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.
Gonzales, California, in Monterey County, has about 8,400 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 Monterey. 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: Gonzales public records, Monterey County arrest records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Gonzales
The FBI lists Gonzales with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Gonzales Police Department. It reported 145 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 Monterey County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 812 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Monterey County: Union Pacific Railroad in Monterey County (other); California State Parks at Monterey and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection at San Benito-Monterey (state agency); California State University at Monterey Bay (campus police).
How Many Arrests Gonzales 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.
- Gonzales: 145 for 2025, 140 for 2024, 137 for 2023, 178 for 2022, 131 for 2021 and 325 for 2020.
Gonzales's 145 arrests in 2025 were up 3.6 percent from 140 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Gonzales reported 89 arrests, against 99 in the same months of 2025.
Across Monterey County, the 13 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,756 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Gonzales Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Gonzales 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 820 people, down from about 860 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,224 beds, and it ran at 74 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 Monterey County Sheriff's Office at countyofmonterey.gov/Home/Components/ServiceDirectory/ServiceDirect... (page title: County Jail Booking Information | County Services | County of Monterey, CA), phone (831) 755-3782, 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 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 Gonzales
An arrest in Gonzales can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Monterey County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Monterey, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at monterey.courts.ca.gov/online-services/case-search, phone (415) 553-7400); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at countyofmonterey.gov/government/departments-a-h/district-attorney, phone (831) 755-5070).
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 Gonzales
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 Gonzales police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at gonzalesca.gov/services/police/media-log (page title: Media Log | City of Gonzales), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Monterey County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (831) 755-3782.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (831) 755-5070, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of Monterey, through the court records page at monterey.courts.ca.gov, phone (415) 553-7400.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at countyofmonterey.gov (page title: Public Records Act Request | County of Monterey, CA).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
The Monterey County guide covers every agency in the county: Monterey County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Gonzales each year?
Gonzales reported 145 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Gonzales?
Look on the custody page of the Monterey County Sheriff's Office at countyofmonterey.gov, or call (831) 755-3782. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Gonzales booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Monterey County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Gonzales?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Monterey 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 Gonzales?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Gonzales police for its own arrests, the Monterey 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 countyofmonterey.gov.
Is this the official Gonzales 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.