Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail Inmate Search

Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail Overview

Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail is operated by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office North County Custody Operations Division. It sits at 2301 Black Road in Santa Maria and is the north county counterpart to the older Main Jail in Santa Barbara. Official Sheriff material describes the jail as a medium and high security facility for male and female inmates, including pretrial and sentenced county jail populations.

The Sheriff says the county acquired the site in April 2008, accepted an $80 million state grant conditional award in October 2012, began construction in September 2016, held a ribbon cutting on November 18, 2021, and opened the jail for inmate occupation on January 22, 2022. More than 250 inmates moved from Main Jail when the facility opened. The opening reduced south county crowding, shortened some north county booking and transport trips, and created a two-jail operating model.

The official Sheriff jail facilities page shows the Main Jail and Northern Branch Jail together, which matters because the roster may require phone follow-up with the specific facility where the person is housed.

Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail Capacity and Population

The Sheriff lists Northern Branch Jail as a 376-bed, 133,000-square-foot facility. The 2024 Grand Jury described it as a Type II facility with a BSCC rating of 344 beds and an operating capacity of 376. It also reported an over 50-acre site with direct-supervision pods, outdoor recreation yards, classrooms, a warehouse, central plant, occupational-training space, professional kitchen, laundry, and medical, dental, and psychological care provided through Wellpath.

Population reporting is more detailed in Grand Jury material than on the live facility page. A Wellpath contract report listed Northern Branch Jail average daily population at 491 in 2022 and 422 in 2023. A 2025 female-inmates report listed 2024 female average daily population at NBJ as 37, about 10 to 11 percent of the facility total. Countywide May 2024 reporting counted 776 people across both jails, with 71.8 percent awaiting trial and 28.2 percent sentenced.

How to Look Up an Inmate at Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail

Use the Sheriff's Who Is In Custody page for county jail custody. The form accepts first name, last name, and CID number. It covers current Santa Barbara County jail custody and directs users to call Main Jail or Northern Branch Jail for more custody information. It does not search state sentenced prisoners, federal sentenced prisoners at FCI Lompoc, immigration detainees, or court case files.

1. Open the Sheriff's Who Is In Custody page.
2. Search by first name, last name, or CID number if known.
3. Check the result for current custody and facility placement.
4. If a north county arrest is too new to appear, call Northern Branch Jail at 805-554-3100 after allowing for police processing and transport.

Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail Address and Contact

Northern Branch Jail handles north county custody questions and facility-specific visit or housing confirmations. Older records, reports, or booking material not shown on the roster may need the Sheriff's Records Bureau, the county CPRA portal, or the court record system.

Visiting Someone at Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail

Northern Branch Jail visits require registration through ViaPath/GTL VisitMe. After approval, visitors can schedule appointments. The Sheriff lists visits Sunday through Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with appointments beginning on the hour and check-in 30 minutes before the appointment using the same ID used to register. Inmates are limited to four visits per week. Visitors must follow the same jail-wide ID, clothing, search, warrant-check, minor-supervision, and contraband rules listed by the Sheriff.

Mail, Phone, and Money at Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail

Mail must include the inmate's name and CID number and must be sent through U.S. Mail. The Sheriff prohibits contraband, gang markings, obscene or threatening material, drugs, currency, stamps from incoming mail, Polaroids, stickers, staples, paper clips, and many multilayer or altered items. Books and magazines must come from publishers or reputable vendors. Photos are limited and must meet the Sheriff's marking and size rules.

Booking and Intake at Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail

Northern Branch Jail includes a North County booking location, which reduces some transport time for Santa Maria and north county arrests. Before jail arrival, an arrestee may be processed at a local police station for interviews, reports, forms, or DUI testing. The Sheriff says that stage can take up to four hours, so a new arrest may not immediately appear in the county jail roster.

At intake, jail staff perform medical screening, later medical review, contraband search, booking photograph, fingerprints, data entry, bail calculation when applicable, and court-date entry. If the person is not quickly released on bail or own recognizance, classification staff review risk factors, behavior history, gang documentation, past records, and cellmate compatibility before assigning housing.

About Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail

Northern Branch Jail was built to change the county's long-running jail capacity and conditions problem. Its direct-supervision housing, attached exercise yards, outpatient medical clinic, special-use mental-health and medical beds, multipurpose rooms, and expandable design differ sharply from the older Main Jail layout. Grand Jury reports described the facility as clean, bright, quiet, well maintained, and staffed by professional personnel, while also noting chronic short staffing and broader jail-healthcare concerns.

Recent county planning points toward a larger role for NBJ. A 2025 Grand Jury suicide report said the Board approved an expansion plan with 348 additional beds, more mental-health beds, and 20 custody deputies, with completion expected in 2029 and a future transfer of Main Jail inmates to the north county facility. That planned expansion makes NBJ a key part of Santa Barbara County's custody-population story.