Every adult held downtown sits in the same database. Here's the routine:

1. Go to the Sheriff's inmate lookup page.
2. Put the surname in the search box. If dozens of people match, include the first name too.
3. Compare each result's name and age until you find your person.
4. Tap their row to open the detail record, then look at custody status and bond.
5. Jot down any record number you see. The jail calls its number the JMS number, and money orders and book orders both need it.

Coming up empty? Give it an hour, try again, then phone the Sheriff's Office at 513-946-6400 so staff can look for you.

An empty result does not mean something went wrong. These are the usual reasons:

• Intake is not done. Deputies take prints and photos and do a medical screening before a record appears, and crowded nights stretch that out.
• Still with the arresting officers. A suburban or city department might keep someone at its own station briefly before the trip to Sycamore Street.
• Already released. Plenty of people leave with a citation and a date to appear. Others bond out quickly, or a judge sets them free on their own promise to come back.
• Booked in a nearby county. When the stop happened in Butler or Clermont County, that Sheriff's jail books them instead.
• Under 18. Teens are taken to the juvenile Youth Center, and adult records leave them out.
• Name trouble. Try the maiden name, the middle name, or just one side of a hyphenated last name.

If an hour of searching turns up nothing, the Sheriff's Office can check by phone at 513-946-6400.

Almost every adult arrested in the county sleeps at one building:

• Justice Center, 1000 Sycamore Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202, 513-946-6400. The Sheriff's main jail has space for as many as 1,240 people. It holds people awaiting trial, people serving local sentences and people kept on warrants. Inside are a health section for medical, dental and psychiatric needs, a Veteran Unit, and a Re-Entry Unit that prepares people to go home.
• Talbert House. This program also shows up on the Sheriff's visiting schedule, and its in-person visits meet in the Justice Center North Lobby. Ask the Sheriff's Office which people are placed there and why.

For a stop just past the county line, phone the jail on that side:

• Butler County Corrections Center, 705 Hanover Street, Hamilton, OH 45011, 513-785-1345
• Clermont County Jail, 4470 State Route 222, Batavia, OH 45103, 513-732-7500

A booking photo is taken during intake at the Justice Center. Ask the Sheriff's Office whether you can get a copy by calling 513-946-6400. When city officers made the arrest, the Cincinnati Police Department at 513-765-1212 can answer for its own photos.

Mugshot sites that charge removal fees break Ohio law. Anyone who posts booking photos is barred from charging money to pull one down. Breaking that rule counts as a first-degree misdemeanor. Anyone harmed by it may sue for $10,000 or more (R.C. 2927.22). For other jail records, the open records statute applies (R.C. 149.43).

• A photo in ICE's files is requested through the FOIA portal for ICE records.
• Most federal arrest photos are kept private, though the U.S. Marshals Service will at times publish one to help track down a fugitive.

It can. Ohio VINE is free, and the Attorney General's office operates it. A VINE search reveals whether someone is in custody right now, and where. Enroll, and VINE sends a phone call, text or email if a release, transfer, escape or death happens.

• Search or enroll on VINELink.
• The VINE phone line, 800-770-0192, runs day and night.
• Coverage takes in the Justice Center, state prisons and DYS youth centers.

A VINE message can arrive late. Phone the Sheriff's Office at 513-946-6400 before heading out to pick someone up.

Ohio's release law tells judges to choose the mildest conditions that will both bring the defendant back for court and keep the community safe (R.C. 2937.011). Many misdemeanors carry a fixed price on the court's schedule, which lets a family pay before any judge is involved. Felony bond is decided by a judge or magistrate at the first appearance, held at the Justice Center for people in custody.

• The window: Room 112, first floor of the Justice Center, 1000 Sycamore Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202. Clerks take bond at all hours, weekends and holidays included. For bond questions, dial 513-946-6010.
• Payment: cash, major credit cards, or a certified or cashier's check, plus your photo ID. Staff accept bond face to face only.
• The 10 percent option: when a court allows a deposit, you put down one tenth. Roughly nine tenths of that is returned by check after the case closes, provided every condition was kept.
• Bondsmen: any surety agent you hire must be licensed through the Ohio Department of Insurance, and the fee has to match the state-approved rate. The department's consumer line is 800-686-1526.

For every bond type in detail, open our bail page. The Ohio bail rules page covers state law.

Open the person's detail record in the Sheriff's inmate lookup first. For exact wording and case numbers, call the clerk's office that holds the file:

• New arrests, misdemeanors and traffic: Municipal Court Criminal/Traffic Division, 1st Floor, 1000 Sycamore Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202, 513-946-6010, staffed weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
• Indicted felonies: the Clerk of Courts, which keeps Common Pleas files, at 1000 Main Street, Room 315, Cincinnati, OH 45202, 513-946-5656.

The county Prosecuting Attorney writes up the felony counts from its office at 230 E. Ninth Street, Suite 4000, Cincinnati, OH 45202, 513-946-3000. Each office will want the full legal name and birth date.

Adults and kids who can't afford a lawyer can be defended by the county Public Defender. If the office has a conflict of interest, a private lawyer chosen by the court steps in.

• Adult Services: 230 E. Ninth Street, 2nd Floor, Cincinnati, OH 45202. Main number 513-946-3700, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Youth Defense: 513-946-8282.

At the very first hearing, the person in custody should tell the judge they want a free lawyer. A financial form about pay and expenses follows, and the court rules on who qualifies. Hiring a private defense attorney stays open to the family the whole way through.

The Sheriff uses HomeWAV for lobby visits and for video or voice visits from home. Each visitor creates an account with a government ID before booking. The schedule looks like this:

• Lobby visits, Justice Center: weekdays from 11:00 a.m. until 6:30 p.m., with none on holidays.
• From home: Monday through Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 8:40 p.m., Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 8:40 p.m.
• Talbert House lobby visits: weekdays 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. in the Justice Center North Lobby.

A group can be four people at most, and anyone under 18 comes with a grown-up. HomeWAV's support line is 844-394-6639. More pointers sit in our visitation guide.

An account balance lets the person buy food, hygiene items and other commissary goods. Families can fund it three ways:

1. Kiosks in the lobby: found in both the North and South Buildings. They take cash or a card, and each deposit carries a fee.
2. The web: commissarydeposit.com is the deposit site the Sheriff points families to.
3. Mailed money orders: the only kind of mailed money allowed. Write the person's name and JMS number on it, and get the mailing address from 513-946-6400.

Any money left when they go home comes back on a Release Pay debit card. That desk is in Room 120 of the North Building, open weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Our deposit guide and commissary page fill in the rest.

Yes, through HomeWAV video and voice visits during the remote hours. Make your HomeWAV account ahead of time, with ID ready, and you can see your loved one on a phone screen.

Ask the Sheriff's Office at 513-946-6400 about outgoing calls, tablets and what they cost. Expect jail calls and messages to be monitored, with lawyer talks the exception, so leave the facts of the case to the defense attorney. Our phone page and messages and email page cover costs and common rules.

Letters from family are sent to TextBehind, a service tied to HomeWAV, and never to the jail itself. Address each letter in this order:

• Recipient: first name, last name and control number
• Hamilton County Justice Center, OH
• P.O. Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131

TextBehind requires the sender's full name and return address on every envelope. Books have to come directly from a book company, addressed with the person's name and JMS number to 900 Sycamore Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202, with a limit of three each month. Cash in an envelope is never allowed. Our mail page lists more do's and don'ts.

Anything collected at booking stays in the jail's care. Pickup happens at the property window in the South Building, Justice Center, 1000 Sycamore Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202. Hours are weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., closed on holidays, and you will need a valid ID.

• Drop-offs are limited to prescription glasses, contact lenses still sealed, and dentures.
• For anything else, the person must first sign a release on a jail kiosk naming you.

Property staff answer at 513-946-6330.

A health section inside the Justice Center treats medical, dental and psychiatric problems. To pass on a concern, phone the Sheriff's Office at 513-946-6400 and request the medical unit. Jot down every prescription, how many milligrams, and who prescribed it, so the medical unit can check quickly.

The person inside should speak up to a deputy as well and file a sick-call request the way the jail directs. Flag any suicide risk or psychiatric emergency right away, since staff can act only on what they hear. Anyone facing a crisis outside the jail walls should dial 911.

Felony warrants from Common Pleas are hunted down by the Sheriff's Fugitive Warrant Unit, while city and village officers serve warrants in their own towns. Phone the Sheriff's Office at 513-946-6400 or Cincinnati Police at 513-765-1212 to ask. The Sheriff also runs a child support violations search. Case details come from the Municipal Court clerk, 513-946-6010, or the Clerk of Courts, 513-946-5656. Clearing it starts with a defense lawyer and a call to the issuing court. Visit the Clerk of Courts at 1000 Main Street, Room 315, Cincinnati, OH 45202.

Which court sets the date depends on the charge:

• Municipal Court criminal and traffic cases: 1st Floor, 1000 Sycamore Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202, 513-946-6010. Its reach is countywide, from first appearances to misdemeanor trials and early felony steps.
• Court of Common Pleas: courthouse at 1000 Main Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202, with the Clerk of Courts in Room 315, 513-946-5656. Common Pleas arraignments take place in Room 585 of the Justice Center.
• Mayor's courts: about thirty suburbs hear their own local tickets. The city or village hall named on the citation has the schedule.

Our court page lays out the path from arraignment to verdict.

Cases brought by federal prosecutors from the city and its suburbs belong to Ohio's Southern District, whose Western Division sits downtown. Court meets at the Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse, 100 East Fifth Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202, clerk 513-564-7500.

1. Early on, a detention hearing is held. A federal magistrate judge uses it to pick jail or release on conditions (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. While the case is open, the U.S. Marshals Service keeps custody and may house federal detainees in a contract jail nearby. Ask where by calling the Marshals in Room 130, 100 East 5th Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202, 513-684-3594.
3. People who can't pay get federal defense from the Federal Public Defender, 250 East 5th Street, Suite 350, Cincinnati, OH 45202, 513-929-4834.
4. After sentencing, the BOP inmate locator lists the person by name or federal register number.

When ICE wants someone held downtown, expect this sequence:

1. ICE starts things off by filing Form I-247A with the Sycamore Street jail.
2. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), the hold can last up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, so ICE can come get them.
3. After that, ICE takes the person from the jail to whatever facility it selects. The Cincinnati-area ICE office is at 9875 Redhill Drive, Blue Ash, OH 45242, 513-246-1471. Ohio falls under the Detroit Field Office, 985 Michigan Avenue, Suite 207, Detroit, MI 48226, 313-771-6601.
4. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Search with the A-number shown on immigration paperwork. A name together with birth country also works.

Questions about how the Sheriff cooperates with ICE, such as whether a 287(g) agreement exists, go to 513-946-6400.

When a judge imposes prison time, a state agency takes over custody: the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, known as ODRC. The state first sends each new prisoner to a reception center for sorting, and only then to a long-term prison. Some people stay at the Justice Center for a while before the move, so 513-946-6400 is worth a call.

• The ODRC offender search covers people inside Ohio prisons and people the state supervises after release. A name is all you need.
• Our Ohio state prisons guide explains visiting, letters and deposits at each prison.

Teens are never booked at the Justice Center. They go to juvenile detention, and Juvenile Court keeps their files private.

• Juvenile Court Youth Center, 2020 Auburn Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45219, 513-946-2600, the detention center for the county's youths.
• Juvenile Court, 800 Broadway, Cincinnati, OH 45202, 513-946-9200. Its clerk answers at 513-946-9431.

R.C. 2151.314 caps the wait for that first detention hearing at 72 hours, and Juvenile Rule 7 pulls it forward when a court day falls sooner. When no hearing happens, the youth goes home to a parent. Parents should phone the Youth Center at once to learn the hearing time.

The citation, the report or the jail record will name the agency. Here are the ones families deal with most:

• Sheriff's Office, 1000 Sycamore Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202, 513-946-6400. Its deputies patrol, serve warrants and staff the jail.
• Cincinnati Police Department, non-emergency line 513-765-1212, for arrests inside city limits.
• Suburban, township and campus police: many suburbs, townships and colleges keep their own officers. Use the phone number printed on the paperwork, or let the Sheriff's Office steer you to the right department.
• Ohio State Highway Patrol: troopers work the interstates and state highways. Their county post is listed on the Highway Patrol local post page.

Every one of these agencies brings adults to the Justice Center, so start with the Sheriff's lookup.