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 9, 2026.
Dos Palos, California, in Merced County, has about 5,800 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dos Palos is held at the county jail, run by the Merced 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: Dos Palos public records, Merced County inmate search, Dos Palos arrest records, Dos Palos warrants, Dos Palos criminal records, Dos Palos court records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Dos Palos
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dos Palos is held at the county jail, run by the Merced County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
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 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.
The Merced County Jail by the Numbers
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.
Merced County has about 297,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 8 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Merced County Jail
The Merced County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Dos Palos (filed by the FBI as Dos Palos Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Dos Palos.
The FBI's agency list also places one other agency, one campus police department and three state police units in Merced County (the arrest records guide names each one).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Merced's 2,854 for 2025, Los Banos's 1,413 for 2025 and the Merced County Sheriff's Office's 1,071 for 2025.
Together, the seven agencies in Merced County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,637 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 Dos Palos arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation lists its inmates at cdcr.ca.gov/search.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate 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.
How many people are in the Merced County jail?
About 240 on an average day in 2025, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 746 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Merced 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 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.