How an Inmate Search Works in Georgia

The Georgia Department of Corrections, GDC, offers its Find an Offender search for anyone currently in a GDC facility, with a warning that photographs of offenders, if available, are displayed automatically. Every use runs under the GDC Internet Services Disclaimer Agreement: the service is offered for the convenience and safety of the public with the best effort humanly possible at accuracy, the department makes no warranty of accuracy or completeness, and the user accepts that it is solely their responsibility to verify anything obtained through personal written correspondence with Inmate Records and Information at PO Box 1529, Forsyth, GA 31029 before assuming it is factual and complete. The search form adds a link for parole and pardon status.

The search covers state custody. A person held in a county jail before trial or on a county sentence is found through that county's sheriff, listed on the Georgia county pages; a person on probation is the Department of Community Supervision's record, not the GDC's.

  • Search: the GDC Offender Search for current GDC inmates, photographs shown automatically; results verified in writing with Inmate Records and Information, PO Box 1529, Forsyth, GA 31029.
  • Calls: Securus prepaid collect, direct bill or inmate debit accounts, set up on the Securus site or at 1-800-844-6591; local and long distance calls $0.08 a minute, international $0.08 plus international fees, 25 minutes maximum, numbers restricted to the offender's Call Allow List, no funding fee and a $200.00 maximum per deposit.
  • Money: only from someone on the recipient's approved visitor list, by a free printed money order voucher, JPay online or by app, a live agent at (800) 574-5729, MoneyGram cash at CVS or Walmart with Georgia DOC receiver code 6857, or the free lockbox.
  • Visits: the Visitation Request Form submitted to the facility to become an approved visitor, then a scheduled visit requested, changed or cancelled on GDConnect; no tank tops, sleeveless shirts, shorts or stretch pants for adults, and no phones, drugs or tobacco.

Written by SearchSystems.net from Georgia's own systems: the Georgia Department of Corrections Find an Offender page, the department's Contact an Offender page, the department's How Do I Send Money to an Offender page, the department's Visit an Inmate page, the department's Georgia Release Card Information page, the department's Contact an Inmate notice of April 1, 2026, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.

The search and its disclaimer

The Offender Search returns the record and, where available, the photograph of a person currently in a GDC facility, and the department holds the user to the disclaimer before anything is shown: no warranty, verification by letter to Inmate Records and Information in Forsyth, and the user holding GDC harmless for any damages from the information. The department describes the information it publishes as true and complete to the best effort humanly possible, which is a promise of effort and not of the record, so a decision that turns on a release date or a charge rests on the written confirmation.

The same page links the State Board of Pardons and Paroles for parole and pardon status, and the department's offender information section covers the Performance Incentive Credit program that reduces length of stay, the statewide lifers and long term offender program, and a veterans section with reentry dorms at Rutledge State Prison, Johnson State Prison and the Emanuel Women's Facility.

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Calls: Securus and the April 2026 rates

The Contact an Offender page names Securus Technologies as the inmate telephone provider. Friends and family set up a prepaid collect or direct bill account on the Securus site or at 1-800-844-6591, with several numbers on one prepaid account, and offenders transfer money from their trust accounts to debit calling accounts in $1 increments. The department's notice dated April 1, 2026 says the calling rates for all call types changed that day and the funding fees did not: local and long distance calls cost $0.08 a minute, $2.00 for a 25 minute call, and international calls $0.08 a minute plus international fees, with no funding fee by phone system, website, live agent, check or money order, deposits limited to $200.00 each, and taxes and regulatory fees added.

Calls may be monitored and recorded, call forwarding and three way calling are not permitted, the maximum is 25 minutes, and calls go only to numbers on the offender's Call Allow List. The same notice changed video visits to meet new Federal Communications Commission requirements: at GDC facilities with Securus video terminals the rate went from $3.90 a session to $0.13 a minute for sessions up to 30 minutes, charged only for minutes used, while facilities with JPay video terminals stay at $3.90 a session of up to 30 minutes until that solution is finished.

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Money: five ways, one condition

The money page states the condition first: you must be on the recipient's approved visitor list to use any payment method. The five ways are a free money order voucher created on the department's Send Money tool, printed and mailed with up to two weeks for mail and processing; JPay online or on its app with the inmate ID, by Visa or MasterCard debit or credit card; a live JPay agent at (800) 574-5729 around the clock; cash through MoneyGram at locations including CVS and Walmart, with Georgia DOC receiver code 6857 for prison inmates and 6901 for probation; and the lockbox by money order, which is free.

JPay's fee table charges $3.50 for a transfer of $0.01 to $20.00, $5.00 for $20.01 to $100.00, $6.50 for $100.01 to $300.00 and $4.95 for a walk in MoneyGram deposit of up to $5,000.00, with the lockbox and money order free. The JPay kiosk price list on the same page gives $0.35 for an email stamp, $1.05, $2.10 and $3.50 for up to three, six and ten attachments, $3.95 for a 30 minute video visit, $0.99 for a book or magazine download, $1.06 to $1.99 a song and $3.99 a video, with educational content free.

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Visiting: the form, GDConnect and the dress code

The first step is to become an approved visitor by filling out the Visitation Request Form and submitting it to the facility where the inmate is held. Scheduled visits are then requested through the department's GDConnect site, where an existing appointment can also have visitors added or be cancelled; the visitation policy is published as a PDF with frequently asked questions and tips. The dress code for adults bars tank tops, mesh or see through clothing, sleeveless t shirts, exposed chests, shoulders or stomachs, skirts more than two inches above the knee, stretch pants and shorts, which only children may wear.

The department lists the top three reasons visitors are arrested, cell phones, drugs and tobacco, and under SOP 204.09 no wireless communication device, cellular or smart phone, smart glasses, two way radio, pager, tablet, personal digital assistant, text messaging device or internet connected watch, may enter a GDC facility without the appointing authority's approval; bringing one means denial of the visit, removal from the offender's visitation list and seizure of the device.

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Release: the Georgia Release Card

A person leaving GDC custody receives the leftover funds on the books on a JPay Progress Prepaid Mastercard, usable anywhere Mastercard is accepted and at ATMs and cash back locations with unlimited transactions. A signature purchase works immediately; ATM, cash back and PIN transactions need activation and a four digit PIN by calling 866-777-5729 with the card number, expiration date, security code and date of birth, and Allpoint ATMs avoid extra fees.

The fee schedule is in the cardholder agreement in the card envelope, the balance is checked on the release card login page or by phone, and JPay answers questions at the same toll free number.

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Reading a Georgia result

A Georgia result is the department's record of a person in a GDC facility, photograph included, under a disclaimer that makes a letter to Forsyth the only verification the department stands behind; no result means the person is not a GDC inmate, which leaves the county jails and the probation system. The approved visitor list is the gate for everything after the search, from a money order voucher to a video visit, and the April 2026 rate change priced calls at eight cents a minute and Securus video at thirteen.

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Questions about finding an inmate in Georgia

Does the Georgia Offender Search show photos?
Yes. The department warns that photographs of offenders, if available, are displayed automatically, and the search covers people currently in a GDC facility.
How do I confirm what the Georgia search shows?
By personal written correspondence with Inmate Records and Information, PO Box 1529, Forsyth, GA 31029, which the disclaimer makes the user's sole responsibility before assuming any result is factual and complete.
How much does a call from a Georgia inmate cost?
$0.08 a minute for local and long distance calls, $2.00 for a 25 minute call, and $0.08 plus international fees abroad, under the rates in effect since April 1, 2026; calls are capped at 25 minutes and limited to the Call Allow List.
Can anyone send money to a Georgia inmate?
No. The department says you must be on the recipient's approved visitor list to use any payment method; then a money order voucher or the lockbox is free, JPay charges $3.50 to $6.50 by amount and MoneyGram $4.95.
How do I schedule a visit in Georgia?
Become an approved visitor by submitting the Visitation Request Form to the facility, then request a scheduled visit on GDConnect, where visitors can be added or a visit cancelled.
What happens if I bring a phone to a Georgia prison visit?
Under SOP 204.09 the visit is denied, you are removed from the offender's visitation list and the device is seized; cell phones are the first of the three top reasons visitors are arrested.

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The Offender Search is one of the Georgia records this site covers: the Georgia arrest records guide explains what a booking makes public, the court records guide covers the clerks' case files, the sex offender registry guide covers the Georgia Bureau of Investigation registry, and the Georgia county pages list each sheriff and jail.