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 2023. 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.
Selma, California, in Fresno County, has about 25,000 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 Fresno. 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: Selma public records, Fresno County arrest records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Selma
The FBI lists Selma with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Selma Police Department. It reported 1,260 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year. 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 Fresno County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 3,093 arrests for 2023.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Fresno County: the Highway Patrol's Fresno and Coalinga Area Offices, the Highway Patrol's Central Division, the Highway Patrol's Central Investigative Services Unit and the Highway Patrol at Help Eliminate Auto Theft (Fresno HEAT) (state police); Coalinga State Hospital, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Fresno-Kings and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Southern Region (state agency); the State Center Community College District and California State University at Fresno (campus police); Union Pacific Railroad in Fresno County and the Clovis Unified School District (other).
How Many Arrests Selma Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Selma: 1,260 for 2023, 1,443 for 2022, 1,593 for 2020 and 1,532 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Selma's 1,260 arrests in 2023 were down 13 percent from 1,443 in 2022.
Across Fresno County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 18,355 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Selma Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Selma 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 2,480 people, down from about 3,050 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 3,295 beds, and it ran at 84 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 Fresno County Sheriff's Office at fresnosheriff.org/media-relations/new-feature-search-inmates-alphab... (page title: New Feature: Search Inmates Alphabetically), phone (559) 600-8137, 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 Selma
Whether someone was arrested in Selma, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Fresno, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at publicportal.fresno.courts.ca.gov/public-portal); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at fresnoda.org/Home, phone (916) 445-6713).
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 Selma
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Selma police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityofselma.com/departments/units/records.php (page title: City of Selma, CA), phone (559) 891-2231, Monday-Friday from 8am to 5pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Fresno County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (559) 600-8137.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (916) 445-6713, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of Fresno, through the court records page at publicportal.fresno.courts.ca.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at fresnocountyca.gov (page title: Public Records Request | County of Fresno).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
The Fresno County guide covers every agency in the county: Fresno County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Selma each year?
Selma reported 1,260 arrests to the FBI for 2023, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Selma?
Ask the Fresno County Sheriff's Office at (559) 600-8137; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at fresnosheriff.org.
Where are people arrested in Selma booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Fresno County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Selma?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Fresno 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 Selma?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Selma police for its own arrests, the Fresno 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 fresnocountyca.gov.
Is this the official Selma 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.