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.
Avenal, California, in Kings County, has about 14,000 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 District Attorney files charges, a case in the Superior Court of California, County of Kings. 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: Avenal public records, Kings County arrest records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Avenal
The FBI lists Avenal with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Avenal Police Department. It reported 199 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 Kings County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 661 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Kings County: Union Pacific Railroad in Kings County (other); the Highway Patrol's Hanford Area Office (state police).
How Many Arrests Avenal Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Avenal: 199 for 2025, 312 for 2024, 302 for 2023 and 251 for 2022.
Avenal's 199 arrests in 2025 were down 36 percent from 312 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Avenal reported 107 arrests, against 123 in the same months of 2025.
Across Kings County, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,551 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Avenal Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Avenal 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 2025 the jail held about 370 people, down from about 590 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 637 beds, and it ran at 71 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 Kings County Sheriff's Office at countyofkingsca.gov/departments/public-safety/sheriff/booking-inmat... (page title: Booking/Inmate Information | Kings County), 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 person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, whose inmate locator is at cdcr.ca.gov/search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Avenal
Whether someone was arrested in Avenal, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Kings County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Kings, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at portal.kings.courts.ca.gov/public-portal/?q=Home); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at countyofkingsca.gov/departments/public-safety/district-attorney, phone (559) 852-2392).
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 Avenal
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 Avenal police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityofavenal.gov/308/Records-Section (page title: Records Section | Avenal, CA), phone 559-386-4444, 317 Alpine Street Avenal, CA 93204, Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Kings County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (559) 852-2392, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of Kings, through the court records page at portal.kings.courts.ca.gov.
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
The Kings County guide covers every agency in the county: Kings County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Avenal each year?
Avenal reported 199 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Avenal?
Look on the custody page of the Kings County Sheriff's Office at countyofkingsca.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Avenal booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Kings County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Avenal?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Kings 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 Avenal?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Avenal police for its own arrests, the Kings County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the California Public Records Act the answer is due within 10 days, with up to 14 more days in unusual circumstances.
Is this the official Avenal 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.