List of California county jails

California's county jails function like county jails throughout the United States: they are used to incarcerate people pre-trial, through a trial and sentencing, and for some sentences of commitment. The majority of people incarcerated in California's county jails have not been sentenced (they are pre-trial and have not been convicted of a crime).

Historically, time would be served in a county jail for sentences of less than a year, including sentences for misdemeanors and some felonies. In 2011, the Public Safety Realignment Act was signed into law in response to the Supreme Court case Brown v. Plata and the resulting court order to address prison overcrowding in the state. Realignment "shifted responsibility for all sentenced non-violent, non-serious, non-sex offenders from state to local jurisdictions",[1] which decreased California prison populations, increased California county jail populations, and changed the types and distribution of crimes for which people were serving sentences in county jails.

For comparison, in December 2019 there were approximately 71,200 people incarcerated in California county jails (based on average daily population),[2] 124,027 people incarcerated in California state prisons,[3] and 51,923 people on parole in California.[4]

Santa Rita Jail
Los Angeles Men's Central Jail 2
Los Angeles Twin Towers Facility
Monterey County Jail
The San Francisco Hall of Justice Complex, including County Jail #4
San Diego jail inmate, dressed in a dark blue two piece uniform, restrained with handcuffs on a belly chain
  1. ^ Board of State and Community Corrections. "Realignment". Board of State and Community Corrections. Archived from the original on 2020-04-19.
  2. ^ Board of State and Community Corrections. "Jail Profile Survey Query". Board of State and Community Corrections. Archived from the original on 2020-06-07. Alt URL
  3. ^ California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "Monthly Total Population Report" (PDF). California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitatio. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-04-19.
  4. ^ California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "Monthly Total Population Report" (PDF). California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-04-19.