The core guarantees
- Phone calls — at least three completed calls under Penal Code 851.5, immediately on booking and no later than three hours after arrest.
- Access to counsel, including confidential attorney visits that are not recorded.
- Medical and mental health care, including access to prescribed medication through the facility's medical staff.
- Minimum standards for food, bedding, hygiene, and out-of-cell time under Title 15.
- Freedom from unreasonable force, and a grievance process for complaints.
What varies by facility
Visiting is the biggest variable — schedule, in-person versus video, appointment requirements, and dress code all differ between facilities and change without much notice. Housing classification, commissary, and program access likewise. Our facility pages list what each location publishes: LA County jails and San Diego County jails.
What is not private
Non-attorney phone calls are recorded and reviewed. Mail other than legal mail is inspected. Anything said to another person in custody is fair game for the prosecution. This is the single most common way people damage their own case in the first week.