02:28 PM PDT on Monday, April 26, 2004

By RAY LANE / KING 5 News

KING With the Jail Inmate Lookup Service, you can search for specific individuals being held in any of the King County detention facilities.

SEATTLE - In another example of how the Internet is now "the" place to go for information, you can find out more about who's being held in the King County Jail by going on-line.

Under state law, the public already had the right to find out who's being held in the King County Jail, but it meant some legwork. Now the county says getting that information is going to get a lot easier, thanks to the Internet.

It's called the Jail Inmate Lookup Service and with it, you can now search for specific individuals being held in any of the King County detention facilities.

"I think it is going to be of particular service to victims, and particularly victims of domestic violence, so that they will have updated information with regard to their particular case," said King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng.

Even families of those locked up will be able to use it to find out visiting times, bail amounts, specific charges.

But the biggest advantage will be for police, who will have extensive access to a lot more information using online passwords.

"There's tremendous information in that database. That will help police do a better job of keeping track of criminals and holding them accountable," said Chief Sue Rahr of the King County Sheriff's Dept.

Officials say they've gone to great lengths to reduce redundancy within the county's computer network and to make sure no one can abuse the material that's out there.

"On the public side for instance you cannot do a global search on a name. You cannot do a global search on race. Our system does not allow that," said Sims.

Over the next two years, the plan is to keep improving what the database can hold and do. Right now, police cannot check the online information from their patrol cars, and that's something that will change.