Santa Barbara County Arrest Records: Who Makes Arrests, Bookings, Bail and Arrest Reports

Who Makes Arrests in Santa Barbara County

The Sheriff's Office is the police for the unincorporated parts of the county and, under contract, for the cities of Buellton, Carpinteria, Goleta and Solvang; its About Us page puts that at about 200,000 people, policed from eight stations. The Sheriff's Office has about 600 employees and 150 volunteers at more than 25 work sites, and the FBI's 2025 staffing count shows 486 sworn officers and 228 civilians. Sheriff Bill Brown is the elected Sheriff-Coroner.

• City of Santa Barbara: the Santa Barbara Police Department, 215 East Figueroa Street, non-emergency (805) 882-8900. The FBI counts 114 officers and 79 civilians for 2025, for a city of 86,926.
• City of Santa Maria: the Santa Maria Police Department, 1111 West Betteravia Road, non-emergency (805) 928-3781, extension 2277. 118 officers and 61 civilians, for a city of 111,741.
• City of Lompoc: the Lompoc Police Department, 107 Civic Center Plaza, (805) 736-2341, with 45 officers. SearchSystems has a separate Lompoc guide.
• City of Guadalupe: the Guadalupe Police Department, (805) 343-2112, with 12 officers.
• Goleta, Carpinteria, Solvang and Buellton: Sheriff's deputies, from the Goleta station at the Sheriff's headquarters, the Coastal Station in Carpinteria, and the Santa Ynez Valley and Buellton stations. The lieutenant responsible for Buellton and Solvang serves as those cities' chief of police services.
• Isla Vista: the Sheriff's Isla Vista Foot Patrol, 6504 Trigo Road, (805) 681-4179, a foot and bicycle patrol begun in 1970 for about 24,000 people in 0.6 square miles.
• The UC Santa Barbara campus: the UCSB Police Department, Public Safety Building 574, (805) 893-3446, with 32 officers. Crimes in Isla Vista off university property go to the Sheriff.
• The highways: the California Highway Patrol from three offices, the Santa Barbara Area office at 6465 Calle Real, Goleta, (805) 967-1234, the Buellton Area office at 166 Industrial Way, (805) 688-5551, and the Santa Maria Area office at 1710 North Carlotti Drive, (805) 349-8728.
• Also sworn: the Allan Hancock College police, the Santa Barbara Airport Police, a separate law enforcement division of the city's Airport Department at 500 James Fowler Road, and the District Attorney's Bureau of Investigation, which investigates welfare fraud, perjury, witness intimidation, child abduction by a parent and crimes by public officials.

Every station and phone number is on the Sheriff's Contact Us page. Dispatch for the Sheriff and the four contract cities, and for Guadalupe, is the county's Public Safety Dispatch Center, which took more than 235,000 calls in 2016, 645 a day, by the Sheriff's count.

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports

Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them on the FBI Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 6, 2026:

• Santa Barbara Police: 9,289 for 2019, 5,507 for 2020, 4,394 for 2022, 4,236 for 2023, 4,361 for 2024 and 4,505 for 2025. The department's own annual report to the Fire and Police Commission for 2023 puts 2023 at 3,989 arrests, 4,078 traffic stops and 47,232 calls answered in person.
• Santa Maria Police: 3,151 for 2020, 2,326 for 2022, 2,739 for 2023, 3,137 for 2024 and 2,960 for 2025; 2019 and 2021 are missing months.
• Lompoc Police: 1,657 for 2019, 1,211 for 2020, 829 for 2022, 639 for 2023, 742 for 2024 and 887 for 2025.
• Sheriff: 5,506 for 2019, 4,833 for 2020, 3,894 for 2022 and 2,465 for 2023. The FBI shows zero for 2024 and 441 for 2025, so the Sheriff's reporting to the FBI stops being usable after 2023; the same break shows for the four contract cities. The Sheriff's own About Us page says its deputies made 2,735 arrests and wrote 3,374 traffic citations in 2020, with 74,000 calls for service and 16,864 reports.
• The contract cities through 2023: Goleta 1,339 for 2019, 1,089 for 2020, 1,188 for 2022 and 727 for 2023; Carpinteria 747, 924, 763 and 418; Buellton 208, 244, 172 and 102; Solvang 215, 172, 130 and 97.
• Guadalupe Police: 208 for 2019, 220 for 2020, 88 for 2022, 69 for 2023 and 64 for 2025.
• UC Santa Barbara Police: 472 for 2019, 153 for 2020, 52 for 2021, 63 for 2022, 86 for 2023, 124 for 2024 and 130 for 2025.
• CHP: the Santa Barbara Area office 301 for 2022, 453 for 2023, 355 for 2024 and 481 for 2025; the Santa Maria Area office 223, 285, 278 and 236; the Buellton Area office 139, 173, 204 and 165.

Where the arrests lead is in the court's numbers. The Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, took 2,568 new felony cases and 7,730 new misdemeanor cases in the year ending June 30, 2025, by the Judicial Council's 2026 Court Statistics Report; the District Attorney's questions page says a person who is arrested will, in most circumstances, appear in court within two court days.

Booking: The Two County Jails

Every police department in the county books the people it keeps in custody into a Sheriff's jail. The Santa Maria Police Department has no jail of its own; its questions page says a person it detains is generally not held beyond four hours, and anyone booked is at the Sheriff's jail. The Lompoc police hold people at their own station jail until they are released, go to court or are moved to the county.

• Northern Branch Jail, 2301 Black Road, Santa Maria, CA 93455, (805) 554-3100: 376 beds for men and women, opened on January 22, 2022, when more than 250 inmates were moved there from Santa Barbara. North county arrests are booked here.
• Main Jail, 4436 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, CA 93110, (805) 681-4260, next to the Sheriff's headquarters. The county's Northern Branch Jail Expansion Staffing Study of February 2025 gives the Santa Barbara jail campus a rated capacity of 819, with the oldest cells built in 1970 and the Northwest Module in 1987.

The Sheriff's booking page describes the steps: a medical screening, a search, photographs and fingerprints, the charges entered, bail calculated and a court date set. After a DUI arrest the testing and paperwork can take up to four hours before the person reaches the jail, and a person who is intoxicated is held until sober, often up to 12 hours; some people are released on their own recognizance from the jail. The Sheriff's Transportation Unit moves people between the jails and the courthouses more than 50,000 times a year. California law requires that a person held in custody be brought before a judge within 48 hours of arrest, not counting Sundays and holidays.

Bail in Santa Barbara County: The June 2026 Schedule

Bail before the first court appearance follows the countywide schedule set by the judges of the Superior Court. The current 2026 Felony and Specified Misdemeanor Bail Schedule, 32 pages, took effect in June 2026 and is posted on the court's Bail Schedules page. Under it a judicial officer can release a person on their own recognizance, release them with no money bail and conditions, set money bail, or hold the decision until arraignment, following In re Humphrey (2021), the California Supreme Court decision that requires the court to consider a person's ability to pay.

The amounts for an arrest without a warrant, for one charge, with no priors or enhancements:

• Any felony not listed in the schedule: $20,000. Any misdemeanor not listed: $2,500.
• DUI, first offense: $5,000. With two priors in 10 years: $25,000. With three priors, or as a felony: $100,000. DUI causing injury: $100,000.
• Domestic violence battery under Penal Code 243(e): $10,000, and $20,000 with a prior. Corporal injury to a spouse or partner under 273.5: $50,000, and $100,000 with a prior. Violating a domestic violence protective order: $20,000.
• Assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm: $30,000. With a firearm: $50,000. With a semiautomatic firearm: $75,000. Assault by force likely to produce great bodily injury: $30,000.
• Robbery: $100,000 for first degree and $50,000 for second degree.
• Residential burglary with a person present: $50,000. Non-residential burglary with no one present: $20,000.
• Grand theft of more than $950: $20,000, rising to $45,000 when the loss is over $50,000 and to $70,000 when it is over $250,000. Theft of a motor vehicle: $35,000. Driving a car without consent: $25,000. Receiving stolen property over $950: $20,000. Identity theft: $50,000. Vandalism of $400 or more: $20,000.
• Criminal threats: $50,000. Stalking: $150,000. Hit and run with injury: $50,000.
• Possession of a controlled substance with a qualifying prior: $10,000. Possession for sale, up to a kilogram: $30,000.
• Carrying a concealed weapon, possessing a loaded firearm, or a felon in possession of a firearm: $35,000 each.
• Public intoxication: $1,000.

With several charges, the bail is the highest single felony amount plus any enhancements and priors; misdemeanor amounts are not added on top. A person with felony charges pending elsewhere, or on parole or felony probation, has $25,000 added. A person arrested without a warrant for violating felony probation, parole or post-release supervision has no bail at all until a judge sets it; a misdemeanor probation violation is $15,000.

The schedule also names the arrests that are not eligible for release before arraignment: sex offenses, intimate partner violence, a third DUI within 10 years, a DUI causing injury, a DUI with a blood alcohol level of 0.20 or more, residential burglary, any assault or battery offense, any arrest in which the person was armed, human trafficking, a theft or fraud over $100,000, vehicular manslaughter, narcotics sales at the weights named in the Health and Safety Code, a person already on felony probation, parole or post-release supervision, a person with another case pending, and a person who threatened a witness. Those people wait for the arraignment judge.

How to Find Out About an Arrest

The Sheriff's Who Is In Custody search covers everyone held in either county jail, by first and last name or by booking number (CID), and shows the housing location, the charges, the custody status and the CID number; the Sheriff says the data should not be relied on for any legal action. For more, the Sheriff gives two numbers: (805) 681-4260 for the Main Jail and (805) 554-3100 for the Northern Branch Jail. Someone cited and released, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not appear there.

To learn whether the District Attorney filed charges after a cite and release, the office says to call the branch for the district where the arrest happened: Santa Barbara (805) 568-2300, Santa Maria (805) 346-7540, Lompoc (805) 737-7760. The office will tell a caller the defendant's name, the charges and the next court date.

Under the California Public Records Act a police agency must release the basic facts of an arrest even when the report itself stays closed: the arrested person's name and description, the time and place of the arrest, the charges, the bail and the time and manner of release. The UCSB Police Records Unit page adds that arrest information, including arrest reports, is classified as confidential 30 days after the date of the arrest. The Santa Barbara police publish a Community Crime Map of reported crimes; the UCSB police post a Daily Crime and Fire Log every business day, and the Allan Hancock College police post a daily crime log on their Clery Act page.

Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record

• A Sheriff's arrest: the Sheriff's Records Bureau, (805) 681-4180, on the form from its Request Copy of a Report page, by email to records@sbsheriff.org, by fax to (805) 681-5346, by mail to P.O. Box 6427, Santa Barbara, CA 93160-6427, or in person at 4434 Calle Real weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. A report is $15 for up to ten pages and 10 cents a page after; a booking photo is $25, a local criminal history $25 and a clearance letter $37, each only to the person it is about or with that person's written permission and photo identification.
• A Santa Barbara police arrest: the department's Records Bureau, (805) 897-2355, releases reports to authorized persons with a government photo ID, on its police report page; a representative needs an authorization letter, and a juvenile's report goes to the parent or guardian. There is no fee for electronic delivery and 20 cents a page on paper. A copy of your own criminal history from the department is $10 for the search and $25 more if records are found, by mail with a copy of your ID.
• A Santa Maria police arrest: the Records Bureau, (805) 928-3781, extension 2590, pdrecordsrequest@cityofsantamaria.org, weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The city answers public records requests within 10 days and charges by its fee schedule.
• A Lompoc police arrest: the department's Records Bureau on its request form; email delivery is free and paper copies are 20 cents a page. See the Lompoc guide.
• A UCSB police arrest: the Records Unit page, (805) 893-3886, records@police.ucsb.edu, by written request; a report is $10, payable to the UC Regents, within about 10 days.
• A defendant without a lawyer who has been charged can get the police report from the District Attorney: $10 for the initial discovery and 25 cents a page for more, cash, in person with photo identification. Lawyers use the office's discovery request form.
• The statewide record: only for yourself, through a Live Scan Record Review with the California Department of Justice, $25 plus the fingerprinting fee. See Santa Barbara County criminal records.

An arrest that never led to a conviction can be sealed, and since July 2022 the state seals many of them on its own. The criminal records guide covers that, and the police reports guide covers each agency's records office in full.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find out if someone was arrested in Santa Barbara County?

Search the Sheriff's Who Is In Custody page by name or booking number, which covers both county jails, or call the Main Jail at (805) 681-4260 or the Northern Branch Jail at (805) 554-3100. For whether charges were filed, call the District Attorney's branch for the district: (805) 568-2300 in Santa Barbara, (805) 346-7540 in Santa Maria, (805) 737-7760 in Lompoc.

Where are people arrested in Santa Barbara County booked?

At the Sheriff's Northern Branch Jail in Santa Maria for the north county and the Main Jail in Santa Barbara for the south. The Santa Maria police have no jail; the Lompoc police hold people at their station until they are released or moved.

How much is bail for a DUI in Santa Barbara County?

$5,000 for a first offense under the June 2026 schedule, $25,000 with two priors in 10 years, and $100,000 for a felony DUI or a DUI causing injury. A blood alcohol level of 0.20 or more means no release before arraignment.

How much is bail for domestic violence in Santa Barbara County?

$10,000 for misdemeanor battery on a spouse or partner and $50,000 for corporal injury, but intimate partner violence is on the list of arrests not eligible for release before the arraignment judge sees the case.

How many arrests are made in Santa Barbara County each year?

The Santa Barbara police reported 4,505 arrests to the FBI for 2025, the Santa Maria police 2,960 and the Lompoc police 887; the Sheriff reported 2,465 for 2023, the last year its FBI count is complete. The county court opened 2,568 felony and 7,730 misdemeanor cases in the year ending June 30, 2025.

Are arrest records public in Santa Barbara County?

The basic facts of an arrest are: name, time and place, charges and bail. The full report is released to the people involved, such as the arrestee and victims, and to others only as the law allows.