Start with Los Angeles County Inmate Search and type his full name. Bookings from the past two hours or so often are not online yet. If the search is empty, call the Sheriff's inmate information line at 213-473-6100. Keep his full name, birth date and arrest date close by. The person on the line can read you his booking number too. You can sign up for release alerts through VINE at 877-411-5588.

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The Sheriff lists the Inmate Reception Center, 450 Bauchet Street, downtown, 213-893-5327, for booking. It is temporary holding, and no visiting is allowed there. From there men may go to Men's Central Jail at 441 Bauchet Street or Twin Towers at 450 Bauchet Street. Women are held at Century Regional Detention Facility, 11705 South Alameda Street, Lynwood. Other buildings stand in Castaic: the North and South Facilities, and North County Correctional Facility. See the Los Angeles County jails list for every location.

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Yes, at first. A city department may hold a person in its own jail, then send her to the county. The Los Angeles Police Department lists the county jail information line, 213-473-6100, for people looking for an arrestee, and its non-emergency number is 877-275-5273. Long Beach, Pasadena, Glendale, Santa Monica, and other cities have their own police. Call the department that made the arrest, then check the county search again the next day.

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The Sheriff says to call the station desk for people held at a station. Some of the numbers: Lancaster, 661-948-8466; Palmdale, 661-272-2400; Santa Clarita Valley, 661-260-4000; Century, 323-568-4800; East Los Angeles, 323-264-4151; Lakewood, 562-623-3500; Norwalk, 562-863-8711. A person held at a station may later be moved to the Inmate Reception Center.

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Under Penal Code 1269b, the Superior Court adopts a countywide schedule. The 2026 felony and misdemeanor schedules took effect January 1, 2026. Since October 1, 2023, a Pre-Arraignment Release Protocol also applies. It marks most misdemeanors and many non-violent felonies as $0 bail before arraignment: cite and release, book and release, or review by a magistrate. The court says $0 bail does not apply to serious or violent crimes, which keep a dollar amount. Examples from the 2026 schedules: domestic battery without injury, $20,000; domestic battery with traumatic injury, $30,000; felony corporal injury to a partner under Penal Code 273.5, $50,000 ($100,000 with a prior conviction); assault with a deadly weapon other than a gun, $30,000; second-degree robbery, $50,000; first-degree robbery, $100,000; murder, $2,000,000, with special-circumstance murder not eligible for release. Petty theft, driving on a suspended license, and simple drug possession are listed at $0, and so is a first-offense drunk-driving misdemeanor. These pre-arraignment numbers do not bind the judge at arraignment. A warrant amount or a judge's order wins. For the exact number on your relative, search the name, then call 213-473-6100 and ask for the amount on every charge.

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Penal Code 1269b allows the officer in charge of a jail, or the court clerk, to take bail at the listed amount, either in cash or as a bond from a licensed insurer. The Sheriff's custody page does not name a bail window or hours. Call 213-473-6100, ask where bail is accepted for the building that holds your person, and ask how it is paid. The Sheriff also urges people to think carefully before posting bail and to talk to a public defender or other lawyer first.

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Funds placed on his account pay for calls and commissary, not bail. It never pays for release. The Sheriff takes deposits online through its deposit service, 866-345-1884, by mail up to $200 using a postal money order or certified bank cashier's check, and at cash kiosks at the Castaic jails' visiting center with photo ID. Bail is a separate payment.

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A bondsman is for families who cannot pay the full amount. The California Department of Insurance says the charge is most commonly ten percent of the bond, companies must use their filed rates, and the premium is generally not refunded, even if charges are dropped. Look up any agent at insurance.ca.gov/bailbonds. Get the deal on paper, collateral and all.

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Yes, in some cases, but the court must approve it. The county's rules on where the property sits and the equity it must hold should be confirmed before you start. Check with the clerk where the case sits before spending money on an appraisal.

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The deadline is 48 hours after arrest (Sundays and holidays left out), under Penal Code 825. That first hearing is the arraignment. At that hearing bail may go up, down or away, and Penal Code 1318 lets the judge free someone on a signed promise to return. The courthouse is printed on the booking record or paperwork, and the Public Defender's office at that courthouse can tell you about the calendar.

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Often. For many misdemeanors, Penal Code 853.6 tells officers to cite and release adults. Exceptions include an open warrant, being too drunk, having no ID, or a domestic violence order. Ask the arresting agency, since some release decisions happen at the station before county booking.

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Under article I, section 12 of the state constitution, an LA judge may refuse bail in capital cases, certain violent or sex felonies, and felony threat cases. The judge first needs clear and convincing proof of danger. Penal Code 1270.1 requires a hearing in open court before release in serious felonies and some domestic violence cases. Paid bail does not always mean he walks out. He may stay put if probation or parole has a hold on him, or if another county wants him on a warrant. Ask the information line, 213-473-6100, which one applies.

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The Los Angeles County Public Defender represents people charged in county courts who have too little money to hire counsel. Request one when he first sees the judge, or phone the office at the courthouse where the arraignment is set, or the one nearest the arrest. Collect calls from custody are accepted, and the office suggests early morning or late afternoon. The directory line for all Public Defender offices is 213-974-2811. Citizenship does not disqualify anyone, and you are not asked to pay up front.

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The Probation Department runs the juvenile halls. Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, 7285 Quill Drive in Downey, 562-940-8681, is the one with a published phone line, and its Movement Control desk can confirm whether a youth is still there. Probation also lists Central Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles, plus the Sylmar juvenile hall, 818-364-2011, the Malibu youth campus, 818-889-1353, and a youth center in Commerce, 323-981-4301, as secure youth treatment programs. For a teen, Welfare and Institutions Code 632 sets a detention hearing no later than the end of the court day after the petition is filed. Some small misdemeanors use a 48-hour limit.

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The judge orders the bail forfeited. Under Penal Code 1305, the person has 180 days from the mailing of the notice, plus five days for mail, to be brought in. Tell the bondsman at once, and have the lawyer ask to recall the warrant.

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When the case closes and he made every date, LA refunds cash bail, minus any fines, fees or restitution owed. A bond company's premium does not. Keep the receipt.

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California's Supreme Court said no on April 30, 2026, in In re Kowalczyk. Money bail has to be fair and usually something a family can reach. If an LA judge thinks no amount would keep people safe, the court must hold a no-bail hearing under the state constitution. This builds on the 2021 Humphrey case, which began in San Francisco.

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Almost every adult the Sheriff holds passes through Inmate Reception Center, 450 Bauchet Street, Los Angeles. It is slow on purpose, because each step has to be finished before housing or release. Plan on these stages:

• Paperwork and prints: deputies check the arrest report, take fingerprints and a booking photo, and look for open warrants anywhere in the state.
• Medical screening: nurses ask about injuries, medicine, drug or alcohol withdrawal, and mental health, and they may send the person to the jail clinic first.
• Belongings: cash, phones, keys and clothes are bagged and written on a receipt the person signs.
• Housing decision: staff look at the charge, past record and health to pick a unit. Men often end up at the Twin Towers or the men's central jail next door, women at the Lynwood jail, and many people later go north to Castaic.
• Going home: once bail posts or a judge orders release, the person walks out through this same building, so a release can still take many hours after you pay.

During that first day the online search may read "in transit" or show no housing at all. Give it time and check again before you assume a mistake.

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A federal arrest leaves the Los Angeles court system entirely. The county bail schedule, the Sheriff's release desk and local bond agents have nothing to do with it. Here is the usual path in Los Angeles:

• The arrest: agents from the FBI, DEA, ATF, Homeland Security Investigations, the Secret Service or another U.S. agency make it, often at a home or workplace early in the morning.
• Court the same or next business day: he is brought to First Street U.S. Courthouse, 350 West 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 to see a magistrate judge. That judge explains the charges, decides on a lawyer and talks about custody.
• The pretrial interview: before that hearing, an officer from U.S. Pretrial Services, Central District of California asks him about his job, family, health and past record, then writes a short report for the judge.
• The detention hearing: the government can ask for up to three extra days to get ready, and his lawyer can ask for up to five. He stays locked up while he waits.
• The ruling: the judge may let him go on conditions such as a signed bond, a co-signer, travel limits, a curfew or an ankle monitor, or may keep him locked up until trial.

Any money involved is a federal bond set by that judge and filed with the federal clerk. Families sometimes sign as sureties or post property, but this is a court process, not a county bail slip.

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Most men and women waiting on a federal case from LA are held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, 535 N Alameda St, Los Angeles (213-485-0439), a federal jail a short walk from Union Station. When it runs out of space, the U.S. Marshals rent beds in other jails in Southern California, and someone can be moved with little warning.

The Marshals office for this district is U.S. Marshals Service, 350 West 1st Street, Suite 3001, Los Angeles, 213-620-7676. Ask them where a pretrial prisoner is housed if the online federal search does not show him yet.

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An ICE detainer is a request from immigration officers. It asks the jail to tell them before the person goes home and to keep him up to 48 more hours, leaving out weekends and holidays, so agents can pick him up. That 48-hour limit comes from federal rule 8 CFR 287.7.

California changed this with SB 54 in 2017. Sheriff's deputies here do not hold anyone past their release time just because of a detainer. The law lets the jail share a release date only for people with certain serious or violent convictions on their record.

So for most people, a detainer does not stop a bail release. For the smaller group the law allows notice on, ICE may be waiting at the release door. Before any ICE interview inside the jail, the TRUTH Act says the person must get a written form explaining that they can say no or ask for a lawyer first.

Paying bail for someone with a detainer is a choice to talk over with a bond agent and an immigration lawyer. If ICE takes him after release, the bail is still owed to the county court case, and missing a state court date can forfeit it.

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Immigration arrests from Los Angeles are handled by Los Angeles ICE field office, 300 North Los Angeles Street, Room 7631, Los Angeles, CA 90012, 213-830-7911. People are usually processed in that downtown building first, then moved to a longer-term center. For this area that mostly means:

• Adelanto ICE Processing Center: 10400 Rancho Road (East) and 10250 Rancho Road (West), Adelanto, CA 92301 · 760-561-6100
• Desert View Annex: 10400 Rancho Road, Adelanto, CA 92301

The Adelanto sites sit about 85 miles northeast of downtown in the high desert, so call before you drive out for a visit.

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Each agency keeps its own list. Work down this list in order, because a person can move from one to the next in a matter of days:

• County jails and LAPD lockups: open Los Angeles County Inmate Search. Type his last name and first name, and add the birth date if you know it. The result shows a booking number, the building he is in, how much bail is set and when he goes to court next. Nothing there? He could be sitting in a city police station, so wait a few hours and try again, or call the Sheriff's information line.
• Status in any California county: go to VINELink (https://vinelink.vineapps.com/) and choose California. Search by name or by booking number. Many families think of it only as a victim alert site, but it also lists people who are in custody and which facility has them. If nothing shows up, try fewer letters of the name or check back the next day.
• Federal custody: use the Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator (https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/). Search by his federal register number, or by first and last name with age, race and sex if you know them. A match shows which federal site holds him and a planned release date. People still waiting for trial at the downtown federal jail are sometimes missing, so call the Marshals at 213-620-7676 if he is not listed.
• State prison: use the CDCR Inmate Locator (https://inmatelocator.cdcr.ca.gov/). Enter his CDCR number if you have it, or his last and first name. You will see the prison he is at and when he arrived. Someone just sentenced in an LA courtroom can stay in county custody for weeks before the transfer, so he will not appear there yet.
• Immigration custody: open the ICE Online Detainee Locator System (https://locator.ice.gov/odls/). The best search is his A-number plus his country of birth. Without that number, type his full name as it appears on his ID, pick the country he was born in, and add the birth date if you like. A match tells you which detention center has him and how to contact it. Adults only appear here, and new arrests can take a day or two to show. If you still find nothing, call 213-830-7911.

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Los Angeles Superior Court spreads its work over dozens of buildings. Most jail cases start downtown on Bauchet Street, right across from the booking center. After that, the case usually moves to the courthouse that covers the city where the arrest took place. Here is every courthouse, with its street address and main phone:

• Central arraignment courthouse: 429 Bauchet Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 · 213-617-5600
• Criminal justice center: 210 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 · 213-628-7700
• Civil courthouse on Hill Street: 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 · 213-830-0800
• Spring Street courthouse: 312 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 · 213-310-7000
• Metropolitan courthouse: 1945 South Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007 · 213-745-3200
• Hollywood courthouse: 5925 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028 · 323-441-1800
• East Los Angeles courthouse: 4848 East Civic Center Way, Los Angeles, CA 90022 · 323-881-5800
• Eastlake juvenile courthouse: 1601 Eastlake Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90033 · 323-227-4399
• Children's court (Monterey Park): 201 Centre Plaza Drive, Monterey Park, CA 91754 · 323-307-8000
• Airport courthouse: 11701 South La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90045 · 310-725-3000
• Alhambra courthouse: 150 West Commonwealth Avenue, Alhambra, CA 91801 · 626-293-2100
• Bellflower courthouse: 10025 East Flower Street, Bellflower, CA 90706 · 562-345-3300
• Beverly Hills courthouse: 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, CA 90210 · 310-281-2400
• Burbank courthouse: 300 East Olive Avenue, Burbank, CA 91502 · 818-260-8400
• Catalina courthouse: 215 Sumner Avenue, Avalon, CA 90704 · 562-256-3100
• Chatsworth courthouse: 9425 Penfield Avenue, Chatsworth, CA 91311 · 818-407-2200
• Compton courthouse: 200 West Compton Boulevard, Compton, CA 90220 · 310-761-4300
• Downey courthouse: 7500 East Imperial Highway, Downey, CA 90242 · 562-658-0500
• El Monte courthouse: 11234 East Valley Boulevard, El Monte, CA 91731 · 626-401-2200
• Glendale courthouse: 600 East Broadway, Glendale, CA 91206 · 818-265-6400
• Inglewood courthouse: One Regent Street, Inglewood, CA 90301 · 310-419-1300
• Inglewood juvenile courthouse: 110 Regent Street, Inglewood, CA 90301 · 310-412-8301
• Antelope Valley courthouse: 42011 4th Street West, Lancaster, CA 93534 · 661-483-5500
• Lancaster juvenile justice center: 1040 West Avenue J, Lancaster, CA 93534 · 661-483-5924
• Long Beach courthouse: 275 Magnolia Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90802 · 562-256-3100
• Norwalk courthouse: 12720 Norwalk Boulevard, Norwalk, CA 90650 · 562-345-3700
• Pasadena courthouse: 300 East Walnut Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 · 626-396-3300
• Pomona courthouse south: 400 Civic Center Plaza, Pomona, CA 91766 · 909-802-1100
• San Fernando courthouse: 900 Third Street, San Fernando, CA 91340 · 818-256-1800
• Santa Clarita courthouse: 23747 West Valencia Boulevard, Santa Clarita, CA 91355 · 661-253-5600
• Santa Monica courthouse: 1725 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401 · 310-255-1840
• Sylmar juvenile courthouse: 16350 Filbert Street, Sylmar, CA 91342 · 818-256-1180
• Torrance courthouse: 825 Maple Avenue, Torrance, CA 90503 · 310-787-3700
• Van Nuys courthouse east: 6230 Sylmar Avenue, Van Nuys, CA 91401 · 818-901-4600
• Van Nuys courthouse west: 14400 Erwin Street Mall, Van Nuys, CA 91401 · 818-989-6900
• West Covina courthouse: 1427 West Covina Parkway, West Covina, CA 91790 · 626-430-2600
• Whittier courthouse: 7339 South Painter Avenue, Whittier, CA 90602 · 562-968-2699

Check the notice the jail hands out, or the case lookup, for the exact building and department before driving across town. Parking near Bauchet Street fills up early on weekday mornings.

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