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Twin Towers Correctional Facility Inmate Visitation

Twin towers correctional facility.

Address: 450 Bauchet Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 Phone: 213-893-5100

Twin Towers Correctional Facility Inmate Visitation Schedule and Visitation Rules

Using the GTL Online App to first  register , then  selecting an inmate and then making an appointment can be confusing, so if you are having trouble call the Inmate Video Visitation System Help Desk at  213-680-4887 (Monday thru Friday) between 7:00AM and 2:00PM. That said, if you follow the instructions that follow each step of the registration process, it's quite simple.

For those who prefer to ask questions using email .      VISITATION SCHEDULE

• Each inmate is allowed one 30 minute visit per scheduled visiting day, twice per week with a maximum of two persons at a time. Each child counts as one (1) person as well.
• Due to COVID restrictions, this may be limited to one adult and one child per visit. Call  213-680-4887 (Monday thru Friday) between 7:00AM and 2:00PM to confirm.
• Arrive at least one hour before your scheduled visit.
• IMPORTANT: Because of the large number of people that arrive to visit, you may want to plan on arriving at least one hour ahead of your scheduled visit time!
• Because visiting hours are subject to change without notice, it is a good idea to call the visitor’s line prior to making a visit. The best number to call for this is  213-473-6080 .
• Bring your confirmation number/receipt and a valid, government-issued photo ID.
• Visits take place at the Twin Towers Visitation Center 450 Bauchet Street  -  Los Angeles, CA 90012

** Holidays are: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day (the 4th of July), Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. NOTE: Holiday visits are subject to change.

Attorneys and Clergy Visitation

• Attorneys may visit inmates at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility Monday - Friday from 8:00AM to 7:00PM, or outside of those hours with prior approval from the Watch Commander.  
• Clergy members may make their own arrangements with the Chaplain’s office by calling 323-526-5390 . Clergy can visit any time, 24 hours a day.

      VISITATION RULES - Read them all. Failure to follow these may result in not getting a visit.... and you wasting a day.

• All visits must be scheduled in advanced. There will be no walk-in appointments allowed nor scheduled at Twin Towers Correctional Facility.
• All Visits to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility are arranged on a first-come, first-served basis.
• The absolute minimum time you should plan on, from arriving to leaving from the visit, is approximately three (3) hours.
• You must have proof of vaccine, proof of a recent (3 days) COVID test, or have proof of recovery in order to visit. 
• You must have a California state or US government issued ID card.
• Visitors must wear a mask at all times and maintain at least six feet of distance.
• Only one adult visitor or one adult with one child will be allowed at a time. (Note: During normal visitation, up to three visitors - which includes three children - are allowed per inmate. This may change once the pandemic panic is over). Call  213-680-4887 or  661-295-8074 to confirm prior to leaving for your visit.
• If you are a convicted felon or currently on parole or probation, you need a preapproval to visit. Fill out and submit this form , and you can expect to receive a letter within about a month granting or denying permission.
• Minors under 16 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. However, an inmate’s minor children between 12 and 16 may be able to visit without an adult with the prior approval of the facility unit commander.
• Appropriate paperwork is required of children as proof of status, including guardianship or emancipation.
• Children must show some form of a photo ID and remain closely supervised at all times.
• Personal belongings should be left behind or will be stored in lockers. Strictly prohibited items include cell phones/electronic devices/cameras, tobacco products, waterless hand sanitizers containing alcohol, medications (including homeopathic) hygiene products, stationery, carabiner shackle tools, plastics of all kinds.
• Do not arrive under the influence of alcohol or drugs (or with contraband in your possession) or you may be subject to arrest.
• Persons causing a disruption will be ejected from the visitation area
• There is also a strictly enforced dress code for visitors at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility. The following may deny you entry:  - Revealing clothing, such as strapless and midriff-baring tops, see-through material or display of cleavage  - Skirts, shorts or dresses that are higher than mid-thigh  - Gang-affiliated clothes and accessories  - Bare feet  - Swimsuits  - Bare torsos or muscle/sleeveless shirts  - Clothing with graphics depicting nudity, violence, drugs or gang themes .

Visiting an Inmate at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility

Twin towers correctional facility visitation page - find more of the the rules, policies and guidelines regarding inmate visitation below. read carefully and save yourself a trip, and a wasted day sitting around waiting, for nothing., can i visit an inmate in twin towers correctional facility custody.

Yes, Twin Towers Correctional Facility, as well as all jails, allow you to visit an inmate.

By federal law, every jail must make provisions for offenders in custody, whether they are pretrial or convicted and sentenced, to receive visits from friends or family. 

Every state has their own policies regarding the amount of time that a jail must provide offenders in their custody, and then every facility gets to set their own rules, number of times, schedules, etc.   Some jails only allow 30 minutes a month. Others as much as an hour every day.

Before visiting, your inmate will have to have put you on an ‘inmate visitor’s list.' Jails can limit this approved list to as few as five people to as many as twenty.

The jail will most likely run a targeted background check on you, checking for outstanding warrants, criminal convictions and other red flags that may indicate to them that you could be a problem for the jail, a bad influence on the inmate or just be someone whose past puts you in violation of their policies.

There are three different types of visitation: •    Video visitation  •    In-person non-contact visitation •    Contact visitation

For security and staffing reasons, many jails have switched to video visitation only. Video visitation, also referred to as remote visitation, is monitored and recorded by the facility. Video visits can either take place using kiosks in the jail’s lobby, from your computer at home, or using an app on your phone.

Most jails, now that the COVID pandemic is behind us, have gone back to ‘in-person non-contact visitation’ even if they have also retained the video visitation programs. In-person visitation takes place in a booth of sorts, with a thick plastic shield separating the inmate and their visitor. Communication is done using old-fashioned telephone receivers like you see in phone booths.

Contact visitation between inmates and visitors in jails is rare. New York is one state that allows this. In a few other states, inmates who have been sentenced for non-violent offenses and are close to being released, may sometimes be allowed contact visits with special permission. A contact visit allows the inmate and visitor a brief hug or kiss, or handshake, both at the beginning and the conclusion of a visit.

Contact visits are also often allowed between inmates and their lawyer, law enforcement officials, and clergy. The downside of any contact visit is that before returning to their units, inmates must undergo a full strip search, which is demoralizing and invasive.

Can I visit an inmate in state prison custody?

Yes, prisons allow you to visit an inmate. Every state has their own limits on the minimum amount of time an inmate is allowed to have for visits from friends or family, however in federal prison, inmates are allowed a minimum of four hours per month.

Once an offender is sentenced to prison, your inmate will have to fill out a document listing you as an approved visitor. If you are not on this list you will not be allowed to visit.

The prison will then run a background check on you, checking for outstanding warrants, criminal convictions and other red flags that may indicate to them that you could be a problem for the jail, a bad influence on the inmate or just be someone whose past puts you in violation of their policies.

Most prisons allow anywhere from ten to twenty approved visitors per inmate, however each visit is limited to no more than four visitors at a time, children included. The list is compiled by the inmate.

Prisons have always allowed contact visits. A contact visit allows the inmate and visitor a brief hug or kiss, or handshake, both at the beginning and the conclusion of a visit. Some state prisons allow inmates and their visitor to hold hands, as long as the hands are on the table where the guards can see them.

However, given the ongoing problem of contraband - namely drugs and tobacco - being smuggled into the prisons by visitors, even the state prisons are moving to non-contact and video visitation. One way the visitors pass drugs to inmates is when they kiss. The drugs, wrapped in a small balloon, are then swallowed by the inmate who passes them through their digestive system later in the privacy of their cell.

What are the scheduled Inmate visitation times at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility?

The jail visitation times change often.  It is advisable to contact the Twin Towers Correctional Facility before planning your visit by calling 213-893-5100 .

If the visit is taking place at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, whether in-person or by video, you will have to schedule the day and time with the jail.

Video visitation times from your home are much more flexible, often because you are not utilizing on of the few terminals in the jail lobby, and because the companies that handle the video visitation for the jail are providing inmates with hand-held computers, in addition to the video terminals they have in their units. 

We try to keep up with the visitation schedules for Twin Towers Correctional Facility, as well as every jail in the country. If we do have the schedule, you will find it on the top of this page.

How often can an inmate get visits?

Every state has their own policies regarding the amount of time that a jail must provide offenders in their custody, and then every facility, including Twin Towers Correctional Facility, gets to set their own rules, number of times, schedules, etc.   

Some jails only allow 30 minutes a month. Others as much as an hour every day.

Some jails require you to make an appointment one week in advance. Others require no appointment and work off the principle of ‘first come, first served’.

Every jail is different, and schedules can change; sometimes due to an emergency, the visit can be cancelled without notice, the moment you arrive at the jail.

Twin Towers Correctional Facility Visitation

We try to keep up with the visitation policies and schedules for Twin Towers Correctional Facility, as well as every jail in the country. If we do have the information on how often an inmate here can get visits, you will find it on the top of this page.

How long is a typical jail inmate’s visit?

An inmate visit can range from 15 minutes to an hour in length. We try to keep up with the visitation information for Twin Towers Correctional Facility, as well as every jail in the country. If we do have the information on how often an inmate here can get visits, you will find it on this page.

Typically, even though an inmate’s visit has a time limit, if you are visiting remotely from your home computer or cell phone, visits can be scheduled led back-to-back, so that even though your visit may have to start and stop every 15-30 minutes, you could visit with each other for hours at a time.

Keep in mind that video visits of this type do have a fee, as you are paying a third-party company. Prices fluctuate, based both on the company and the jail’s policy, but they typically cost about $0.30+- per minute.

How many people can visit an inmate at a jail or prison at one time?

Every jail makes its own policies regarding how many people can visit an inmate at one time. 

The factors that decide on the number of visitors are: 1.    How many people can fit into the visitation area comfortably. 2.    How many staff can oversee the visitation area. 3.    The more people visiting an inmate the more likely that if there is an argument, it is harder to control.

Most jails limit the number of visitors to no more than three or four, with a maximum of two of them being adults.

When doing a video visit from home, there is no limit on how many people can take part in a visit.

What are the inmate visitation rules for Twin Towers Correctional Facility?

Every jail and every prison have their own unique set of rules that must be followed when visiting an inmate, but in general, these are the guidelines:

Most important, you must first be on the inmate's approved visitation list that they create. •    Expect to have a background check done. •    Expect to be searched, go through a metal detector or pass a drug sniffing dog. •    You must be at least 18 years of age.  •    You must have a valid, government issued photo ID. •    Recently released inmates are either not allowed or must wait 6-12 months before being approved. •    Felons must get special permission. •    Children are allowed but must be with parent(s) or legal guardian. Birth certificate(s) or other legal proof is mandatory. •    Often babies are not allowed, but if they are, you will be allowed one diaper, one bottle and one teething ring, and maybe a baby carrier. •    Parents must be always in control of children. •    You must stay seated at all times. •    You cannot be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. •    No arguments, loud voices or fighting allowed. •    No cell phones or any electronic equipment allowed. •    No cigarettes, drugs, lighters allowed. •    No purses, handbags or backpacks allowed. •    No weapons allowed. •    It is likely that your ID and your car key will be the only things allowed on the visit.

What are the inmate visitation dress codes for Twin Towers Correctional Facility?

In general, all jails and prisons are the same when it comes to dress codes and what you are NOT allowed to wear to a visit. The Twin Towers Correctional Facility is no different.

Jails and prisons don’t want you wearing anything too revealing or too gangster. Here are some of the other types of clothing NOT allowed: •    Shorts •    Short skirts or dresses •    Long skirts or wrap around skirts •    Sleeveless clothing •    Low cut shirts or dresses. •    Underwire bras •    Skirts or dresses with slits. •    Sweats or leggings. •    Tank tops or wife beater shirts. •    Excess jewelry •    Hats or headbands •    See-through clothing •    Pajamas •    Sunglasses •    Wigs or toupees •    Uniforms or scrubs •    Heels over 1”

What can I bring to visit an inmate in Twin Towers Correctional Facility?

In general, the only thing you can bring into an inmate in a jail is either your ID and your car key, or if they have lockers, you can bring in the locker key. 

Prisons are a different story. Typically, prisons have vending machines in the visitation area and allow visitors to bring in a clear plastic purse with coins in it, usually totaling no more than $40.00.

What do I have to wear when visiting an inmate?

Refer to the answer above that explains the dress codes, but in general, if want to know what to wear to visit someone in jail, imagine you are visiting someone’s grandmother for the first time… wear that outfit.

Can we hold hands, hug or kiss during inmate visits?

There are no jails in the United States that allow contact visits as a matter of regular policy, except for jails in the state of New York. Thus, the concept of holding hands, kissing or hugging is not relevant.

On the other hand, prisons do allow contact visitors from friends and family. When this is the case, a brief kiss or hug (or handshake) is allowed at the start of the visit and the end of the visit. Holding hands above the table is sometimes allowed in prisons, but not in jails.

Can friends visit inmates in Twin Towers Correctional Facility, or just family?

By law, every inmate is entitled to a visitor, whether family or friend. The only exception to that is youths that are being held in secure juvenile detention centers. The only people allowed to visit them are parents, grandparents, legal guardians, and in some cases, siblings.

In addition, they are also allowed visits from probation officers, lawyers and their caseworkers.

What is a video visit?

Video visitation, also known as remote visitation, is quickly becoming the preferred method for visiting an inmate in jail or prison for the following reasons: •    It requires little to no staff, versus the staff required to move inmates to and from the visit and watch over the visit. It saves the Twin Towers Correctional Facility money. •    It removes any opportunity for contraband (drugs) to enter the facility. •    It can become a profit center for the facility, given that the revenue generated by visits is shared with the jail. •    While inmates prefer to see family and friends in person, video visitation allows them to visit with them more often, and on a whim. •    Video visitation gives the inmates and their visitors the feeling of more privacy. Video visitation from the perspective of the visitor allows them to visit from their home, their car, at work, and even allows them to take their device to a family or religious gathering. It allows them to give their inmate the feeling of belonging and not being forgotten.

Video visitation can take place on a computer, a tablet or a phone. 

Video visitation saves time. Instead of spending hours driving to the jail, checking in, filling out paperwork, potentially being searched, waiting, and then having a 15–30-minute visit, if it isn’t cancelled at the last minute, the visit can be done from anywhere during a short break in the visitor’s day.

If the visitor does not have access to a phone or computer, they can make an appointment ahead of time and use terminals in the lobby of the jail.

You must also be on the inmate's approved list, even for a video visit.

What are the companies that work with the jails and prisons that allow video visits?

There are several different companies that contract with all the jails and prisons that allow video visitation:

These are the companies in alphabetical order:

CIDNET City Tele Coin Correct Solutions Group Correct Pay Ctel Gettingout GTL Homewav IC Solutions Inmate Canteen Inmate Sales iwebvisits JailATM Jpay Gettingintouch (netvisit) NCIC Prodigy Sales Reliance Securus Smart Communications Tiger Services Visitel In addition, some jails use Microsoft Meeting and Zoom .

What is a conjugal visit?

A conjugal visit is a visit where the inmate is allowed to spend anywhere from several hours to a full weekend with their spouse. These visits are private, not recorded, and take place in a building, and an area of the prison away from the general population.

The purpose of the conjugal visit is to keep the inmate’s relationship with their spouse strong. Some conjugal visits also include the inmate’s children. A swing set and other recreational activities are available for the children to keep occupied.

There are no jails in the United States where conjugal visits are allowed, however the state prisons in California, Connecticut, Washington and New York all allow conjugal visits.

To be eligible, you need to be married, in good standing with the prison, have taken courses that prepare the inmates for these type of visits, and other requirements.

What jails or prisons allow conjugal visits?

Only California, Connecticut, Washington and New York state prisons allow conjugal visits. There are no jails in the United States that allow conjugal visits.

Other countries are much more liberal and some even allow prostitutes to visit the inmates on a weekly basis.

What can I do to appeal if my inmate visits are suspended?

An inmate can get their visitation privileges suspended for their behavior both because of their interactions with staff and inmates, or disobeying policy, or because of their behavior during visitation.

A visitor can get their visitation privileges suspended due to their behavior during an inmate visit or if they violate any of the rules and regulations of inmate visits and/or other jail policies such as mail, phone, email, etc.

If either the inmate or their visitor disagrees with the suspension of their visitation privileges, they need to write a letter explaining their position to the Jail Warden, County Sheriff or the Captain in charge of the facility’s visitation.

Address the letter to: Twin Towers Correctional Facility PhysicalAddressHtml}

The letter should contain the following: •    Inmate’s full name they were booked under and their  Inmate ID# (booking #, etc.). If you know the Unit # and cell #, write that as well. •    The visitor’s (you) full name, Identification Card number (driver's license, state ID, passport, etc.), home address, telephone number and email address. •    Explanation of what occurred that led to the suspension, including the date, time, who was the staff member present, whether it was a face-to-face visit or video visit. •    Why do you believe the suspension was unwarranted. •    A full-blown apology if it was accidental. •    Why it’s important to the inmate to continue visitation. •    What type of suspension you agree to if it happens again.

You should also offer to come to the jail and present your case face-to-face if they are open to the request. It is harder to turn down a person when they are directly in front of you, asking for your help.

In situations like this it is always best to keep the correspondence cordial, professional and detailed. Do not attack the staff member personally. It is always possible that the staff member was having a bad day or was still feeling anxiety or anger from dealing with a previous issue.

Being a correctional officer in a jail or prison is a very difficult thing. They have be ‘on guard’ against physical attacks, manipulations, lies and really bad behavior at all times. They are ‘the enemy’ and they know it. By putting yourself in their shoes when writing or requesting a suspension be reconsidered, goes a long towards a final resolution that you will be pleased with.

Can I visit an inmate in the if I have a criminal record?

In most jails it is required that you fill out a visitation application prior to visiting an inmate. You also have to be approved to be a visitor by the inmate. Even when visiting by video, you will need to give your personal information which includes your driver’s license or state ID number. 

The jail will use this information to do a quick background check on you to see if you have a criminal history or have any outstanding active warrants.

It is most likely that you will also be asked on the application form if you have ever been arrested, been convicted, or spent time in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility. If the answer is yes, they will want details, dates, etc.   If you lie about this and get caught, you will lose your right to visits for a period.  This is usually between one year and indefinitely.

If you are a convicted felon, you will have to apply directly to the sheriff. If you are a spouse, child or parent, you have a pretty good chance of getting approved than if you are just a friend. On the other hand, on rare occasions, some jails have adopted a zero-tolerance policy and never allow felons to visit.

If you recently did time in Twin Towers Correctional Facility, it is most likely that you will not be approved for a visit for a period of six to twelve months, starting on the day of your release. It is rare, but some jails have adopted a zero-tolerance policy and never allow previous inmates to visit, even if your previous conviction was for a misdemeanor.

What if I have a criminal record and the inmate is my child, can I still visit?

As explained in the previous answer, there are generally multiple hoops you must jump through in order to be approved to visit an inmate, if you have a criminal record, specifically if you are a convicted felon, or have recently spent time as an inmate in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.

However, if you are a parent of a child in jail, that is one of the rare times that the jail will make an exception and allow you to visit.

Can a juvenile in jail or detention get visits?

Juvenile visits are limited to parents, legal guardians and grandparents. Sometimes siblings are allowed, but this is not always the case. If the caseworker or staff of the facility believe that it's in the best interests of the resident to have siblings visit, it will be approved.

Can children visit inmates in Twin Towers Correctional Facility?

Most jails will allow inmates to receive visits from their children, however if the child is under age 18, they will need to be accompanied by an adult. Further the adult must be able to legally prove their relationship to the child using either a valid birth certificate, adoption papers or paperwork that proves they are the legal guardian.

If there is a ‘no contact’ order in place in which the inmate has lost their parental rights, and this is not disclosed to the jail, then the inmate may lose visitation rights with other visitors or lose other privileges within the jail, as this is a violation of the law.

Because the presence of children can be a distraction for inmates during visitation, and children require a certain number of things (toys, etc.) to keep them busy, many jails are now setting apart certain days, usually on the weekends, for children to visit.

Children also have to be on the inmate's approved visitor list.

To confirm the visitation rules at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility regarding child visits, call 213-893-5100 to speak to a staff member.

Are babies allowed to visit inmates at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility?

Most jails do allow babies to visit. They will require a birth certificate. And given the baby’s needs, they allow the parent to bring in extra items to the visitation room; an extra diaper, a few wipes, a clear bottle with fluid, a pacifier and a baby carrier, for example.

There are some jails however that never allow babies in the visiting room. The cutoff age is usually about two years old.

To confirm the visitation rules at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility regarding baby or infant visits, call 213-893-5100 to speak to a staff member.

How do I check to see if I have a criminal record?

Most people already know if they have a criminal record. Sometimes they do, but it does not show up on a background check. This is usually because the person has undergone a name change at some point, or the name was misspelled when the data was entered by the court. 

The best place (and least expensive) for the most comprehensive nationwide website to find out if you have a criminal record is privaterecords.net , and they only cost $1.00 for 7-day trial.  

How to be Approved to Visit an Inmate in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility

Inmate Visitation Polices and Procedures at any one of the Los Angeles County Jails

 Twin Towers Correctional Facility  requires all visitors to register and fill out an online application prior to your visiting an inmate, so you may as well start the process now, so when they do get classified and are transported to another facility, you will be ready. Carefully fill out the application  because incomplete paperwork is cause for denial. Honesty, especially regarding past criminal convictions, probation etc., is important. These things will most likely show up on the background check – which if lied about on the application , will cause visits to be denied. Call 213-680-4887 Monday - Friday 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM  or email the Inmate Visitation Office at [email protected] to ask specific questions about the application. Click here to go to the jail's website for more information about the application process. 

IMPORTANT!! ...  If you are on probation, parole or are an ex-felon, you also need to fill out a special application . 

After filling it out it needs to be mailed or dropped off to the following address:

Men's Central Jail - Legal Unit 441 Bauchet Street Los Angeles, CA 90012

Phone Number for Assistance with this application is 213-974-0101

• If you are scheduled to visit and are running late and you cannot be checked-in by staff in time, your scheduled visit will be subject to cancellation.
• Same day visits can be scheduled two (2) hours in advance.  
• Professionals and Public visitors for inmates located in the Correctional Treatment Center or newly booked at any one of our Sheriff Stations are allowed to visit without an appointment.
• Please confirm with staff for availability before arriving.
• Please check your e-mail before arriving for any visitation updates and/or cancellations which may/can sometimes occur.

Can You Do a Video Visit from Home?

As of January 2023, LA County Jails DO NOT yet offer 'at home' video visitation, however Twin Towers Correctional Facility does have on-site kiosks available for video visitation.

• When scheduling your visit , choose the option for either a regular, public 'no contact' visit .... which means you will be separated by plexiglass .... or an 'at the facility' video visit. 
• Many jails are implementing video visits. These visits are conducted via the Internet on computers, iPADS and smartphones, both iOS and Androids.
• Video visits allow the visit to take place in the privacy of your own home. Some family members 'take their inmate with them' to church, the park, the doctor or anywhere else simply by signing in and bringing the device along.
• Video visits save you from having to get your children ready, drive to the jail, wait in long lines and go through security checkpoints just to see the inmate.
• Video visitation is slowly gaining favor with all jails in America as jail management realizes the financial savings and reduced security risks involved with remote visitation.

**WARNING** Every word, sound and action is captured and saved during video visits. Everthing is scanned by artificial intelligence software or law enforcement officials and can and will be used against you in court, so be careful what you say and do.

Who Can Visit an Inmate?

Who Can Visit an Inmate at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility?

Anyone over the age of 18, who hasn't been convicted of a felony, isn't on felony probation and can produce a valid government-issued photo ID can be approved to visit an inmate in this jail. All minors under age 17 must be accompanied by a parent or a legal guardian with appropriate paperwork to verify legal guardianship.

Visitation applicants in Los Angeles County may have to submit to a background check. Those with warrants are denied visitation or if allowed to visit, will be arrested at the jail.

Twin Towers Correctional Facility limits the number of people that can visit an inmate to six (6) people each visit, 3 Adults & 3 Minors. This may be reduced during times of medical emergencies.

Children count as one (1) visitor regardless of age.

Visits are limited to 30 minutes each visit.

Inmates are granted one (1) visit per day and two (2) visits within the visiting week.

If you are a co-defendant with the inmate in a pending case, your visit will be denied.

If you and the inmate are under a court order to have no contact with each other, your visit will be denied.

The Twin Towers Correctional Facility will deny visitation to anyone with a past felony conviction regardless of probation/parole status, however visitors with a past felony conviction, on probation or on parole MUST complete this special application and wait for approval before being allowed a visit with an inmate in LA County Jail.

The Twin Towers Correctional Facility reserves the right to deny any person the right to enter the jail it chooses and for any reason. Call  213-680-4887 Monday thru Friday between 7:00AM and 2:00PM if you have any questions.

Twin Towers Correctional Facility Visitation Dress Code

Twin Towers Correctional Facility DRESS CODE and PROHIBITED BEHAVIOR & ITEMS

**It is recommended that the only things you bring into the jail when visiting is a single key and your ID**

Dress Code All Visitors must wear ‘appropriate’ footwear & apparel. Bare midriffs, strapless tops, tube tops, and swimsuits are prohibited. See-through clothing is prohibited. The top of the clothing shall not be lower than the underarm in the front and back. Shorts & Skirts shall be an ‘appropriate’ length. Shorts shall cover the lower stomach and the buttocks and crotch area, both when standing and sitting. Shorts and skirts no higher than the mid-thigh comply with dress code. No clothing that depicts drugs, gangs, nudity or violence. Shirts must be worn at all times. No muscle or sleeveless shirts. Shoes must be worn at all times. 

Prohibited Behavior No person shall be under the influence of alcohol, narcotics or drugs will be permitted. Violators are subject to arrest. No disrupting the visiting process in any manner. Violators will have their visit cancelled and will be asked to leave. No loud and boisterous behavior, arguing or fighting is allowed. Violators will have their visit cancelled and will be asked to leave. Prohibited Items No drugs, alcohol or weapons are allowed on the property. Violators will be subject to arrest. No cell phones, tablets, laptops, electronic or wireless device. No cameras or any flash media. No tobacco products, lighters or matches. No carabineer or climbing assisted equipment. No waterless hand sanitizer containing alcohol. No weapons of any kind, made of any shape, form or material. No drugs of any kind, in any form or substance. No hygiene products of any kind; makeup, soap, etc. No medications or health aid products of any kind – including over the counter. No stationary or plastic products of any type or form.

When on the jail property, all visitors and their vehicles are subject to search at any time. Random security checks of persons, their property and vehicles are conducted and considered necessary to provide safety and security for the facility, inmates, employees and visitors.

Visitation Tips, Rules and Guidelines

Twin Towers Correctional Facility visits are conducted in person behind plexi-glass or on a televised screen from another location.

• Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and guardians must provide proof of their guardianship.
• Leave all personal belongings, except for your state ID in your vehicle or in a locker (if one is provided).
• Children must be monitored at all times or jail staff will end the visit early.
• Call 213-680-4887  for any visitation questions that are not answered on this page.

How to Deposit Money in a Twin Towers Correctional Facility Inmate's Account

There are two ways to deposit money in an inmate's account in the Los Angeles County Jail system: 1.  Mailing a Payment - $200 maximum

Mailing Address: Inmate's Full Name & Booking Number PO BOX 86164 Terminal Annex Los Angeles, CA 90086-0164

2.  Dropping off a payment - $200 maximum When dropping off an inmate's money in person, the Twin Towers Correctional Facility will only accept:

• US Postal Money Orders, or
• Certified Bank Cashier Checks from banks in California for deposit into an inmate’s account.

Locations to drop off inmate money:

Inmate Reception Center 450 Bauchet Street Los Angeles, CA 90012

Century Regional Detention Facility 11705 S. Alameda Street Lynwood, CA 90262

For complete information and guidelines for sending an inmate money including: the maximum you can send, what form the payment has to be, the maximum an inmate can have in their account and more, check out our Inmate Money page.

How to Send Mail to an Inmate in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility

They are also allowed to receive books, magazine and newspapers directly from trusted publishers and businesses.

To learn all the rules, policies and guidelines, and they are extensive, for sending anything in the mail to an inmate at any of the Los Angeles County Jails, check out our Inmate Mail Page.

How to use a Tablet to Access Services at Twin Towers Correctional Facility

To find out how to get access to a tablet for an inmate read the following:

To learn more about Tablet Rentals for inmates, including the cost, all the services available and everything else you need to know, check out our  Tablet Rental  Page.

How Do You Communicate with an Inmate in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility by Phone

• Advance Pay - This phone account allows you to prepay so that your inmate can call you (and only you) whenever he/she wants and the cost of each call is deducted from your balance. You can even be notified by text when your balance gets low. You still have the option of accepting or rejecting each call.
• Pin Debit   -  This option allows you to fund an inmate's commissary account and lets him pay for phone calls to you and others with the money. You will have no control over who your inmate calls.
• Voicemail   -  You can leave a secure voicemail without having to contact the facility. When you call the local phone number for a facility offering Inmate Voicemail (call Customer Service at 877-650-4249 to get the local voicemail number for Twin Towers Correctional Facility, you will be informed of the cost for leaving a message. To leave your message, simply select the inmate by ID number. Then, record your voicemail.

For full instructions on the Twin Towers Correctional Facility Inmate Phone System, what the costs are, how it works, and tips and guidelines on rules, regulations and saving money on calls, check out our  Inmate Phones  Page .

How do Inmates at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility Communicate using Email?

For more information on how jails across America are using third-party email services to allow communication between inmates and their loved ones, check out our Inmate Email page.

How to Arrange Visitation with Twin Towers Correctional Facility Inmates

• Register yourself.
• Select your inmate .
• Schedule your preferred time for the visit.

Inmate Visitation times in Twin Towers Correctional Facility vary based on many considerations. After you select your inmate, you will be given the option of available time slots.

For all the information you need to know regarding scheduling, times, cost, rules, tips and guidelines of inmate visits at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, check out our  Visit Inmate  Page.

How to Send a Carepack Commissary Package Directly to an Inmate in Los Angeles County

To send a commissary carepack (food, snacks and goods) directly to an inmate in Twin Towers Correctional Facility follow these steps:

• Select California, then select Twin Towers Correctional Facility, and then select the 'Send a Package Order' option.
• Register and create an account with Access Securepak, for Los Angeles County.

• Choose the inmate and the products you want shipped to them, and input your payment method. 
• NOTE: There may be a limit on how much product you can send your inmate in Los Angeles County at any one time.

For all information, tips and available items for shipping  Commissary  packages to an inmate in Twin Towers Correctional Facility check out our Commissary Instructions Page  for Los Angeles County.

Photos of this facility

Twin Towers Correctional Facility Contact Information

Why was 2023 such a deadly year in Los Angeles County jails? It depends on whom you ask

I t was well after dark, but Tawana Hunter lingered in the hospital parking lot, watching the minutes tick by on her phone. As midnight drew closer, she ran through all the things she wished had been different.

She wished her father had been in better health. She wished he hadn’t gotten arrested. She wished he hadn’t spent the last few months of his life in jail. And she wished that, right now, he wasn't dying alone, handcuffed to a hospital bed.

After almost two hours of wishing and waiting, her phone rang.

“I’m sorry,” the woman began. Tawana knew what came next.

Jubal Hunter, 60, was one of 45 Los Angeles County inmates who died in custody last year, one of the deadliest years in recent history. Though the number of people in the county’s lockups is roughly a third less today than what it was a decade ago, the number of fatalities has risen so much that the annual death rate has more than doubled in that time frame. Suicides are slightly down after a sharp spike in 2021, but natural deaths are up, killings are up, and overdoses are way up compared to 10 years ago.

Yet no one seems to agree on why. Jail leaders, oversight officials and inmate advocates have cited various causes including fentanyl, COVID-19 and overcrowding. Sheriff Robert Luna, whose department runs the jails, has blamed the poor health of the inmates leading up to their arrest. Many, he told The Times , receive the “best healthcare” of their lives while incarcerated.

But a Times review of thousands of pages of autopsies, lawsuits, medical records and oversight reports found another common thread stretching across all causes of death: neglect, by both guards and medical staff.

In recent years, records show, inmates have died from jumping off railings, banging their heads against a wall and injecting drugs with makeshift needles — all in view of jail surveillance cameras that no one watched until later. At least three inmates died after stuffing paper, sanitary napkins or other items down their throats, asphyxiating before anyone intervened.

Last year, one man died after he was beaten and left bleeding for four hours before guards noticed. And last month, one man’s family filed a lawsuit alleging he was neglected for so long that his body was “cool to the touch” by the time staff found him dead from an “easily treated” medical condition.

“We think about people dying in interactions with the justice system when they’re saying, ‘I can’t breathe,’ with a knee on their neck,” said Nicholas Shapiro, a UCLA researcher who studies Los Angeles jail deaths. “But a lot of these deaths are happening in ‘I can’t breathe’ scenarios due to neglect and a lack of access to healthcare.”

Repeatedly, oversight officials have questioned the quality and frequency of required safety checks and raised concerns in quarterly reports about jailers who delay taking action when confronted with medical emergencies. Meanwhile, state authorities with the Board of State and Community Corrections cited the jails for noncompliance so many times that this year they asked the sheriff to answer questions in person about why staff fail to check on inmates at least hourly.

In a statement to The Times this week, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said all deaths are "tragic" but did not offer comment on individual cases.

"The Department takes every in-custody death seriously and strives to make every effort possible to prevent similar deaths in the future," the statement said.

Similarly, the county agency that oversees jail healthcare said in a statement that it cannot comment on individual cases due to medical privacy laws.

"The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services is proud to provide high-quality, patient-centered care to all L.A. County residents, including inmates who receive care through Correctional Health Services," the statement said, adding that the Sheriff's Department is "ultimately responsible for escorting incarcerated persons in custody to the on-site medical clinic for care and treatment."

When Tawana found out her father was in jail, at first she didn’t believe it, she told The Times. Though he’d done some prison time in his younger years, the man she knew was a kind grandfather, not a troublemaker. He loved taking his grandchildren to the park and spoiling them with doughnuts.

Yet in September 2020, Jubal was arrested and charged with murder after prosecutors said he shot a man to death outside his South Los Angeles apartment. Jubal said he didn’t do it. And according to his attorneys, he had simply shooed away a would-be thief prowling around his broken-down car, then gone back inside. There was no camera footage of the killing, and no eyewitnesses.

But it was a serious accusation, and Jubal had prior convictions. So the court set bail at $4 million, and he had to stay in jail amid the worsening pandemic. Court records show he had thyroid problems, diabetes, kidney failure, carpal tunnel syndrome and high cholesterol. He required dialysis three times a week, and he needed a wheelchair to get around. His daughter suspected he was in such poor health he wasn’t physically able to kill anyone.

“Clearly they got the wrong dude,” she remembered thinking, assuming that someone would soon figure out the mistake and let her father out.

Instead, he sat in Men’s Central Jail for more than two years, waiting for his chance at trial.

No one knows how many people die in jails and prisons across the country each year, so it’s difficult to say how the problem in Los Angeles compares to other places. But over the past few years, the deteriorating conditions and rising death tolls in lockups from New York to Texas to California have attracted increasing scrutiny.

A decade ago, there were more than 18,600 inmates in the Los Angeles County jails, but by the end of last year that figure had fallen to under 12,200, according to county data . Over the same span, state data shows the death toll rose from 28 in 2014 to at least 50 in 2021 before falling to 45 last year.

Despite the lack of consensus on the cause of that uptick, there are some clear trends. A Times analysis of records from the California Department of Justice shows that natural deaths in Los Angeles jails have gone up 40% since 2014, while the number of unnatural deaths — a category that includes homicides, suicides and overdoses — rose by at least 65%.

Last month, a government watchdog report noted a similar shift in federal prisons, where unnatural deaths went up by roughly 50% from 2014 to 2021. And, as in Los Angeles, the report found that skipped welfare checks, slow responses and other negligence were some of the factors that may have contributed to that increase.

In Los Angeles County, those lapses are readily apparent in the rising number of overdoses. Last year, Sheriff’s Department officials said that out of 45 jail inmate deaths, 12 were drug-related — more than twice as many as a decade earlier when the jail population was much larger.

In one case, a 35-year-old man overdosed on a jail bus in September, according to a quarterly oversight report . Staff waited 15 minutes to pull over and render aid, and the man died later at a hospital.

Three months later, another quarterly report showed that jailers at North County Correctional Facility in Castaic skipped several required safety checks before discovering an inmate who had overdosed. As in several other cases The Times reviewed, jailers only learned of the medical emergency after other inmates summoned them for help.

When a 29-year-old collapsed at North County Correctional Facility in 2022, other inmates were the first to respond, administering an overdose-reversing drug the Sheriff’s Department now keeps mounted on the jail walls . It was only after the man died that officials discovered that jail surveillance footage had captured him loading a makeshift syringe at his bunk and asking another inmate to help him inject it into his neck, according to autopsy records . Deputies later reported seeing him inject drugs on camera a few weeks before his death.

Some of the same problems showed up in a Times review of jail suicides, which spiked in 2021 when 11 people killed themselves. That May, one man with a history of trying to kill himself banged his head against a wall 60 times, according to an autopsy report. No one intervened and he later died of blunt force trauma — at which point officials reviewed camera footage and realized what had happened.

A few months earlier, autopsy records show , a man with a history of suicide attempts tried to kill himself by removing his tracheostomy tube and stuffing Q-Tips into his airway. After his cellmates alerted the guards, he was taken to the hospital — but quickly sent back to Men’s Central Jail where, the following day, he tried to remove the tube again. As jailers walked him to get medical help, he collapsed. The paramedics who tried to save him realized that he had again stuffed a Q-Tip into the breathing device.

Since then, autopsy records and oversight reports show that at least two other prisoners have died after stuffing materials — in one case paper and in one case a maxi pad — down their throats before staff intervened.

Of the dozens of cases The Times reviewed from the past three years, several involved inmates who were held in isolation despite warning signs, including histories of mental illness and recent suicide attempts. In at least one case, records showed jailers couldn’t pinpoint exactly when the prisoner was last known to be alive.

Typically, homicides are the least common type of unnatural death in Los Angeles County jails, but in recent years they’ve been on the rise. Last year, there were four inmate-on-inmate killings. In one case, an oversight report noted that the victim and his suspected killer had been housed together improperly, even though the jail’s cellmate matching system indicated that the two were “not a compatible match.”

In another 2023 case, a 50-year-old mentally ill man was beaten in the shower at Men’s Central Jail and left on the floor for two hours. Other inmates moved him to his bunk where he lay bleeding for another two hours before jail staff noticed.

This year, county Inspector General Max Huntsman pointed to the failure to monitor jail surveillance cameras as an ongoing problem.

“People died recently,” he told the L.A. County Board of Supervisors in January, “while in full view of video cameras, in which there could have been an intervention, and there wasn’t, because nobody was watching.”

The Sheriff's Department did not offer comment on that characterization but said it has a "more complicated" inmate population than in the past. In 2017, officials said, 27% of the jail population had mental health problems. Now, that figure is 42%.

Without providing evidence, the department also said there are more inmates with medical problems and addiction issues than there used to be — though, in the past, attorneys and inmate advocates have questioned those assertions.

When Jubal’s case finally went to trial early last year, his lawyers tried to tell the jury he didn’t kill anyone.

“We believed he was factually innocent of this crime,” public defender Brooke Longuevan told The Times.

But the efforts to prove that moved along slowly, in part because Jubal needed to go to dialysis three times a week. Sometimes, the proceedings got derailed by his lawyers’ concerns about his care and the conditions at the jail. He didn’t seem to have enough warm clothes, and, on the first day of trial, Longuevan said, Jubal showed up in a makeshift hat that other inmates had knitted out of a sock.

After that, jail staff sent him to court without his medically approved meals so frequently that eventually his lawyers got the judge to sign an order requiring them to give him meals he could eat.

One day, two weeks into the trial, he didn’t show up for court at all — and that was how his lawyers said they learned he was in the hospital.

“We went to the hospital to see if we could see him,” Longuevan said. “And we got there and the sheriffs told us we couldn’t — even though we had a court order.”

For days, the deputies refused to let Jubal’s lawyers in, Longuevan wrote in court filings. At one point, she said, deputies claimed attorneys for the county told them not to let the lawyers see him — though the county attorneys denied that when Longuevan contacted them the next day. So Jubal’s lawyers returned to the hospital, where Longuevan said a lieutenant threatened to arrest them if they didn’t leave.

Eventually, they found out Jubal had COVID-19 and was receiving oxygen. And as the days ticked by, the legal team grew increasingly worried, both about his health and about the possibility that the delays would lead to a mistrial, forcing them to start all over again in court.

But by early February his condition had improved enough that he was cleared for discharge — if the Sheriff’s Department would agree to pick him up.

“Our understanding from LASD jail staff is that they are declining to transport Mr. Hunter back to the jail because of his oxygen requirements,” Longuevan wrote in a worried email to the jail medical director.

The medical director replied three days later, saying he’d look into it. By the following day, Jubal was back in the jail, and able to call his daughter again.

“I still feel short of breath,” she remembered him saying, as she listened to him struggle for air and wondered why he’d been sent back to the jail. She thought he was supposed to be released with oxygen, and he didn’t seem to have it.

“They released me,” he continued, “but I’m not OK.”

Though unnatural deaths have risen sharply, natural deaths — those caused by disease and illness — still account for roughly half of the yearly fatalities in L.A. County jails. And while research shows that inmates are disproportionately likely to have certain chronic health problems before ending up in custody, inadequate care behind bars can cause those problems to become deadly.

Last winter, the jails came under fire for failing to provide enough warm clothing when two inmates died after showing signs of hypothermia . One, a 61-year-old man housed at Twin Towers jail, had a body temperature of 87.6 degrees by the time he arrived at the hospital. He died three weeks later of multiple organ failure, records show.

In June, when deputies found a 55-year-old man unresponsive in his cell at Men’s Central Jail, the medical examiner chalked his death up to a “history of heart failure.” According to oversight reports , his family had been telling jail officials for months that he needed more medical care and that he seemed to be deteriorating. By the time he died, he’d lost roughly 100 pounds — and neither the Sheriff’s Department nor jail healthcare providers had noticed or intervened.

His case was one of several in which records show that inmates and their families warned officials of serious symptoms — such as vomiting , diarrhea and pain — that went untreated for days or weeks before their deaths. In a lawsuit filed last year, one female inmate's family alleged the woman died from untreated alcohol withdrawal days after she was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting. Her death was considered accidental.

When 32-year-old Travis Freeman was booked into jail last May, he had a number of medical problems, including hepatitis, fentanyl addiction, alcohol dependence and bipolar disorder. Though the jail treated some of these problems, according to a lawsuit filed last month, staff “completely ignored” his stomach ulcers. At one point, he went to urgent care because he was throwing up — but he was soon sent back in a cell at Men’s Central Jail.

A few days later, his cellmates started calling for help when they noticed he’d fallen unconscious. By the time staff arrived, the lawsuit said, Freeman was “pulseless, not breathing, pale, and cool to the touch.” He was declared dead at the jail, and the medical examiner later noted that his gastrointestinal tract was filled with blood caused by duodenal ulcers.

“Such a condition is easily treated, produces symptoms over an extended period of time, and does not cause sudden death,” the lawsuit said . “Both the medical and custody staff were deliberately indifferent to Mr. Freeman’s medical needs in that they ignored his obvious suffering, symptoms and need for help, and failed to summon emergency medical care in a timely manner.”

The suit also described other delayed responses in recent years, including one case in which a woman died after jailers didn’t act immediately when they discovered her unresponsive and covered in feces. Neither the Sheriff's Department nor the Health Department offered comment on the lawsuit or the cases it mentions.

At a recent meeting of the Board of Supervisors, one of the jail’s top doctors said part of the problem is that there aren’t enough jailers to bring inmates to their medical visits.

“I don’t have the people to get my patients to me,” Dr. Tim Belavich told supervisors in January. “There aren’t enough workers to get the patients to the appointments so they can be seen, and seen timely.”

Two weeks after Jubal got out of the hospital, his trial ended.

“It was a hung jury,” Longuevan said. “But he wasn’t there for it.”

Hours earlier, on the evening of Feb. 21, 2023, he’d been rushed back to the hospital with respiratory failure. Over the next few weeks, medical records show, he nearly died at least twice, tested positive for COVID-19, went into septic shock and was eventually intubated.

Then on March 10, Tawana said, the hospital called and asked her to come in and talk about taking her father off life support. His lawyers tried to get the court to grant a compassionate release so his family could visit him more freely in his final days — but Longuevan said they couldn’t get the hospital to give them the paperwork they needed in time.

In the end, the jail and the hospital agreed to let Jubal’s family come see him for a couple of hours on the evening of March 15. His relatives gathered at the Los Angeles General Medical Center and waited more than an hour for someone to let them in. By the time medical staff extubated him, only 20 minutes remained in the scheduled visit.

When they left, Jubal was barely breathing. He looked frail and pallid — a shadow of the man Tawana knew.

She assumed it wouldn’t be long, so she stayed nearby to wait. When the call finally came, Tawana remembers asking the hospital representative if she could come in to see her father’s body.

At first, the woman said she wasn’t sure. More than an hour later, Tawana said, the hospital called back with an answer.

No. The jail wouldn’t allow it.

Troubling deaths in the Los Angeles County jails are not a new phenomenon. In a study published last year , Shapiro and his fellow researcher, UCLA professor Terence Keel, detailed a case in 2016 in which a 33-year-old died of dehydration and another in 2010 in which a teenager starved to death.

The study, which analyzed 58 autopsies, also found that “medical neglect and incompetence” were key drivers of natural deaths in the Los Angeles jails. But understanding factors that might contribute to jail deaths still doesn’t explain why those deaths kept rising.

“I’m baffled,” said Melissa Camacho, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. “I don’t have any reason to believe that deputies or medical staff are any more neglectful in recent years than in the past, and I don’t have any reason to believe that people are entering in the jails in a different state of health than in years past. To me it’s a sign that the county has not taken an all-hands-on-deck approach.”

State and county data show that the pandemic and the fentanyl crisis account for some of the increase. But if the jail death rate stayed where it was a decade ago, a Times analysis found, there would have been fewer than 20 deaths last year. Instead, there were more than 40 — a far larger jump than either overdoses or COVID-19 would explain.

“I have resigned myself to not figuring that out,” Shapiro said. “There are so many forces that ebb and flow, and they have coalesced in a way that resulted in a lot of deaths. Maybe they will reduce over the next year — but that doesn’t mean we’ve improved anything.”

In a December interview with The Times , Luna was similarly perplexed.

“Every time I see a notification that somebody dies in our custody, it’s like, ‘What the heck?’ You don’t want to see any,” he said. “I don’t want anything to go wrong while they’re in our custody.”

In recent months, the sheriff and others have offered solutions: buying newer body scanners to search inmates for drugs, building a new facility with more space for treatment and hiring more staff. And so far, data show that 2024 is on track to be less deadly than 2023.

Such progress brings little comfort to the Hunter family.

Early last spring, a judge finally dismissed the case against Jubal. It was not because he was innocent but because, by that point, he was dead.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .

Opinion: A deadly but curable disease is thriving in L.A.’s jails. That’s unacceptable

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During my five years as a doctor in Los Angeles County’s jail system, I personally saw hundreds of patients with hepatitis C who were not being treated for the potentially deadly but curable disease. While hepatitis C treatment improved incrementally during my tenure, the system continues to fall woefully short of the sort of concerted effort that could dramatically reduce the toll of the infection within and beyond the jails.

Hepatitis C, a viral, blood-borne liver disease, is very common in the jails. More than a third of inmates tested are positive. That suggests the number of people living with the virus in the nation’s largest jail system is likely in the thousands.

Hepatitis C is new enough to medical science that until the 1980s, it had yet to be formally identified and was known only as “non-A, non-B hepatitis.” Thanks to the marvels of modern molecular biology, it’s now well described, and the available medicines cure almost every patient who takes them.

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Untreated hepatitis C nevertheless continues to claim the lives of about 14,000 Americans every year , a higher toll than that of HIV. Because these deaths are preventable, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends universal screening of adults for the infection.

In this context, one might expect medical providers in jail to test for the disease broadly and treat it promptly. Monitoring and managing contagion is important in any correctional medical system, and it’s routine in ours for other diseases, such as tuberculosis and COVID-19.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t what I encountered in practice. All those taken into custody at the jail undergo a medical screening. But it’s usually cursory and doesn’t include an offer to screen for hepatitis C.

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When I started treating inmates in 2018, doctors rarely screened for the disease partly because known cases were almost never treated. The protocol was to consider treating patients only if their disease had progressed to a state of advanced liver fibrosis.

What’s more, getting medication for a patient meant arranging a special police escort for an appointment at the county hospital and then waiting several more weeks for the antiviral pills to be delivered. The entire process took many months and generally discouraged treatment.

I believe the deeper reason for the reluctance to treat hepatitis C in the jails has to do with inertia and finances. The medicines are under patent and expensive.

Nonetheless, the cost has come down rapidly, and poorer states and countries such as Louisiana and Egypt have found it in their budgets to procure the drugs and use them widely. What’s more, treating the disease is cost-effective given the resulting reduction in cirrhosis, liver cancer, heart disease, kidney disease, arthritis and diabetes. In the long run, decreasing the spread of infection will save both dollars and lives.

The county jail system has made some significant strides in recent years. Patients now can qualify for hepatitis C treatment without liver fibrosis. One of the two medications needed to treat the disease has been added to the system’s list of approved drugs, eliminating the need for an outside medical appointment.

Even with these improvements, however, I saw the number of patients being treated increase from close to none to dozens as of last year in a system where hepatitis C cases probably number in the thousands. Screening remains haphazard, and most of the clinicians on staff still are not allowed to initiate treatment even though the drugs are easy to use.

Meanwhile, illicit intravenous drug use and unsterile tattooing remain ubiquitous among inmates, helping the virus readily find new hosts. These conditions mean that the hepatitis C virus continues to thrive behind bars, more likely to spread in L.A.’s jails than be cured there — a shameful state of affairs in 2024.

Once in a generation, a major pathogen finds itself on history’s chopping block. My parents remember the polio scares of the 1940s and ’50s. Smallpox plagued humankind for millennia before it was eradicated in the 1970s. Now it should be hepatitis C’s turn.

Any campaign to eliminate hepatitis C from Los Angeles would be wise to concentrate on our jails. A strategic, coordinated plan of testing and treatment would lower infection levels rapidly in months, reducing disease inside and outside the jails. The continuing failure to undertake such an effort is deadly and unconscionable.

Mark Bunin Benor is a family physician who worked in the Los Angeles County jail system from 2018 to 2023.

More to Read

Why was 2023 such a deadly year in Los Angeles County jails? It depends on whom you ask

March 26, 2024

Hepatitis A scare at Men’s Central Jail led to more than 1,500 vaccinations

Feb. 16, 2024

Why L.A.’s battle against a deadly disease relies on unpaid volunteers

Feb. 4, 2024

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