The Pima County Adult Detention Complex sits at 1270 West Silverlake Road, Tucson, just west of Interstate 10 near downtown. Its main number is 520-351-8111. The sheriff's department runs it along with patrol across the county's unincorporated areas.

The sheriff keeps a small Ajo District Jail at its western district office, phone 520-387-8511. It holds people for a short time near the Ajo justice court. Anyone held longer is usually driven to Tucson, about two and a half hours away.

Go to Pima County Inmate Search and enter a last name with a first name, or the booking number. Note the booking number for bonds and deposits.

Booking in Tucson includes a medical screening, prints, photos and a records check for warrants, and weekend crowds slow it. Tucson police may also hold someone at a station while detectives talk to them. Phone 520-351-8111 and spell out the full legal name plus the date of birth. If the jail has nothing, ask the arresting agency.

Under Arizona's citation law, an officer can release a person arrested for a misdemeanor with a signed promise to appear. That is common in Tucson for minor theft, drinking in public or trespass. The ticket names Tucson City Court or a Pima County justice court and a date. Domestic violence cases don't qualify for this kind of release.

Within 24 hours of arrest, or the jail must let the person go. Pima County runs initial appearances every day from the jail. The judge reads the allegations, deals with a lawyer and sets release conditions. Tucson City Court handles its own in-custody city cases.

Arizona presumes a person goes home on their own promise unless more is needed. A Pima judge may add pretrial supervision, a cash bond, a secured bond posted by a bail agent, or rules like no contact with the victim. A few serious charges can mean no bond after a hearing. See our Pima bail guide for how each kind of bond works.

Call 520-351-8111 to learn the amount and which payments work at that hour. Carry photo ID and the booking number. A bail agent you hire can post a secured bond for a fee that you don't get back. A hold from another county or from immigration can block release even after bond.

Felonies are heard in Pima County Superior Court in downtown Tucson. Misdemeanors outside city limits go to the consolidated justice courts, also downtown, or the Ajo and Green Valley justice courts. Tucson charges stay in Tucson City Court. The state's online case lookup shows hearing dates. Our Pima court steps lay out each stage.

Pima County has a public defender office and a legal defender office for conflict cases. A judge appoints one when the person can't afford counsel, so they should say so at the first hearing. Remind them that jail phone lines are recorded.

With a border region and a large jail, federal and out-of-county holds are common. Phone the sheriff's department at 520-351-4900 and find out if the booking carries any warrants or detainers. The DPS warrant search gives a quick statewide check, and the courts' Public Access lookup can reveal open cases in other Arizona counties. If another warrant exists, a defense attorney can coordinate with the issuing court so bond is set together. Superior court case questions go to the clerk's office in Tucson at 520-724-3200.

Most visits are by video, done remotely from a home device or at kiosks inside the Silverlake lobby. Visitors need an approved account first. After booking a visit, families can call the visit hotline at 520-351-8114 to ask about extending it. Hours change, so look online or call the jail. See Pima visitation and remote video visits.

People inside call out on a prepaid or collect system. Money for the store and phone can be added online or at the jail kiosk. Find steps here: Pima jail phones, messaging, tablets, deposits, Pima commissary.

Put the person's name and booking number on the front and your return address in the corner. Never mail cash. Check the current mail rules at Pima inmate mail.

Call 520-351-8111 and ask for the medical unit. Give names of medicines, doses and the prescribing doctor. Inside, jail health staff make the care decisions. Tell them about any suicide risk immediately.

Teens go to the Juvenile Court's detention center on East Ajo Way in Tucson, reachable at 520-724-2150. They aren't listed on the adult roster. A judge reviews the detention within 24 hours. See our Pima juvenile page.

Both tribes have their own police, courts and jails, which are separate from the county jail. The Tohono O'odham Nation's detention center in Sells answers at 520-383-6462. Pascua Yaqui cases go through the tribe's court near Tucson. A tribal inmate won't appear on the Pima search.

Don't pay anyone who calls asking for gift cards or wire transfers to release a relative. Pay only the jail, the court or a licensed bail agent you picked. Hang up and call 520-351-8111 directly.

Call the Pima County Adult Detention Complex at 520-351-8111 to confirm that the person is there, the booking number and the bond amount. General sheriff questions go to 520-351-4900.

Federal cases usually involve the FBI, the U.S. Marshals, and Homeland Security Investigations. Border and drug arrests often end up in federal court in Tucson. This county is part of the Tucson Division (District of Arizona); court dates take place at the federal courthouse in Tucson, 405 West Congress Street, Tucson, AZ 85701. Clerk staff there answer at 520-205-4200. An initial court date is held fast with a magistrate judge. The court also gets a short report from pretrial services. Cash isn't the main question on a federal case. The magistrate considers safety and the chance of flight at a detention hearing applying federal bail law.

Look them up on the county roster. Many federal prisoners wait in a county jail contracted by the U.S. Marshals. Marshals staff in Tucson keep records on federal prisoners. Call 520-879-6900. The office is at 405 West Congress Street, Suite 2300, Tucson, AZ 85701. Sentenced people move out of the local jail to a BOP prison after sentencing. Track them through the federal locator.

• During booking, the person's prints reach federal databases. ICE may then lodge a detainer.
• Through the I-247A, ICE wants the sheriff to delay the release by at most two days. Days off don't extend it; the window stays 48 hours.
• Even with bail posted, the ICE hold stays in place.
• ICE officers may take custody inside that 48-hour window. If nobody comes, the jail has to free them.
• The office for Arizona is the Phoenix ERO office, at 2035 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004, tel. 602-257-5900.
• ICE itself chooses the detention center.
• Look them up on the Online Detainee Locator System after the move, using the A-number with country of birth. Missing the A-number? Use the exact name plus DOB and country of birth instead.

Anyone who gets state prison can expect to do that time in the care of Arizona's corrections department. At first, most people wait in the Tucson jail until the ADCRR has a bed ready, sometimes for weeks. The ride ends at intake, and there they are checked in. Classification staff screen each person based on gang ties, medical and mental care and security risk. Their final stop is the prison that fits them.

The ADCRR online lookup shows their unit when the move is done. The state prison page covers each unit.

For a request for a booking photo not yet released, the media should call the sheriff's office at 520-351-4900. ICE's FOIA form is the way to request an immigration mugshot; ICE decides. U.S. booking photos aren't released to reporters or the public. Public requests don't get one; the Marshals share one only to find an escaped prisoner, for pressing community safety, or when sharing it aids a capture or a warning to the public.

• Tucson Police: 520-791-4444
• Oro Valley Police: 520-229-4900
• Marana Police: 520-382-2000
• South Tucson Police: 520-622-0655
• Pima County Sheriff's Department, non-emergency: 520-351-4900

Sahuarita has its own police department, but for after-hours questions the sheriff's dispatch line above can transfer you. Rural places like Green Valley, Catalina, Vail, Arivaca and Ajo are covered by sheriff's deputies. University of Arizona police and state troopers bring their arrests to Silverlake Road too.