As a criminal defense attorney in the Los Angeles, California often times I will be retained by the family of someone who is in the county jail. One of the most common places where people are kept in custody while either awaiting trial or are serving out their county jail sentences is the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.

In this blog I will describe the facility and give an insight into the way things work. Understand that I personally have never served any time inside the facility but have had the experience of representing countless individuals, accused of crimes who were being kept inside the Twin Towers Correctional facility. The information that I am providing here is a derived from the information I obtained from the people whose criminal cases I have handled.

THE TWIN TOWERS CORRECTIONAL FACILITY

The Twin Towers Correctional Facility is actually the world's largest jail according to the Los Angeles Almanac. It is approximately 1.2 million square feet and houses almost 4,500 inmates. The Twin Towers Correctional Facility also employs 2,400 officers and other staff.

Most adult males arrested in Los Angeles County eventually end up in the Twin Towers, it is the main jail for the entire county of Los Angeles and is one of the busiest jails in the world.

The towers themselves are broken down by floors. Each floor is assigned a certain type of inmate population depending the type of criminal conduct they are accused of, their prior criminal history, medical needs of the inmate and other factors. Inmates will be assigned by jail staff in the place where they are best fit in.

The jail staff does their best to try to put an inmate where he is safest and the rest of the population is safest from him. In other words, if a person with no prior criminal history is arrested and held on drug charges, they most likely will not be housed with inmates who are being held for violent felonies or are gang affiliated.

Likewise they will not place a Latino gang member in an area populated with African American gang members or other gangs that may result in violent altercations. It is not a perfect system but the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department does their best to keep the inmate population safe.

TRUSTEE PROGRAM AT THE TWIN TOWERS CORRECTIONAL FACILITY

The Twin Towers Correctional Facility, like most other county jails also has a trustee program. This program is designed for inmates who demonstrate the ability to have good behavior and are not a risk of escape.

Inmates who become trustees are afforded more basic freedoms than other inmates. As a criminal defense attorney, I generally advise my clients who are facing criminal charges and awaiting their trial in the county jail to try to get into the trustee program.

There is a set of criteria that inmates must meet in order to qualify for the program and often they are given the opportunity to be a trustee at the onset of their stay in the jail. If available, it is a good program to take part in during a person's incarceration.

INMATE RECEPTION CENTER

Located between the two towers of the Twin Towers Correctional Facility is the inmate reception center. Sometimes referred to as the IRC This is the facility that takes in all incoming inmates to the Los Angeles County Jail system.

The Inmate Reception Center also maintains and stores inmate records, clothing, property, and funds. It is also the starting point of any inmate who is being transferred to another facility from the downtown twin towers correctional facility or Men's Central Jail.

Because an inmate is only being housed there temporarily, there is no visiting allowed

When an inmate is taken into the Inmate Reception Center they go through a long and tedious process of evaluation before they are assigned a permanent housing location. This can take anywhere from 12 hours to several days. My criminal defense clients have complained to me about the delay in processing and conditions during this period of time.

The time while a person is in the Inmate Reception Center should be the time that his family seeks out the services of an experienced criminal defense attorney. Most people make the mistake of calling a bail bonds agent first.

What they don't tell them is a criminal defense attorney will be able to negotiate with the bail agents and use his contacts to secure a bond much cheaper than a regular person.

We have saved our criminal defense clients family's thousands in bail fees because they called us first.

ADDRESS VISITING HOURS OF THE TWIN TOWERS CORRECTIONAL FACILITY

450 Bauchet Street,

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Phone: 213-893-5100

VISITING HOURS

SUNDAY

07:30 A.M. -12:45 P.M. ; 2:30 P.M. – 3:45 P.M.

MONDAY

09:30 A.M. – 12:45 P.M. ; 2:30 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.

TUES

09:30 A.M. – 12:45 P.M. ; 2:30 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.

WED

CLOSED

THURS

CLOSED

FRI

CLOSED

SAT

07:30 A.M. -12:45 P.M. ; 02:30 P.M. – 3:45 P.M.

Please note that the medical facility in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility has its own visiting hours. Please refer to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility website for more information.

This information is subject to change and should be confirmed.

IF YOUR LOVED ONE IS IN THE COUNTY JAIL AND FACING CRIMINAL CHARGES, YOUR FIRST CALL SHOULD BE TO AN EXPERIENCED CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY. FOR A FREE, NO OBLIGATION CONSULTATION CALL AT 818 325-0570 OR CONTACT US HERE.