That depends on who made the arrest. An LAPD officer takes an adult to one of the department's three jails: the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown at 180 North Los Angeles Street (213-356-3400), the 77th Street Regional Jail at 7600 South Broadway (323-786-5541), or the Valley Jail Section inside the Van Nuys station at 6240 Sylmar Avenue (818-374-9645). Deputies from a sheriff's station, and officers from many smaller cities, start with the station lockup. Long Beach, Pasadena, Glendale, Santa Monica, Burbank, Torrance and other cities with their own departments run their own jails.

A city or station jail is a short stop, usually a day or two. Anyone who isn't released and still needs to see a judge gets put on a bus to the Sheriff's booking center downtown. That's why a person can show one location in the morning and another by night.

Open Los Angeles County Inmate Search and enter a last name and first name. Adding a birth date narrows a common name a lot. The result shows the booking number, where the person is housed, the bail set so far, the next court date and courthouse, and a release date if one exists. The Sheriff warns that bookings less than two hours old aren't in the system yet.

When the search comes up empty, call 213-473-6100 and can also check LAPD's jails. Keep the booking number once you find it; mail, visits, money and court all run on that number.

It's the Sheriff's central booking point, at 450 Bauchet Street, just east of Union Station and north of the 101 freeway. Nearly every adult who will stay in county custody passes through it: fingerprints, photos, warrant checks, a medical and mental health screening, a property inventory and a classification interview that decides where the person will live. It's a processing hub, not housing, and there are no visits there.

The building is famous for long waits. On a busy weekend a person can spend many hours in its holding areas before getting a bed assignment. Releases also go out through this center, so families waiting on a release should be ready for a long night.

After booking, most men go to one of these:

• Men's Central Jail, 441 Bauchet Street, the oldest and largest of the downtown jails, main lobby 213-974-4082
• Twin Towers Correctional Facility, 450 Bauchet Street, which holds people with mental health and medical needs along with the booking center, 213-893-5100
• The north county jail complex in Castaic, off The Old Road near Interstate 5: its North and South facilities and the North County Correctional Facility, all reached through 661-295-8840

The county has voted to close Men's Central Jail, but it is still operating, and it still houses thousands. Where a man lands depends on his charges, health and security level, and he can be moved without warning. See the pages for Men's Central Jail, Twin Towers, North County Correctional Facility and the Castaic north facility.

Women arrested anywhere in the county go to the Century Regional Detention Facility, 11705 South Alameda Street in Lynwood, next to the Century sheriff's station. The main number is 323-357-5100. It is the county's women's jail: it books women, houses them before trial and after sentencing, and runs its own visiting schedule. Women are not sent to the Bauchet Street buildings for housing.

Stations keep people for a short time, then send them to the booking center or release them. Call the desk of the station that made the arrest:

• Lancaster 661-948-8466 and Palmdale 661-272-2400 in the Antelope Valley
• Santa Clarita Valley 661-260-4000
• Century 323-568-4800, Compton 310-605-6500 and South Los Angeles 323-820-6700
• East Los Angeles 323-264-4151, Industry 626-330-3322 and Temple 626-285-7171
• Lakewood 562-623-3500, Norwalk 562-863-8711, Cerritos 562-860-0044 and Pico Rivera 562-949-2421
• Carson 310-830-1123, Lomita 310-539-1661 and Marina del Rey 310-482-6000
• West Hollywood 310-855-8850, Malibu/Lost Hills 818-878-1808 and Crescenta Valley 818-248-3464
• Altadena 626-798-1131, San Dimas 909-450-2700, Walnut/Diamond Bar 626-913-1715 and Avalon on Catalina Island 310-510-0174

Since October 1, 2023, far fewer are. The Superior Court's Pre-Arraignment Release Protocols put most misdemeanors and non-violent, non-serious felonies into three $0 groups. "Cite and release" charges usually end with a ticket at the scene. "Book and release" charges mean booking, then release on a written promise to appear. "Magistrate review" charges, such as some gun crimes, crimes against children or elders, and lower-level felonies by people on parole or post-release supervision, go to an on-call judge, who sets non-money conditions or holds the person until arraignment.

Serious and violent felonies, domestic violence and the other crimes listed in Penal Code 1270.1 still carry a dollar amount from the county bail schedule. That came after a federal judge in Urquidi v. City of Los Angeles barred LAPD and the Sheriff, in May 2023, from holding people before arraignment only because they couldn't pay. The schedule's amounts can be changed by a judge, and the arraignment judge looks at release again. Our Los Angeles County bail guide has amounts and payment steps.

Two rulings shape every bail hearing in the state. In re Humphrey (2021) held that LA judges setting money bail must check what the person can really pay and consider other conditions first. In re Kowalczyk, decided April 30, 2026, added that bail can be refused outright only in the narrow violent and sexual felony cases the state constitution lists. In other cases, when a judge decides money is needed, the amount should generally be one the person can reach. Ask the public defender to raise both at arraignment if the bail is far beyond the family's means.

Penal Code 825 sets the limit: two days from arrest, with Sundays and holidays excluded. Most in-custody arraignments for downtown arrests happen at the Central Arraignment Courts, 429 Bauchet Street, right beside the jails. Arrests elsewhere are heard at the courthouse covering that city, for example Van Nuys, Compton, Long Beach, Lancaster, Pomona, Pasadena, Torrance or the airport courthouse on La Cienega. The Inmate Search result lists the court and date once they're set.

If the prosecutor doesn't file charges in time, the person must be released. Prosecutors are the District Attorney for felonies everywhere, and for misdemeanors the City Attorney inside Los Angeles, the Long Beach City Prosecutor, or the District Attorney elsewhere. See Los Angeles court steps for what follows.

The Los Angeles County Public Defender, the oldest government public defender office in the country, takes most cases at arraignment. If that office can't take a case for conflict reasons, the Alternate Public Defender steps in, and then to a panel of private lawyers paid by the county. There's no fee for any of them. Families can call the Public Defender's main line at 213-974-2811 before the first hearing to share information that may help with release.

Every in-person visit has to be booked ahead through the Sheriff's online visit system, up to seven days out, and walk-ins are turned away. Men's Central Jail visits run Thursday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Century, the women's jail, has visiting on Mondays and Fridays in the morning and on long weekend days. Plan to arrive about an hour early downtown, bring a valid photo ID and leave phones and bags in the car.

Visitors under 18 need an adult guardian. A person under investigation or on discipline can lose visits for a while. The rules differ by building, so read our Los Angeles visiting guide, and see video visits for visiting from home.

Men's mail for the downtown jails and Castaic goes to: full name, booking number, P.O. Box 86164, Terminal Annex, Los Angeles, CA 90086-0164. Women's mail goes to the person at the Century Regional Detention Facility, 11705 South Alameda Street, Lynwood, CA 90262. The jail forwards mail if the person is moved. Use plain paper and envelopes; glitter, lipstick, stickers, crayon and anything taped or glued gets the envelope rejected. Books and magazines must come from a publisher or seller. Details are on our Los Angeles inmate mail page.

The Sheriff takes postal money orders and cashier's checks by mail, up to $200 at a time, made out with the person's name and booking number. Lobby kiosks take cash, including at the Castaic visiting center. Online deposits go through the county's account vendor. The money buys snacks, hygiene items, stamps and calls, and is returned at release. It can't be used for bail.

Read about sending money, commissary, phone calls, messages and tablets in Los Angeles County jails.

The county's health department, not the Sheriff, runs jail medical and mental health care, and Twin Towers is the center for people with serious mental illness. For something urgent, the Sheriff lists a medical command center at 213-893-5544. Give the person's name, booking number, the medicine and the dose, and the prescribing doctor. LA public defenders may also seek court-ordered care or a mental health diversion program.

LA's adult jails never house anyone under 18. The county Probation Department runs the juvenile halls. Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, 7285 Quill Drive (562-940-8681), is the main intake hall for boys and girls awaiting court. Older youths committed for long-term treatment live at the secure youth treatment center in Sylmar. Under state law a child must be released within 48 hours, not counting non-court days, unless a petition is filed, and a detention hearing follows by the next court day. Teen cases are confidential and never appear in the Sheriff's adult lookup.

Search the name again right before you leave, because people move between buildings almost daily. Call 213-473-6100 to confirm the housing location, the bail amount, and whether there is a hold from another case. If you are picking someone up after a release, expect a long wait; a release order can take many hours to clear the booking center.

Probably not. The Sheriff and the courts never take bail by gift card, wire transfer or a payment app, and deputies don't call families asking for money. Hang up and call 213-473-6100 yourself, or check the person's record online.

A person from an LA arrest can be in a city lockup, a Sheriff's jail, a federal jail, a state prison or an immigration center, and each one has its own search. Go through them in this order:

• Step 1, county and LAPD: open Los Angeles County Inmate Search. Type the last name, then the first name. Add the date of birth to cut down a long list. Click the right person to see the booking number, where he is housed, his charges, bail and court date. Not there? Booking at the Bauchet Street center can take most of a day, and Long Beach, Pasadena and some other cities keep separate lockups, so call the arresting city's police jail.
• Step 2, VINE: open VINELink (https://vinelink.vineapps.com/), choose California, and search by name or booking number. VINE is not only for victims. It shows people in custody and which jail has them, even in other counties. Nothing found? Try a shorter version of the name, or sign up for an alert so you hear when he is booked.
• Step 3, federal custody: open the Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator (https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/). Search with the eight-digit register number, or with first and last name plus race, sex and age. You will see which federal facility has him and the release date if he has one. Most people waiting for trial downtown show up here only after they are sentenced, so for pretrial cases call U.S. Marshals at 213-620-7676.
• Step 4, state prison: open the CDCR Inmate Locator. Enter a CDCR number, or a last and first name. The page lists his prison and admission date. If he was just sentenced, he may sit in the county jail for a few weeks before the bus to state prison, so keep checking.
• Step 5, immigration: open the ICE Online Detainee Locator System (https://locator.ice.gov/odls/). Choose the A-number search if you have the number from his papers, and add his country of birth. Otherwise use the biographical search: exact full name, birth country and birth date if known. A match shows the center's name, address and phone. Children are not listed, and a new ICE arrest can take a couple of days to appear. Still nothing? Call 213-830-7911.

A federal case in most cases starts when the DEA or U.S. Marshals Service make the arrest. Los Angeles County belongs to the Central District of California's Western Division, so hearings take place downtown in Los Angeles, 255 East Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Clerk's phone: 213-894-1565. Within a day or so, they appear in front of a magistrate judge for an initial appearance. Unlike state court, federal judges don't search for a bail amount. A release hearing under the federal bail statute decides whether they go home. Pretrial services first meets them and sends a report to the judge.

Start on the jail's inmate list to see if they are there. The district's Marshals office in Los Angeles can say where the person is: 213-620-7676, 350 West 1st Street, Suite 3001, Los Angeles, CA 90012. During the case, U.S. Marshals can keep them in local jails. People given federal time are taken from the jail to a federal prison in time. Track them with the federal locator.

• Immigration officers learn about the arrest through booking prints staff share. Then ICE might place a detainer.
• Paying the bond will not end this hold.
• Under a detainer, ICE wants the sheriff to push back the release by up to 48 hours. It's a straight 48 hours, measured from the moment they could leave.
• Officers from ICE can come for them at the jail while held. If ICE never collects them, that means they're released on the local case.
• Their next facility is up to ICE.
• For questions, contact ICE's Los Angeles field office at 213-830-7911. Address: 300 North Los Angeles Street, Room 7631, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
• The online detainee locator searches with the person's A-number and birth country. Lost the person's A-number? You can still search with the person's legal name plus the day they were born and the country they were born in.

Prison sentences are handled by the CDCR. Until then, most people wait in the Los Angeles County jail while the CDCR schedules the move. Once a bed opens, they're taken to a reception unit for processing. Prison staff rate each person for custody score, gang affiliation and health and mental health needs. The next step is the prison that fits them.

Families can look them up by full name with the CDCR locator. For each unit, see our California prison guide.

To ask for a booking picture that is not public, journalists should reach the Sheriff's Office, 213-229-1700. ICE intake photos aren't handed out by phone. The route is ICE's online FOIA request, which ICE then reviews. Federal agencies do not hand out mugshots to the press or the public. The exceptions are limited. U.S. Marshals can post a booking picture for a fugitive or escaped inmate, when sharing it would help catch them or caution residents, or when there's an urgent safety need.

• Los Angeles Police Department non-emergency: 877-275-5273
• Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department information: 213-229-1700
• Long Beach Police non-emergency: 562-435-6711
• Pasadena Police non-emergency: 626-744-4241
• Glendale Police non-emergency: 818-548-4911
• Burbank Police: 818-238-3000
• Santa Monica Police dispatch: 310-458-8491
• Torrance Police non-emergency: 310-618-5641
• Inglewood Police dispatch: 310-412-8771
• Pomona Police non-emergency: 909-622-1241
• El Monte Police: 626-580-2100

About 40 of the county's 88 cities contract with the Sheriff, so their arrests go through a sheriff's station listed above. Arrests on freeways are usually made by the California Highway Patrol, which uses the county jails.