Marin County Jail

Marin County Jail basic information to help guide you through what you can do for your inmate while they are incarcerated. The facility's direct contact number: 415-473-6655

The Marin County Jail is a medium-security detention center located at 13 Peter Behr Drive San Rafael, CA which is operated locally by the Marin County Sheriff's Office and holds inmates awaiting trial or sentencing or both. Most of the sentenced inmates are here for less than two years. Marin County accepts inmates from surrounding towns, municipalities, the US Marshal's Service and the San Rafael Police Department who do not have their own long-term lock-up.

The Marin County Jail is an operational function of the Sheriff’s Office Detention Services Bureau and it is located on the Civic Center grounds in San Rafael. In 2011 the Jail booked 7,441 individuals, and provided housing and care for an average daily population of 293 inmates. In addition, the Jail in conjunction with the Probation Department has over 200 sentenced individuals on county parole or work release programs.

The Jail houses all individuals who have been booked for a violation of law or sentenced by the Marin County Courts to serve a jail term (usually one year or less). The Jail houses both men and women; however no one under the age of 18 is housed in the Jail, except in certain cases dictated by law. Individuals enroute to another jail or prison may be temporarily held in the County Jail. State law and the state Corrections Standards Authority (CSA) set the standards by which a jail is operated.

• Inmates are allowed unlimited mail during their incarceration. When an inmate receives mail, it is opened and searched for contraband, cash, and money orders. The mail is then delivered to the inmate without unnecessary delay. Inmates may not receive hardback books, catalogues, brochures, or advertisements.
• Inmates may receive paperback books and magazines as long as they are sent from a bookstore or the publisher. The magazines and books, if not suitable for the jail, will either be returned to the sender or placed in the inmate’s property. The inmate will be notified of the reason for returning the book or magazine and / or why it was placed into their property.
• Any mail that contains illegal material will not be delivered to the inmate.
  • Address for sending mail to an inmate:
    (Inmate’s Name – First and Last)
    Marin County Jail
    13 Peter Behr Drive
    San Rafael, CA 94903

Inmate Phone Calls

• In accordance with section 851 of the California Penal Code, a person arrested has the right to three free completed telephone calls within the local calling area. The calls will be at the arrestees expense if they are outside of the local calling area. The calls may be made to an attorney, a bail bondsman, or a relative or other person.
• Once housed in the jail, an inmate has access to a telephone in each housing unit. These telephones can only make outgoing calls. They cannot receive calls. The calls made from the housing unit telephones are either collect or made with prepaid calling cards that are available through the facility commissary. Collect calls can be placed to phone numbers where collect calling is not restricted. Collect calls cannot be made to cellular telephones, answering machines, or third party calls.
• Under certain circumstances, phone numbers can be blocked so that inmates from within the facility cannot call those numbers. Those circumstances may include, but are not limited to, restraining order violations, harassment, and intimidation of a victim or witness. In addition, the inmate phone system will provide instructions to call recipients that they may block access to their phone numbers from jail inmates.
• The Custody staff is not allowed to take telephone messages for inmates. If you need to contact an inmate regarding a family emergency or other emergency situation, you may contact the housing Sergeant at (415) 499-7316.