You probably do not want to go to either jail or prison. These punitive facilities are intentionally designed to be unpleasant, to say the least. If you have already been arrested and charged with a crime, then you are probably familiar with jail. Prisons, on the other hand, are exclusively for those who have already been convicted of felonies. Your best bet is to do everything you can to avoid landing in prison, starting with finding an experienced criminal defense attorney.
What Are Jails Used For?
Jail is where arrestees are taken and held until they are able to bond out - if they are able to bond out. Generally, people are taken to local city jails, frequently attached to a police station, right after arrest. City jails are generally designed to hold arrestees for very short periods of time - usually, over the weekend until they can see a judge on Monday at most.
However, those who are unable to bond out may be sent to a county jail, which is larger and better equipped to keep inmates for somewhat longer periods of time. There are instances where people have sat in a county jail for years on end waiting to be tried. Quite a few jail inmates have yet to be convicted of any crime and are supposed to be presumed innocent.
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