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.
Grass Valley, California, in Nevada County, has about 14,000 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 Nevada. 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: Grass Valley public records, Nevada County arrest records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Grass Valley
The FBI lists Grass Valley with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Grass Valley Police Department. It reported 577 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 Nevada County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 555 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Nevada County: Union Pacific Railroad in Nevada County (other); the Highway Patrol's Truckee and Grass Valley Area Offices and the Highway Patrol at Donner Pass Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facility (state police).
How Many Arrests Grass Valley 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.
- Grass Valley: 577 for 2025, 657 for 2024, 623 for 2023, 631 for 2022, 1,259 for 2020 and 1,662 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Grass Valley's 577 arrests in 2025 were down 12 percent from 657 in 2024.
Through March 2026, Grass Valley reported 149 arrests, against 118 in the same months of 2025.
Across Nevada County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,609 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Grass Valley Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Grass Valley 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 170 people, down from about 200 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 283 beds, and it ran at 55 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Grass Valley
For Grass Valley the place to look is the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Nevada, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at nevada.courts.ca.gov/online-services/web-portal).
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 Grass Valley
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 Grass Valley police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at grassvalleyca.gov/sites/main/files/file-attachments/records_request... (page title: Records Request Form | POLICE DEPARTMENT), phone 891 553 3878, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Nevada County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of Nevada, through the court records page at nevada.courts.ca.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at nevadacountyca.gov/894/Public-Records-Request (page title: Public Records Request | Nevada County, CA).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
The Nevada County guide covers every agency in the county: Nevada County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Grass Valley each year?
Grass Valley reported 577 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Grass Valley booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Nevada County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Grass Valley?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Nevada 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 Grass Valley?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Grass Valley police for its own arrests, the Nevada 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 nevadacountyca.gov/894/Public-Records-Request.
Is this the official Grass Valley 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.