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.
Scotts Valley, California, in Santa Cruz County, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Scotts Valley is held at the county jail, run by the Santa Cruz 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: Scotts Valley public records, Santa Cruz County inmate search, Scotts Valley arrest records, Scotts Valley warrants, Scotts Valley criminal records, Scotts Valley court records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Scotts Valley
The county jail, run by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Scotts Valley, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office at jailviewer.co.santa-cruz.ca.us (page title: Web Jail Viewer), 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 Santa Cruz County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 290 people, down from about 410 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 488 beds, and it ran at 84 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Santa Cruz County has about 262,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 11 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Santa Cruz County Jail
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Scotts Valley (filed by the FBI as Scotts Valley Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Scotts Valley.
The FBI's agency list also places one other agency, two state agencies, one campus police department and two state police units in Santa Cruz County (the arrest records guide names each one).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Santa Cruz's 2,991 for 2025, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office's 2,256 for 2025 and Watsonville's 1,203 for 2025.
Together, the five agencies in Santa Cruz County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7,276 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 Scotts Valley arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Santa Cruz County serves the sentence in a facility of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, whose inmate locator is at cdcr.ca.gov/search.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Scotts Valley?
Look on the custody page of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office at jailviewer.co.santa-cruz.ca.us. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Santa Cruz County jail?
About 290 on an average day in 2025, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 488 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Santa Cruz 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 Scotts 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.