Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall & Court
(A resource guide for anyone whose children are detained at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall)
Established in 1957, Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey CA functions as a temporary holding facility for children awaiting court proceedings. Once the child concludes the trial process, he or she will get released home, placed in a camp or a foster home, or committed to the California Youth Authority.
With the recent $36 million expansion, 2 new housing facilities were added to accommodate more children and almost tripled the previous occupancy.
As the second oldest juvenile facility that serves the county of Los Angeles, Los Padrinos houses approximately 500 incarcerated juveniles with ages ranging from 12 to 18 years old. With an almost 85% male population, the hall provides separate housing facilities for young women.
Ethnically, the Los Padrinos youth population is 55% Latino, 30% African-American, 10% Caucasian, and 5% Asians/Pacific Islanders.
Located in the city of Downey, near the intersection of Quill Drive and Tranguilla Street. The physical address for the facility is: 7285 Quill Drive, Downey, CA 90242
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Below our Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers will provide information about the following:
Intake procedure at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall
How to contact a child detained at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall
Rules and regulations on mail correspondence at the Los Padrinos Hall
Visiting policies and schedule for the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall
Special services available at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall
We also invite you to visit our related pages on Eastlake Juvenile Hall, the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, the juvenile court process, sealing juvenile court records, and when minors can get tried in adult court.
Intake procedure at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall
When minors get admitted at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, they are provided with personal toiletries to maintain their hygiene. The provided toiletries may not be shared with other minors, but are for personal use only. They are also provided with clothing that is replaced on a regular basis or as necessary while detained at the facility.
When children get released from the facility, they will be discharged wearing their own personal clothing that they wore when admitted into the facility. All personal belongings that were stored for them upon intake will also be released with them at this time.
How to contact a child detained at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall
Minors admitted to the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall are allowed at least one phone call (free of charge). Calls are restricted to immediate family members and/or your child's legal counsel. Any succeeding calls will be charged collect to the recipient and will have to be approved by the Probation Officer.
That being said, incoming calls are not allowed at any given time. Hence, the best way to communicate with your child will be through mail correspondence. For any concerns with your child's status while detained at the facility, you may contact the Supervising Probation Officer at (562) 940-8681, 7 days a week 24 hours a day.
Visiting policies and visiting hours for the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall
In order to conduct a visit at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, all visitors entering the facility are required to provide valid proof of identification. Everyone will undergo a standard search of their person and their belongings as a safety measure. Below is a list of accepted forms of identification:
- California Driver's License or Identification Card
- U.S. Passport
- Alien Registration Card
- Military Card
Visitation at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall is restricted to parents and legal guardians only. Minors are allowed to receive parental visits on Saturdays between the hours of 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm and on Sundays between the hours of 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm. On days that your child has a court appearance, parents may visit with them from the time they are returned until 7:00 pm only, Mondays through Fridays.
A dress code is strictly enforced and everyone entering the facility for purposes of visiting a minor is expected to abide by the rules. In general, no revealing clothing or anything provocative in nature may be worn, specifically by women. Footwear is required at all times and no sandals or slippers allowed. Shoes for women must not have heels exceeding 2 inches in height. No images of gang-related activities or of sexual nature are permitted.
The list below indicates the following items not allowed to be brought in the facility while visiting a minor at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall:
- Writing materials such as pens, pencils, markers, papers and others alike
- Mouthwash, toothpaste or toothbrushes, glass or metal containers
- Cigarettes or pipes, lighters or matches, alcoholic beverages, chewing gum
- Money wallets, backpacks or fanny packs, purses, cellular phones or pagers, cameras, radios, electronic devices
- Illegal weapons, scissors, tweezers, pocket knives, box cutters, and/or anything that can be used to injure other people
- Illegal drugs and any form of contraband
Anyone who appears to be intoxicated or is under the influence of an illegal substance will not be granted visitation privileges. While visiting at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, you may only bring 2 keys (preferably attached to a key ring with no other attachments) and 1 form of identification. Loitering is not allowed while conducting your visit.
Special visitation privileges for brothers, sisters, or other family members under the age of 21 will only be allowed if approved by the court or the Supervising Probation Officer. Under normal circumstances, they are not allowed to visit a minor. Once approval is given, they may only visit one time and must be accompanied by minor's parents or legal guardian.
Rules and regulations on mail correspondence at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall
Once a minor is admitted into Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, they are provided with sufficient writing materials to correspond through mail with their family members. Since phone privilege is very limited, mail correspondence is the most efficient way of communication with a minor detained at the facility.
Although you may send photographs to your child, they may not possess more than 5 photographs at any given time. Also, these photographs must not have any form of nudity and/or images that depict gang violence, sex, or drugs. Minors are also not allowed to receive subscription for any kind of publication.
All mail is subject to inspection and review by the Probation Officer at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall for security purposes. Unless mail correspondence is restricted to have confidentiality with your child's lawyer, mail privacy is not practiced at all at the facility. For proper delivery, all mail must have a return address and must not have any slogans or images that pertain to gang-related activities.
NOTE: For expert legal representation, please contact the Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers at the Shouse Law Group. We defend minors at Los Padrinos as well as Eastlake Juvenile Hall and the Sylmar Juvenile Hall.
