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.
Chowchilla, California, in Madera County, has about 19,000 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 Madera. 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: Chowchilla public records, Madera County arrest records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Chowchilla
The FBI lists Chowchilla with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Chowchilla Police Department. It reported 888 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 Madera County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,186 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Madera County: Union Pacific Railroad in Madera County (other); the Highway Patrol's Madera and Oakhurst Area Offices (state police).
How Many Arrests Chowchilla 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.
- Chowchilla: 888 for 2025, 571 for 2024, 764 for 2023, 598 for 2022, 674 for 2020 and 645 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Chowchilla's 888 arrests in 2025 were up 56 percent from 571 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Chowchilla reported 509 arrests, against 548 in the same months of 2025.
Across Madera County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,413 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Chowchilla Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Chowchilla 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 430 people, down from about 470 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 564 beds, and it ran at 73 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 Madera County Sheriff's Office at inmatepublicview.maderacounty.com (page title: Inmate Inquiry | Search), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Chowchilla
An arrest in Chowchilla can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Madera, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at madera.courts.ca.gov/online-services); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at maderada.org).
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 Chowchilla
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 Chowchilla police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityofchowchilla.org/178/Dispatch-Records-Program (page title: Dispatch & Records Program | Chowchilla, CA), phone 559-665-8600, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Madera County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- 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 Madera, through the court records page at madera.courts.ca.gov/online-services.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at madera.gov (page title: Public Records Request | City of Madera).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
The Madera County guide covers every agency in the county: Madera County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Chowchilla each year?
Chowchilla reported 888 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Chowchilla?
Ask the Madera County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at inmatepublicview.maderacounty.com.
Where are people arrested in Chowchilla booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Madera County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Chowchilla?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Madera 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 Chowchilla?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Chowchilla police for its own arrests, the Madera 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at madera.gov.
Is this the official Chowchilla 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.