What happens when someone gets arrested and brought to jail in Florida?

Criminals get arrested, this much we know. Innocent people get arrested too!

Obviously, when someone gets arrested, they are placed in a patrol car and usually brought to a local Police station. Once there, the new arrestee will sit in a holding cell with other new arrestees, waiting on a transport to the Main Jail. Some new arrests may require medical attention and sent (securely) to an area hospital for treatment prior to being brought to the main jail for booking.

During this time, the arresting officer is preparing the paper work. Which usually includes: a probable cause affidavit/arrest form/property form etc..

Once a transport is ready, the new arrestees will be transported to the main Jail of the county of their arrest. Once there, they will be ‘booked’ and ‘processed’ into the jail computer system. At this point the new arrestees are in a process called ‘intake’. No status will be available on new arrests during this time.

Intake & Booking

When a new arrest is In intake and booking, an arrestee has now become an Inmate and will have a series of medical screenings, background and warrant checks performed. All intake inmates are fingerprinted and subject to a strip search. Any property an inmate has is cataloged and put in the jail property room. Most inmates are held in a communal room together or adjacent holding cell. They are assigned a housing unit number and fitted for jail scrubs and sandals. Depending on availability of pay phones, inmates may be able to make calls while in the booking area. Others will have to wait until they have been moved to their housing units.

Depending on many factors, this process usually takes anywhere from 6-8 hours.

Once the Defendant has been ‘fully booked and processed’ into the County Jail system, their charges and the bond amount will show up on the County Jail website (There are a few counties that you must call to get info). As long as the Defendants charges are a bond-able offense and there are no ‘holds’ on his status, a standard bond amount will be set and a bond can be posted. Traffic and Misdemeanor charges usually carry a bond anywhere from $25.00 to $1500.00. Felony charges usually carry a bond amount over $5000. It is at the discretion of a Judge to set bond reasonably by law. Once a bond has been set, an inmate can be bonded out of jail and released. If an inmate does not or can not bond out of jail after they have been booked and processed, they will stay in custody until they see a Magistrate Judge in the morning. This is called bond hearing.