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.
Mariposa County, California, has about 17,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office and two 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 Mariposa. 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 and common questions.
Related guides: Mariposa County public records, California arrest records, California inmate search and California criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Mariposa County
The Mariposa County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Mariposa County. It reported 262 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Mariposa County: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection at Madera-Mariposa-Merced (state agency); the Highway Patrol's Mariposa Area Office (state police).
How Many Arrests The Mariposa County Sheriff's Office 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.
- Mariposa County Sheriff's Office: 262 for 2025, 359 for 2024, 308 for 2023, 272 for 2022, 856 for 2020 and 1,123 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
The Mariposa County Sheriff's Office's 262 arrests in 2025 were down 27 percent from 359 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Mariposa County Sheriff's Office reported 233 arrests, against 191 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mariposa County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Mariposa 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 33 people, down from about 44 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 58 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 custody page of the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office at mariposacounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/97393/BOOKING-REPORT-09212026 (page title: Booking # 2026-00448 Jailing Party Name Arrest Date Time Release Date), 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 Mariposa County
Whether someone was arrested in Mariposa County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Mariposa, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at mariposa.courts.ca.gov, phone (209) 966-2005); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at mariposacounty.gov/74/District-Attorney, phone (209) 966-3626).
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 Mariposa 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 Mariposa County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest by California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection at Madera-Mariposa-Merced or the Highway Patrol's Mariposa Area Office: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (209) 966-3626, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of Mariposa, through the court records page at mariposa.courts.ca.gov, phone (209) 966-2005.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at mariposacounty.nextrequest.com (page title: Mariposa County Open Public RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mariposa County each year?
The Mariposa County Sheriff's Office reported 262 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Mariposa County?
Look on the custody page of the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office at mariposacounty.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Mariposa County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mariposa County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Mariposa 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 Mariposa County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mariposa 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 mariposacounty.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Mariposa 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.