Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 23, 2026.
Madera County, California, has about 165,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In California the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Superior Court clerk; the statewide criminal history kept by the California Department of Justice is released only to its subject and to the employers and agencies the law allows. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Madera County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests, directory links and common questions.
Related guides: Madera County public records, Madera County arrest records, Madera County warrants, Madera County inmate search, Madera County court records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Madera
In California the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Madera County are heard by the Superior Court of California, County of Madera, which hears every civil, criminal, family, probate, traffic and juvenile case, and the file of each case is kept by the Superior Court clerk.
For Madera County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at madera.courts.ca.gov/online-services (page title: Online Services | Superior Court of California | County of Madera), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
California has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The California Criminal History and Your Own Copy
The statewide criminal history kept by the California Department of Justice is closed to the public in California: it is released to its subject and to authorized employers and licensing agencies, and a member of the public uses the court's own case index instead.
To see your own record, the route is a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR; the state fee is $25. The response cannot be used for immigration or visa purposes. Details are on the California Department of Justice page.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Madera County
The Madera County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Madera and Chowchilla keep the arrest records in Madera County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Madera County: Union Pacific Railroad in Madera County (other agency); the Highway Patrol's Madera and Oakhurst Area Offices (state police); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the three agencies in Madera County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,413 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Madera County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Madera County in 2025
The three agencies in Madera County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 742 violent and 1,616 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,358 crimes in 2025 against 2,878 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Madera County public records guide.
The District Attorney for Madera County
Charges in Madera County are filed by the District Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Madera.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at maderada.org (page title: MENU | Madera County Distri), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Madera County
Registered sex offenders living in Madera County are listed on the Megan's Law website, run by the California Department of Justice at meganslaw.ca.gov. The registry is tiered; some registrants are kept off the public site and others are shown by ZIP code only.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Madera County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the California Public Records Act a county office must answer a request 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. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at madera.gov/city-government/public-records-request (page title: Public Records Request | City of Madera).
More Official Criminal Records Pages for Madera County
The SearchSystems directory, online since 1997, lists the official pages for Madera County and California. These criminal records pages from its Madera County listing were opened again on October 2, 2026 and each one still answers:
- Crime Data, State of California (oag.ca.gov)
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Madera County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Madera 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.
Can I search Madera County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at madera.courts.ca.gov/online-services (page title: Online Services | Superior Court of California | County of Madera).
How do I get my own California criminal history?
A Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR; the state fee is $25.
Who prosecutes crimes in Madera County?
The District Attorney, which files its cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Madera.
Is this the official Madera 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.