Find San Mateo County Jail inmates...

Want to learn about the San Mateo County Jail?

Have you ever driven by San Mateo County Jail and wondered what life is like behind those locked doors? Maybe you or someone you love is facing some time in this facility. Going to jail can be intimidating, especially if you have no idea what to expect.

We have interviewed former inmates of San Mateo County, and they have shared their inside knowledge about what life is like inside this jail. You can access these interviews by clicking on the links to the left. Take a few minutes to read their stories and find out what really happens behind bars in the San Mateo County Jail.

Food
San Mateo County provides inmates with three meals per day. Breakfast is served at 6am, lunch at 11am and dinner at 4:30pm. A standard breakfast is cereal, milk, and a piece of fruit. Lunch is usually four pieces of bread with 2 slices of bologna, salami or turkey, packets of mustard and mayo, 4-5 carrot sticks, sunflower seeds and a kool-aid type drink.

Dinner is usually something hot like rice and beans with mystery meat. Friday nights the jail serves an inmate favorite, chicken drumstick with mashed potatoes and chocolate pudding. Inmates who have money on their books can buy food off the jail commissary to supplement the food the jail supplies.

Passing the Time
One of the biggest challenges of serving time is finding ways to stay busy and avoiding boredom. San Mateo provides some facilities to help with these problems. Each dorm has one television. AA and NA meetings are held five times per week. Religious services are offered twice a week. There are books available on bookcases in the dorm. Inmates with money on their books can purchase playing cards from commissary.

Getting Out Early
To deal with problems of overcrowding, many jails allow inmates to be released before their sentenced release date. In San Mateo County, you get one extra day credited for every two days served. So if you are sentenced to one year (12 months), you only serve 8 months. To get this time off, you need to avoid involvement with any physical fights. This is the number one reason people are disqualified from getting out early.

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