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.
San Pablo, California, in Contra Costa County, has about 32,000 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 Contra Costa. 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: San Pablo public records, Contra Costa County arrest records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in San Pablo
The FBI lists San Pablo with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as San Pablo Police Department. It reported 1,667 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 Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,973 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Contra Costa County: San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit in Contra Costa County and Union Pacific Railroad in Contra Costa County (other); Contra Costa Community College (campus police); the Highway Patrol's Contra Costa Area Office (state police).
How Many Arrests San Pablo 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.
- San Pablo: 1,667 for 2025, 1,577 for 2024, 1,800 for 2023, 1,085 for 2022, 1,195 for 2020 and 2,465 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
San Pablo's 1,667 arrests in 2025 were up 5.7 percent from 1,577 in 2024.
Through August 2026, San Pablo reported 1,186 arrests, against 1,061 in the same months of 2025.
Across Contra Costa County, the 21 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 17,288 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in San Pablo Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in San Pablo 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 940 people, down from about 1,200 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,831 beds, and it ran at 49 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 Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office at cocosheriff.org/how-do-i/inmate-information (page title: Inmate Information | Contra Costa Sheriff, CA), 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 San Pablo
Whether someone was arrested in San Pablo, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at contracosta.courts.ca.gov/online-services/records); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at contracosta.ca.gov/917/District-Attorneys-Office, phone (925) 957-8602).
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 San Pablo
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 San Pablo police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at sanpabloca.gov/1050/Police-Records (page title: Police Records Unit | San Pablo, CA), phone (510) 215-3130, Monday through Thursday from 6:30AM-5:00PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (925) 957-8602, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa, through the court records page at contracosta.courts.ca.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at contracosta.ca.gov (page title: Public Records Requests | Contra Costa County, CA Official Website).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
The Contra Costa County guide covers every agency in the county: Contra Costa County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in San Pablo each year?
San Pablo reported 1,667 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in San Pablo?
Look on the custody page of the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office at cocosheriff.org/how-do-i/inmate-information. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in San Pablo booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in San Pablo?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa 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 San Pablo?
From the agency that made the arrest: the San Pablo police for its own arrests, the Contra Costa 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 contracosta.ca.gov.
Is this the official San Pablo 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.