Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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 October 2, 2026.
Chico, California, in Butte County, has about 103,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Chico is held at the county jail, run by the Butte County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Chico public records, Butte County inmate search, Chico arrest records, Chico warrants, Chico criminal records, Chico court records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Chico
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Chico is held at the county jail, run by the Butte County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Butte County Sheriff's Office at buttecounty.net/1723/BCSO-Booking-Logs (page title: BCSO Booking Logs | Butte County, CA), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 429), so open it in a browser.
Someone booked recently shows on that page; someone cited and released at the scene, or held a few hours at a city station, does not.
The Butte County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 550 people, down from about 560 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 614 beds, and it ran at 87 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Butte County has about 208,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 26 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Butte County Jail
The Butte County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Chico (filed by the FBI as Chico Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Chico.
The FBI's agency list also places two state agencies, one other agency and one campus police department in Butte County (the arrest records guide names each one).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Chico's 2,459 for 2025, the Butte County Sheriff's Office's 2,289 for 2025 and Oroville's 1,304 for 2025.
Together, the five agencies in Butte County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,714 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Chico arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Butte County serves the sentence in a facility of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, whose inmate locator is at cdcr.ca.gov/search.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Chico?
Look on the custody page of the Butte County Sheriff's Office at buttecounty.net/1723/BCSO-Booking-Logs. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Butte County jail?
About 550 on an average day in 2025, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 614 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Butte County go?
To a facility of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; its inmate locator is at cdcr.ca.gov/search.
Is this the official Chico 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.