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.
Lake County, California, has about 68,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lake County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and one state agency. 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 Lake. 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: Lake County public records, California arrest records, California inmate search and California criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lake County
The Lake County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lake County. It reported 986 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two 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:
- Clearlake, 16,636 residents: 1,519 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lakeport, 5,104 residents: 296 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 one more agency in Lake County: the Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area Office (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Lake County
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.
- Clearlake: 1,519 for 2025, 1,421 for 2024, 1,630 for 2023, 1,992 for 2022, 2,359 for 2020 and 2,684 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Lake County Sheriff's Office: 986 for 2025, 908 for 2024, 667 for 2023, 576 for 2022, 1,415 for 2020 and 2,011 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Lakeport: 296 for 2025, 292 for 2024, 294 for 2022, 255 for 2020 and 510 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,801 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,801 in 2025 against 2,621 in 2024, up 6.9 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,382 arrests, against 1,631 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lake County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lake County 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 220 people, down from about 270 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 297 beds, and it ran at 75 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 Lake County Sheriff's Office at lakecountyca.gov/566/Jail (page title: Jail | Lake County, CA), phone (707)262-4240, 4913 Helbush Drive Lakeport, CA 95453, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Lake County
An arrest in Lake County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Lake, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at portal.lake.courts.ca.gov/public-portal/?q=Home); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at lakecountyca.gov/203/District-Attorney, phone 707-263-2251).
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 Lake 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 Lake County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (707)262-4240.
- An arrest in Clearlake or Lakeport: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area Office: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 707-263-2251, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of Lake, through the court records page at portal.lake.courts.ca.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lakecountyca.gov (page title: Form Center, Public Records Request Form).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
Cities in Lake County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Lake County: Clearlake and Lakeport.
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 Lake.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lake County each year?
Clearlake reported 1,519 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,801 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Lake County?
Ask the Lake County Sheriff's Office at (707)262-4240; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at lakecountyca.gov/566/Jail.
Where are people arrested in Lake County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lake County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lake County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Lake 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 Lake County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lake 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 lakecountyca.gov.
Is this the official Lake 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.