Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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 on September 23, 2026.
Contra Costa County, California, has about 1.2 million residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, 20 city agencies and four campus, state or other agencies. An arrest 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 Contra Costa. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Contra Costa County public records, California arrest records, California inmate search and California criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Contra Costa County
The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Contra Costa County. It reported 1,973 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside 19 of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported, the largest twelve first; the rest are named in the cities section below:
- Concord, 124,016 residents: 2,991 arrests reported for 2025.
- Antioch, 118,453 residents: 1,562 arrests reported for 2025.
- Richmond, 115,353 residents: 1,714 arrests reported for 2025.
- San Ramon, 85,924 residents: 434 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pittsburg, 77,131 residents: 1,292 arrests reported for 2025.
- Walnut Creek, 70,817 residents: 1,180 arrests reported for 2025.
- Brentwood, 66,286 residents: 1,098 arrests reported for 2025.
- Oakley, 47,158 residents: 387 arrests reported for 2025.
- Danville, 43,410 residents: 213 arrests reported for 2025.
- Martinez, 37,006 residents: 458 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pleasant Hill, 34,169 residents: 726 arrests reported for 2025.
- San Pablo, 31,562 residents: 1,667 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Contra Costa County: San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit in Contra Costa County and Union Pacific Railroad in Contra Costa County (other); Contra Costa Community College (campus police); the Highway Patrol's Contra Costa Area Office (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Contra Costa County
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.
- Concord: 2,991 for 2025, 2,676 for 2024, 2,432 for 2023, 2,456 for 2022, 2,082 for 2021 and 2,524 for 2020.
- Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office: 1,973 for 2025, 1,523 for 2024, 1,725 for 2023, 2,719 for 2022, 3,201 for 2020 and 6,068 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Richmond: 1,714 for 2025, 1,737 for 2024, 1,596 for 2023, 1,560 for 2022, 1,751 for 2021 and 1,788 for 2020.
- San Pablo: 1,667 for 2025, 1,577 for 2024, 1,800 for 2023, 1,085 for 2022, 1,195 for 2020 and 2,465 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Antioch: 1,562 for 2025, 913 for 2024, 915 for 2023, 1,061 for 2022, 2,719 for 2020 and 3,090 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Pittsburg: 1,292 for 2025, 1,045 for 2024, 1,072 for 2023, 1,607 for 2022, 1,676 for 2020 and 2,637 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Walnut Creek: 1,180 for 2025, 1,431 for 2024, 1,094 for 2023, 1,262 for 2022, 994 for 2020 and 1,771 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Brentwood: 1,098 for 2025, 1,278 for 2024, 829 for 2023, 1,003 for 2022, 1,072 for 2020 and 1,693 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Pleasant Hill: 726 for 2025, 639 for 2024, 752 for 2023, 698 for 2022, 1,342 for 2020 and 1,389 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Martinez: 458 for 2025, 519 for 2024, 337 for 2023, 424 for 2022, 1,121 for 2020 and 1,425 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- San Ramon: 434 for 2025, 376 for 2024 and 416 for 2023.
- El Cerrito: 401 for 2025, 388 for 2024, 277 for 2023, 222 for 2022, 336 for 2020 and 525 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the 21 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 17,288 arrests that year. The 20 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 15,726 in 2025 against 14,839 in 2024, up 6 percent.
Through August 2026, the 18 agencies with every month so far on file reported 7,758 arrests, against 8,226 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Contra Costa County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Contra Costa County 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 940 people, down from about 1,200 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,831 beds, and it ran at 49 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 Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office at cocosheriff.org/how-do-i/inmate-information (page title: Inmate Information | Contra Costa Sheriff, CA), 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 Contra Costa County
An arrest in Contra Costa County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at contracosta.courts.ca.gov/online-services/records); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at contracosta.ca.gov/917/District-Attorneys-Office, phone (925) 957-8602).
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 Contra Costa County
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 Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Concord, Antioch, Richmond, San Ramon, Pittsburg, Walnut Creek or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit in Contra Costa County, Contra Costa Community College or Union Pacific Railroad in Contra Costa County: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (925) 957-8602, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa, through the court records page at contracosta.courts.ca.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at contracosta.ca.gov (page title: Public Records Requests | Contra Costa County, CA Official Website).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
Cities in Contra Costa County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the 19 cities in Contra Costa County: the twelve named above and Hercules, El Cerrito, Lafayette, Orinda, Pinole, Moraga and Clayton. The FBI's list also carries the Kensington Police Department as a city agency in Contra Costa County; Kensington is not among the cities above.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Contra Costa County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Contra Costa County each year?
Concord reported 2,991 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 21 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 17,288 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Contra Costa County?
Look on the custody page of the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office at cocosheriff.org/how-do-i/inmate-information. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Contra Costa County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Contra Costa County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa 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 Contra Costa County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 contracosta.ca.gov.
Is this the official Contra Costa County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.