A buddy just got sentenced to 90 days in LA County Jail for failure to appear on a traffic violation. It's been impossible to find out what's happening, how to help him or get him any messages. I tried to visit today, but was faced with a 3 hour wait and had to get to work and leave without seeing him. This is a very non-violent and sweet person who has got be scared to death right now.

Is there a way to get him transfered into a less harsh facility?
How long does this take?
Where do I start?
Is there anyway to speed the process?
What is life like for him right now?
Anyone have insights as to the most efficient time to visit LA County Jail?

Thanks for the advice in advance

Greg

Cannot give you any information you wanted, sorry, but I want to welcome you
to PTO. It is a wonderful place full of kind, generous and knowledgeable
people who will do their utmost to help and support you when they can.
I am sure someone more knowledgeable than I will respond soon.

First welcome and hopefully we can give you some info. La County just plain sucks, he is most likely in a cell with several other guys and the conditions are filthy. The chance of getting him moved are nil to none, sometimes if they are going to be there a while they transfer them up to Wayside (near Magic mountain). Not much better but a little bit. The only way you can get information is if he is able to call you collect which he should be able to do eventually. Other than that you could send him a package. They have forms of what packages are available when you go to visit. Other than that, you can go accross the street and put some money on his books so that he can go to store. Have you checked out the Sherriffs site, this will give you information of where he is and if he has been moved.
http://app1.lasd.org/iic/ajis_search.cfm
Hopefully he will get transfered to Wayside because at least the visiting is a bit easier. Downtown is always bad especially on the weekend. I went a couple of times around noon on Thurs or Friday and they wait was only about an hour but I'm sure it depends. Sorry your friend is stuck in this situation and it seems like a steep price to pay for a traffic ticket. If you want more info I will do my best to answer.

Thanks for the welcome and the info. I wish it was better news.

I'm going to try and get in there Friday morning to re-assure him that we are wishing him well. I don't think he's even sure anyone knows he's in jail. I got the news second-hand and have no way to get a message to him except via the mail - they refused to put a hand delivered note into his box this afternoon.
I have checked out the Sherrif's site and it is where I got most of the info that I have now. He is housed in Men's Central Jail with a projected release date of Jan 6, 2006 (a bit more than half the sentence). Is there any method of separating the serious offenders from the minor ones at this stage or are they all grouped together?

From reading up on this forum (unbelievably archive BTW - thank you everyone), it seems as though he won't be there long enough to even get to the "reception" stage of this nightmare. True? How do they go about deciding who/when someone is transfered?

What is the procedure for adding money to his account? Is the only possible by someone outside adding money or does he have access to any of his own bank accounts?

What sort of facilities are available at Central Jail?

It's indeed a steep price to pay for a misdemeanor traffic violation. As I understand it, the arrest stems from a "failure to appear" on a "driving without a license" infraction. Of course as I've yet to be able to see my buddy in person, there may very well be more to the story. It is listed as only a misdemeanor though.

Thanks so much for the help in sorting this out. It's a really lousy situation and every bit of info makes it easier.

- Greg

Hi Greg. Welcome to PTO. I can totally sympathize, when my husband went into LA county, I totally freaked, because he was like your friend, sweet, mild-mannered, and not the "jail type", if there is such a thing. One thing I learned from my husband, is that they will adapt, and quickly. The survival instinct kicks into full gear, and I'm sure right now your friend's just keeping his head low, and trying to stay out of trouble, which is the best thing to do.

Let's see if I can answer some of your questions. First off, putting money on the books is pretty easy. Down at the jail, you have Men's Central on one side of Bauchet St, and Twin Towers on the other. On the Twin Tower's side, there's a building that I believe says Inmate Services, or something like that. It's where you post bail, pick up their belongings, etc. On the 2nd floor is where you go up to the Cashier and you need to have his Booking number and name, they'll take the money and give you a receipt with his name on it. He has no access to his own money, so you or someone else will have to give him some. The other option is to mail him a money order and the jail will credit it to him.

As for reception, he won't be going there, because he's only got a 3 month sentence. He'll probably just stay in county there, or like Delibaby said, maybe go to Wayside, but it does sound like he'll probably stay in MC.

As far as visiting goes, you definitely want to get there as early as possible to see him. On Saturdays, people started lining up before 7am to get in the first group which gets in at 10am. Visits are about 15 minutes long. If he hasn't already, he should be able to call you soon, as long as they haven't turned the phones off for some reason, which they do sometimes.

I do believe most of the serious offenders are considered "High Power" and are segregated from your everyday offenders, although sometimes the "every day" guys are the ones you have to watch out for.

I'm not sure about the facilities, because my husband was considered "high power" so his section was more isolated. I don't think he had tv or anything like that.

You never know, they may let him loose before even that January date. A lot of times they kick out guys like your buddy early when it gets crowded. I know that's what happened to my friend's husband. He was just doing a 90 day stint, and they kicked him out earlier than he expected. Try not to worry too much, he'll be okay, I'm sure. If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me, and I'll try to answer as best as I can.

Stephanie