Using The Offender Search

This help guide provides information necessary to assist users in performing offender searches. On this page you'll see many options for searching for offenders. Most are relatively simple and need no explanation. The image below shows the search page.

When searching for offenders, the search will select only those offenders who match ALL of the search criteria you specify. Searches are limited to return no more than 10,000 offenders, so try to use as many search criteria as possible to reduce the number of search results. If you are looking for one specific offender, the simplest way to locate them is by either entering their Offender Number (if you know it), or their name or some part of their name.

Let's look at the search options in detail.

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The first search option defines the offender's status in the NC DAC Division of Adult Correction system. The image below shows the choices for offender status.

The choices are:
1. All - This means that you don't want to limit your search to any specific offender status
2. Active Inmate - This means that you want to search for offenders who are currently serving a sentence as an inmate in an NC DAC Division of Adult Correction prison facility.
3. Active Probationer/Parolee - This means that you want to search for offenders who are currently present in the community and are being supervised by the DAC Division of Adult Correction
4. Inactive - This means that you want to search for offenders who were at one time either an active inmate, an active probationer, or both, but are not at this time.

To select an offender status option, simply click on the circle (radio button) to the left of the status description.

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The next 4 search options allow you to search for an offender by their name or some part of their name. The image below shows the choices for offender name.

You can enter all or part of the name, and you can also request to see offenders whose last name "sounds like" the last name you entered. For example, if you want to find all offenders whose last name is DOE and first name begins with the letter J, you can enter DOE in the last name textbox and J in the first name textbox, and your search results will contain all offenders found that meet that search criteria. You can also request to see offenders whose last name begins with some letter combination, such as entering JO to see all offenders whose last name begins with the letters JO (such as JOHNSON or JONES). Another example might be that you think you know what an offender's last name sounds like, but aren't sure of the spelling, so you can enter a last name spelled as close to how the offender's name sounds and then click your mouse in the small square next to 'Last Name Sounds Like' to indicate you want to see all offenders whose last name sounds like what you entered.

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The next search option allows you to search for an offender by their NC DAC Division of Adult Correction Offender Number. The image below shows the search option for offender number.

If you know the offender number, use it. This is the fastest and easiest way to retrieve an offender's information. The number does not have to be entered with leading zeroes. For example, if the offender number you wish to search for is 0054321, you can enter 54321.

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The next 3 search options allow you to search for an offender by their demographic information. The image below shows these search options.

To search by gender or race, simply click on the arrow on the right hand side of the associated pull down list box (as shown below). A list of items will appear. Find the item you want in the list and click on it to select it.

To search by birth date, you can either enter a date in MM/DD/YYYY format in the birth date textbox, or click on the calendar icon next to the birth date textbox, and use the automated calendar to select a date. In addition, you can also select a birth date range option. If you choose 'Exact Match', the search will return only those offenders whose birth date exactly matches the date you entered in the birth date textbox. You can also choose to search for offenders whose birth date is within a number of years above or below the date you entered in the birth date textbox.

     

To search by age, you can either enter a maximum age, a minimum age or both.

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Once you have specified all of your selection criteria, simply click the Search button near the bottom of the page, or, if your cursor is currently sitting in a textbox, just press the Enter button on your keyboard.

If you want to clear all of the current selections and start over, simply click the Clear Selections button near the bottom of the page.

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OK, I've Searched. Now What?

Click the link below to learn how to navigate through your search results

   Navigating Search Results