With a quarter-century of experience visiting my clients at the Men's County Jail, Wayside, and Lynwood, I've gained a deep understanding of the jail system. Over the years, I've witnessed the challenges of visiting inmates, and while some issues persist, significant improvements have been made.
But a sweeping investigation of the Los Angeles jails a few years ago did help with some of the issues relating to seeing inmates and some of the things that the deputies in LA County do to make it very difficult to see inmates.
If you're planning to visit a loved one, friend, or family member in LA County Jail, it's crucial to do your homework and be prepared for the unexpected. Visiting hours and rules can be complex, and unforeseen events like floods or lockdowns can occur, so patience is key.
There can be floods at the jail; there can be lockdowns. All kinds of different issues tend to pop up there, even for attorneys, but for the general public, forget about it. They will make you wait there as long as they want, and they really don't care if it's an inconvenience or a problem for you.
So, you probably want to coordinate your interview by going online to book information—Los Angeles—the Sheriff's Department. Then, you can identify where the person is—in other words, where they're being housed in LA County. Then, you can figure out on the internet what the procedures are to see that person—have their booking number ready—and again, be prepared to spend some time there.
It does take a while to visit somebody in LA County. Another thing you want to do is figure out which jail they are in and within that jail, which facility they're in. If the case is in Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles near Bouche Street, then there's just really one place to go. You give them the booking number, and they're able to pull the person up and get them in to be visited.
On the other hand, if you're going to Wayside, which is out in Valencia, Castaic area at the Peter Pitchess Honor Ranch, that location has a number of different housing locations, so you're going to want to have that information so that when you go there, you're actually able to see your inmate and not be shut out and waste a trip down there.
Even if you go down there perfectly prepared, you can still get shut out because if there's a lockdown at the jail, they just turn everybody away, and you have to come back another day. Why lockdowns occur is still a mystery to most.
Still, usually, it's because of some sort of a fight or some sort of an issue or disturbance within the jail or some sort of a technical problem on the part of the Sheriffs that blocks somebody from seeing their loved one or family member.
What About Attorneys Seeing Inmates In Los Angeles County?
Attorneys are obviously given priority when it comes to seeing their clients, and it's much easier for an attorney to visit a client than it is for somebody from the general public. But speaking as an attorney who has visited inmates in LA County for many years, I can tell you right now that it is not always easy.
As I write this post, I am waiting at the Men's Central Jail to see one of my clients because there's some sort of flood right near the entrance where they let the attorneys in. And, of course, they have no other entrance, so you just have to wait. They just don't care, and there's not much you can do about it.
The FBI sting that they put against the Sheriffs was probably one of the only bodies or entities that could get to these guys and make them do things the right way, not make people wait a long time or abuse their power. The Sheriff's Department definitely has a lot of power and can do a lot of things if they choose to.
So, the bottom line is that the best way to see an inmate, get information, make sure that they're safe, and have somebody talk to them is through an attorney.
An attorney has a lot of different authority, and somebody who knows what they're doing and has been around the block is obviously going to be able to get into jail, see the person, and hopefully make that person feel better that they've got somebody on their side fighting for them.
The attorney can also appease the family and let the family know that the attorney has checked on the person, they're okay, they're doing well, and somebody's there to help them, providing a sense of support and reassurance.
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