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 September 25, 2026.
Ridgecrest, California, in Kern County, has about 28,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Ridgecrest is held at the county jail, run by the Kern 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: Ridgecrest public records, Kern County inmate search, Ridgecrest arrest records, Ridgecrest warrants, Ridgecrest criminal records, Ridgecrest court records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Ridgecrest
The county jail, run by the Kern County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Ridgecrest, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Kern County Sheriff's Office at kernsheriff.org/inmate-search (page title: Inmate Search | Kern County Sheriff’s Office), 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 Kern County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 1,790 people, down from about 1,910 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,835 beds, and it ran at 88 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Kern County has about 923,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 19 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Kern County Jail
The Kern County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Ridgecrest (filed by the FBI as Ridgecrest Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Ridgecrest.
The FBI's agency list also places one campus police department, two other agencies and six state police units in Kern County (the arrest records guide names each one).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Bakersfield's 11,479 for 2025, the Kern County Sheriff's Office's 6,885 for 2023 and Ridgecrest's 1,634 for 2025.
Together, the ten agencies in Kern County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 18,122 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 Ridgecrest 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 Ridgecrest?
Look on the custody page of the Kern County Sheriff's Office at kernsheriff.org/inmate-search. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Kern County jail?
About 1,790 on an average day in 2025, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 1,835 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Kern 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 Ridgecrest 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.