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 26, 2026.
Dos Palos, California, in Merced County, has about 5,800 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 Merced. 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: Dos Palos public records, Merced County arrest records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Dos Palos
The FBI lists Dos Palos with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Dos Palos 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 Merced County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,071 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Merced County: Union Pacific Railroad in Merced County (other); the University of California at Merced (campus police); the Highway Patrol's Merced and Los Banos Area Offices and the Highway Patrol at Chowchilla River Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facility (state police).
How Many Arrests Dos Palos 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.
- Dos Palos: 199 for 2025, 258 for 2024, 194 for 2023, 414 for 2020 and 399 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Dos Palos's 199 arrests in 2025 were down 23 percent from 258 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Dos Palos reported 97 arrests, against 135 in the same months of 2025.
Across Merced County, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,637 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dos Palos Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Dos Palos and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 240 people, down from about 630 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 746 beds, and it ran at 62 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 Merced County Sheriff's Office at inmateinquiry.co.merced.ca.us/newworld.inmateinquiry/merced (page title: Inmate Search), 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 Dos Palos
Whether someone was arrested in Dos Palos, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Merced County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Merced, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at merced.courts.ca.gov/online-services/case-records-search); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at countyofmerced.com/3886/District-Attorney, phone (209) 385-7381).
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 Dos Palos
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 Dos Palos police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at dospalos.gov/departments/police (page title: Dos Palos California | Police), phone (209) 392-2174, 2174 Blossom Street Dos Palos, CA 93620, Monday - Friday 8am - 4:30pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Merced County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (209) 385-7381, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of Merced, through the court records page at merced.courts.ca.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at cityofmerced.gov (page title: Public Records Request | City of Merced, CA).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
The Merced County guide covers every agency in the county: Merced County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dos Palos each year?
Dos Palos reported 199 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dos Palos?
Look on the custody page of the Merced County Sheriff's Office at inmateinquiry.co.merced.ca.us. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Dos Palos booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Merced County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Dos Palos?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Merced 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 Dos Palos?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Dos Palos police for its own arrests, the Merced 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 cityofmerced.gov.
Is this the official Dos Palos 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.