Tuolumne County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

Use Tuolumne County Inmate Search. If the name is missing, the court lists the Sheriff's custody-status line as 209-533-5844. The Sheriff's main office, 28 N. Lower Sunset Drive, answers at 209-533-5855, and dispatch runs around the clock at 209-533-5815.

Intake takes a while, so a very new booking can be missing.

They are neighbors on Justice Center Drive. The jail is at 12915, the Justice Center Courthouse is at 12855, and the juvenile facility is at 12784. The court says all its departments are in that one courthouse.

The jail is where you go for questions about custody. The court is where you go for dates.

Tuolumne hasn't posted where the bail window is, when it's open or which payments it takes. Call 209-533-5844 or 209-533-5855 and ask three things: where to stand, what money is accepted, and what photo ID is required.

Do not mix this up with the jail-account services the Sheriff lists, such as JailATM deposits for gift packs and a phone debit account. Those do not free anyone.

California courts adopt one each year under Penal Code 1269b, and the jail may release a person at the scheduled amount for many charges. We could not locate the current Tuolumne figures, so we are not guessing at dollar amounts.

Ask the jail what the amount is for your relative's charge, then ask the Criminal Division at 209-533-5563 if a judge has changed it.

Under Penal Code 1275, public safety comes first. The judge also looks at the charge, his record, and whether he is likely to come back. The state Supreme Court held in In re Humphrey (2021) and In re Kowalczyk (2026) that non-money conditions come first and any money bail must be an amount the person can reasonably pay.

Bring work letters and a home address to the hearing. A lawyer can make the request.

Sonora families use one when the full bail is too much. State insurance regulators list ten percent, under filed rates, as the usual premium. A dismissal in Tuolumne won't bring that premium back.

You must call the agent yourself; agents may not solicit. Find out what the agent wants pledged and the cost if he skips a date.

Yes, but the court makes it hard. Local Rule 7.03.0 says a judge must hold a hearing under Penal Code 1298, after a written motion served on the district attorney at least ten calendar days ahead. State law requires equity worth twice the bail. The motion needs a signed note, a recorded deed of trust, a current California title report, a certified appraisal, and statements from any lenders. You pay the processing costs.

Rule 7.04.0 says personal surety bonds normally will not be allowed. Call the court at 209-533-5563 before you buy a title report.

Penal Code 825 sets a limit of 48 hours after arrest, not counting Sundays and holidays. Arraignments are held at the Justice Center Courthouse, 12855 Justice Center Drive. Call 209-533-5563; the court takes date questions from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The court tells people who cannot afford a lawyer to ask the judge at arraignment.

Yes. Article I, section 12 allows a Sonora judge to refuse bail on capital charges where the facts are evident. It also lets a judge deny it for violent or sexual felonies when releasing the person would likely cause great bodily harm to others. Warrants and holds from other agencies can keep him in as well.

For some serious felonies and domestic violence counts, Penal Code 1270.1 adds an open-court hearing before release.

The county's FAQ says the court does not set surrender dates for warrants. You must go to the jail in person before 8 a.m., which likely places you on the video arraignment calendar the next day. The same FAQ says to call 209-533-5812 each day, because a warrant may take a few days to issue.

Bring photo ID, and tell your lawyer first.

Not always. Under Penal Code 853.6, the officer can release him on a promise to appear, but a judge may order a "book and release" so he reports to the Sheriff at 12915 Justice Center Drive for fingerprints and a photo. He is released after booking.

Check the notice for the date, and call 209-533-5563 if you are unsure.

Yes, Sonora has its own police department at 100 S. Green Street, 209-532-8143. Its website says nothing about a lockup, so phone Sonora police and ask where the adult went. Outside the city, the Sheriff makes the arrest.

Write down the charge and the police report number.

The Tuolumne County Public Defender is at 99 N. Washington Street, Sonora, 209-533-6370, Monday to Friday. The court decides at arraignment whether he qualifies, using a financial form. A conflict sends the case to an outside lawyer.

The defender's office also handles juvenile delinquency cases.

At the Mother Lode Regional Juvenile Detention Facility, 12784 Justice Center Drive, Sonora, 209-536-6700. A 2018 article from the chief probation officers' association said it also houses youth from Calaveras, Amador, Mariposa, and Inyo counties by contract. Juvenile probation hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

Welfare and Institutions Code 632 requires a Tuolumne detention hearing before the next court day ends after a petition. Youth cases will not show on the adult search.

The court can forfeit cash bail or a bond and issue a bench warrant. Penal Code 1305 gives 180 days after the clerk mails notice, plus 5 for the mailing, to bring him in or ask to cancel the forfeiture. Cash bail refunds follow a court order and take about six to eight weeks, by mail to the person named on the receipt.

A bail agent keeps its fee. Keep the receipt.

Yes, generally. In 2026 the state high court said that a cash bail amount needs to be fair and payable. In Sonora, the attorney may press the judge to cut bail after hearing about the family's finances.

Tuolumne's court is in Sonora:

• Tuolumne justice center: 12855 Justice Center Drive, Sonora, CA 95370 · 209-533-5555

Tuolumne is in the Fresno division of the Eastern District of California; Yosemite cases may be heard by the magistrate judge in the park:

• A magistrate judge at Fresno federal courthouse, 2500 Tulare Street, Fresno, CA 93721 or Yosemite hears him first.
• Pretrial Services reports.
• Release or detention is decided.
• The Marshals keep detained people.

Marshals: U.S. Marshals Service, 2500 Tulare Street, Fresno, 559-442-2858.

SB 54 bars it. Release timing goes to ICE only after a serious or violent conviction. A TRUTH Act notice comes first.

San Francisco ICE field office, 630 Sansome Street, Room 590, San Francisco, CA 94111, 415-365-8800 covers Tuolumne. Detainees go to:

• Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center: 425 Golden State Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 93301
• Golden State Annex: 611 Frontage Road, McFarland, CA 93250
• California City detention site: 22844 Virginia Boulevard, California City, CA 93505

• Tuolumne County Inmate Search: name; booking.
• VINELink (https://vinelink.vineapps.com/): California; facility.
• Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator (https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/): register number or name; pretrial: 559-442-2858.
• CDCR Inmate Locator (https://inmatelocator.cdcr.ca.gov/): CDCR number or name; Jamestown's state prison is here.
• ICE Online Detainee Locator System (https://locator.ice.gov/odls/): A-number or name and birth country; else 415-365-8800.

The Tuolumne court at 209-533-5555 can read you the bail set and say when the person is due back.