San Diego Inmate Search: How to Find Out If Someone is in Jail in San Diego County

Introduction: Navigating the Jail System in San Diego

All right, so imagine a situation where you or a loved one gets taken away, goes to jail. Where are you going to go? Where are you going to be? How’s your mom, how’s your dad, how’s your sister, how’s your wife, your kids? How are they going to find you? How are they going to know where court is, when court is, all that information?

Well, in this video, we’re going to give you those answers, particularly as it relates to when you’re in custody of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. Anyone in jail on a state court case almost exclusively is going to be in the custody of the San Diego sheriff, and there’s a website that’ll tell you where your loved one is, when their court date is, where it’s at, what facility they’re housed at, what are the hours of that facility for visiting—all the key information: case number, charges, all the things that we as attorneys a lot of times rely on. And you don’t need to be an attorney to access it; it’s all available to the public. So I have the same access to it as you might, anywhere in the world. Hope you find this video helpful, let’s get into it.

Overview of San Diego’s Jail System

San Diego operates basically where the sheriff’s department is the jailer, so to speak. The California Department of Corrections is if you go to prison. San Diego Police may have you in custody, El Cajon Police may have you in custody, but eventually, you’re going to wind up in the custody of the San Diego sheriff at one of their jails, solely focusing on adult jails, starting from North County all the way down pretty much to Otay Mesa. Let’s talk about it.

San Diego County Jails & Detention Centers

Vista Detention Facility

In Vista, right adjacent to the courthouse, is the Vista Detention Facility. So you or a loved one may wind up there if you or they are charged with a crime and are not able to bail out.

Downtown Jail

Going a little more down south, you will have the downtown jail. A lot of people downtown, so you get arrested remotely, Central or South San Diego, you’re going to get processed through the downtown jail, located on Front Street, right downtown in the heart of the city of San Diego.

South Bay Detention Facility

The Chula Vista Court complex is home to the South Bay Detention Facility. Literally, you are under the courthouse, above you in Chula Vista. The South Bay Jail is not a place we see a lot of people come through or have their stay while they’re fighting their case or serving a local sentence in custody.

George Bailey Detention Facility

As you get south, you get into the George Bailey complex in Otay Mesa. What you’re dealing with there is multiple units of people, the largest jail within the county. And most people, especially if you’re facing really serious charges and have a really high bail, at some point, you could expect to be working your way through the George Bailey Detention Facility, if not up in Vista.

Las Colinas Detention Facility (For Female Inmates)

Now, for female inmates in custody, they’re going to be housed at the Las Colinas Detention Facility located in Santee. So, in essence, you have North County, the Vista Courthouse; you have East County in Santee, not too far from the El Cajon Courthouse; you have downtown, just a stone’s throw away from the downtown courthouse; you have Chula Vista, literally underneath the South Bay Jail, underneath the Chula Vista Courthouse; and then you have the George Bailey complex in Otay Mesa.

If your loved one isn’t there and they’re an adult, they may be in federal custody. If they’re under 18, they’re not going to be in adult jail; they’re going to be somewhere else.

How to Use SDSheriff.net

We talked earlier in this video about how someone like me, a criminal defense attorney, uses these websites. This website is sdsheriff.net. Attorneys use it, and the public can use it. Now, why do we use it? Why is it valuable?

Why Attorneys Use SDSheriff.net

Let’s say we get a call as an attorney from a family or from someone who’s in custody, and they say, “Hey, I want you to come see me. I want to hire you to potentially represent us in court.” Well, we want to know first where they’re at, whether we’re able to visit them, what facility they’re at, what unit they’re in within that facility. If there’s a case number, we’ll know there’s a court case against them already or not, what the charges are that they’re either charged with in court or at least booked into jail on, if they recently just got arrested, when their next court date is, what time their next court date is, how many felonies or misdemeanors they’re booked in on, what their bail amount is, and so on and so forth.

Public Use of SDSheriff.net

For friends or family, it’s the same thing, right? You want to know, “Hey, what’s my charge, what’s my spouse charged with, where are they going to be?” And then you could relay that information to the attorney or the law firm that you’re considering hiring so they know that you’re on top of it as well. You could also use SDSheriff.net if you have a loved one in custody to send them an email. When I say email, it’s not like in other facilities or other counties or even within the prison system where they get to a laptop and sometimes send you an email. It’s a real antiquated way—you send an email, the sheriff probably looks at the email, folds it up, prints it out to a piece of paper, and slides it under the cell door.

Additional Features of SDSheriff.net

As attorneys, we can also deliver messages through SDSheriff.net to our clients, or at least we try to, understanding that the Sheriff’s Department still may read it, even though we’re attorneys. It’s also essential to send care packages, to put money on someone’s books. You can do all that through SDSheriff.net.

How to Navigate SDSheriff.net: Step-by-Step

So, how do you use it? The first thing is, you go to the website. You go to SDSheriff.net, and it takes you to the homepage of the Sheriff’s Department. For purposes of this video, we’re talking about how to find someone in jail and how to get information about that. You do that by clicking on the “Who’s in Jail” tab.

That’ll take you to a screen where you need to put in at least the first couple of letters of that inmate’s last name and the first couple of letters of their first name. They’ll give you a CAPTCHA key, all that type of stuff for security purposes. Then it’ll tell you a couple of things: If that person’s in custody with that name, it’ll give you a link. You click on the link, and it’ll take you to their bio page—their name, date of birth, when they got booked, what agency booked them, where they’re housed, if there’s a future court date, all those pieces of information.

Understanding Case Numbers and Court Codes

Once you find your loved one, you’ll see codes on there like SCD, SCN, and M followed by numbers. These are case numbers. If it talks about the next court date, it will show the date and the time. There are also codes like FP (further proceedings), ARR (arraignment), RC (readiness conference), and PE (preliminary examination).

An experienced attorney can help you understand what these codes and dates mean. Combined with the information from SDSheriff.net and other avenues, your attorney can give you a clearer picture of what’s going on.

What to Expect When Visiting a Jail

Before you actually go visit someone in jail, you need to know a few things. If you’ve served any time in state prison, you might be banned from entering the facility, and you might need approval. Don’t be surprised if you have problems visiting, even if it’s your spouse or child. There might be an appeals process for that.

You can’t just pop in and expect to see your loved one—you need to schedule an appointment. This can be done by calling the jail or scheduling through SDSheriff.net. You usually need to check in about an hour before your meeting, and you should be dressed appropriately—business casual is best.

Be prepared for a security check, including going through a metal detector. Don’t try to smuggle anything in—it’s not worth it.

Conclusion: SDSheriff.net is a Valuable Resource

In this video, we’ve discussed how useful SDSheriff.net is for finding information about someone in jail. While it’s a great starting point, it’s not the end-all-be-all, and you should always consult with an attorney for deeper insights.

If you found this video helpful, share it with anyone who has a loved one locked up in San Diego County. It can help ease their concerns by giving them a better understanding of what to expect when navigating the jail system.