Series 80388
Department of Corrections. Inmate Services Prison commitment registers

Dates: 1875-2002.

14.00 cubic feet and 10 microfilm reelsSkip to Containers

These records are housed in the Utah State Archives' permanent storage room.

Scope and Content

These logs are used to record information when an inmate is first admitted to prison. Personal information includes inmate's name, physical description, religion, education, birthplace, and occupation. Beginning in 1889, a photograph of the inmate accompanied this information. Criminal information includes the crime, sentence, discharge date, and prison record. Beginning in 1982, this log was also used as a back-up to the Offender Based Criminal Identification System (OBCIS). As the only facility in the corrections system, the State Prison was the creator from 1875-1982.

A consistent numbering pattern for entries gradually becomes established in book "D," which is the first book containing pictures. The first prison number written in this book is 551 (p. 12) and numbers after that are fairly consistent. On page 106 and 107 earlier numbers are entered 395-689, but on page 108 it picks back up where the numbering on 105 left off. The book covers admissions from 1889 to 1908, and manyprisoners who are entered in earlier books are reentered into this one; therefore, there are quite a few duplicate entries and overlapping of admission dates between book A,B,C and book D. These entries often include references to page numbers in an earlier book; the duplicate entries are usually recorded for criminals convicted of serious crimes, who were still serving sentences when the new book was opened. By the end of book "D" entries are being made in order, both chronologically and by prison number, and this pattern continues. In the last book of archival holdings (reel 10) a few odd numbers are scattered throughout i.e., 11845A.

Upper front view pictures of the prisoners appear from 1889 through 1900. Upper front and side view pictures appear from 1900 through 1959. Upper front and side view pictures along with a full front body view appear from 1959 through 1976. Admission records for some prisoners have been expunged. Identifying data such as the name of the prisoner,picture, prison number, residence, relatives, place of birth, and date of birth have been concealed.

Many of the entries include the following data: name and age of prisoner, place and date of birth; physical characteristics; marks and scars; occupation; education; religion; nativity; relatives; marital status; habits of life (temperate/intemperate, peculiarities); aliases; crime resulting in imprisonment; trial and court data; dates of confinement; criminal history; copper allowed; date of discharge and whether paroled or sentence was terminated; and remarks. The item "copper allowed" referred to obtaining credit for good behavior.

Arrangement

For records created from 1875 to 1889, arrangement is chronological by date of entry into prison.

Even after inmate numbers were assigned, the number usually correlates with date of entry.

Related Records

Minutes from the Board of Pardons and Parole, Series 332, contain summaries for the hearings of many of these prisoners over much of the same period covered by this series.

Criminal extradition records from the Lieutenant Governor, Series 348, contain extradition records for some of the prisoners found in this series.

Wardens' administrative records from the Territorial Penitentiary, Series 3912, includes additional information on prisoners.

Joseph Henry Martin investigative files from Ogden (Utah). Ogden Police Department, Series 4101, include an entry for inmate no. 3073, John Henry Martin (a.k.a. Joseph Henry Martin), with a photo, physical description, and information about his incarceration at the State Prison.

Inmate photographs from the State Prison, Series 10398, are pictures taken usually upon admission to the prison and also entered in this register.

Criminal physical description record book from the State Prison, Series 11886, contains further, detailed anthropometric data, physical description, and certain background data on some of these inmates collected after admission.

Utah Territorial Prison painting from the Board of Pardons, Series 27827, contains information when an inmate is first admitted to prison, and can be used to conduct further research on inmate Frank Treseder.

Correspondence from the Board of Pardons and Parole, Series 80460, contains a variety of documents relating to prisoners during these years.

Inmate jackets from the Department of Corrections. Division of Prison Operations, Series 84145, include additional prisoner information.

Custody History

These record books were transferred to the Utah State Archives and Records Service from the Department of Corrections on December 02, 2021.

Additional Forms

This series is available on microfilm.

Access Restrictions

This series is primarily classified as Private: The records are regarded as private for 75 years as per UCA 63G-2-302(2). They contain information about race, national origin, and religion and disclosure of this and other personal information may constitute an invasion of privacy. The secondary classification is Public.

Preferred Citation

Cite the Utah State Archives and Records Service, the creating agency name, the series title, and the series number.

Processing Note

The registers were first microfilmed during 1981; archival processing of the entire series was completed during 1989 by J. Brent Brinkerhoff. Page 188 of Volume A was missed in the original filming and was spliced to the beginning of reel 2 in 1991. Physical processing of the record books was completed in December 2021 by Jim Kichas as part of a larger processing project and collaboration with the Department of Corrections.

Finding Aids

Indexes: Name indexes are available for books B, D, and E on reel 1.

Indexing Terms

  • Crime--Utah--Identification.
  • Criminal investigation--Utah.
  • Prisoners--Utah.

Container List

REEL VOLUME INMATE NUMBERS DESCRIPTION
1 1 Index to Books B-E 1886-1917
2 A n/a 1875-1886
2 B n/a 1886-1888
2-3 C n/a 1888-1896
4 D 1-2181 1889-1908
5 E 2182-2847 1908-1912
6 E (Continued) 2848-3500 1912-1917
6 F 3501-4100 1917-1922
7 9 4101-4703 1922-1926
7 10 4704-6767 1926-1938
7-8 11 6768-8299 1938-1948
8 12 8300-10455 1948-1959
9-10 13 10456-12181 1959-1966
10 14 12182-13888 1967-1976
n/a 15 13889-15434 1976-1981
n/a 16 15436-17089 1981-1984
n/a 17 17090-18159 1985-1986
n/a 18 18160-19403 1987-1989
n/a 19 19404-20784 1989-1991
n/a 20 20785-22131 1991-1993
n/a 21 22132-23302 1993-1994
n/a 22 23303-24946 1994-1996
n/a 23 24947-26006 1996-1997
n/a 24 26007-27356 1997-1998
n/a 25 27357-28816 1998-1999
n/a 26 28817-30232 1999-2000
n/a 27 30235-32146 2000-2001
n/a 28 32147-32879 2001-2002

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