SearchSystems Editorial

Reviewed and updated October 7, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 23, 2026.

About this guide

Los Angeles County, California, has about 9.8 million residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, 88 city agencies and 30 campus, state or other agencies. An arrest leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the booking at the county jail, and, if the District Attorney files charges, a case in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it.

This guide covers who makes arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.

Related guides: Los Angeles County public records, California arrest records, California inmate search and California criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Los Angeles County

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Los Angeles County.

Arrests inside 88 of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported, the largest twelve first; the rest are in the cities section below:

A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.

The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Los Angeles County: Highway Patrol: Central Los Angeles Area Office, Highway Patrol: Southern Division, Highway Patrol: Southern Investigative Services Unit and Highway Patrol: Baldwin Park Area Office and ten more (state police); El Camino College, Pasadena Community College, California State Polytechnic University: Pomona and California State University: Dominguez Hills and six more (campus police); Union Pacific Railroad: Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Baldwin Park Unified School District and Los Angeles Transportation Services Bureau and one more (other); Metropolitan State Hospital (state agency).

Booking: Where People Arrested in Los Angeles County Are Held

Whoever makes the arrest in Los Angeles County, the booking is at the county jail. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is the first public record of an arrest, and the court file takes over from there.

On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 12,780 people, down from about 16,890 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 20,965 beds, and it ran at 62 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.

SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office at locator.lacounty.gov/lac/Location/3069210/los-angeles-county-sherif... (page title: Los Angeles County Sheriff | Inmate Reception Center), phone (213) 473-6100, 450 Bauchet St. Los Angeles CA 90012, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.

That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.

A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation lists its inmates at cdcr.ca.gov/search.

How to Find Out About an Arrest in Los Angeles County

Whether someone was arrested in Los Angeles County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at lacourt.ca.gov/pages/lp/access-a-case/tp/re-acc-search-for-case-by-...); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at da.lacounty.gov).

California does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the California Department of Justice goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.

Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Los Angeles County

The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the California Public Records Act the agency must answer within 10 days, with up to 14 more days in unusual circumstances, and it may charge the direct cost of copying only, not staff time.

  • An arrest by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (213) 473-6100.
  • An arrest in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Clarita, Glendale, Lancaster or Palmdale or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
  • An arrest by Highway Patrol: Central Los Angeles Area Office, El Camino College or Union Pacific Railroad: Los Angeles County: that agency's own records office.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, through its records page at lacourt.ca.gov.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lacounty.gov (page title: Public Records Request | COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES).
  • Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.

Cities in Los Angeles County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the 88 cities in Los Angeles County.

Wherever in the county the arrest happens, the booking is at the county jail and the case goes to the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Los Angeles County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population:

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Los Angeles County?

Look on the custody page of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office at locator.lacounty.gov, or call (213) 473-6100. It covers people booked into the county jail.

Where are people arrested in Los Angeles County booked?

In the county jail, run by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office.

Are arrest records public in Los Angeles County?

The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the California Department of Justice is not public; you can get your own for $25. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the California Public Records Act.

How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Los Angeles County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the California Public Records Act the answer is due within 10 days, with up to 14 more days in unusual circumstances; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lacounty.gov.

Is this the official Los Angeles County website?

No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.