 First St NW
Washington, DC 20534

Phone: 202.307.3198

The downside of that system is that the BOP will only present information about individuals incarcerated since 1982. For information about individuals convicted before that year, an alternative for searchers would be to work with the National Archives & Records Administration (NARA) and their databases.

For support and clarifications, people can contact NARA as follows:

The National Archives & Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Rd
College Park, MD 20740

Phone: 866.272.6272

Another valuable tool is the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER), which helps individuals find information about offenders on a national level with a lot of detail. However, their service isn’t free and interested people have to register in order to run searches.

Registering with PACER involves adding personal information and a form of payment to the user’s account. Those steps are mandatory in order to obtain information and access records.

Each page accessed on PACER costs $0.10, and there are other services that people can take advantage of. More information about PACER pricing is available online.⁶

It’s very important, if we wish to live in a free and transparent society, that people are entitled and able to freely access public records information. For that reason, any interested individual should feel empowered to run a Maine inmate search and uncover relevant information about offenders in the state.