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 30, 2026.
South Lake Tahoe, California, in El Dorado County, has about 21,000 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 El Dorado. 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: South Lake Tahoe public records, El Dorado County arrest records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in South Lake Tahoe
The FBI lists South Lake Tahoe with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as South Lake Tahoe Police Department. It reported 910 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 El Dorado County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 2,157 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in El Dorado County: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection at Amador-El Dorado (state agency); Union Pacific Railroad in El Dorado County (other); the Highway Patrol's Placerville and South Lake Tahoe Area Offices (state police).
How Many Arrests South Lake Tahoe 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.
- South Lake Tahoe: 910 for 2025, 818 for 2024, 729 for 2023, 659 for 2022, 1,021 for 2020 and 1,086 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
South Lake Tahoe's 910 arrests in 2025 were up 11 percent from 818 in 2024.
Through August 2026, South Lake Tahoe reported 585 arrests, against 642 in the same months of 2025.
Across El Dorado County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,603 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in South Lake Tahoe Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in South Lake Tahoe 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 300 people, down from about 390 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 461 beds, and it ran at 70 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 South Lake Tahoe
Whether someone was arrested in South Lake Tahoe, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of El Dorado, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at eldorado.courts.ca.gov/online-services/case-index-department-calendars); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at eldoradocounty.ca.gov/County-Government/Elected-Officials/District-..., phone (530) 621-6472).
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 South Lake Tahoe
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 South Lake Tahoe police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityofslt.gov/313/Records (page title: Records | South Lake Tahoe, CA), phone 530-542-6100, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (530) 621-6472, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of El Dorado, through the court records page at eldorado.courts.ca.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at eldoradocounty.ca.gov (page title: Public Records Act Requests | El Dorado County).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
The El Dorado County guide covers every agency in the county: El Dorado County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in South Lake Tahoe each year?
South Lake Tahoe reported 910 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in South Lake Tahoe booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in South Lake Tahoe?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of El Dorado 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 South Lake Tahoe?
From the agency that made the arrest: the South Lake Tahoe police for its own arrests, the El Dorado 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 eldoradocounty.ca.gov.
Is this the official South Lake Tahoe 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.