Getting booked into jail - Essay Example

The process of getting booked into a jail The booking procedure into a jail is actually fairly a simple procedure. There are various myths; most incited by movies about the actual process and rights the subjects is given. The procedures at most jailing facilities are essentially similar, with some minor differences. Every State has their own Corrections Department, or something similar, which dictates the gathering of particular data. Additionally, the FBI provides some input, and receives much of the collected information when inmates are booked into the facility.

When individuals get arrested, they are normally taken to a police station / Sheriff’s Office, to be interviewed, and if necessary, forms and reports are prepared. If the suspect is arrested for, let’s say driving under the influence, breath, urine, or blood test has to be conducted. This process may take some hours before the individual is transferred to be booked in a county jail. The jail system does not have any notice of an individual’s arrest until they are forwarded to the jail for bookings.

A communication to the jail in a while after an individual’s arrest may find they still are in the pre-booking processing and not in the jail system yet (Cole 227). Many people are concerned by this kind of delay; the pre-booking stage is routine and necessary. When arrested individuals are brought at the jail facility, go through the intake procedure before being contained in the inmate populace. This process can roughly take from 1 to 6 hours and is involved of the booking process, medical screening and the classification interview (Carlson 47).

Instantaneously upon appearance at the jail, the convict is tested for any medical conditions which would need immediate treatment. Another medical questionnaire is done later in the booking procedure to ensure all illnesses that an inmate may be having are properly noted and the facility is able to meet the inmate’s medical requirements. During the booking process every inmate is searched to verify that no contraband is brought into the jail facility. They are fingerprinted and photographed.

Their charges and personal information are entered into a computer system, their bail calculated, and a law court date is set. There are inmates who may be eligible to be freed on their own recognizance eighteen hours after booking. Majority of inmates are eligible to be bailed out, and to have access to telephones for bail arrangements through family, friends, or bail agents (Frantz 220). When it is confirmed that inmates are not going to be released on their individual recognizance or making bail, they get a classification interview to determine their housing criteria (Frantz 173).

  The booking process will take anywhere from one hour up to six hours depending on the co-operation of the person being booked into jail. Work citedCarlson, Peter. Prison and Jail Administration: Practice and Theory. Washington: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2009.Cole, George F. Criminal Justice In America. london: Cengage Learning, 2007.Frantz, Michael. Jail Time: What You Need to Know. Before You Go to Federal Prison! New York: Dog Ear Publishing, 2009.