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 between September 23, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
El Dorado County, California, has about 193,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office, two 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 El Dorado. 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: El Dorado County public records, California arrest records, California inmate search and California criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in El Dorado County
The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for El Dorado County. It reported 2,157 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in El Dorado County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- South Lake Tahoe, 21,225 residents: 910 arrests reported for 2025.
- Placerville, 10,695 residents: 536 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 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 Each Agency Reports in El Dorado 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.
- El Dorado County Sheriff's Office: 2,157 for 2025, 2,335 for 2024, 2,176 for 2023, 2,035 for 2022, 4,101 for 2020 and 3,735 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- 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.
- Placerville: 536 for 2025, 634 for 2024, 759 for 2023, 642 for 2022, 881 for 2020 and 830 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,603 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,603 in 2025 against 3,787 in 2024, down 4.9 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,120 arrests, against 2,553 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in El Dorado County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in El Dorado 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 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 person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, whose inmate locator is at cdcr.ca.gov/search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in El Dorado County
An arrest in El Dorado County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: 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 El Dorado County
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 El Dorado County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in South Lake Tahoe or Placerville: 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 California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection at Amador-El Dorado, Union Pacific Railroad in El Dorado County or the Highway Patrol's Placerville and South Lake Tahoe Area Offices: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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.
Cities in El Dorado County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in El Dorado County: South Lake Tahoe and Placerville.
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 El Dorado.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in El Dorado County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- South Lake Tahoe (21,225)
- Placerville (10,695)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in El Dorado County each year?
The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office reported 2,157 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,603 between them.
Where are people arrested in El Dorado County 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 El Dorado County?
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 El Dorado County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the El Dorado 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 eldoradocounty.ca.gov.
Is this the official El Dorado 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.