Colusa County Jail Custody Overview
Colusa County Jail is operated by the Colusa County Sheriff's Department at the Bridge Street sheriff and jail campus in Colusa, California. Sheriff Joe Garofalo's department runs the jail through its correctional-services division. The jail page describes a local detention facility for people awaiting trial and people serving county sentences. The county also says an incarcerated person may serve up to a year in the facility for each felony conviction, which makes the jail different from a CDCR prison where longer state terms are served.
The jail is the only county detention facility listed for Colusa County in the research map. No CDCR adult prison, BOP prison, or ICE detention center was located inside Colusa County. That matters for search work. A person who is newly arrested in Colusa County may be held at Colusa County Jail, but a person sentenced to state prison should be searched through CDCR. A person in federal prison should be searched through BOP, and a person in immigration detention should be searched through ICE.
The official jail page below is a matching source image for the facility. It shows the county's jail information page, including local capacity, staffing, telephone, and visiting references.
The county jail source page is the official starting point for Colusa County Jail facility facts.
Use that source for facility basics, then use VINE, the jail phone, or sheriff records staff for a live custody question.
Colusa County Jail Capacity and Population
The official Colusa County Jail page lists capacity at 92 incarcerated persons. The 2023-2024 Colusa County Civil Grand Jury report gives the same current capacity and adds a point-in-time inspection count. On March 20, 2024, the Grand Jury found 58 people housed at Colusa County Jail, including 12 female incarcerated persons and 4 federal inmates. A pre-inspection interview on December 14, 2023 recorded 52 people in custody. These are dated counts, not a live daily roster.
The new jail project described by the Grand Jury is planned for 96 inmates, only four more than the current rated capacity. The report framed the project mainly as a replacement and modernization effort. It noted an outdated layout and aged infrastructure, a small asphalt recreation courtyard, and medical space that was hard to use for modern care. The Grand Jury also reported that the current jail was operating to annual inspection standards and that staff were professional and efficient.
Vera's 2021 Colusa County fact sheet adds broader context: the county had one jail, no state prisons, no juvenile facilities, a 2021 average daily jail population of 54, and 1,277 county jail admissions that year. Those figures should not be treated as current jail totals, but they fit the same pattern as the Grand Jury counts in the low-to-high 50s.
Colusa County Jail Inmate Lookup
No official county-hosted public jail roster or current-inmate profile page was located on the Colusa County Sheriff's Department site during research. The strongest official current-custody channel is Colusa County VINE and the public VINELink portal. The county states that VINE receives updates from the Colusa County Jail booking system every 15 minutes and is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
VINE is a custody-status and notification service. It can provide current custody status, custodial location, and an offender number when searched by name. It is not the same as a full jail roster, booking-photo gallery, court docket, or criminal-history report. If VINE does not show the person, the next official step is to call Colusa County Jail at (530) 458-0205 or the sheriff main line at (530) 458-0200. For a booking sheet, report copy, or a record not available through VINE, contact the Sheriff's Records Unit or make a written request under the California Public Records Act.
- Search VINE or VINELink by the person's full name or known alias.
- Use a date of birth, arrest date, middle initial, or offender ID when names are similar.
- Check whether the result places the person at Colusa County Jail or another custody location.
- Call the jail if VINE has no match, if booking may still be in progress, or if release status is unclear.
- Use sheriff records or a CPRA request for records that are not exposed through the custody-status channel.
Custody search note: VINE covers current custody notification. Filed charges, court dates, and case outcomes belong in Superior Court records after the District Attorney files a case.
Colusa County Jail Address and Contact
The jail and the sheriff's main office share the official Bridge Street campus. The jail phone is used for custody confirmation and operational questions, not for leaving messages for incarcerated persons. The county jail page states that incarcerated persons have access to collect-call phones, but the jail does not accept incoming calls or incoming phone messages. Sheriff records staff handle many public-record and front-counter tasks, including report processing and records routing.
Colusa County Jail
929 Bridge Street
Colusa, CA 95932
(530) 458-0205
Jail information and custody confirmation
Colusa County Sheriff's Department
929 Bridge Street
Colusa, CA 95932
(530) 458-0200
Office listed as open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
For a current jail question, start with VINE and then the jail phone. For a jail record, report copy, or possible booking-photo request, route the request to the Records Unit or sheriff front counter. The research did not locate a dedicated online CPRA form for Colusa jail booking records, so written requests should describe the record sought and include the person's full name, date of birth if known, arrest or booking date, case number if known, and the requester's contact details.
Colusa County Jail Visitation Schedule
Colusa County Jail allows two 30-minute visits per week. The official visiting-hours page says each visit requires an appointment at least one day in advance and a government-issued photo ID. The visiting appointment phone is (530) 458-0649. People under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, and children may not be left unattended in the lobby or visiting room.
Visitors should expect strict rules. The county bans mobile devices, purses, revealing clothing, wireless communication devices in visiting areas, and unauthorized communication with any person other than the incarcerated person the visitor signed up to see. People released from Colusa County Jail less than 90 days are not allowed to visit. A violation results in a 30-day visiting ban.
| Classification | Female Schedule | Male Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative separation | Tuesday and Thursday, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. | Tuesday, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to noon |
| General population | Wednesday and Friday, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. | Wednesday and Friday, 9:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. |
| High-profile | Tuesday and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to noon | Tuesday and Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. |
| Maximum security | Monday and Thursday, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. | Monday and Thursday, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. |
The official visiting-hours source shows the schedule by sex and classification.
The classification label matters because the same person may have different visiting times after a housing or security change.
Colusa County Jail Mail and Money
The official inmate-mail page allows letters, cards, and pictures through the mail. Books and magazines must come from a publisher or paid subscription, and the jail does not forward those items after release. The address format uses the incarcerated person's name, Colusa County Sheriff's Office, 929 Bridge Street, Colusa, CA 95932. Banned items include pornography, gang-related activity, violent content, packages, Polaroids, photos larger than 4 by 4, envelopes larger than 4 by 9, and mail with perfume or cologne odor.
Money for a jail account is separate from bail. The official bail, monies, and property page lists a 24/7 lobby kiosk that accepts cash, credit card, and debit card. Deposits can also be made through Access Corrections online or by telephone at (800) 546-6283, using the incarcerated person's name or ID number. Money orders can be mailed, but cash and personal checks should not be mailed. Remaining funds are returned to the incarcerated person by check upon release.
| Service | Official Detail | Important Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Letters, cards, pictures, and approved publisher materials | No packages, Polaroids, oversized photos, or prohibited content | |
| Phone | Collect calls from 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. | No incoming calls or phone messages accepted |
| Deposits | Kiosk, Access Corrections web, phone deposit, or money order | Name or ID needed; no cash or personal checks by mail |
| Property | Trial clothing and medically oriented allowances may be considered | General property is not accepted from the public |
| Commissary | Orders placed by Sunday evening are delivered Tuesday | Grand Jury reported a $150 weekly limit per inmate |
The county money and property source shows the official deposit channels for Colusa County Jail accounts.
Call before mailing funds or bringing property if the case involves release, trial clothing, medical items, or another agency hold.
Colusa County Jail Booking and Classification
Colusa County's public pages do not publish a full booking checklist, but the Grand Jury report and custody manual explain the process in useful terms. After arrest, a person may be transported to Colusa County Jail for in-processing. Intake can include identity review, search and property handling, health screening, initial classification, and a decision on whether the person will be housed, cited and released, released on own recognizance, released on bail, or released through another approved mechanism.
Classification is not random. The Colusa jail manual says the process identifies security and health issues so people can be held in a safe setting. Factors can include current charges, behavior during arrest or intake, criminal and incarceration history, mental and medical condition, risk to self or others, vulnerability, disabilities, sobriety, suicide risk, escape risk, separation needs, and PREA-related safety factors. The visiting schedule's administrative separation, general population, high-profile, and maximum security categories reflect those housing and supervision decisions.
- Booking
- The administrative intake process after arrest and before jail housing or release.
- Classification
- The jail decision on housing, supervision, safety, and separation needs.
- Detainer
- A request or hold from another agency, such as federal authorities or another jurisdiction.
- Own recognizance
- Release based on a promise to appear in court without posting money.
These internal steps can explain why a newly arrested person may not appear at once in a custody-status search. A person may still be in transport, in medical review, in sobering review, under OR or bail review, or released before a public custody channel updates.
Colusa County Jail and Other Locators
Colusa County Jail is the local jail, not the state prison system. After a Colusa County conviction and state-prison sentence, custody shifts to the CDCR CIRIS locator. CIRIS is for sentenced California state prisoners and may show CDCR number, name, location, admission date, commitment county, and release or parole-related information when available. CDCR's facility locator then helps identify the actual state prison. No CDCR adult prison is in Colusa County.
Federal and immigration custody are separate as well. The Grand Jury counted 4 federal inmates inside Colusa County Jail on March 20, 2024, but that dated count does not mean Colusa County has a BOP prison. Use the BOP inmate locator for federal prisoners from 1982 to present. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator System for immigration detention. ICE detainers can affect release from local custody, but ICE locator records and county jail records are not the same database.
Note: Before traveling for a visit or bond question, confirm custody with VINE and the jail because transfers and releases can occur quickly.
Colusa County Jail Programs and Project
The official jail programs page lists library services, Alcoholics Anonymous in English and Spanish, church services in English and Spanish, dental care, hair care, medical services, mental health services, school and literacy programming, work furlough, and MRT through probation. The custody manual adds that programs are subject to resources, classification, and security needs. That means availability can depend on housing status, staffing, approvals, and the facility's operating needs.
The 2023-2024 Grand Jury report gives rare local detail on programs and conditions. The jail had a classroom and well-stocked library, with education services staffed by a teacher from the Colusa County Office of Education. Program options included high school diploma, GED, literacy, and life-skills training. The report also noted that outside groups, including religious and substance-abuse organizations, had provided programs in the past, though COVID-19 limited outside staffing.
Medical and mental-health care were also part of the inspection. The Grand Jury reported onsite medical services by Wellpath under county contract, with one full-time RN, one part-time LVN, an on-call doctor, local hospital transport when needed, higher-level emergency medical transport for serious needs, and psychological services through Colusa County Behavioral Health Services as needed. The new jail project is expected to improve medical and recreation space, and the Grand Jury recommended moving quickly with construction, expanding educational technology, and reviewing contracted meal service with inmate feedback.
The official services and programs source lists the public-facing program categories at Colusa County Jail.
The Grand Jury material adds context on which programs existed during inspection and how the replacement jail could affect future services.