MARION COUNTY — Some former inmates of the Marion County Jail are receiving letters from Sheriff Rich Stevenson advising them of a data breach at the jail and that they may be victims of identity theft.

According to the letter, on November 2, 2017, Marion County learned that inmate booking information had been removed from the county’s systems. Authorities immediately launched an investigation to determine the nature and scope of the situation and called in third-party forensic investigators to assist.

On January 30, 2018, the forensic investigation confirmed that names, addresses, and/or Social Security numbers were contained in the information that had been removed from the jail.

The sheriff’s office has partnered with Trans Union to provide anyone effected by the data breach with myTrueIdentity for one year at no charge.

According to Lieutenant Deputy Andy Garden, the incident remains under investigation both in-house and through Trans Union. Garden says the sheriff’s office will issue a press release when they have more information on who accessed the information, how it was accessed, and how many people are affected by the breach.