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.
Los Banos, California, in Merced County, has about 49,000 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 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: Los Banos public records, Merced County arrest records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Los Banos
The FBI lists Los Banos with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Los Banos Police Department. It reported 1,413 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 Los Banos Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Los Banos: 1,413 for 2025, 1,331 for 2024, 1,184 for 2023, 1,262 for 2022, 1,767 for 2020 and 1,959 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Los Banos's 1,413 arrests in 2025 were up 6.2 percent from 1,331 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Los Banos reported 1,136 arrests, against 914 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 Los Banos Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Los Banos 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 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 Los Banos
An arrest in Los Banos can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: 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 Los Banos
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Los Banos police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at oag.ca.gov/fingerprints/locations/los-banos-police-department (page title: Los Banos Police Department | State of California | Department of Justice | Office of the Attorney General), phone (209) 827-7070, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 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.
- 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 Los Banos each year?
Los Banos reported 1,413 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Los Banos?
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 Los Banos 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 Los Banos?
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 Los Banos?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Los Banos 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.
Is this the official Los Banos 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.