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 26, 2026.
Williams, California, in Colusa County, has about 5,600 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 Colusa. 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: Williams public records, Colusa County arrest records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Williams
The FBI lists Williams with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Williams Police Department. It reported 90 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 Colusa County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 89 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Colusa County: Union Pacific Railroad in Colusa County (other); the Highway Patrol's Williams Area Office (state police).
How Many Arrests Williams 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.
- Williams: 90 for 2025, 101 for 2024, 125 for 2023, 161 for 2022, 146 for 2020 and 172 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Williams's 90 arrests in 2025 were down 11 percent from 101 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Williams reported 74 arrests, against 67 in the same months of 2025.
Across Colusa County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 280 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Williams Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Williams 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 54 people, down from about 70 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 92 beds, and it ran at 76 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 Colusa County Sheriff's Office at countyofcolusaca.gov/m/directory/department?did=20 (page title: Staff Directory, Sheriff), phone (530) 458-0200, 929 Bridge Street Colusa, CA 95932, Monday through Sunday 8 am to 4 pm, 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 Williams
For Williams the place to look is the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at countyofcolusaca.gov/357/District-Attorney, phone (530) 458-0545).
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 Williams
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 Williams police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityofwilliams.org/services/police/public_records.php (page title: Williams, California), phone (530) 473-2661, 700 North Street Williams, CA 95987, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Colusa County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (530) 458-0200.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (530) 458-0545, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
The Colusa County guide covers every agency in the county: Colusa County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Williams each year?
Williams reported 90 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Williams?
Ask the Colusa County Sheriff's Office at (530) 458-0200; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at countyofcolusaca.gov.
Where are people arrested in Williams booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Colusa County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Williams?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Colusa 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 Williams?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Williams police for its own arrests, the Colusa 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 Williams 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.