When someone is first arrested, he is placed a holding cell in the police department. If he doesn’t immediately post bail, then he would be transferred to the County Jail to be housed there until trial.

The county jail holds everyone including people who haven’t posted bail prior to trial, people who have been arrested on bench warrants for traffic offenses, accused murderers, convicted drunk drivers, etc. The county jail also houses anyone who was convicted of a disorderly person’s offense in municipal court and sentenced to jail, as well as anyone who was convicted of an indictable offense in Superior Court and was sentenced to less than a year in jail.

State prisons are scattered all over the state and hold anybody who has been sentenced to more than a year in jail, or in rare cases, someone who is considered a security risk in a county jail. State prisons range from minimum security to maximum security.

People don’t have any say regarding where they are placed in the State Prison system, because the Department of Corrections places them in a classification facility for the first period of their incarceration, where they are classified and then sent to their home prison for the rest of their prison term. They might get transferred to another prison during their term of incarceration, but again, the inmate doesn’t have a choice in where he or she goes.

This just simply depends on the Department of Corrections. Clients usually ask if their attorney can have them sent to one of the prison farms or any prison that is close to their home and family. Unfortunately, your attorney has absolutely no control over what jail facility you are housed in.

The only time an attorney is able to help is when somebody is threatened in jail. At this point, the attorney might be able to help out with alerting the appropriate authorities. The person could either be put in protective custody or transferred.

Some counties have home confinement or what you would call house arrest, but not all counties have this. Not everyone is eligible for home confinement, and there is usually a period of time that has to be served in jail before they become eligible for a home confinement program.

There are halfway houses throughout the state but again, it’s not the attorney or defendant’s decision where or if the defendant gets placed.

Does The Judge Decide Where the Person Goes: Work Farms or Maximum?

No. At the sentencing hearing, the judge says that the defendant is “committed to the custody of the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections” for a certain number of years. From there, the DOC makes all the decisions regarding where the person goes within the DOC system.

The person might be put in minimum security, maximum security, or medium security. However, it’s completely out of the judge’s hands and totally out of the lawyer’s hands. Only the DOC has any say in where a person serves their sentence.

For more information on House Arrest, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you’re seeking by calling (609) 448-2700 today.