California inmate search

In California, the listed local jails are run by County sheriff's offices, and every county sets a bail schedule of its own. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, for instance, operates an online Inmate Information Center.

• The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department runs Los Angeles County Jail, which includes Men's Central Jail, Twin Towers Correctional Facility, and the Inmate Reception Center.
• The Alameda County Sheriff's Office operates Santa Rita Jail together with the Glenn E. Dyer Detention Facility.
• The Fresno County Sheriff's Office operates 3 downtown jails that make up Fresno County Jail.

Every county sheriff maintains a separate lookup that has its own rules. To use the Fresno County Jail roster, type in a booking number or a first and last name. Results show the housing location, charges, bail, and the projected release date.

In San Bernardino County, the West Valley Detention Center locator asks for a 10-digit booking number, or else a name, gender, and age. You'll need an account before using Orange County's search, and it doesn't show charges.

In Los Angeles County a booking takes 2 hours to appear, and 4 hours in Fresno County. For a very recent arrest, phone the jail directly.

State prisons are managed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, known as CDCR. State prisoners can be found through the California Incarcerated Records and Information Search, known as CIRIS.

Only state prisons are covered by this search, not local county jails. A person arrested last night waits in a county jail for court or bail. People enter state prisons only once they've been convicted and sentenced.

On the main CDCR site you'll also find a locator for state prison facilities and the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services.

With California VINE, a statewide tool, you can check custody status, protective orders, and details of criminal cases online. Free notifications are another option: sign up to learn when someone is released.

For help by phone, call the toll-free line at 1-877-411-5588. You can get help 24 hours each day, 7 days each week, and 365 days a year. The people who answer can help you find someone in custody, sign up for alerts, or locate local victim services.

Certain counties, like Sacramento County with SIRENS, have their own local alert systems too.

For each charge, the bail schedule that County judges adopt lists a standard bail amount. A judge can add conditions, set bail, order detention, or grant own recognizance release, where the person promises to show up for a court date.

The bail bond is a guarantee posted by a bail agent for a surety insurer. Bail agents and organizations, about 2,300 of them, are regulated by the California Department of Insurance. That authority comes from Penal Code sections 1299 to 1320.5, Insurance Code 1814, Proposition 103, and Title 10 rules.

Rates are filed with the state by insurers, and agents must charge those rates, although they may rebate. An agent's fee is called the premium, and it typically runs 10% of the bond, with reasonable, necessary, and actual expenses on top. The premium is nonrefundable, and only a surrender triggers a refund with administrative costs subtracted.

Cash bail hasn't been abolished in California. When someone is arrested today, County bail schedules and commercial bail bonds are still in effect.

Under SB 129, state funding for the California Pretrial Services Program has run since the Budget Act of 2021. Recent changes to bail also include:

• Since January 1, 2022, the law has banned renewal premiums on bail bonds.
• A state license has been required for bail fugitive recovery persons starting July 1, 2023.
• SB 562, a pending 2025 bill, is not enacted law; it would address refunds of premiums through proposed Penal Code section 1302.5.