Merced County Jail

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The Merced County Jail is located at 700 West 22nd Street in Merced, CA and is a medium security county jail operated by the Merced County Sheriff’s Department.

This site will tell you all the information about everything a person needs to know about the Merced County Jail, like how to locate an inmate, the jail’s phone number and address, intake procedures, how to find Merced County court records, and more.

Top 10 Searches for Merced County Jail

1. Merced County Jail Information
2. Merced County Jail Inmate Search
3. Merced County Inmate Search in Merced, CA
4. Merced County Jail Visitation Rules
5. Merced County Jail Visitation Hours
6. How To Save Money on Inmate Calls at Merced County Jail
7. How to Send Inmate Care Packages to Merced County Jail
8. What is Inmate Commissary?
9. How to Send Money to an Inmate at Merced County Jail
10. How to Search Merced County Arrest Records

Introduction

This guide is meant to give you all the advice and information you need to make the process a lot easier. If you have a question, please feel free to ask it, and any comments or feedback that might be a benefit to other people in the same situation will be appreciated.

Merced County Jail Inmate Search

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Who’s In Jail

The Merced County Jail Inmate Search has information about people who are in jail, including status, and visiting hours. You can also get info for anyone booked or discharged within the past 24 hour period. Jail inmates are listed in alphabetical order by last name. You can find their inmate information quicker if you’ve got your friend or family member’s full name, date of birth, or arrest number.

Merced County Jail Policies and Procedures

Intake Procedures

The intake procedure at the Merced County Jail takes you through the following steps:

They’ll put you in a holding cell. If the jail is really busy, you may not be processed immediately.

First you must answer a bunch of questions, like what is your full legal name, home address, date of birth and an emergency contact person, and they’ll also ask about your psychological and medical history. Next, you’ll be given an inmate number and your fingerprints will be taken. Then, any personal property you have will be taken away from you and stored until you get released from jail.

You will be allowed to use the phone to talk to a family member, friend, or loved-on.

If they expect that you will make bail and be released quickly, you might get to keep wearing street clothes, but if you are not expected to make bail quickly you you will be given a jail uniform.

Discharge Procedures

When you post bail, you will get discharged from jail. This process takes between 30 minutes to all day. In other words the faster bail is posted, the faster you will get discharged. It also can depend on if you have a cash bond or if the judge still needs to determine your bail amount. For minor offenses, you will get booked and get released without having to post bail. When you have served your sentence and have a date of your release, expect to be discharged between 9am and noon.

Merced County Jail Visitation

The inmate must list each visitor’s name to the Merced County Jail in advance of any visit. Your visitors will be put in a Visiting log for the requesting inmate. Each visitor has to provide proof of identification. Anyone showing up late or that is not on the visitation list will not be allowed to visit the inmate.

Visitation procedures are always changing, so it would be wise to call the facility at (209) 385-7410 before you go to the jail to visit.

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Visitation Rules

To visit someone at the Merced County Jail you must be on this person’s approved visitation list.

Be sure to bring your valid driver’s license or government issued ID with you to visitation or you will not be allowed to enter without it.

No phones at Merced County Jail, and you will be searched. No personal belongings. Anybody parole, probation, or other corrections supervision must obtain the permission of both the superintendent and their individual supervising officer before they can visit. This kind of visitation is not going to be approved.

If the visitor is under the age of 18 is related to the inmate, they will have to be accompanied by an adult family member or guardian to include a member of the inmate’s extended family. If a visitor is under the age of 18 and is not a family member of the inmate, the minor visitor must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Sending Mail to Inmates

This is what you need to know about sending letters, photos, postcards, greeting cards and even magazines to an inmate at the Merced County Jail. Incoming and outgoing inmate mail at the Merced County Jail is always searched and inspected for contraband that might threaten the security, safety or well-being of the facility, its staff, and inmates. Inmates can only receive metered, unstamped, plain white postcards no larger than 4″ x 6″ as mail. The writing on the postcard has to be in pencil or blue or black ink. If it has a stamp on it, it will get returned. If you write in green ink, then it will get returned. If you send any other kind of mail will be returned to the sender. If there is no return address on it, then the unauthorized mail will be stored in the inmate’s locker until the inmate gets release.

Do not include any of these things in the mail that you send to an inmate: any kind of threat to jail order, any description of the manufacture of weapons, bombs, incendiary devices, or tools for escape; do not encourage or advocate any kind of violence, hate speech, or racial or ethnic supremacy. Inmates are not allowed to write to other inmates.

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Sending Other Things to an Inmate

There are strict procedures that you must follow to send anything to an inmate at the Merced County Jail. This includes sending money for to spend in the commissary, sending regular mail or photos, sending money for phone calls, and even postcards.

This page covers everthing you need to know about the Merced County Jail to help you follow these procedures and guidelines. If you have questions, or there is something that you were looking for, but did not find, please contact us using the contact link in the site menu.

Public Records

Warrant Inquiry

If you think you have a warrant out for your arrest, you are able to check the arrest warrants on the website or you are able to call the court directly. This requires a first and last name. Or, you can just go the jail in person and ask them. You should know that if you do have an outstanding warrant, you should be prepared to get taken into custody immediately.

Arrest Record Search

If you have a first and last name, as well as the date of their arrest, contact the Merced County jail, on the phone, go there in person, or check online. Records of arrests are in the public record and this information is available to anyone.

Court Records

Court Records are considered public records, so they are accessible to anyone who requests them. Court Records include a court case file containing a court docket and all of the documents filed in the case. You can access your court records via the internet service ‘Public Access to Court Electronic Records’, or at Clerk of Court office where the case was filed.

Criminal Records

Each and every state maintains records of a person’s criminal history. These databases are all linked and you can track criminal backgrounds from any other state. You can go to county courthouse and inquire, or check online. It helps to know the county, and if the crime was in a completely different state, you might have to pay for a more complete search.

When you look up someone’s criminal record you can find out if a person has ever been arrested, charged or convicted for the following crimes, drug Possession, kidnapping, sex offenses which could include rape, and sexual assault, violent crimes like assault or murder, or theft.

Money & Commissary

The rules for sending money to inmates can change at any time, so be sure to review the Merced County Jail website when you send funds to an inmate there.

How To Send Money to an Inmate at Merced County Jail

You will have your own ‘bank account’ while in jail. This money is used to purchase items from the Commissary. Family and friends can deposit money into this account for you, and any money you earn while in prison will also be deposited into your account. Outside money can be paid in to your account via a money order, cash or check. If someone sends a check or money order, make sure that they write your inmate ID on it. The maximum amount you are allowed in your account is $290 per month.

Guidelines For Sending Money To An Inmate

Before you send any money you should find out what online money transfer companies the jail your inmate is incarcerated in uses. The exact method that the Merced County Jail uses changes frequently, so it is best to call them at (209) 385-7410 to get the current payment method.

You may be required to be on the inmate’s visitation list in order to send them money, and be aware that they may have a limit on how much you deposit at one time, like $200-300 at a time, or a limit on how much money may be in the inmate’s account at one time.

Some of the money transfer firms being used by various facilities include JPay, MoneyGram, AccessCorrections, OffenderConnect, Touchpayonline, JailATM, WU, smartdeposit, and tigercommissary.

If an inmate has fines or are required to pay restitution then they will be subject to garnishment of their commissary/trust account. If the inmate has a garnishment, then money to pay them will be taken from the inmate’s bank account. In some cases it may be a percentage or the entire amount of the obligation, but the actual percentage depends on the circumstances. We recommend that inmates talk to the counselor at their facility and try to find out. You can also try to make an arrangement so that only a percentage of your commissary funds are taken, instead of all your funds take at one time.

Commissary

The commissary is the Merced County Jail store. An inmate can buy a number of things here, like toiletries, snacks and writing supplies. Keep in mind that you will probably need to use the commissary every day, and any infractions will get that privilege taken away from you.

The Commissary will sell a selection of different products that inmates can purchase if they have sufficient funds in their account. These items include clothes, shoes, small snacks and other food items, in addition to hygiene products such as soap, shampoo, and disposable razors for shaving. The commissary also sells other things like books and magazines, televisions and radios, playing cards, headphones, MP3 players, and electronic tablets. They also sell everything need to write home to family, friends, and loved ones: paper, envelopes, and stamps. If an inmate is indigent and cannot afford paper and stamps, the jail will provide these things to an inmate who has not had any money in their commissary account for at least 30 days.

Phone Calls & Phone Usage Policy

Phone calls that inmates are allowed to make from the Merced County Jail are with a pre-paid phone card or account, or are collect calls . These phone calls are a lot more costly than regular phone calls. Phone calls are restricted on when and how often you can use the phone, but bear in mind that every inmate wants to use the phone too, so they can call their family. If you are disciplined for an infraction, an inmate’s phone privileges may be limited or eliminated completely.

The Merced County Jail phone number is: (209) 385-7410

How To Save Money on Inmate Calls

Correctional facility phone service providers have exclusive contracts at every facility that they operate the phone services for, which means that they they control how much it costs to make phone calls. The money these phone service providers make from all of the phone calls that inmates make are split with the facility, so there is no incentive for the jail or the counselors at the facility to show inmates or their family how to save money on inmate phone calls at the Merced County Jail. The prices are posted and there are at least two types of prices based on where the inmate is calling. The following three things will determine how much an inmate phone call will cost: Where you are located; Where your inmate is located, What type of phone number you have.

For example, if your inmate is in federal prison, if you get a new local number then this will decrease your inmate’s phone call rate from $.21 per minute to only $.06 per minute.

For the other correctional facilities like state prisons, and local and county jails figuring out how to lower your inmates phone charges can be more difficult. ArrestedResources.com keeps up to date with all of the changes that affect your inmate’s calling rate and in most cases is able to offer you an inmate calling number that will save you significantly on inmate phone calls. In some cases, we will not be able to save you money on your inmate calls, and in these cases we will not offer you an inmate calling number. In cases like this, the facility has set their phone call rates in a way that nobody will be able to save you money.

For more detailed information on how to save on inmate calls at Merced County Jail, click the link below.

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