Step 1: find out where they are
- Get the full legal name and, if possible, date of birth.
- Search the county inmate locator. Our inmate search page links the LA County Sheriff and San Diego Sheriff lookups.
- If nothing comes up, the person may still be at a police station awaiting transport. Bookings routinely take several hours to appear online.
- Write down the booking number. It is the single most useful thing you can give a bail agent.
Facility directories: LA County jails and San Diego County jails.
Step 2: read the booking record properly
- The bail figure is usually straight off the county schedule, not a judge's individual decision.
- 'No bail' can mean a hold rather than a permanent status — see what does a zero bond mean in jail.
- Multiple cases mean multiple bail amounts, and all of them must be cleared for a release.
- The charge listed at booking is the arresting agency's, not the DA's. It can change at filing.
Step 3: decide whether tonight is the night
Sometimes waiting for arraignment is the better financial decision, particularly on a lower-level charge where the judge may release on own recognizance. Sometimes waiting costs a job. An honest agent will walk you through both. What we will not do is take a payment for a bond that cannot produce a release because of a probation, parole, immigration, or 1275 hold.
Step 4: what to say on the phone with them
- Jail calls are recorded. Assume every word is evidence.
- Do not discuss the facts of the case at all. Not once, not vaguely.
- Confirm logistics only: where they are, the booking number, whether they have spoken to a lawyer, and what they need.
- Tell them not to discuss the case with anyone in custody either.