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.
Pismo Beach, California, in San Luis Obispo County, has about 8,000 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 San Luis Obispo. 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: Pismo Beach public records, San Luis Obispo County arrest records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Pismo Beach
The FBI lists Pismo Beach with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Pismo Beach Police Department. It reported 685 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 San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,204 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in San Luis Obispo County: California State Parks at San Luis Obispo, California State Parks at Oceano Dunes, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection at San Luis Obispo and Atascadero State Hospital (state agency); Union Pacific Railroad in San Luis Obispo County (other); Cuesta College and California State Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo (campus police); the Highway Patrol's Coastal Division and the Highway Patrol's Templeton and San Luis Obispo Area Offices (state police).
How Many Arrests Pismo Beach 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.
- Pismo Beach: 685 for 2025, 798 for 2024, 793 for 2023, 1,725 for 2022, 1,675 for 2020 and 1,243 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Pismo Beach's 685 arrests in 2025 were down 14 percent from 798 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Pismo Beach reported 423 arrests, against 476 in the same months of 2025.
Across San Luis Obispo County, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,169 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Pismo Beach Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Pismo Beach 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 480 people, down from about 540 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 797 beds, and it ran at 54 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office at slosheriff.org/WebLogs/BookingLog (page title: BookingLog), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Pismo Beach
An arrest in Pismo Beach can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of San Luis Obispo, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at slo.courts.ca.gov/online-services/online-case-lookup); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at slocounty.ca.gov/departments/district-attorney/what-does-the-distri...).
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 Pismo Beach
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 Pismo Beach police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at pismobeach.org/721/Police-Services (page title: Police Services | Pismo Beach, CA), phone 805-773-2208, 1000 Bello Street Pismo Beach, CA 93449, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of San Luis Obispo, through the court records page at slo.courts.ca.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at slocounty.ca.gov (page title: Public Records Request | County of San Luis Obispo).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
The San Luis Obispo County guide covers every agency in the county: San Luis Obispo County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Pismo Beach each year?
Pismo Beach reported 685 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Pismo Beach?
Ask the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at slosheriff.org/WebLogs/BookingLog.
Where are people arrested in Pismo Beach booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Pismo Beach?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of San Luis Obispo 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 Pismo Beach?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Pismo Beach police for its own arrests, the San Luis Obispo 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 slocounty.ca.gov.
Is this the official Pismo Beach 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.