What Happens When an Inmate Goes Missing from Prison?

It’s a night night! Ouch! Very ouch! You don’t want to be in that situation.

If head count does not meet the quota then lockdown happens. No inmates will be allowed to do any activities until that missing inmate returns in custody. If inmates successfully escaped prison, that inmate or inmates become the escapees. Lockdown continues until the escapees return to the exact prison they escaped from.

During the lockdown, no inmate is allowed to return to their cells until that escaped inmate returns. That means they will have to sleep on the floor, use the bathroom themselves, and even eat where they are being held in lockdown. It sucks.

Now, the escaped inmate has returned, and lockdown ends. That escaped inmate will get a lot of... geez... punishments from all the other inmates for putting them through extensive lockdowns with no activities involved. It is designed to discourage anyone who wants to dare to escape prison, plus additional charges and... years of additional prison sentence, plus the hole punishment. Please don’t be dumb and think that escape will not get you punished; it is not worth it to escape from prison.

Bad Things That Can Happen

Try to not be caught on the toilet when count down is happening. Or to take a longer shower. Or to fall asleep in the yard. Or to hide someplace with another smart ass to have a good time with drugs, alcohol, tattoos, or sex.

If you have a day out - home or work - pray to not fall asleep on the bus/train on your way back or to get a flat tire or run out of gas. Missing the count or the scheduled turnback hour would put you on general tracking.

Lockdown Procedures and Punishments

Lockdown Turnover is first. The PA comes on to tell the prisoners a lockdown has been engaged. The announcement is made to firstly hold the population accountable by announcing the missing prisoner’s name. Forensics move in along with corrections staff to scan out and lock doors on secure areas after they have been searched. Cells are searched by lining up inmates outside their cells. A lineup during a lockdown typically leaves all prisoners standing outside their cells under supervision with the block doors locked down. A headcount happens and each cell undergoes a turnover. This is unpleasant for the inmates but necessary—the standard is to complete a full LDTO (lockdown and turnover) within an hour.

Also, we’re not really nice to your stuff when we lock you down because if it was a crime, you’re going to put the whole population through having to clean up the mess of discarded empty drawers and a mess made of your cell. They will properly hate you for it when you get out of the hole as they should. This act is intended to discourage it from happening again. If it was a murder, rest assured, we are going to find out about it, and anyone involved or an accomplice will be put into the hole at that time after the tapes are checked.

If nothing is amiss in the facility, the local emergency services dispatch center is contacted. Typically, the public announcement system is used at E911’s dispatch center to notify the public of a jailbird with their physical description. This will notify all mobile phones within typically a 25-mile radius, depending on state regulations, of an escapee. A warrant is issued for their arrest, and additional time to their sentence is applied by the courts, as well as time in the hole they are to do as mentioned.

Guarantee you don’t want to be this stupid if you get sent to prison and do it. Because your buddies are all going to hate you when we turn you all over when we have you back. It’s part of making sure the act doesn’t continue. All of the inmates being put through it are generally miserable for good reason holding you accountable when you get back. Those with nothing else to lose often seek PC Protective Custody after this type of thing because they are the first to be harassed by other inmates for deciding to do it in the first place.

This act is justified in corrections as the rule of nothing to lose. Accountability is important, and you are held to that if you break the law while in prison. How this policy works is designed to hold you accountable for committing a crime while in prison with additional time, severe punishment, and being held accountable by your peers who had to be put through being searched over your stupidity.

You’re made miserable if you try it. We suggest you make the smart choice and don’t. Inmates have privileges in prison that can and will be taken away for eloping. Including the friendly company of their peers and additional monitoring by corrections staff in a more restrictive environment they are not going to like.