Felony and misdemeanor arrests from Riverside County are processed at the Cois M. Byrd Detention Center, which sits at:
Southwest Detention Center - Riverside County Corrections
30755-B Auld Road
Murrieta, CA 92563
The county sheriff runs the jail system. Deputies book their own arrests, and city police departments in the county bring people here after any short stay in a city holding cell. During intake, staff fingerprint and photograph each person, record their property, check for warrants and conduct a medical and mental-health screening before classification and housing.
Officers from the California Highway Patrol and other state agencies book arrests here, and federal prisoners, including those held for the U.S. Marshals, may be housed under contract.
The California Values Act (SB 54) sharply limits how sheriffs and police can work with ICE. Jails may not hold someone past their release time on an ICE detainer alone, and they may share release dates or transfer people to ICE only in limited cases, mainly involving certain serious or violent convictions. Under the TRUTH Act, a person must be given written notice and a copy of any ICE request before an ICE interview.
Records shown to the public come from the sheriff’s official booking list (opens in a new tab). The listing may show charges, the arresting agency, and in some cases a booking photo. Since 2022, state law has restricted police from posting booking photos of people arrested for nonviolent crimes on social media. For anything the list does not answer, call the Cois M. Byrd Detention Center at 951-696-3050.
Moving from arrival to a housing unit, or to release, can take from a couple of hours to most of a day, depending on the backlog at intake.
Many people arrested for misdemeanors are cited and released instead of being held. Anyone kept in custody must be taken before a judge within 48 hours, not counting Sundays and holidays. Courts must consider a person’s ability to pay when setting money bail and often release on own recognizance or supervised release. Commercial bail is legal in California, and bail agents are licensed by the California Department of Insurance. Release details are on our Bail page.
Call the Cois M. Byrd Detention Center at 951-696-3050 to confirm whether someone has been booked.
Large county systems often have an automated inmate information line; smaller jails connect you to records staff. You will usually be asked for the person’s date of birth or booking number.
A new booking may take several hours to appear while intake is finished.
You can also search the sheriff’s Cois M. Byrd Detention Center Booking Roster online.
After an arrest in Riverside County, the person is taken to a sheriff’s jail facility, sometimes by way of a city police station, to be booked. Miranda warnings are required before custodial questioning.
Booking moves through several stations. Attorneys commonly advise saying nothing about the case, since jail calls are recorded and statements can be used as evidence.
Staff take fingerprints and a mugshot and go through intake questions. Under Proposition 69, California collects a DNA cheek swab from every adult arrested for a felony. Warrant checks cover Riverside County, the rest of California and national databases.
A DUI arrestee who refuses a chemical test faces a license suspension. Blood draws need consent or a warrant and are done by a qualified medical technician.
California law bars strip searches of people arrested for misdemeanors or infractions unless there is reasonable suspicion they are hiding a weapon or contraband and a supervisor gives written approval. Everyone is screened with a metal detector or body scanner.
Booking and medical staff ask about current medications, health conditions, allergies, substance use, mental health and suicide risk, tattoos, and gang affiliation or enemies in custody. The answers drive classification, housing and any referrals for medical or mental-health care.
Belongings are searched, counted and placed in property storage. They are returned at release, or the person can sign a release so a relative or friend can pick up items such as keys or a phone.
Property typically includes street clothes, cash, wallets and purses, phones, jewelry, piercings and watches. Glasses may be held if they pose a security risk, and shoelaces are removed.
California law guarantees at least three free phone calls, completed immediately upon booking and in any event within three hours of arrest, to reach an attorney, a bail agent and a relative or other person. Parents of minor children get two more calls to arrange child care. Calls can help arrange bail or bond.
Anyone held for arraignment receives a jail uniform, shoes, bedding, a towel and hygiene items.
A shower, and sometimes lice or scabies treatment, comes before housing.
Booking ranges from about an hour to a day or more, depending on how busy intake is, staffing and the person’s behavior.
A person who is heavily intoxicated or violent may be held in a sobering or holding cell for several hours before processing continues.