Countywide, most bookings land at the Martinez Detention Facility, the maximum-security jail at 1000 Ward Street, Martinez, CA 94553 (925-335-4600). Some cities, including Antioch at its L Street station, hold people briefly before transfer. After booking, people who qualify for lower security may move to the West County Detention Facility, in Richmond, or to the minimum-security Marsh Creek Detention Facility near Clayton. Call 925-335-4600 to learn which one.

Enter a name in Contra Costa County Inmate Search, the Sheriff's in-custody locator. It shows housing location, charges and bail. Can't find him? Phone the Martinez jail at 925-335-4600.

Within two days, leaving out Sundays and holidays. In-custody cases are mostly heard at the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse, 725 Court Street, Martinez, CA 94553, a few blocks from the Martinez Detention Facility at 1000 Ward Street. The court's general line is 925-608-1000. Read Contra Costa court steps.

The Superior Court's yearly schedule sets amounts before arraignment, and the jail accepts cash or a bail bond. Many misdemeanors are cited out instead. A judge reviews release at arraignment and has to consider ability to pay. See our Contra Costa bail guide.

Yes. The Contra Costa Public Defender, 800 Ferry Street in Martinez (925-608-9600), is appointed at arraignment when a person can't hire counsel.

Visits are scheduled ahead, with photo ID, and each jail has its own times. West County offers more contact visiting because of its lower security. See Contra Costa visiting and visits by video.

Write to the facility holding them, putting the booking number beside the name. Our Contra Costa pages explain approved mail, deposits, the canteen, phone service, messaging and tablets.

The county's health services department provides care inside the jails. Phone 925-335-4600 to report medicine the person needs.

Probation runs the county juvenile hall at 202 Glacier Drive in Martinez (925-957-2700). A youth held there must have a petition filed and a detention hearing within days, and parents are contacted after intake.

Treat it as a scam. Contra Costa deputies never phone families to collect bail by app, wire or gift card; pay bail at the jail window or through a bond agent of your own choosing. Check by calling 925-335-4600.

A federal case most often starts after agencies like the Marshals Service, the Secret Service, the Postal Inspection Service or the FBI carry out the arrest. This county falls under the Northern District of California's Oakland courthouse, so cases are set downtown in Oakland, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA 94612. The clerk's office there answers at 510-637-3530. The first hearing happens soon in front of a magistrate judge. Ahead of court, a pretrial services officer looks at work, family and record. Cash isn't how it works in a federal case. The judge looks at danger and flight risk during a release hearing per federal bail law.

Start with the sheriff's roster first. Otherwise phone the U.S. Marshals for the Northern District of California in Oakland at 510-637-3666 (1301 Clay Street, Suite 150C, Oakland, CA 94612). Meanwhile, the Marshals Service may place the inmate in a nearby jail through a contract. After a prison sentence, a prisoner is sent to the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Find the inmate with the BOP locator after the move.

• Booking fingerprints get run with U.S. systems that ICE uses. If ICE believes your loved one may be removable, it can send a hold request.
• A detainer asks the Martinez jail to hold someone for federal agents up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)). Martinez jail staff follow SB 54, the California Values Act, which keeps release on the normal timetable and allows a transfer to ICE only on a court warrant or for certain serious prior convictions. Once the 48 hours pass, the detainer runs out.
• Even after bail is posted, the detainer remains active.
• Immigration officers often come for them in person before the 48 hours end. Without an ICE pickup, that means release.
• ICE's web search, the detainee locator, shows their current center; it needs the person's A-number and country of birth. People without the person's A-number can type in the person's full name plus country of birth and DOB.
• Cases here go to ICE's San Francisco enforcement office: 630 Sansome Street, Room 590, San Francisco, CA 94111, tel. 415-365-8800.
• The agency chooses the detention center.

A prison term is overseen by the state corrections department (CDCR). At first, they remain in the Martinez jail while the CDCR schedules the move. Their first CDCR stop is a reception unit. Classification staff review each person after checking known gang ties, custody level, and physical and emotional health. Last comes the prison that matches those results.

Check the state inmate search by full name or CDCR number. For prison details, open our California prison guide.

No. The Contra Costa jail search gives Contra Costa booking details without mugshots.

See Penal Code 13665 for the law. It covers social media posts. It applies to most nonviolent arrests. Police can't post those mugshots online there. Posts must come down within 14 days. A judge can also allow a post. Sheriff websites are left out of the rule. Still, most California rosters show no photos.

Newsrooms hoping for a booking photo should ring the sheriff's office at 925-335-4600. ICE pictures are released only via an ICE records request, and only if ICE agrees. U.S. mugshots aren't given with reporters or the public. A booking picture from a federal arrest is shown only through the Marshals, for an escaped prisoner, for urgent community safety or if sharing it would help catch them or alert residents.

• Concord Police non-emergency: 925-671-3333
• Richmond Police non-emergency: 510-233-1214
• Antioch Police non-emergency: 925-778-2441
• Walnut Creek Police non-emergency: 925-943-5844
• Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office jail booking: 925-335-4600

Many smaller cities, such as Lafayette, Orinda and Danville, contract with the Sheriff for police service.

Probably. Warrant pickups from Brentwood to El Cerrito are booked at the Martinez Detention Facility, and the Sheriff's booking desk takes calls at 925-335-4600. Staff there handle statewide hits as well. Look up his name on the Superior Court's kiosk portal for missed dates or warrants. Someone held this way usually goes before a judge within two court days, sometimes in Richmond. If the warrant turns out to be yours, an attorney can plan a surrender, and the Ward Street clerk can talk through a reset date.