Clinton Prison Case Files Relating to Inmate Escapes

This series includes files for six Clinton Prison inmates who escaped incarceration during the period 1914-1927. The files document attempts by the prison administration to notify law enforcement agencies and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the escapes and to monitor attempts to apprehend the fugitives. For reasons unknown, the correspondence in these files commences in the mid-1930s, more than a decade after most of the escapes occurred.

Files include correspondence between prison administrators and law enforcement agencies at the local, state, federal, and international levels regarding efforts to locate escapees; inmate identification photographs; FBI criminal history reports; tear sheets from published circulars describing wanted fugitives; and multiple copies of 8" x 8" printed "wanted" cards featuring inmates' identification photographs, fingerprints, physical description, and description of prominent scars or marks.

B1225Series B1225, Auburn Prison Correspondence and Report File Relating to Inmate Escapes and Captures, 1927-1934, contains related records from a similar facility.

These files were transferred to the State Archives by the Department of Correctional Services in 2007, but were not accessioned until 2016.

Summary information on adult inmates is disclosable under law. State Archives staff will review records containing probation, parole, medical, and juvenile criminal history data and disclose information pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law and Personal Privacy Protection Law. The identity of victims of sex crimes is not disclosable. Unless a specific law forbids disclosure indefinitely, all records must be disclosed after 75 years.