The Burbank California Jail
∗A resource guide providing inmate, bail and visiting information for the Burbank Jail and Police Station
Burbank Jail
The Burbank Jail and Police Department can house up to 70 inmates at any one time. Individuals who are arrested in the city of Burbank…or who are arrested on a warrant that was issued out of the city of Burbank…are transported to this facility where they typically only stay for one to three days until they
- are released on their own recognizance (known as an "O.R." release),
- post bail, or
- are taken to court for their arraignment.
Male defendants who must return to jail…either because they can’t post bail or because they have been convicted of their offense…will generally be transferred to a larger Los Angeles County jail such as the Los Angeles Twin Towers Jail or the Los Angeles Men’s Central Jail. Women will be transferred to the Century Regional Detention Facility.
In this article, our Burbank criminal defense attorneys1 will explain the following:
1. Procedures on How to Post Bail for an Inmate at the Burbank Jail
1.1. Cash bail
1.2. Bail bonds
2. How to Get Inmate Information
3. How to Contact an Inmate at the
Burbank Jail
4. Visiting Hours and Policies
5. The Procedures for "Return of Property"
6. The Burbank Jail "Weekender" Program
If, after reading this article, you would like more information, we invite you to contact us at Shouse Law Group.
You may also find helpful information in our related articles on California’s Arraignment Process, How to Post Bail, O.R. Release, The Los Angeles County Bail Schedule, Bail Hearings, Pretrial Hearings, and Case Information.
1. Procedures on How to Post Bail for an Inmate at the Burbank Jail
Once an inmate’s bail has been set, a friend or family member may post bail on his/her behalf. "Bail" refers to an amount of money that will reasonably assure the arresting agency and court that the defendant will make his/her court appearances. The Los Angeles County Bail Schedule dictates the amount of bail that a Burbank Jail inmate must post in order to be released.
The Burbank Jail only accepts two forms of bail: cash bail and bail bonds, both of which are discussed in detail in our article "How to Post Bail in California". You may post bail directly at the jail facility 24-hours a day/7 days a week which is located at 200 North 3rd Street, Burbank, CA 91502. Their telephone number is (818) 238-3010.
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1.1. Cash bail
If you elect to post cash bail, you must post the full amount. Once you post cash bail, the inmate is released pending his/her arraignment. If the inmate attends his/her court appearances, the bail will be returned following the conclusion of the criminal case. If he/she does not, the defendant forfeits your money to the court.
1.2. Bail bonds
Posting a bail bond is the most common way to bail someone out of jail. This is because you are only required to actually pay a maximum 10% of the total bail amount. You obtain a bail bond from a bail bondsman (aka a bail agent). The catch is that the 10% that you pay to the bondsman is nonrefundable. If the defendant makes all of his/her court appearances, you pay nothing more, but you do not get that 10% back. If the inmate doesn’t make those appearances, you will be liable for repaying the entire bail amount.
You can search for bail bondsmen via the Internet or in the phone book. Be sure to ask for a business license and retain copies of all documents for your records.
∗NOTE: Once you post bail, you should immediately consult with a skilled Burbank criminal defense lawyer who can schedule a bail hearing to argue that the bail should be reduced or eliminated. An experienced local attorney can also help devise the most effective legal defense to help your loved one fight his/her case.
2. How to Get Inmate Information
In order to obtain information about an inmate at the Burbank Jail, you may call the jail’s inmate information line at (818) 238-3333, or you can access information via the web on the Los Angeles Sheriff Department’s inmate information website.
Before a deputy will release information, you must provide the inmate’s correct full legal name or his/her booking number.
Typically, inmates who are being held in custody must be arraigned within two (2) days of being arrested. At that point, the judge will either continue the arraignment or will set the case for a pre-trial hearing. If you wish to look up the case information for an inmate being housed at the Burbank Jail, visit the Los Angeles County case information website.
3. How to Contact an Inmate at the Burbank Jail
When an inmate is booked into the jail, he/she is allowed to make one outgoing phone call to contact a family member or friend. Beyond that, all calls must be "collect" which means that the recipient must agree to pay the charges. If you know a loved one is in jail, be sure to contact your local telephone carrier to make sure that your ability to receive collect calls isn’t blocked.
Inmates are not allowed to receive incoming calls.
You may, however, visit an inmate at the Burbank Jail, provided that you comply with the facility’s visiting hours and policies described below.
4. Visiting Hours and Policies
The general public is allowed to visit inmates at the Burbank Jail 7 days a week from 2:00pm-3:30pm. Each visit is limited to 15 minutes. And even within these visiting hours, an arrestee may only have one visit before he/she is released. This "one visit" rule does not apply to attorneys or clergy members, as they have unlimited visiting privileges.
And with no exceptions, visitors may not bring anything to the inmates.
All visitors must bring valid picture identification, including
- a California driver’s license or identification card,
- a U.S. Passport,
- an alien registration card, or
- a U.S. military card.
5. The Procedures for "Return of Property"
When an individual is booked into the Burbank Jail, his/her money and/or property are collected and stored. These items will be released to the inmate upon his/her release. If, however, the inmate wishes to have those items distributed to a friend/family member prior to his/her release, the inmate may fill out a property release form designating whomever he/she wishes to collect that property.
Property may be collected 24 hours a day/7 days a week at the Burbank Jail (which is located inside the Burbank Police Station).
6. The Burbank Jail "Weekender" Program
In addition to providing temporary housing to inmates awaiting their arraignment, the Burbank Jail offers another program called the "weekender" program. This program allows defendants who have been convicted of a misdemeanor…and sentenced to county jail…to serve their time at the Burbank Jail instead of among the general population at one of the L.A. County jails.
Inmates who choose to participate in this program serve their time exclusively on the weekends (hence the name of the program) until they accumulate the total number of hours that they were ordered to serve. This program allows inmates who are employed or who are students to continue working or going to school.
The weekender program is available for $100 a day to defendants who meet the eligibility criteria and who have been pre-approved by the judge. For more information about these criteria, you can contact the jail directly at (818) 238-3010 or visit the Burbank Jail’s weekender program website.
Call us for help…
For more information about the Burbank Jail, or to discuss your loved one’s case confidentially with one of our experienced Burbank criminal defense lawyers, do not hesitate to contact us at Shouse Law Group.
1Our Burbank criminal defense attorneys’ offices are located at 3500 W. Olive Avenue, 3rd Floor, Burbank, CA 91505. Our telephone number is (818) 904-5900. In addition, our Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers have local law offices in Beverly Hills, Glendale, Lancaster, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Pomona, Torrance, Van Nuys, West Covina, and Whittier.
