Oakland police no longer run a long-term jail, so their arrestees are driven to Santa Rita after booking. Berkeley, Hayward and Fremont each keep a small city jail where a person may sit for hours, or overnight, until release or transfer. Berkeley's is in the police building on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Hayward's at 300 West Winton Avenue, and Fremont's beside its police headquarters on Stevenson Boulevard. Anyone still in custody when a court date is near is moved to Santa Rita Jail, at 5325 Broder Boulevard, Dublin, CA 94568 (925-551-6500), off Interstate 580.

Alameda County Inmate Search takes a last name and first name. The county numbers each person with a PFN, a short code that stays with them on every later booking, and you'll need it for mail, visits and deposits. Results list housing, charges, bail and the next court date. A person booked within the last few hours, or still in a city jail, may not show up yet. Call 925-551-6500 if the search draws a blank.

Booking at Santa Rita includes fingerprints and a photo, a warrant check across the state, a health screening by the jail's medical staff and a classification interview. Property is bagged and stored. Intake can stretch past six hours on busy nights, and a release that's been ordered can take nearly as long to process.

California's Penal Code 825 sets a 48-hour limit from arrest to arraignment, with Sundays and holidays left out. In Alameda County, in-custody felony arraignments are usually held at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse, 661 Washington Street, Oakland, CA 94607 (510-627-4700), or at the East County Hall of Justice, 5151 Gleason Drive, Dublin, CA 94568 (925-227-6700), and South County cases go to the Fremont Hall of Justice, 39439 Paseo Padre Parkway, Fremont, CA 94538 (510-818-7500). The court and date appear on the inmate search once they're set. Read more about Alameda court steps.

The Superior Court's judges adopt a countywide bail schedule each year, and the jail can release someone who posts the scheduled amount before arraignment. Many misdemeanor arrests end with a citation instead of booking. At arraignment the judge reviews release under In re Humphrey, which requires looking at what the person can afford, and the 2026 Kowalczyk ruling, which says money bail should generally be within reach and bail can be refused only in the narrow violent-felony cases the constitution names. See our Alameda County bail guide.

Yes. The Alameda County Public Defender, 1401 Lakeside Drive in Oakland (510-272-6600), is appointed at arraignment for anyone who can't hire a lawyer. Families can share job, school and housing details with the office ahead of the hearing, since those facts help in arguing for release.

Visits need an appointment, made online up to three days ahead, with the person's name, PFN and birth date. Bring a government photo ID and arrive early enough to clear the lobby check. Housing units get set days, and a lockdown can cancel a visit on short notice. See our Santa Rita visiting page and video visits.

Personal mail is scanned off site. It goes to the person's full legal name and PFN, "Santa Rita County Jail - 2300," P.O. Box 96777, Las Vegas, NV 89193. Legal mail and books shipped by a publisher go to the jail itself at 5325 Broder Boulevard. Our Santa Rita mail guide has the details.

Santa Rita accepts deposits through its online and phone service and at a kiosk in the visitor lobby. Funds buy food and hygiene items and pay for calls and messages. Alameda details: Santa Rita deposits, canteen, calls from Dublin, electronic mail and tablet access.

Medical and mental health staff work inside the jail and see new arrivals at intake. If your loved one takes daily medicine, call 925-551-6500 with the drug name, dose and pharmacy, so staff can verify it.

Youths go to the county's Juvenile Justice Center at 2500 Fairmont Drive in San Leandro, the juvenile hall run by Probation (510-667-4970). State law gives Probation two court days to file a petition or let the youth go home. Juvenile cases are private and won't appear in the adult search.

Someone sentenced to state prison is moved to a state reception center. People with federal charges are held elsewhere. If the name drops off the county search with no release date, call 925-551-6500.

Santa Rita deputies don't phone relatives to demand bail, and the court never takes gift cards or app transfers. Treat any such call as fraud, hang up, and dial 925-551-6500 yourself to check the person's status.

These cases often involve the Marshals Service, the FBI or the DEA. Federal hearings in this county take place at the courthouse in Oakland, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA 94612, part of the Northern District of California. Clerk's phone: 510-637-3530. Look for an initial appearance before a federal magistrate soon after booking. Money is not the starting point in federal charges. The judge weighs safety and the risk they'll flee in a bail hearing per federal bail law. A pretrial officer meets them and reports to the court.

Start on the county roster. During the case, the Marshals may house federal prisoners in local jails by contract. This district's Marshals staff in Oakland can say where the inmate is: 510-637-3666, 1301 Clay Street, Suite 150C, Oakland, CA 94612. With a prison term, the BOP assigns a facility. Find them on the BOP's online locator.

• Immigration officers learn about an arrest from fingerprints staff share. Then ICE might file a detainer.
• That paperwork asks the sheriff to hold the person at the Alameda jail up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)). At Santa Rita Jail, the California Values Act (SB 54) means release on the local case goes ahead on time, and staff share a release date or hand someone to ICE only under a judicial warrant or for certain serious or violent convictions.
• Even after bail paid, this hold stays active.
• Immigration officers may come for them at the jail while the hold lasts. If nobody comes, the sheriff has to let them go.
• The online detainee locator searches for people by the alien number (A-number) and home country. Without an A-number, type in the person's legal name, home country, and DOB.
• ICE itself chooses the next facility.
• Have a question for ICE? Its San Francisco field office for Northern California sits at 630 Sansome Street, Room 590, San Francisco, CA 94111. Phone: 415-365-8800.

A state prison sentence is overseen by the state prison agency (CDCR). Before that, the person waits in the Dublin jail while the CDCR schedules the move. Reception is next — paperwork, photos and tests. At intake, the CDCR weighs health and mental health needs, any gang affiliation and security risk. Last, they're sent to a unit that fits them.

Try the CDCR inmate locator to find their unit. For prison details, read California state prisons.

The Alameda County inmate search is the place to check, though Alameda mugshots may not be shown.

The state rule is PC 13665. It deals with social media. Nonviolent arrests are the main target. Agencies may not post those photos there. A posted photo comes down after 14 days. Fugitives and threats are the exceptions. Jail websites are outside this law. Still, most California rosters show no photos.

To get an ICE mugshot, send ICE's online records request and wait for ICE's answer. Media that want a mugshot that is not public can contact sheriff's staff at 510-667-7721. Families and the press can't see federal mugshots in most cases. Rarely, the Marshals Service releases one: to locate a fugitive or escaped inmate, for pressing community safety or when the photo helps track them down or alert neighbors.

• Oakland Police non-emergency: 510-777-3333
• Berkeley Police non-emergency: 510-981-5900
• Hayward Police non-emergency: 510-293-7000
• Fremont Police non-emergency: 510-790-6800
• Alameda County Sheriff's Office non-emergency: 510-667-7721

Unincorporated communities such as Castro Valley, San Lorenzo and Ashland are patrolled by the Sheriff. Freeway arrests are usually by the California Highway Patrol.

A name search in the Superior Court's online criminal portal is a good first step, since it shows whether a judge issued one. For a firm answer, phone the Sheriff's Office, whose deputies serve warrants for every courthouse from Berkeley to Pleasanton and can check statewide records too. Fremont and Hayward police pick people up on them as well. Turning in with a lawyer at Santa Rita in Dublin tends to go far better than a freeway stop. If the warrant grew out of a skipped hearing, the criminal clerk on Washington Street (510-627-4702) can talk about a new date.