Start here

Find the person first, then deal with bail

If you do not yet know where someone is being held, start with the inmate locator. You will normally need the full name and a date of birth. Booking records can take a few hours to appear, so a person arrested very recently may not show up straight away.

Nobody can be bailed out until booking is finished. That is fingerprints, photograph, property inventory and a records check, and it commonly takes several hours regardless of what the bail amount is.

Locating a person in custody is one of the first things we do, and there is no charge for it. If you are stuck, call us.

Locate someone

Inmate search

We route you to the official county system. We are not a records service and we do not host inmate data.

GuideFind an InmateHow to search for someone in custody in either county, what information you need, and what to do when the record has not appeared yet.How to searchOfficialOrange County Inmate Locatorocsheriff.gov
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department inmate information system — the official county source. Opens on the Sheriff’s own website.Open official locatorOfficialOCSD Online Servicesapps.ocsheriff.gov
The Sheriff’s public applications portal, including inmate search and related custody services.Open OCSD portal

The facilities

Where people are held in Orange County

Which facility someone is in depends on where they were arrested and how far along the booking process is.

BookingIntake & Release Center550 N Flower St, Santa Ana
The county’s main booking and release point, where most Orange County arrests are processed. Facility line (714) 647-6085.Visiting, bail & releaseHousingTheo Lacy Facility501 The City Drive South, Orange
The county’s largest housing facility, adjacent to the Orange civic complex. Facility line (714) 935-6940.Visiting, bail & releaseHousingJames A. Musick Facility13420 Alton Parkway, Irvine
The south county facility. Facility line (949) 855-2600.Visiting, bail & release

City facilities

City jails and police holding facilities

An arrest made by a city police department usually starts at that city’s own facility rather than the county jail. Most hold people only briefly before transport to the Intake Release Center.

AnaheimAnaheim Detention Facility425 S Harbor Blvd, Anaheim
A Type I facility inside the police station. The public entrance is on Santa Ana Street, not Harbor. Detention line (714) 765-1988.Custody, bail & releaseBreaBrea Police Department1 Civic Center Circle, Brea
Temporary adult custody at the Civic Center, Plaza Level. Main line (714) 990-7625.Custody, bail & releaseBuena ParkBuena Park Police Jail6640 Beach Boulevard, Buena Park
Jail facility and booking area, on the Orange / Los Angeles county line. Front counter (714) 562-3950.Custody, bail & releaseFullertonFullerton City Jail237 W Commonwealth Ave, Fullerton
Run by the Fullerton Police Department. Jail line (714) 738-6722, answered by the on-duty jailer.Custody, bail & releaseLa HabraLa Habra Police DepartmentTemporary custody and booking
Department policy provides that adults should not remain in temporary custody longer than six hours. Jail information line (562) 383-4319.Custody, bail & releasePlacentiaPlacentia Temporary Holding Facility401 E Chapman Ave, Placentia
Certified for up to 24 hours, then transport to Orange County Jail. Non-emergency (714) 993-8164 ext. 1.Custody, bail & releaseIrvineIrvine City JailA holding facility only, in the department’s own words — booked into county jail, juvenile hall, or cited and released.Facility detailsWestminsterWestminster Police CustodyTemporary Holding, 24-hour window, with the West Justice Center in the same city.Facility detailsTustinTustin Police CustodyTemporary Holding at 300 Centennial Way. The counter keeps business hours; custody does not.Facility detailsOrangeOrange Police CustodyThe City publishes little; the state regulator classifies it Temporary Holding, 24 hours or less.Facility detailsCypressCypress City JailTemporary Holding on Orange Avenue, with west county routing that varies sharply by city.Facility detailsFountain ValleyFountain Valley Police CustodyTemporary Holding on Slater Avenue — a 24-hour window.Facility detailsSeal BeachSeal Beach City JailTemporary Holding, plus a Pay to Stay programme that is not bail and is constantly confused with it.Facility detailsLaguna BeachLaguna Beach Police CustodyTemporary Holding, and a published policy barring officers from recommending a bail bond broker.Facility detailsSanta AnaSanta Ana JailA Type II city facility
Holds people arrested inside Santa Ana city limits — not the same as the county jail. Jail phone (714) 245-8100.Custody, bail & releaseCosta MesaCosta Mesa City JailA 24-bed Type I facility at police headquarters on Fair Drive, holding arrestees roughly 24 to 48 hours before court or release.Facility detailsHuntington BeachHuntington Beach City JailPublishes its bail rules in full: a $7,500 ceiling on personal checks, and no release while intoxication makes it unsafe.Facility detailsNewport BeachNewport Beach City JailTakes bail at the front desk 24 hours a day, with six accepted payment types and a strict list of restrictions.Facility details

Jail information and custody resources

Several Orange County cities also run their own short-term holding facilities and transfer people to county custody afterwards, so someone arrested by a city police department may not appear in the county system immediately.

• Booking has to finish first. No bond can be posted until it does, and the timing is controlled by the facility rather than by us.
• Release timing is the jail’s, not ours. Once the bond is posted at the correct facility the jail begins the release process, and how long that takes depends on how busy they are.
• Some arrests carry a hold. A hold can prevent release regardless of money. We will tell you honestly if that is the situation you are in.
• Bail is posted at the jail, not at our office — which is why we can help anywhere in the county.

More on how the process works: Orange County bail bonds, Orange County courthouses, frequently asked questions and California bail bond resources. Cost options are on payment plans.

Booking and release, start to finish

The sequence is fixed, and knowing it is what separates a four-hour night from a twelve-hour one.

1. Arrest and transport to a city jail, or straight into county custody where the Sheriff provides the city’s police services.
2. Booking — identification, photograph, fingerprints, a Department of Justice records check, property inventory and medical screening. Nobody can be released until this finishes, and nobody appears in any search before it does. See the booking process.
3. The bail figure comes from the charge as booked, read against the county’s uniform bail schedule adopted under Penal Code § 1269b.
4. Transfer to the Intake Release Center if the city facility’s window runs out — see jail transfers.
5. Release, once the bond is verified and no hold applies. See how long release takes.

How long a city jail can hold someone

Most Orange County city jails are Type I facilities. Under California Code of Regulations, Title 15, § 1006, a Type I facility is a local detention facility used to hold people for not more than 96 hours, excluding holidays, after booking. That is the classification of the building, not a prediction about an individual case — Costa Mesa, for example, describes its own typical stay as 24 to 48 hours.

Finding the bail amount when the search will not show it

The Orange County Sheriff’s Inmate Information System now sits inside the Public Services Portal and requires an account. More importantly, the Sheriff states that the current version does not provide the ability to view inmate charges — and without the charge there is no bail figure to read.

Three routes to the charge: call OCSD Inmate Records on (714) 647-4666, check the Booking Log, or ask a licensed bail agent. The Sheriff’s own page notes that bail bonds personnel continue to use an existing method to access inmate charges — a channel the public portal does not offer. Full walkthrough: Orange County inmate search and Orange County bail amount lookup.

Visiting

Visiting arrangements differ by facility and change often, so confirm before travelling rather than relying on any website — including this one. What is consistent across Orange County facilities:

• Not on the day of booking. The Anaheim Detention Facility, for instance, publishes visiting from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. daily but not on the day a person is booked.
• Photo identification is required for adult visitors.
• Visits are scheduled and limited in length and frequency.
• Your own record matters. Some facilities run a criminal records check on visitors — the Long Beach Police Department, across the county line, states that visitors may not have outstanding warrants. Check your own position before you go.

Sheriff’s facility visiting information is published by OCSD for the Intake Release Center, Theo Lacy and the James A. Musick Facility; each city jail publishes its own.

Money and property

• Property is taken at booking, verified and recorded by detention officers, and returned on release or collected later through the facility’s property procedure.
• Commissary lets people in custody buy personal care items, food and stationery. Orange County’s commissary operation carries roughly 300 items.
• Depositing money works differently at every facility, and the methods change. Confirm the current method with the facility rather than assuming — across the line in Los Angeles County, for example, the Sheriff has not accepted online inmate deposits since 15 February 2015.
• Never send card numbers or card photographs to anyone by text or email in connection with a custody matter. See avoiding bail bond scams.

Which courthouse the case goes to

Court routing follows the city of arrest, not where the person lives or which facility holds them.

Arraignment must happen within 48 hours of arrest, excluding Sundays and holidays, under Penal Code § 825 — see arraignment.

Cities with no police department of their own

Several Orange County cities contract with the Sheriff for police services and therefore have no city jail to call. If the arrest was in one of them, go straight to the county system. See cities policed by the Orange County Sheriff.

Bail by charge, and where to start

Which facility someone is in matters, but the charge on the booking sheet is what sets the bail figure and the realistic timeline. These pages explain each one.

• Domestic violence bail — current scheduled amounts by charge, the protective order that starts at release, and why Penal Code § 1270.1 makes weekend arrests different.
• DUI, drug charges, warrants, felony and misdemeanor bail.

Most county arrests route through the Intake Release Center, with transfers to Theo Lacy or Musick. City arrests may start at a local facility such as the Anaheim Detention Facility. Our offices in Anaheim, Brea and La Habra are open 24 hours.

Visiting, and the things that waste a trip

Visiting rules are set facility by facility, and they change — so the schedule on each facility page is the place to start, and the facility itself is the only authoritative source. What does not change is the list of reasons people arrive and are turned away.

• The person is not there any more. Transfers happen without notice, and a city facility on a 24-hour Temporary Holding classification moves people quickly. Confirm the location the same day — see jail transfers and what the classifications mean.
• Booking is not finished. Visiting is not available mid-booking, and nobody appears in a search until it completes — see the booking process.
• Identification. Government-issued photo identification is required, and a visitor without it will not be admitted however far they have travelled.
• Scheduling. Several facilities require visits to be booked in advance rather than walked in.
• It was the wrong question. If the person is close to release, a visit may be the wrong use of the afternoon entirely — check the bail position first with our bail amount lookup.

Money and phone credit are separate from visiting and are handled their own way — see sending money to an inmate and inmate phone calls, and remember that jail calls are recorded.

Planning to visit rather than collect someone at release? Requirements differ by facility and are enforced strictly — see visiting someone in jail.

Open 24 hours, 7 days a week. California bail license number 1841014. See also the global jail and custody index.

Please note: American Freedom Bail Bonds is a licensed bail bond agency, not a law firm, and is not affiliated with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and we cannot guarantee a bail amount, a release time, eligibility for release, or the outcome of any case. Facility information, phone numbers and visiting rules change — always confirm directly with the facility. California bail license 1841014.

The figure behind every one of those pages comes from the same document: the 2026 Orange County Uniform Bail Schedule, adopted annually by the superior court judges under Penal Code § 1269b(c). If you are new to all of this, how bail works in California sets out the whole process in order.