When people leave prison they often don’t worry about the paperwork they left behind or even consider it as they simply want to be free from the facility. But missing paperwork has a way of being needed when you least expect it.
Find Lost Prison Paperwork: Steps to Recovery
Make sure you have your paperwork in order when you leave prison. It may also be a good idea to make copies of these transcripts and have them notarized.
But, what happens to your federal prison paperwork once you leave federal prison? More importantly what happens to your RDAP Certificate of Completion which may be necessary for some jobs?
We talked with a former Federal Board of Prisons Case Manager Jack Donson; who is the president and owner of My Federal Prison Consultant, LLC based in New York and he had this to say about missing paperwork:
“The RDAP Certificate of Completion is in your central file but if your term of supervision is over, the file has been sent off to the National Archives. There is a process for a copy but that would be too difficult and take a long time.
The completion file is also on the SENTRY data base. If you have found a responsive staff member who was willing to help you at the facility where you completed it, they can run your number, verify the completion on SENTRY and send you a brief memo verifying the completion of the program. I would suggest starting with the Case Management Coordinator (CMC) and lastly the the Public Information Officer (PIO) if they are unresponsive.
The Psychology Department runs the actual program and also has a separate computer system called PDS that they can pull the RDAP completion certificate up on. This will probably be your best bet by contacting the Chief Psychologist or Drug ABuse Treatment Specialist to see if they can print you something from PDS or just verify program completion by sending you a memo on government letterhead.
If you are encountering unresponsive staff all the way, you should then call the actual unit you were in and ask for the case manager. They can also verify on SENTRY and confirm with a memo. When I was a case manager this was one of the things I would do.”
So, if you have missing federal prison paperwork the answer is to make the contacts as Mr. Donson has suggested.
Quick question, if you have been out of prison for more than a few years will this information still be in the archives? I am interested to get some of my paperwork to keep on file. I dont necessarily need my prison paperwork but it would be nice to have just for a keepsake… idk
Superb post and kudos! You really have to wonder how many people are actively looking for their prison paperwork and don’t know how to find it. Great post and will tell everyone I know and tweet this post!