Search Los Angeles County Inmate Records

How to Search LA County Inmate Records

The fastest way to find someone in Los Angeles County custody is the LASD Inmate Information Center. It is the official public roster for the Sheriff's Department. The tool covers people booked into Sheriff facilities across the county. Records cover bookings at Men's Central Jail, Twin Towers, the Inmate Reception Center, Century Regional Detention Facility, and the Pitchess Detention Center facilities in Castaic. A name search returns custody status, court dates, and bail amount when the system is in sync.

The portal sits in front of a reCAPTCHA challenge. The Sheriff put the challenge in place to block bots and to stop bulk scraping of jail data. A human user can solve it in a few seconds. Phone help is open through the Inmate Answering Service at (213) 473-6002. The general custody help line is (213) 473-6100. A separate line at (213) 893-5544 handles urgent healthcare concerns. Each line is staffed by Sheriff personnel who can confirm housing, bail, and release status when the online record lags.

Search by name first, then narrow by date of birth or middle name if many results come back. Booking number is not needed up front but helps in common-name cases.

How to Use the LASD Inmate Information Center

The Sheriff's portal is built to be used in a few clear steps. The LASD homepage at lasd.org links the Inmate Information Center under custody services. The steps below walk through a typical name search.

1. Open the LASD Inmate Information Center at app5.lasd.org/iic and read the advisement page.
2. Type the inmate's last name. Add first name and middle name if known. Add date of birth to narrow common names.
3. Solve the reCAPTCHA challenge. The Sheriff requires it before showing data.
4. Click Search. Wait for the results list to load. Use Clear to reset the form.
5. Click the inmate's name to open the profile. Note the booking number, housing, bail, and next court date.
6. If the booking is brand new, wait at least two hours and try again. New bookings do not show up right away.
7. If the record cannot be found, call the Inmate Answering Service at (213) 473-6002 with the inmate's full name and date of birth.

LASD Inmate Information Center Search Fields

The Sheriff's portal uses a short name-search form. The field table below mirrors the public Inmate Information Center layout. Each field is rendered straight from research notes on the live portal.

The Inmate Information Center lives at app5.lasd.org/iic. Background and context on the search tool sit on the LASD portal page itself.

The Inmate Information Center search page is captured below. The screenshot links back to its official source.

The portal search box is the public face of the Sheriff's roster. The image points to the live tool on the LASD site.

The reCAPTCHA notice sits at the top, then the four name fields, then the Search and Clear buttons. The Sheriff updates the data set on a rolling basis as bookings, transfers, and releases are processed.

Booking Record Availability Lag

The Sheriff posts a two-hour rule on the Inmate Information Center. Inmate records will not be available for bookings that took place within the last two hours. The lag covers booking, classification, and data entry from Sheriff station jails into the central system. A name that does not appear right after an arrest may still be in intake.

If a name does not appear after two hours, call the Inmate Answering Service at (213) 473-6002. Sheriff staff can confirm if the person is in custody at a Sheriff station jail or has been moved to the Inmate Reception Center. Custody Division Manual section 3-04/040.00 sets the rules for what the Sheriff may release as public inmate information.

Note: New bookings can take up to two hours before they appear in the public Los Angeles County inmate records system, so wait and try a fresh search before calling.

What LASD Releases as Public Inmate Information

The LASD Custody Division Manual sets out which fields are public. Each item on the list below comes straight from manual section 3-04/040.00. Bookings, bail, housing, court dates, and release dates are all public. Holds and visiting days are public too.

Written requests for inmate information go to the Custody Division Legal Advisor. The LASD Records and ID Bureau FAQ has more on how to file written requests and which categories are open under the California Public Records Act.

A screenshot of the Records and ID Bureau FAQ appears below. It backs up the public-information rules in this section.

The FAQ also lists which custody categories are open under the California Public Records Act and which fall under investigatory-record limits.

LA County Custody Facilities Overview

The Sheriff runs one of the largest jail systems in the country. The agency lists about 18,000 budgeted sworn and professional staff. Custody operations split across three areas under the Custody Services Division. General Population, Specialized Programs, and Administration Command each cover a set of facilities. Sheriff Robert G. Luna heads the agency. The LASD executive staff biographies page lists his role as the 34th Sheriff of Los Angeles County.

The LASD homepage is the entry point for all custody links. The screenshot below shows the live home page and connects to the source URL.

Custody services link out from this page to inmate information, court services, transparency reports, and the bureau pages for each facility.

The staff biographies page is shown below. It lists the Sheriff and the custody leadership team in charge of the jails covered on this page.

Custody leadership runs the bureau commanders for each major facility listed in the sections that follow.

Twin Towers Correctional Facility

Twin Towers sits in the downtown Bauchet Street jail complex. The Sheriff uses it for male mental-health inmates, the Correctional Treatment Center, and the most security-intensive male housing. The facility is part of the Specialized Programs side of custody.

The Correctional Treatment Center inside Twin Towers gives medical and mental-health care to men in Sheriff custody. The Jail Mental Evaluation Team works out of the same complex.

Men's Central Jail and the Inmate Reception Center

Men's Central Jail is the largest single building in the Sheriff system. The personnel handbook says it was built in 1963 and expanded in 1976. The original design was for 3,323 beds. The 1976 addition raised the rated capacity to 5,276. The older handbook lists current capacity at about 6,750. The latest live figure should be checked against current BSCC inspections.

The Inmate Reception Center handles intake, reception, and classification for all male bookings into the downtown complex. People booked at a Sheriff station jail are often moved to the Inmate Reception Center for medical screening, mental-health screening, and housing assignment under the Custody Division classification system.

Pitchess Detention Center Complex

The Pitchess Detention Center sits in Castaic in north Los Angeles County. The Sheriff runs four facilities at the site: North County Correctional Facility, Pitchess East, Pitchess North, and Pitchess South. Each one houses general-population male inmates. The Elmer T. Jaffe Visiting Center handles visiting processing for the complex.

The Sheriff's custody reports page lists Pitchess East, South, and North among the facilities reviewed in the 2025 targeted inspection.

Century Regional Detention Facility

Century Regional Detention Facility is the women's custody facility for Sheriff inmates. The Sheriff's manual lists it as a maximum-security direct-supervision facility. It is responsible for booking and housing prisoners brought in through Century Station. CRDF policy says walk-in visits may be granted only when an appointment is open and scheduled through IVVS.

The Custody Division Manual treats CRDF as part of the Specialized Programs side of operations, along with Twin Towers, the Correctional Treatment Center, the Inmate Services Bureau, and the Jail Mental Evaluation Team.

The custody reports page is captured below. It is the source for inspection updates and PREA reports for each facility named above.

The reports page also links inmate releases and pending releases for the Sheriff's custody system.

Visitation Rules

Custody Division Manual section 5-10/010.00 sets visiting rules for all Sheriff custody facilities. Each inmate is allowed at least two visits totaling one hour per week. Visits may be face-to-face or video visits. Extra visits beyond the weekly quota are at the discretion of the visiting supervisor or unit commander. All visitors must register and schedule through the Inmate Video Visitation System.

The LASD IVVS advisement page covers visitor acknowledgement and on-premise rules. The screenshot below points to that page.

Adult visitors must be registered in IVVS and photographed at the kiosk or at home account setup. Children visiting with a registered adult follow facility rules.

Mail and Legal Mail

Sheriff station jail policy puts no cap on the volume of mail an inmate may send or receive. Mail may be read only when a valid security issue exists and a unit commander approves. Jail staff may open and inspect mail for contraband, cash, checks, or money orders. Legal mail is opened and inspected for contraband in the inmate's presence.

Inmates without funds receive at least four postage-free envelopes and eight pages of lined paper each week for family or friends. There is no cap on postage-free letters to attorneys and courts. Address envelopes with the inmate's full name and booking number to avoid delays.

Note: Mail with cash inside will be rejected and may be sent back to the sender, so use a postal money order for any deposit.

Inmate Money Deposits

Inmates in Sheriff custody may not possess money but may have an account for custody use. No money may be given to inmates during visits. Visitors may deposit cash, U.S. Postal Money Orders, or cashier's checks issued within California. Each deposit is capped at $200. Mailed deposits are capped at $200 per item and must be payable to the inmate including booking number.

Mail deposits to the central inmate banking address: P.O. Box 86164, Terminal Annex, Los Angeles, CA 90086. Acceptable items are U.S. Postal Money Orders, cashier's checks issued within California, certified checks issued within California, and travelers checks issued within California. Cash by mail, personal checks, second-party checks, out-of-state checks, payroll checks, and items that push the trust fund above $300 are all blocked.

The Sheriff stopped accepting online deposits for inmates on February 15, 2015. The current method is mail or in-person money order. Cash on a released inmate's account is held for 90 days before transfer to the County General Fund.

Medical and Mental Health Custody

The Correctional Treatment Center inside Twin Towers gives medical and mental-health care to men in Sheriff custody. The Jail Mental Evaluation Team works across facilities to screen and place inmates with mental-health needs. The Access to Care Bureau and LAC+USC Medical Center serve as the link for specialized medical care.

The healthcare concern line at (213) 893-5544 is open for urgent issues. Sheriff staff route calls to the right facility medical team based on the inmate's housing. Mental-health placement is set by Custody Division classification, often through Twin Towers.

Bail, Court Dates, and Holds

Bail amount, court dates, and holds are all public inmate information under LASD Custody Division Manual section 3-04/040.00. The Inmate Information Center shows each item once a booking is in the system. A hold is a separate authority that keeps a person in custody even when bail is posted. Holds can come from another county, another state, or a federal agency.

First appearance hearings happen at the Superior Court branch tied to the booking station. The LASD Court Services Division page links inmate release information and court location lists. Sheriff Court Services moves inmates from custody to court for arraignment, hearings, and trial.

Note: Bail amount can change at arraignment, so a number shown on the Inmate Information Center may not match the final court-ordered bail.

Related Searches

For people recently released from Sheriff custody, see released inmates. For aggregate jail data and capacity, see inmate population. For active warrants in Los Angeles County, see warrant records. For the case underlying a booking, see criminal records.