Jail booking process

The moment the handcuffs go on, an arrested person won't yet appear on a county roster. Before anything else, the arresting officer has to complete the paperwork, interviews, and any required tests, according to Douglas County, Minnesota. Only after the officer finishes that work do jail staff begin intake or release processing.

Why doesn't a new arrest show on the roster?

Before driving a person to the jail, police often hold them at a station for early paperwork. That pre-booking stage can run up to 4 hours in Fresno County, California. After an arrest, families should wait 1 to 2 hours before calling, according to Douglas County.

Huge crowds also pass through busy urban jails. As one example, about 43,000 inmates move in and out each year at the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office in Alabama. Certain agencies, such as the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, operate a central arrest processing center where new jail bookings take place.

If your online search turns up nothing, you can read how to locate someone in jail. Once a few hours have gone by, find the phone number for the jail and call the booking desk.

County wait times and roster windows

Local rules about when records go online are set by each sheriff. Real booking timelines from 4 agencies appear side by side in this table.

In Hawaii, the Hawaii Police Department posts its booking logs on the web. To confirm if someone is in custody, you can also call the Hilo cellblock.

Looking at federal holds and city jails

In some cases, police take a person to a city jail instead, so they won't be on the county list. According to the Clark County Detention Center, Las Vegas police pick the city or county jail based on where the crime happened.

What kind of charge it is also matters. Inmates with federal charges don't show up on the website under the rules of Polk County Sheriff's Office. To find out which facility they used, call the arresting police department.

In the intake area, deputies log each person's personal details along with the alleged crime. The person also gets searched by officers, who check their health too. Booking photos and fingerprints, known as mug shots, are also collected by staff, according to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.

Inside the jail: intake steps

Every person admitted has full intake details logged by records clerks, under the policies of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Officers guide each person through 5 main stations during the jail booking process:

1. Weapons search: Deputies check the person for any weapons or contraband. Any banned or illegal item counts as contraband.
2. Uniform and property: All clothing and belongings get taken, staff write a property receipt, and a jail uniform is handed out. Except for crime evidence or illegal items, personal belongings stay locked away until release.
3. Setting up the computer file: A receiving deputy enters the initial arrest data into the computer. A central file is then opened by records staff.
4. Checking for warrants: Once entered, that booking data searches police databases for any open warrant. An existing court order for an arrest is what's known as a warrant.
5. Health screening: Staff look over the person's health to catch any immediate medical danger to that person or others in the jail.

Booking photos and fingerprints

Modern jails take finger scans digitally rather than using ink pads. In Kansas, staff at the Finney County Sheriff's Office work with a live-scan machine from Cross Match. The state fingerprint system receives the prints and arrest data directly.

Clear prints are important if you're paying bail. Bail is a payment to the court that lets an inmate head home until their court date. Clark County, Nevada bars anyone booked without a confirmed name from posting bail until fingerprints confirm their identity.

Then, Finney County staff use a studio-grade video camera to take the mug shot. A Daymark Solutions system prints the photo ID card. That card carries the inmate's name and booking number. They must wear it for their whole jail stay.

When does an inmate get to phone home or see a judge?

Right after intake finishes, inmates usually get phone access. In Oklahoma, staff at the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office fingerprint, photograph, and search each person, and an ID card gets printed. Then inmates can arrange bond by phone.

Seeing a judge comes first with some charges. At the first court hearing, a judge reads the charges. That hearing is called an arraignment.

Early hearings at the Charlotte County Jail in Florida take place while inmates stay inside. Bond hearings, arraignments, and first appearances all happen in the jail's video courtroom.

Custody can end through a court order, fines that are paid, a completed sentence, or a transfer to another agency. A person is also cleared to leave when another agency lifts its hold. A release can happen at any hour, day or night, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office.

Bail payment and the wait for file reviews

When you're learning about bailing someone out of jail, look into the jail's payment rules before anything else. Two options exist at the Sutter County Sheriff's Office: a bail bond agency or paying the lobby control room deputy.

Full bail at Sutter County can be cash, a cashier check made out to Sutter County Consolidated Courts, or a money order. They don't take personal checks. After an online bond payment goes through in Ohio, the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department notifies the release desk.

Paying doesn't finish things right away; the jail release process still takes time because staff review each file in the order it comes in. Before anyone is released, Cumberland County and the Baltimore County Department of Corrections both check every piece of legal paperwork with care for public safety.

Release hours for sentences and programs

Sutter County puts the sentence terms into a computer, which calculates the release date for a sentenced inmate. Staff share that date with the inmate, then release them at 5:00 a.m. on release morning.

Instead, other counties stick to daytime hours. Unless the court orders otherwise, sentenced inmates in Cumberland County generally get released on discharge day from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. When an inmate is released to adult probation or drug treatment, a representative from that program must pick them up.

Collecting belongings and getting a ride home

After paperwork clears, Baltimore County inmates can place local calls to set up a ride. Families pick people up from the Cheyney Rd front parking lot at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania. Released inmates also receive 1-way bus fare and a transfer from the jail.

To return belongings at release, the cashier's office at the Philadelphia Department of Prisons stays open 24 hours a day. By comparison, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office returns property only during weekday hours, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. The inmate must show an ID armband, unless another person arrives with a signed release form plus valid ID.

In Georgia, the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office gives back any leftover inmate account money when someone is released. After the court settles a case, the courthouse's Civil Process Unit gives cash bonds back to whoever paid. More on refunds: see do you get bail money back.