Salt Lake City County Jail is a bad place to end up, especially on the weekend. Being arrested, especially for the first time, can be a traumatic experience. This guide will give you some tips on what you can do before you end up incarcerated.

The first thing you should get in advance is a good criminal justice attorney. You need to be prepared and have quality legal counsel on your side. If you don't, you will be assigned a public defender. Public Defenders get a bad rap for being bad lawyers but the truth of the matter is they are just loaded down with case files. The justice system all over the country is rapidly expanding with the amount of criminal cases increasing. This means more and more and public resources are stretched to the limit. The burden falls on the shoulders of your public defender. He will be more interested in having you take a plea deal in order to move you off his case list. It's not his fault as he is doing the best job he can, but that doesn't help you. The biggest favor you can do for yourself is hire an attorney. Search through the Salt Lake City phone book and start calling lawyers. Call them up and get some estimates. Most importantly, make sure they are in the criminal justice field as there are many different types of lawyers.

You will also be in need of a good bail bondsman. There are plenty of bail bond companies in Salt Lake City. In fact many of the bail bonds are actually located around the jail itself. It's not a bad idea to take a trip down to the jail vicinity  and setup a few informal meetings. You will be able to get a better feel of how a bail bond works and who seems to be the most helpful. You can also get a few quotes and compare. When you get home, be sure to look up the bail bond online to see if they have any customer reviews. It's a good idea to look them up on sites like Rip-Off Report and Consumer Reviews to see if they have any outstanding complaints.

Now that you have a good bail bond and legal service at your command, you should have no problem in these areas when and if you are arrested. These two factors are half the battle. The other half is keeping a cool head and being polite to jail staff when you are being booked. This sounds easier said than done but think of what kind of mood you will be in when you are being arrested. Failure to cooperate will never help your situation and only stand to hinder you and your chance at freedom.