On the south coast, people arrested are typically taken to the Main Jail, 4436 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, CA 93110 (805-681-4260), near Goleta. North county arrests from Santa Maria, Lompoc and the Santa Ynez Valley often go to the Northern Branch Jail, which opened in 2019.

Santa Barbara County Inmate Search lists both jails. If the record isn't up yet, call the Main Jail at 805-681-4260 (4436 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, CA 93110) or the Northern Branch Jail at 805-554-3100 (2301 Black Road, Santa Maria, CA 93455).

Within two court days. South county criminal cases are at the Figueroa Division, 118 East Figueroa Street (805-568-3959). North county cases go to the Cook Division in Santa Maria (805-614-6414) or Lompoc (805-737-7789). Read Santa Barbara court steps.

The court's preset bail list sets amounts. Either jail takes the amount, and so do licensed bail agents. At arraignment a judge reviews detention, weighing safety and ability to pay. See the Santa Barbara bail guide.

The Public Defender works from 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara (805-568-3470), with offices near the north county courts.

The Calle Real jail and the Santa Maria jail each book visits separately, so check the roster first and bring photo ID. See Santa Barbara visiting and video visits.

Address the letter with the booking number to the jail shown on the roster. Guides: mail, money, commissary, phones, messages, tablets.

Detained minors stay at the Probation juvenile center in Santa Maria (805-934-6270). The juvenile court is at 4285-B California Boulevard (805-614-6579).

The Sheriff doesn't call to collect bail by gift card or wire. Verify with the Main Jail at 805-681-4260 before handing over a dollar.

It normally begins when agencies like the FBI, the federal Marshals Service, and the DEA make an arrest. Court dates in Santa Barbara County cases are held in the courthouse in Los Angeles, 255 East Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012, under the Central District of California, Western Division. The clerk in Los Angeles answers at 213-894-1565. Expect questions with pretrial services before court. The first court date comes fast with a federal magistrate judge. Unlike the county court, federal judges set no bail amount from a list. A hearing on custody applying the federal Bail Reform Act decides release or detention.

During the case, the Marshals Service may hold the inmate in a county jail run under contract. Search the county roster; there a federal hold may show. The Marshals Service office covering the Central District of California is at 350 West 1st Street, Suite 3001, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Phone 213-620-7676 to ask about a federal prisoner. After a federal sentence, they are sent to federal prison (the BOP) when space opens. Follow your loved one on the BOP locator by full name.

• During booking, their prints go to the FBI and Homeland Security. If ICE thinks the person could be deported, it may file a detainer.
• With the I-247A, ICE asks jail staff to hold the person on ICE's behalf up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)). Santa Barbara's jail takes its limits from Gov. Code 7284.6, keeping release on time, with an ICE transfer requiring a judicial warrant or a disqualifying serious or violent felony.
• Making bond will not end the detainer.
• Immigration officers may collect them in person while held. If nobody comes, staff has to release your loved one.
• Cases here are run from ICE's Los Angeles ERO office, at 300 North Los Angeles Street, Room 7631, Los Angeles, CA 90012; call 213-830-7911.
• The next stop depends on ICE.
• Search for the inmate on the ICE detainee locator after the move, typing in the A-number and the birth country. Without the A-number? Enter the country they were born in, DOB and their full name instead.

When a judge orders prison time, the inmate passes into the custody of California's prison system. For now, they stay in the Santa Barbara County jail until the CDCR has room, which sometimes takes weeks. Then, they move to an intake unit for processing. There, officers weigh health care needs, security risk and known gang ties. Last comes a prison that matches their needs.

The CDCR inmate locator lists the current unit after intake. The California prison guide explains visits and mail.

The Santa Barbara jail search is the place to check, though Santa Barbara mugshots may not be shown.

Section 13665 sets the state rule. Social media is what it covers. Nonviolent arrests are the main target. Agencies may not post those photos there. Posts must come down within 14 days. Fugitives and threats are the exceptions. The sheriff's own website isn't covered. Even so, many sheriffs leave photos off.

An immigration mugshot is released after a public records request to ICE once ICE says yes. Newsrooms wanting a booking photo can try the Sheriff's Office on 805-683-2724. Federal mugshots stay out of public hands or the press. The Marshals Service, which snaps these photos, gives out one only in rare cases: to find an escaped inmate or fugitive, to help a search or alert the public, or if there's an immediate danger to residents.

• Santa Barbara Police non-emergency: 805-882-8900
• Santa Maria Police: 805-928-3781
• Lompoc Police non-emergency: 805-736-2341
• Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office non-emergency dispatch: 805-683-2724

Goleta, Carpinteria, Buellton and Solvang contract with the Sheriff.

North county arrests usually go to the Northern Branch Jail on Black Road, and south county ones to the Main Jail on Calle Real. Sheriff's deputies take warrant calls and check statewide records by name. To see the case behind a warrant, try the Superior Court's online records search. Lompoc and Santa Maria families can call the East Figueroa clerk at 805-568-3959 with case questions. For your own warrant, local counsel can plan a surrender on a day you choose.