Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 between September 23, 2026 and September 25, 2026.
Tucson, Arizona, in Pima County, has about 554,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the County Attorney files charges, a case in the Pima County Superior Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Tucson public records, Pima County arrest records, Arizona arrest records and Arizona inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Tucson
The FBI lists Tucson with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Tucson Police Department. It reported 15,660 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Pima County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 7,853 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Pima County: the Tucson Airport Authority (other); the University of Arizona and Pima Community College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Tucson Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Tucson: 15,660 for 2025, 14,608 for 2024, 17,199 for 2023, 23,783 for 2020 and 34,024 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Tucson's 15,660 arrests in 2025 were up 7.2 percent from 14,608 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Tucson reported 9,735 arrests, against 8,652 in the same months of 2025.
Across Pima County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 26,917 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Tucson Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Tucson is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 1,600 people, down from about 1,850 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2022, the last year with a capacity figure, was 613 beds, and it ran at 289 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Pima County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.pima.gov/inmate (page title: Pima County Sheriff Department), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry lists its inmates at corrections.az.gov/inmate-data-search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Tucson
For Tucson the place to look is the case index of the Pima County Superior Court, kept by the Clerk of the Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at jp.pima.gov/CaseSearch (page title: Case Search), phone (520) 724-3171, belongs to a lower court, not to the Pima County Superior Court.
Statewide, Public Access to Court Information is the Arizona Judicial Branch's free statewide case search; the Maricopa and Pima county courts run their own.
Arizona does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Arizona Department of Public Safety 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 Tucson
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 Arizona Public Records Law the agency must answer promptly, with no fixed number of days in the statute, and it may charge the cost of copies, and more for commercial requests.
- An arrest by the Tucson police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at tucsonaz.gov/Departments/Police/Police-Services/Request-Tucson-Poli... (page title: Request Tucson Police Public Records City of Tucson), phone 520-791-4462, 270 S Stone Ave Tucson, AZ 85701-1917, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Pima County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Pima County Superior Court it is kept by the Clerk of the Superior Court. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at jp.pima.gov/CaseSearch, phone (520) 724-3171, is a lower court's.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at sc.pima.gov (page title: Public Records Requests).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review Packet, fingerprint-based, from the Department of Public Safety.
The Pima County guide covers every agency in the county: Pima County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Tucson each year?
Tucson reported 15,660 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Tucson?
Ask the Pima County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff.pima.gov/inmate.
Where are people arrested in Tucson booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Pima County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Tucson?
The court files of criminal cases in the Pima County Superior Court are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Arizona Department of Public Safety is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Arizona Public Records Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Tucson?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Tucson police for its own arrests, the Pima County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Arizona Public Records Law the answer is due promptly, with no fixed number of days in the statute; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at sc.pima.gov.
Is this the official Tucson website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.