This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/AEC.2ACE/536.1.1.1 Message Board Post: Sara, The address you need is: Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locater - Room 354 320 First Street, NW Washington, DC There is also a phone number, 202-307-3126, but the book instructs that all inquiries have to be made in writing. The federal government runs this office, and will tell you if someone is now or has ever been an inmate in any federal prison. I wrote to them about an ancestor of my husband, he was supposed to have served a year and a day in the prison in Moundsville, but they had no record. I received a reply from this Inmate Locator very quickly, and they verified he had never served time anyplace. Good luck, Marguerite