What You Legally Can't Bring to a Pitchess/Jail Visit — Items, Laws, and Penalties

Prohibited Items

• ✓ Firearms
• ✓ Deadly weapons
• ✓ Explosives
• ✓ Tear gas
• ✓ Drugs
• ✓ Drug paraphernalia
• ✓ Giving or selling prohibited items to inmates (including on facility grounds)

LASD's visitation advisories get specific. They call out liquor, cocaine, marijuana, and other narcotics, along with drug paraphernalia and weapons-related items. But possession isn't the only concern. Giving or selling these items to an inmate on facility grounds is also treated as a crime. "I wasn't bringing it inside, I was just handing it off" won't protect you here.

Expect to be searched when you enter the facility or its grounds. That search can cover your person, your vehicle, and your property. Leave anything questionable at home - it's the easiest way to avoid a bad surprise at check-in.

Searches are how these rules get enforced. If staff find firearms, weapons, explosives, tear gas, drugs, or drug paraphernalia on jail grounds - or evidence that someone tried to pass prohibited items to an inmate - things can escalate from "visit denied" to criminal charges fast. Treat the entire facility grounds as a controlled area, not just the visiting room. What's in your pockets, bag, or car matters.

LASD is blunt about drugs: bringing them into a jail can be punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for up to three years. That warning targets visitors directly. The consequences can be life-changing, even if you thought you were "just helping."

LASD also cites California Penal Code sections that make it a crime to bring firearms, deadly weapons, explosives, tear gas, drugs, or drug paraphernalia onto jail grounds. The same advisories clarify that giving or selling inmates items like firearms, weapons, explosives, liquor, cocaine, marijuana, or other narcotics on facility grounds is criminal conduct. The handoff is part of the problem - not just sneaking something through a door. If you're thinking about bringing anything that could be viewed as contraband, don't test the line.

Don't try to talk your way in with a fake name or false information. LASD states that anyone who falsely identifies themself to gain admittance is guilty of a misdemeanor. Even if you just want to see a loved one, using false identification can turn a visit into a criminal case.

A separate, more serious rule applies to people with felony convictions. LASD states that persons previously convicted of a felony who come upon facility grounds without permission of the official in charge are guilty of a felony under the cited Penal Code sections. If this applies to you, don't assume you can just show up and see what happens. Get permission before setting foot on the grounds.

Practical Advice

• ✓ Assume you (and your vehicle and property) can be searched when you enter the facility grounds.
• ✓ If you refuse a search, expect to lose your visit for that day.
• ✓ Leave anything that could be viewed as a weapon, explosive, tear gas, drugs, or drug paraphernalia at home.
• ✓ Never attempt to give or sell anything prohibited to an inmate on facility grounds.
• ✓ Take drug-related risks seriously: LASD warns that being caught bringing drugs into jail can mean up to three years in county jail.

1. Ask before you go - If you’re unsure about an item, get clarification before you bring it onto the grounds, because searches can include your person, vehicle, and property.
2. Get legal help if you’re accused or cited - LASD’s advisement on drug-related violations includes the possibility of up to three years in county jail, so treat any allegation as serious and time-sensitive.