Someone You Love Was Just Arrested in Tulsa: Finding Them, Bond, and Their Belongings
The call comes late at night, or it never comes and you hear it from someone else. Either way, families ask me the same things: where are they, how do we get them out, and what happens to their phone, their wallet and their car. This is what I tell them about Tulsa County.
Finding them
When someone is arrested on a misdemeanor or felony charge in Tulsa County, they are booked into the David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center, the county jail at 300 North Denver Avenue. Booking takes time. They are searched, screened medically, photographed and fingerprinted, and only after that are they allowed to make phone calls to arrange bond or reach family. A few hours of silence is normal.
You can search for them by name through the Tulsa County Inmate Information Center, or call the jail at (918) 596-8900. If the arrest happened in another county, they will be in that county's jail instead.
How long they can be held before a judge looks at it
When someone is arrested without a warrant, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that a judge must decide whether there was probable cause for the arrest as soon as is reasonably feasible, and generally no later than 48 hours after it. A weekend does not stop that clock. County of Riverside v. McLaughlin, 500 U.S. 44, 57 (1991).
That review is not a trial, and it is not the same thing as the district attorney filing charges, which can come later. If your loved one has been held for days and no one can tell you whether a judge has reviewed the arrest, raise it with a lawyer.
Getting them out
Bond usually takes one of three forms. A cash bond is paid in full to the court. A surety bond goes through a bondsman, who charges a fee you do not get back. A personal recognizance bond, the PR bond people search for, is a signed promise to come back to court with no money up front, sometimes with supervision through Tulsa County Court Services.
The bond amount the jail lists is not always the last word. A lawyer can ask the judge to lower it or to release your family member on their own recognizance. Before you pay a bondsman a fee you will never see again, it is worth a call to find out whether that request makes sense.
Their phone, wallet and car
The jail inventories what a person has on them at booking. Any cash goes into their jail trust account, and the rest goes to the jail's property room, where family can pick it up. Call the property clerk at (918) 596-8872, Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., to schedule the pickup and ask what authorization they need from your family member before you drive down.
Anything taken as evidence is a different matter. It stays with the arresting agency, and for Sheriff's Office cases the TCSO Property Room will not release property to someone else without a notarized statement from the owner.
If their car was towed, the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety has an online stored vehicle finder. Storage charges keep running while it sits, so find it early.
Money, calls and visits
Money for phone calls and commissary goes on their trust account. You can deposit at the kiosks in the jail lobby with cash or a card for a small fee, online through jailATM.com or CSGpay.com, or by mailing a money order or cashier's check with their name and DLM number. The jail does not accept cash or personal checks.
Video visits are scheduled through jailATM.com. In-person visits are non-contact, on Fridays and Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and are limited to immediate family members who apply ahead of time. Friends and fiancés cannot visit in person.
Treat every call and every video visit as recorded. Talk about bond, the kids, work and the bills. Do not ask what happened, and do not let them tell you.
What actually helps the case
Write down what you know while it is fresh: when and where the arrest happened, who was there, and what the officers said. Save texts and photos. Stay off social media about it. Then get a lawyer involved before the first court date, not after it.
If someone you love was just arrested in Tulsa County, call (918) 221-6190 or request a consultation. Have their full name, the charge and the bond amount if you can, but do not wait on those to call. The first consultation is free, and you will talk with me directly.
This article is general information about Oklahoma criminal law, not legal advice for your situation.
Comments