Orange County Custody
Orange County Jails & Detention Centers Directory
Where a loved one is actually held, how booking and transfers work, and where a bond has to be posted to get someone released. Available 24 hours a day.
Table Of Contents
Why This Directory Exists
How Orange County's centralized custody system actually works.
County-Level Detention Facilities
All five county facilities, with the real detail that distinguishes each one.
What This Directory Covers
The standard we hold every facility page to — and what we flag instead of guessing.
Cities We Serve
All 34 Orange County cities and their own bail bonds pages.
FAQs
Facility routing, transfers, and posting bail at the right place.
Why This Directory Exists
Orange County runs a more centralized custody system than some of its neighbors — most bookings pass through one complex in downtown Santa Ana before being classified to one of four facilities. That's simpler than a county spreading custody across dozens of city police departments, but knowing which of the four applies, and which of the county's 34 cities' arrests actually route through OCSD versus an independent city department, still matters for a fast search.
The practical version: an arrest anywhere in the county usually lands at the Intake Release Center first. What happens next is a classification decision, not a geography decision. A low-risk DUI can end up at Musick in Irvine; a higher-classification case can end up at Theo Lacy in the City of Orange; many people never leave the Flower Street complex at all. All three outcomes carry the same address problem — a bond has to be filed where the person actually is, and that can change within a day.
That is what these pages are for. Each facility gets its own page with the real address, the real phone numbers, the visiting rules as the Sheriff's Department publishes them, and the courthouse the case routes to. Where something couldn't be confirmed against an official source, the page says so.
County-Level Detention Facilities
Five county facilities, three of them sharing one downtown Santa Ana address. The distinguishing fact matters more than the name — it is what tells you whether the person you're looking for is likely there.
Intake Release Center (IRC)
550 N. Flower St, Santa Ana, CA 92703
Countywide intake — processed here first
Countywide intake — nearly every Orange County arrest is booked, screened and classified here before being housed anywhere else.
View facility pageCentral Men's Jail
550 N. Flower St, Santa Ana, CA 92703
Same complex as the IRC
The county's main male housing facility, on the same downtown Santa Ana complex as the IRC.
View facility pageCentral Women's Jail
550 N. Flower St, Santa Ana, CA 92703
Same complex as the IRC
The county's main female housing facility, on the same downtown Santa Ana complex as the IRC.
View facility pageTheo Lacy Facility
501 The City Drive South, Orange, CA 92868
Maximum security, ~450 staff, on the Santa Ana River
Orange County's maximum-security jail — roughly 450 sworn and professional staff, on the banks of the Santa Ana River in the City of Orange.
View facility pageJames A. Musick Facility
13502 Musick, Irvine, CA 92618
Minimum security, 100-acre facility known as “The Farm”
The 100-acre minimum-security facility known locally as “The Farm,” housing lower-risk male and female inmates.
View facility pageCities with their own police department run their own booking and holding facilities, listed separately below. OCSD contract-city stations have their own directory.
City Police Department Jails
Orange County cities that run their own police department also run their own booking facility. A person arrested by a city department may be held there before any transfer to the county Intake Release Center — which is why a Sheriff's inmate search can come back empty in the first hours after an arrest.
Anaheim Detention Facility
425 S. Harbor Blvd, Anaheim, CA 92805
Booking and short-term holding run by Anaheim PD for the largest city in Orange County, at the same address as the department itself.
View jail pageSanta Ana City Jail
62 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Booking and holding in the county seat, blocks from both the Central Justice Center and the county's Flower Street jail complex.
View jail pageIrvine Police Department Jail
1 Civic Center Plaza, Irvine, CA 92606
The department's own jail at the Irvine civic center, serving the largest city in Orange County by land area.
View jail pageHuntington Beach City Jail
2000 Main St, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
A Type I facility at the Huntington Beach Civic Center, with cases confirmed to the West Justice Center in Westminster.
View jail pageCosta Mesa Jail
99 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
An on-site police department jail where a booking can be held locally rather than transferred straight into county custody.
View jail pageFullerton City Jail
237 W. Commonwealth Ave, Fullerton, CA 92832
Booking and short-term holding at Fullerton PD's own address, in the same city as the North Justice Center courthouse.
View jail pageGarden Grove Jail
Garden Grove Police Department — exact street address not yet confirmed
Garden Grove PD books and holds defendants before cases move to the West Justice Center in Westminster.
View jail pageOrange Police Department Jail
1107 N. Batavia St, Orange, CA 92867
The department's own jail in a city that hosts two Orange County courthouses of its own.
View jail pageWestminster Jail
Westminster Police Department — exact street address not yet confirmed
City booking and holding in the same city as the Stephen K. Tamura — West Justice Center.
View jail pageTustin City Jail
300 Centennial Way, Tustin, CA 92780
Booking and holding at the Tustin civic center before cases move to the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.
View jail pageNewport Beach City Jail
Newport Beach Police Department — address to confirm with the department
City booking and holding in the same city as Harbor Justice Center, the anchor courthouse for South County.
View jail pageBrea Jail
1 Civic Center Circle, Brea, CA 92821
Booking and short-term holding run by Brea Police Department, established in 1917, before cases move to Fullerton.
View jail pageBuena Park Jail
6650 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA 90621
City booking and holding for a department of about 85 sworn officers, with cases confirmed to the North Justice Center.
View jail pageFountain Valley Jail
10200 Slater Ave, Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Booking and holding at the Fountain Valley civic center, with the city's courthouse assignment still unconfirmed.
View jail pageCypress Jail
5275 Orange Ave, Cypress, CA 90630
City booking and holding for a department that shares the WestComm regional dispatch center with Los Alamitos and Seal Beach.
View jail pageLa Habra Jail
150 N. Euclid St, La Habra, CA 90631
City booking and holding at the La Habra civic center, with the city's courthouse assignment still unconfirmed.
View jail pageLa Palma Jail
La Palma Police Department — address to confirm with the department
Booking and holding for Orange County's second-smallest city by population.
View jail pageLos Alamitos Jail
3201 Katella Ave, Los Alamitos, CA 90720
City booking and holding for a 25-officer department dispatched through the shared WestComm regional center.
View jail pagePlacentia Jail
Placentia Police Department — address to confirm with the department
City booking and holding before any county or courthouse transfer, with the courthouse assignment unconfirmed.
View jail pageSeal Beach Jail
Seal Beach Police Department — address to confirm with the department
Booking and holding by a department dating to the city's 1915 incorporation, with cases confirmed to the West Justice Center.
View jail pageLaguna Beach Jail
505 Forest Ave, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Booking and short-term holding run by Laguna Beach Police Department in one of Orange County's independent beach cities, with cases confirmed to the Harbor Justice Center.
View jail pageWhat This Directory Covers
The same standard applied on every county page we publish: real facilities, real contacts, and an explicit note anywhere a fact could not be verified.
The Real Facility, Not A Guess
Every address and phone number here comes from the Sheriff's Department's own location and visiting pages, not from an aggregator.
Where The Bond Actually Gets Filed
A bond is filed at the facility physically holding the person. Each page says which facility that is likely to be and how transfers change it.
The Courthouse The Case Routes To
The jail holds the person; the courthouse hears the case. Each facility page links to the Orange County courthouses actually involved.
Honest Flagging, Never Guessing
Where a policy or an hour couldn't be confirmed against an official source, we say so on the page instead of publishing it as fact.
Cities We Serve
Arrests in all 34 Orange County cities route into this county system. Each city page covers the arresting agency, the courthouse assignment, and what is specific to that jurisdiction.
Directory FAQs
Which Orange County jail is my person in?
Almost certainly the Intake Release Center at 550 N. Flower Street in Santa Ana for the first several hours, whatever city the arrest happened in. After classification, they may stay downtown at Central Men's or Central Women's Jail, or be transferred to Theo Lacy in the City of Orange or Musick in Irvine.
Why does the same address cover three different facilities?
The Flower Street complex houses the Intake Release Center, Central Men's Jail and Central Women's Jail. The address is shared; the operations, visiting schedules and housing are separate. Saying “the Santa Ana jail” is not specific enough to schedule a visit.
Does it matter which facility I post the bond at?
Yes — it is the single most common cause of delay for families doing this alone. The bond is filed where the person is actually being held, and a transfer between Santa Ana, Orange and Irvine can happen the same day. We confirm the current facility before anyone drives.
Does the Sheriff's Department recommend a bail agent?
No. OCSD states on its own visiting-information pages that it does not recommend, suggest, or direct anyone to a bail agent or company. Families choose their own agent — that is exactly how it should work.
Are city police jails included in this directory?
Not yet. Twenty-one Orange County cities run their own police departments, and several hold people briefly before transporting to the IRC. Those pages, and the OCSD station pages for the contract cities, are the next stage of this build.