Cherokee County Detention Center Recent Bookings And Arrests
What Happens When Someone Gets Booked Into Jail in Alabama
Getting booked into jail is the official check-in process that happens right after someone is arrested. During booking, the jail writes down who the person is, takes their photo and fingerprints, and safely stores their personal items. Once all of this paperwork and safety checking is finished, the person is either allowed to pay money to go home or they are given a jail bed to wait for court.
In Alabama, the county sheriff runs the local county jail. Whenever someone is arrested—whether it is by a city police officer, a county deputy, or a state highway patrol trooper—they are driven to the county jail to be processed. If a town does not have its own small holding area, police bring people straight here so the jail staff can handle the paperwork.
Federal officers, like U.S. Marshals or immigration officers, sometimes house people in county jails too. When a person arrives, their fingerprints are scanned into government computers across the country. If another state or an immigration agency has a hold or a warrant out for that person, the jail will keep them until those agencies come pick them up.
What Happens When Arriving at the Jail
When the police car pulls into the secure sally port garage, the officer walks the person inside through heavy locked doors. Officers take away all personal items, search the person for safety, and assign them an official booking number. For serious charges like felonies, staff will rub a cotton swab inside the person's cheek to collect a DNA sample. The jail also runs fingerprints to check if there are any other active warrants or unpaid tickets anywhere in the country.
After the basic paperwork is finished, the person is allowed to use a telephone. They can call a family member, a friend, a lawyer, or a bail company to let people know what happened. Phone calls to a lawyer are completely private. However, regular phone calls to family or friends are recorded and listened to by jail staff, so talking about what happened during the arrest can hurt their case later.
Booking does not happen right away. Depending on how busy the jail is, how many police officers are in line, or whether the person needs to see a nurse first, the wait can take anywhere from two hours to more than half a day.
Paying Bail and Seeing a Judge
When someone is arrested, they usually cannot go home until they post bail, which is money paid to make sure they show up to court later. If police arrested them on the spot without a signed warrant, a judge or court official must review the paperwork within two days to confirm there was a good reason for the arrest. Anyone who cannot afford to pay bail must be taken to see a judge within three days so the judge can explain the charges and decide if the bail amount can be lowered.
For many basic, non-violent crimes, the jail has a standard price list for bail, meaning family can pay right away at the front desk without waiting to see a judge. Families can pay the full cash amount, put up property, or hire a local bail bond company to pay a fee to get their loved one out. To read more about how bail works, check out our guide on Alabama Bail Regulations.
Most county jails keep a public list of everyone in custody on their official website. If someone was just arrested and does not show up on the online list yet, friends and family can call the jail's front desk directly to ask if they have arrived and what the bail amount is.
Alabama Jail Booking: Questions and Answers
- How do I find out if someone is inside an Alabama county jail?
- What should someone do or say when they are first brought to jail?
- What are the steps of getting booked into jail?
- What kind of questions do jail nurses ask during check-in?
- When can the person make a phone call, and is anyone listening?
- What happens to clothes, cash, and personal belongings?
- What happens if no one can afford to pay bail right away?
- How long does the whole booking process take?
How do I find out if someone is inside an Alabama county jail?
You can call the county jail directly and ask the front desk officer if the person is there. You will need to give the officer the person's real first and last name, along with their birthday.
Many county sheriff departments also post a list of inmates online that anyone can look at for free. It takes time for the computer system to process fingerprints and photos, so a newly arrested person might not show up on that website for two to four hours after they walk in.
What should someone do or say when they are first brought to jail?
A person must tell the officers basic personal facts, like their real name, date of birth, and home address. But they should never talk about the crime they are accused of or try to explain their side of the story to the officers or other people in the holding room.
Anything said out loud in a jail can be written down and told to a prosecutor. Everyone has the right to stay quiet about the incident and ask to speak with a lawyer first.
What are the steps of getting booked into jail?
Every person goes through the exact same steps in order:
- Hand-off: The arresting officer brings the person inside and hands the arrest paperwork to the jail guards.
- Safety Search: Officers pat down the person and walk them through metal detectors or body scanners to make sure they do not have weapons or drugs.
- Belongings Taken: The jail takes all pockets items, money, phones, and belts to lock them in a safe place.
- Pictures and Fingerprints: Staff take mugshots from the front and side, scan all ten fingers into a computer, and swab the inside of the cheek for DNA if the charge is serious.
- Medical Check: A nurse asks questions about health problems, sickness, or medications to make sure the person is safe.
- Room Assignment: Jail staff decide which holding cell or room the person should go to based on their charges and how calm they are.
What kind of questions do jail nurses ask during check-in?
A jail nurse or officer will ask if the person has health problems like diabetes, heart issues, or asthma, and what prescription pills they take every day. They will also ask if the person is pregnant, has allergies, recently drank alcohol or used drugs, or is feeling sad and thinking about hurting themselves.
It is very important to answer these health questions honestly so the jail medical staff can get the person their daily medicine on time and keep them safe while in custody.
When can the person make a phone call, and is anyone listening?
Once the basic check-in questions are done, the person is allowed to walk up to a phone in the intake area to call family, friends, a lawyer, or a bail bond company.
Families need to remember that regular jail phone calls are always recorded and listened to. Never talk about what happened during the arrest or argue about who did what over a jail phone. The only calls that are completely private are calls made directly to a licensed lawyer.
What happens to clothes, cash, and personal belongings?
Officers take wallets, cell phones, jewelry, belts, and shoes with laces, writing down every single item on a paper list. The person signs the paper to prove everything was counted, and the items are put into a locked storage bag. Any paper cash is put into a special jail bank account under the person's name so they can buy snacks or pay for their bail.
If someone is going to be in jail for a while, they can sign a paper that allows a family member or trusted friend to come to the jail and pick up their phone, house keys, or wallet.
What happens if no one can afford to pay bail right away?
If nobody can pay the bail money right away, the person cannot stay in the front intake room. They have to take a shower, use special wash to clean off bugs or lice, and change out of their street clothes into a jail uniform and plastic shoes.
Within two days of an arrest without a warrant, a judge must review the police notes to make sure there is a valid reason to hold the person. Within three days, the person must be brought in front of a judge on a screen or in a courtroom. The judge will officially read the charges, provide a free public lawyer if the family has little money, and decide if the bail cost can be lowered. You can learn more about how all of this works on our Alabama Bail Regulations page.
How long does the whole booking process take?
Booking usually takes between two and eight hours from the time a person walks through the door until they can either be bailed out or moved to a cell. On busy weekend nights, or if computers go down, it can easily take twelve hours or more.
If someone arrives very sick, highly upset, or heavily drunk, officers will place them in a quiet holding room or medical bed until they calm down or sleep it off before finishing their fingerprints and paperwork.