A plain-language guide to the six stages every criminal case goes through — what families can expect at each step and how to stay connected.
What Families Need to Know Before Court Begins
When a loved one is arrested, families are rarely prepared for what comes next. The legal process that follows an arrest is not a single event — it is a sequence of distinct stages, each with its own rules, timelines, and decisions. Understanding those stages can help a family stay informed, ask the right questions, and avoid costly mistakes made out of confusion.
This guide walks through the Six Stages Every Criminal Case Goes Through, explained from a family's perspective. It is not legal advice, and no article can substitute for a licensed attorney who knows the specific jurisdiction. What it can do is give families a clear map of the road ahead so nothing comes as a total surprise.
Stage One: Arrest and Booking
The process begins at the moment of arrest. A law enforcement officer takes the person into custody based on probable cause that a crime was committed. From that point, the arrested individual is transported to a local facility — usually a county jail — where the booking process begins.
Booking involves recording the person's personal information, photographing them, taking fingerprints, and logging the charges. This administrative intake can take anywhere from a few hours to most of a day depending on the facility's volume and procedures. The individual is then assigned to a housing unit while they await their first court appearance.
This is also the moment when families typically find out something has happened — often through a phone call, a bail bondsman, or sometimes a frantic search online. Knowing how to find a loved one in jail quickly is critical. A county jail inmate search is the fastest way to confirm which facility is holding someone and what charges appear in the booking record.
The booking record is public in most jurisdictions, though the level of detail varies by state. Families should note the booking number, the listed charges, and the name of the facility, because all of that information will be needed to send money to someone in jail, arrange phone access, or connect with an attorney.
Stage Two: Initial Appearance and Bail Hearing
Within a short window after booking — often 24 to 72 hours, though timelines vary significantly by jurisdiction — the arrested person appears before a judge for the first time. This hearing goes by different names in different states: initial appearance, arraignment, bail hearing, or first appearance.
At this hearing, the judge informs the defendant of the charges and makes a determination about release. The judge may release the person on their own recognizance, set a bail amount, impose conditions of release, or order the person held without bail. The decision depends on factors like the nature of the charges, the defendant's criminal history, and their ties to the community. Families should understand that specifics vary by jurisdiction and that a licensed attorney is the right person to advise on bail strategy.
If bail is set and the family cannot pay the full amount, a bail bondsman may be an option. A bail bond typically requires the family to pay a non-refundable fee — a percentage of the total bail amount — and the bondsman guarantees the full amount to the court. This fee varies by state and is regulated by state insurance departments, so families should verify rates with a licensed provider in the relevant jurisdiction.
For families who cannot act quickly on bail, their loved one remains in county jail until either bail is posted or the case resolves. This is the period when consistent contact matters most. Jail commissary deposit services and phone access help maintain the relationship and support the person's wellbeing during what is often the most disorienting phase of the process.
Stage Three: Preliminary Hearing or Grand Jury
Not every case follows the same path through this stage, and the route depends heavily on the jurisdiction and the severity of the charges. In some states and for certain categories of cases, a prosecutor presents evidence to a grand jury — a panel of citizens who decide whether enough evidence exists to bring formal charges. In other jurisdictions, the case goes before a judge in a preliminary hearing serving a similar function.
A preliminary hearing is not a trial. The defendant may be present, and the defense can challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, but the standard is much lower than at trial. The judge is simply deciding whether probable cause exists to require the defendant to answer the charges in court. If the judge finds sufficient probable cause, the case moves forward. If not, charges can be reduced or dismissed.
Grand jury proceedings are typically secret. The defendant and their attorney are usually not present when a grand jury meets. If the grand jury issues an indictment, it means a majority of jurors found sufficient evidence to support the charges. Families should not read an indictment as a conviction — it is only a formal charge, not a finding of guilt.
During this stage, families often feel the most cut off from the process because so little of it is visible. Maintaining regular contact with the defense attorney is the best way to understand what is happening. If the defendant does not have an attorney, the court will appoint a public defender, and families can ask the public defender's office for updates, though attorneys' primary duty is to their client.
Stage Four: Arraignment and Plea
Once formal charges are filed, the defendant is arraigned. At arraignment, the charges are read aloud in open court and the defendant enters a formal plea: guilty, not guilty, or in some jurisdictions, no contest. Most defendants plead not guilty at this stage, which is a standard procedural step that preserves all legal options going forward.
After arraignment, the case enters a period of pretrial activity. The defense and prosecution exchange information through a process called discovery, where the prosecution shares the evidence it intends to use and the defense reviews it. This phase can take weeks or months depending on the complexity of the case and the court's calendar.
Plea negotiations often begin during this period. A plea bargain is an agreement where the defendant agrees to plead guilty — typically to a lesser charge or with a specific sentencing recommendation — in exchange for the prosecution dropping or reducing other charges. The vast majority of criminal cases in the United States resolve through plea agreements rather than trials, according to publicly available data from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Families who want to attend court dates should check the court's public calendar, which is available through the clerk's office or the court's website in most jurisdictions. Some courts also allow families to observe plea hearings, though courtroom rules and space vary. A court-tracking tool that monitors scheduled dates can help families avoid missing appearances.
Stage Five: Trial
When a case proceeds to trial, it enters its most visible and often most prolonged stage. The defendant has a constitutional right to a jury trial for serious criminal charges, though a bench trial — decided by a judge alone — is also an option in some circumstances. Both sides present their evidence, call witnesses, and make arguments.
Jury selection, known as voir dire, happens first. Both the prosecution and the defense have opportunities to question potential jurors and remove those they believe cannot be impartial. This process can take a single afternoon or several weeks in high-profile cases. Once the jury is seated, opening statements begin.
The prosecution presents its case first, calling witnesses and introducing evidence to prove each element of the charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense has the opportunity to cross-examine each witness. After the prosecution rests, the defense presents its case, though the defendant is never required to testify.
Closing arguments follow, and the jury then deliberates in private. A verdict of guilty requires unanimous agreement from all jurors in most criminal cases. If the jury cannot reach a verdict — a hung jury — the judge may declare a mistrial, and the prosecution can choose whether to retry the case. A not guilty verdict results in acquittal, and the defendant cannot be retried on those same charges.
For families sitting in the gallery or waiting outside the courthouse, trial is an emotionally demanding experience. Maintaining outside contact through phone calls and mail, when the facility permits it, can provide real comfort to the defendant during this period.
Stage Six: Sentencing and Appeals
If the defendant is found guilty — whether at trial or through a plea agreement — sentencing is the final formal stage of the case at the trial level. Sentencing may happen immediately after a verdict, or the judge may schedule a separate hearing to allow time for a presentence investigation report. That report is prepared by a probation officer and provides the court with background on the defendant's history, circumstances, and any victim impact information.
At the sentencing hearing, the judge considers the applicable sentencing guidelines for the jurisdiction, the nature of the offense, the defendant's record, and any mitigating or aggravating factors presented by both sides. Families are often permitted to submit letters or speak at the hearing in some jurisdictions. An attorney can advise on whether and how to participate. The specific outcome — fines, probation, prison time, or a combination — depends entirely on the jurisdiction and the facts, and no article can predict it.
After sentencing, a convicted defendant may have the right to appeal. An appeal is not a new trial — it is a review by a higher court of whether legal errors occurred during the proceedings that affected the outcome. Appeals can take months or years, and the defendant typically remains in custody during the process unless exceptional circumstances apply.
For families, this stage often involves a transition: their loved one may move from a county jail to a state or federal facility, depending on the sentence. Staying on top of transfers is genuinely difficult, and families often learn of a move only after trying to contact someone who is no longer at the original facility. Jail booking alerts and transfer notifications can reduce that uncertainty significantly.
How Families Can Stay Informed at Every Stage
Staying connected across all six stages requires more than good intentions — it requires reliable information. Public court records are available through most county clerk's offices and online portals, though the systems vary considerably in quality and currency. Some courts update their records in near real time; others lag by days or weeks.
Phone calls from jail facilities are the most direct line of communication. Most facilities use third-party phone providers, and families need to set up an account and fund it before calls can come through. The same applies to video visitation, which many facilities now offer. Knowing which provider is authorized by the specific facility — rather than guessing or using an unofficial site — protects families from unnecessary fees and failed transactions.
Commissary access is another practical pillar of support. A jail commissary deposit allows the incarcerated person to purchase hygiene products, snacks, and sometimes phone credit or stationery. Again, each facility has a designated official provider, and deposits must go through that provider's system. Families who accidentally use a lookalike payment site may lose money with no recourse. Only working with official, licensed providers matters here.
For families managing multiple concerns simultaneously — court dates, transfer alerts, release timelines — having a single place to monitor case status is genuinely valuable. That is where a court-tracking capability becomes practical rather than optional. Knowing a hearing has been rescheduled before the day it was supposed to happen prevents wasted trips to a courthouse and keeps communication with the defense attorney timely.
What to Do When You Cannot Find Your Loved One
One of the most frightening moments for any family is not being able to locate their loved one after an arrest. The person may have been moved between facilities, may have been booked under a name variation, or may simply not yet appear in the public database because booking is still in progress.
A county jail inmate search is the first step. Most counties have a public-facing inmate locator on their sheriff's or jail's website. If the person does not appear there, calling the jail directly is the next step, and having the booking number or date of arrest helps speed that conversation. Some states have statewide databases that aggregate records across multiple facilities.
Families who are searching across state lines or who do not know which county is involved face a harder problem. In those situations, a platform that covers multiple jurisdictions can reduce the time spent bouncing between individual county websites. InMato LLC offers a free county jail inmate search across 289 county jail systems in 14 states, with no account required and no time limit — covering a significant portion of U.S. jail systems for families who need to find a loved one in jail free, without risking a predatory upsell in the process.
The question families often ask — is InMato legit? — has a straightforward answer rooted in the company's structure. InMato LLC is a Delaware limited liability company that operates as an information, search, and referral service. It never holds or processes user money, and it connects families only with official, licensed providers for services like commissary deposits and phone access.
Staying Connected Through the Long Middle
The stretch between arraignment and sentencing is often the longest part of the process — and the most isolating for families on the outside. Court dates shift. Communication windows are narrow. Information from attorneys can be sparse if a public defender carries a heavy caseload.
This is the period where consistent small actions matter. Sending regular mail, funding phone and commissary accounts promptly, and attending court dates when possible all signal to the incarcerated person that their family remains present and engaged. Studies on incarceration and family contact consistently note the importance of outside relationships to a person's wellbeing and eventual reintegration, though specific outcome data varies by study and context.
For families using the InMato app or the web platform, jail booking alerts and release and transfer alerts reduce the anxiety of the unknown. Rather than checking manually every day, families receive a notification when something changes — a transfer to a new facility, a court date added to the calendar, or a release occurring earlier than expected. InMato+ provides all of those proactive alerts alongside real-time case tracking with court-document summaries at $19.99 per month per loved one, with no long-term commitment and cancel-anytime self-service cancellation.
The language barrier adds another layer of difficulty for many families. When arrest and booking happen and family members communicate primarily in Spanish, navigating English-only systems can delay critical actions. InMato reviews that challenge by offering its platform and Family Support Library fully in English and Spanish, so families can act quickly regardless of which language they use first.
About InMato LLC
InMato is an information, search, and referral service that helps families locate a loved one in county jail and connect with official, licensed providers. Founded by J.T. Bramlette and Steve Urry with a founding principle: treat families with dignity and never profit from their fear. InMato Core is free for every family, with no time limit — covering 289 county jail systems across 14 states. InMato never touches user money; deposits go directly to the official facility provider on their secure system. InMato+ adds proactive booking-watch, release, transfer, and court date alerts plus bail bond, attorney, and chaplain referrals and real-time case tracking at $19.99/month per loved one, cancel anytime. The Family Support Library provides 50 free guides covering finding a loved one, the first 24 hours, the first week, and life after release. Available in English and Spanish. InMato LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.
Get Started with InMato LLC
Search for your loved one now at inmato.com — free for every family, with no time limit. Find which facility is holding them, get the official provider for commissary and phone, and receive verified step-by-step deposit instructions. No account required to search. Available in English and Spanish. If you need answers within the next 48 hours, InMato is ready now.
Originally published at https://www.inmato.com/blog/six-stages-every-criminal-case-goes-through
Written by InMato
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