Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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). In California the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Superior Court clerk; the statewide criminal history kept by the California Department of Justice is released only to its subject and to the employers and agencies the law allows. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Shafter is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests, directory links and common questions.
Related guides: Shafter public records, Kern County criminal records, Shafter arrest records, Shafter warrants, Shafter inmate search, Shafter court records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Kern
A criminal case from Shafter is filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Kern, and the court file, kept by the Superior Court clerk, is the record of it that the public may see.
For Kern County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at kern.courts.ca.gov/self-help/court-records (page title: Court Records | Superior Court of California | County of Kern), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
California has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The California Criminal History and Your Own Copy
The statewide criminal history kept by the California Department of Justice is closed to the public in California: it is released to its subject and to authorized employers and licensing agencies, and a member of the public uses the court's own case index instead.
To see your own record, the route is a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR; the state fee is $25. The response cannot be used for immigration or visa purposes. Details are on the California Department of Justice page.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Shafter
The Kern County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Shafter (filed by the FBI as Shafter Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around Shafter: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
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); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the ten agencies in Kern County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 18,122 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Shafter arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Shafter in 2025
The agency that reports for Shafter had 76 violent and 290 property crimes reported for 2025; each one is a report on file with it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The District Attorney for Kern County
Charges in Kern County are filed by the District Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Kern.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at kerncounty.com/government/departments/district-attorney/about/our-o... (page title: What We Do | Kern County, CA), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Shafter
Registered sex offenders living in Shafter are listed on the Megan's Law website, run by the California Department of Justice at meganslaw.ca.gov. The registry is tiered; some registrants are kept off the public site and others are shown by ZIP code only.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Kern County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the California Public Records Act a county office must answer a request 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. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at kerncountyca.nextrequest.com (page title: Open Public RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
More Official Criminal Records Pages for Kern County
The SearchSystems directory, online since 1997, lists the official pages for Kern County and California. These criminal records pages from its Kern County listing were opened again on October 2, 2026 and each one still answers:
- California Attorney General (oag.ca.gov)
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal 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.
Can I search Shafter criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at kern.courts.ca.gov/self-help/court-records (page title: Court Records | Superior Court of California | County of Kern).
How do I get my own California criminal history?
A Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR; the state fee is $25.
Who prosecutes crimes in Shafter?
The District Attorney, which files its cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Kern.
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.