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.
Stockton, California, in San Joaquin County, has about 325,000 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 San Joaquin. 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: Stockton public records, San Joaquin County arrest records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Stockton
The FBI lists Stockton with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Stockton Police Department. It reported 5,264 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 San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 2,582 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in San Joaquin County: the Highway Patrol at Delta Regional Auto Theft Team and the Highway Patrol's Stockton and Tracy Area Offices (state police); San Joaquin Delta College (campus police); the Stockton Unified School District and Union Pacific Railroad in San Joaquin County (other).
How Many Arrests Stockton 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.
- Stockton: 5,264 for 2025, 4,895 for 2024, 4,493 for 2023, 4,631 for 2022, 6,584 for 2020 and 7,950 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Stockton's 5,264 arrests in 2025 were up 7.5 percent from 4,895 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Stockton reported 3,643 arrests, against 3,456 in the same months of 2025.
Across San Joaquin County, the eight agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 14,084 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Stockton Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Stockton 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 1,260 people, down from about 1,360 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,550 beds, and it ran at 81 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 San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office at wic.sjgov.org (page title: Who is in Custody), 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 Stockton
An arrest in Stockton can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of San Joaquin, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at sjcourts.org/case-management-search); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at sjcda.org).
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 Stockton
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Stockton police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at stocktonusdpolice.org/support-services/record-requests (page title: Records Requests | Stockton Unified School District Police Department), phone (209) 933-7085, 640 N San Joaquin St. Stockton, CA 95202, Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the San Joaquin 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 San Joaquin, through the court records page at sjcourts.org/case-management-search.
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
The San Joaquin County guide covers every agency in the county: San Joaquin County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Stockton each year?
Stockton reported 5,264 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Stockton?
Look on the custody page of the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office at wic.sjgov.org. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Stockton booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Stockton?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of San Joaquin 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 Stockton?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Stockton police for its own arrests, the San Joaquin 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.
Is this the official Stockton 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.