Look for the Arapahoe County Detention Facility at 7375 South Potomac Street, Centennial, CO 80112 when you need the jail. Staff at the jail answer at 720-874-3500.

Start with Arapahoe County Inmate Search. No match? Fresh bookings at the Centennial jail can lag behind; call 720-874-3500 if you're worried. Use VINELink for free release alerts.

Use the Arapahoe County Sheriff civil and warrants unit. Or call the district court at 303-645-6600.

The Colorado Judicial docket displays upcoming court dates by name. An attorney can help plan a surrender.

• Who sets bail: jail staff in Centennial can't pick the figure; a court does.
• The 48-hour rule: State law wants a bond hearing about 48 hours after a person reaches the jail, for most cases.
• Signature release: nothing is paid up front; they sign and must come back on time.
• Cash: someone covers the total amount.
• Agent fees: plan on paying a charge that you won't see again; by law it may not exceed 15 percent or $50, whichever is more.
• Pledging a home: the judge requires equity equal to 150 percent of the bond; property in another state won't qualify.
• Release rules: a judge can order supervision or staying away from certain people.
• Other cases: another county's hold can keep your relative in the Arapahoe jail, even after bond.
• Keep every court date: missing one often leads to new arrest orders plus the loss of the money.
• Exact figures: the Centennial jail at 720-874-3500 can give the bond amount.

Read the bail page for how to pay.

The first step in court is a first advisement, where a judge explains the charges and reviews bond. State charges go to the Arapahoe County Justice Center, 7325 South Potomac Street, Centennial. The clerk answers at 303-645-6600.

A free public defender is assigned if a judge finds they cannot afford a defense lawyer. The defender office is at 303-799-9001.

Visits are set up beforehand; some happen by video. Phone 720-874-3500 before any visit; hours change. See visitation and online visits.

Calls are made from the lockup only. Prepaid accounts cover calls and messages. See: phone accounts, messaging, tablets.

Money in their account pays for snacks, soap and paper. Pick whatever method the lockup takes. Details: sending money and commissary.

On each envelope, write the person's full name, their booking number and the jail's address. Avoid glitter, stickers or tape. Read our mail guide first.

For someone under 18, charges usually go before a juvenile judge. A state youth center used for this county is the Marvin W. Foote Youth Services Center 303-768-7529). The sheriff's office can let the family know where a teen is held.

For daily medicine, contact 720-874-3500 so medical staff hears about it. A doctor's note can help medical staff check.

Any federal charge from Arapahoe County won't remain in the county court system. The hearings take place at the Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse in Denver, 901 19th Street, Denver, CO 80294 — its clerk answers at 303-844-3433. Shortly after booking, your relative is brought before a U.S. magistrate judge for the first hearing.

There's no bail schedule in federal court. What happens instead: the magistrate sets a detention hearing to find out whether the defendant charged walks out before trial and what limits come with it. During the case, lots of federal detainees stay in a jail in the area on contract with the Marshals Service. To learn their location, call the Marshals at 303-728-7800. After prison time is set, the federal prison agency, the BOP, takes custody. Later, its BOP inmate locator names the prison.

Step 1: ICE can see the fingerprints taken when Arapahoe books someone.

Step 2: Once ICE shows interest, the agency lodges a hold via Form I-247A to jail staff.

Step 3: The detainer requests up to 48 additional hours beyond the release time. The clock runs without a break, counting weekends and holidays.

Step 4: State law, C.R.S. 24-76.6-102, makes it clear that county jails can't keep a person past release solely because ICE sent a detainer. That means Arapahoe County has to release them on schedule unless a separate lawful hold exists.

Step 5: ICE officers may come as the arrested person walks out and take the arrested person you know. When they do not, your relative goes free.

Find ICE detainees on the locator; enter the A-number and their home country.

Some ICE detainees from the county are held at the Aurora center. Address: 3130 North Oakland Street, Aurora, CO 80010; phone 303-361-6612.

Field office: Denver's ERO field office serves Colorado and Wyoming. it's at 12445 East Caley Avenue, Centennial, CO 80111, phone 720-873-2899.

Following a prison sentence, transfer isn't instant: the person usually waits in the jail first. CDOC's first step is intake, where staff set the security level.

From there, CDOC sends them to a prison matching the rating. Track them on the DOC locator — for facility addresses, see our Colorado state prison page.

The Arapahoe jail roster is the place to check, though Arapahoe mugshots may not be shown. Reporters who need a mugshot that isn't public should phone the Arapahoe sheriff at 720-874-3600.

An ICE mugshot has to be asked for at ICE's records request page; then ICE has to say yes.

Federal mugshots aren't released to the general public or the news. There is one exception: the U.S. Marshals Service, the office that takes federal booking photos, may put out one when someone is a fugitive when it helps bring them in or alert the public, or if there is an urgent threat to public safety.

• Jail: Arapahoe County Detention Facility, 7375 South Potomac Street, Centennial, CO 80112, 720-874-3500
• Bond timing: typically within two days of arrival
• ICE locator: online detainee locator
• Victim alerts: VINELink (free)
• Free lawyer office: 303-799-9001
• Federal court: Arraj courthouse — 303-844-3433
• Court: Arapahoe County Justice Center, 7325 South Potomac Street, Centennial, 303-645-6600

• Aurora Police non-emergency: 303-627-3100
• Englewood Police: 303-761-7410
• Littleton Police: 303-794-1551
• Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office: 720-874-3600
• Arapahoe County Sheriff non-emergency dispatch: 303-795-4711

Places without their own police are covered by sheriff's deputies. Dial 911 for emergencies.