Go to the Downtown Detention Center at 490 West Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO 80204 when you need the lockup. The jail desk answers at 720-337-0400. Denver also runs the Denver County Jail at 10500 East Smith Road 720-913-3642), which holds people for longer stays.

Open Denver County Inmate Search to start. Not listed yet? Recent arrests in Denver lag behind. VINELink can send alerts if someone is released.

The official lookup is the Denver County Court public portal. To learn about warrants, phone 720-337-0400, the jail.

The Colorado Judicial docket shows future hearings by name. A lawyer may help arrange a surrender.

• Who decides: a judge picks the amount and type.
• How fast: nearly everyone jailed in Denver should get a bond hearing within 48 hours after they arrive.
• Signature bond: the person pays nothing now and promises to show up in Denver court.
• Cash bond: you pay the entire amount.
• With a bail company, the cost is a fee that's kept; state law sets the most it can be at 15%, or $50 minimum.
• House as bond: property in Colorado may secure the bond when the paid-off share reaches 1.5 times the bond.
• The court may attach rules: curfews, testing or no-contact orders.
• Still held? A hold from elsewhere can stop release.
• Go to every court hearing: missing one can trigger new arrest orders and bond forfeiture.
• Before paying: call 720-337-0400 and ask about the current bond.

For everything else, use our Denver County bail guide.

A judge first sees the person at an advisement hearing. State cases are heard at the Denver County Court, Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse, 520 W. Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO 80204. Phone the court at 720-337-0410 for the next hearing.

A free attorney is possible: the court reviews finances then may assign a public defender. The local public defender office answers at 303-620-4999.

Most visits are set up in advance. Rules and hours shift, so call 720-337-0400 first. Read about visitation and remote visits.

Calls are made from the jail only; you can't call in. Family may load money onto a phone account so the person can call. See: phone accounts, messaging, tablets.

Commissary offers snacks, soap and paper. Use whatever method the Denver jail takes. Steps: deposits and commissary.

Envelopes should carry the person's whole booked name, the booking number and the Denver jail address. Skip anything taped on. Look at the mail guide.

A juvenile judge handles charges against teens as a rule. Detained youth may go to the Gilliam Youth Services Center, 303-291-8951. Staff at the jail at 720-337-0400 can inform parents where the youth is.

If someone needs insulin, phone 720-337-0400 so medical staff hears about it quickly. Keep the pill bottle handy when calling.

A federal arrest that starts in Denver County won't go through the state court system. Its hearings happen inside the Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse in Denver, 901 19th Street, Denver, CO 80294 — the clerk's office answers at 303-844-3433. Not long after the arrest, the defendant meets a U.S. magistrate judge for a first hearing.

Federal cases don't use a bail grid. So the magistrate holds a short detention hearing to figure out if the suspect stays locked up until trial and under which conditions. In the meantime, lots of federal prisoners wait in a local lockup by contract with the U.S. Marshals. For their location, call the Marshals on 303-728-7800. When prison time is handed down, the federal BOP steps in, and its BOP inmate locator lists where the defendant was sent.

Step one: When someone is booked, fingerprint scans get run through federal databases ICE has access to.

Step two: Once ICE shows interest, it sends a detainer using Form I-247A to jail staff.

Step three: That detainer asks for 48 extra hours at most past the usual release time. The 48 hours run without pause, with weekends and holidays counted.

Step four: Colorado's statute, C.R.S. 24-76.6-102, says county jails may not keep someone longer just because ICE sent a detainer. As a result, Denver County lets the person go once the county case allows unless a court order says otherwise.

Step five: ICE officers may show up at release time to take custody. If that doesn't happen, the detained person walks out.

Search for someone ICE holds with the ICE detainee locator. Enter the A-number with birth country.

ICE.gov lists the Aurora center (details, 3130 North Oakland Street, Aurora, CO 80010). Detainee questions: 303-361-6612 from 8 until 4; detainees can't take calls.

The Denver field office is at 12445 East Caley Avenue, Centennial, CO 80111; phone 720-873-2899.

Following a prison sentence, transfer isn't immediate; the person often sits in county jail first. Reception at CDOC sets the custody level over a few weeks.

Later, CDOC assigns the inmate to a prison that fits the rating. Check the DOC locator — for facility addresses, open our Colorado prisons guide.

Try the Denver jail roster first; the Denver record may not include mugshots. Reporters asking for a mugshot not posted online may request it from the Denver County sheriff's office by way of the jail line at 720-337-0400.

A photo taken by ICE can only be asked for on ICE's online FOIA form, and ICE needs to sign off.

Booking photos from federal cases are not given to ordinary people and news outlets. Only one exception exists: the U.S. Marshals Service, holder of federal mugshots, may make public an image for someone on the run when that helps catch them or caution people, as well as whenever there is an immediate safety risk to the public.

• Jail: Downtown Detention Center, 490 West Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO 80204, 720-337-0400
• Free lawyer office: 303-620-4999
• Release alerts: VINELink (free)
• Federal court: Arraj courthouse, Denver — 303-844-3433
• ICE search: online detainee locator
• State court: Denver County Court, Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse, 520 W. Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO 80204, 720-337-0410
• Bond review: usually within two days after booking

• Denver Police non-emergency: 720-913-2000
• Denver County Sheriff's Office (through the jail): 720-337-0400

Unincorporated areas are served by the sheriff; 911 works everywhere.