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.
Shafter, California, in Kern County, has about 23,000 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 Kern. 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: Shafter public records, Kern County arrest records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Shafter
The FBI lists Shafter with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Shafter Police Department. It reported 998 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 Kern County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 6,885 arrests for 2023.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Kern County: California State University at Bakersfield (campus police); the Kern High School District and Union Pacific Railroad in Kern County (other); the Highway Patrol at Kern County Auto Theft Task Force, the Highway Patrol's Bakersfield, Buttonwillow, Mojave and Fort Tejon Area Offices and the Highway Patrol at Grapevine Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facility (state police).
How Many Arrests Shafter 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.
- Shafter: 998 for 2025, 1,090 for 2024, 1,103 for 2023, 1,359 for 2022, 1,723 for 2020 and 1,248 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Shafter's 998 arrests in 2025 were down 8.4 percent from 1,090 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Shafter reported 486 arrests, against 758 in the same months of 2025.
Across Kern County, the ten agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 18,122 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Shafter Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Shafter 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 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.
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 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 Shafter
An arrest in Shafter can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Kern County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Kern, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at kern.courts.ca.gov/self-help/court-records); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at kerncounty.com/government/departments/district-attorney/about/our-o...).
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 Shafter
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 Shafter police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at shafterca.gov/370/RecordsReports-CPRA (page title: Records/Reports | California Public Records Act | Shafter CA), phone (916) 227-3822, 201 Central Valley Hwy. Shafter, CA 93263, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Kern 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 Kern, through the court records page at kern.courts.ca.gov/self-help/court-records.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at kerncountyca.nextrequest.com (page title: Open Public RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
The Kern County guide covers every agency in the county: Kern County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Shafter each year?
Shafter reported 998 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Shafter?
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.
Where are people arrested in Shafter booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Kern County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Shafter?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Kern 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 Shafter?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Shafter police for its own arrests, the Kern 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 kerncountyca.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Shafter 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.