SearchSystems Editorial

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.

About this guide

Monterey County, California, has about 436,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Monterey County Sheriff's Office, 12 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 Monterey. 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: Monterey County public records, California arrest records, California inmate search and California criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Monterey County

The Monterey County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Monterey County. It reported 812 arrests for 2025.

Arrests inside 12 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:

  • Salinas, 160,783 residents: 2,171 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Seaside, 31,524 residents: 733 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Monterey, 29,015 residents: 760 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Soledad, 26,345 residents: 328 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Marina, 23,047 residents: 747 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Greenfield, 21,042 residents: 385 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Pacific Grove, 14,851 residents: 140 arrests reported for 2025.
  • King City, 13,920 residents: 259 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Gonzales, 8,431 residents: 145 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Carmel-by-the-Sea, 3,124 residents: 76 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Del Rey Oaks, 1,553 residents: 38 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Sand City, 328 residents: 162 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 Monterey County: Union Pacific Railroad in Monterey County (other); California State Parks at Monterey and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection at San Benito-Monterey (state agency); California State University at Monterey Bay (campus police).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Monterey 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.

  • Salinas: 2,171 for 2025, 2,113 for 2024, 1,981 for 2023, 2,289 for 2022, 3,391 for 2020 and 4,759 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Monterey County Sheriff's Office: 812 for 2025, 624 for 2024, 832 for 2023, 1,036 for 2022, 2,091 for 2020 and 2,597 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Monterey: 760 for 2025, 827 for 2024, 1,078 for 2023, 1,273 for 2022, 2,082 for 2020 and 2,189 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Marina: 747 for 2025, 675 for 2024, 610 for 2023, 609 for 2022, 1,052 for 2020 and 651 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Seaside: 733 for 2025, 691 for 2024, 913 for 2023, 652 for 2022, 782 for 2020 and 895 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Greenfield: 385 for 2025, 415 for 2024, 503 for 2023, 489 for 2022, 681 for 2020 and 1,033 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Soledad: 328 for 2025, 369 for 2024, 391 for 2023, 388 for 2022, 562 for 2020 and 492 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • King City: 259 for 2025, 164 for 2024, 436 for 2022, 367 for 2020 and 345 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
  • Sand City: 162 for 2025, 184 for 2024, 218 for 2023, 127 for 2022, 123 for 2021 and 239 for 2020.
  • Gonzales: 145 for 2025, 140 for 2024, 137 for 2023, 178 for 2022, 131 for 2021 and 325 for 2020.
  • Pacific Grove: 140 for 2025, 153 for 2024, 135 for 2023, 161 for 2022, 151 for 2021 and 258 for 2020.
  • Carmel-by-the-Sea: 76 for 2025, 69 for 2023, 128 for 2022, 247 for 2020 and 244 for 2019; 2021 and 2024 are missing months.

Together, the 13 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,756 arrests that year. The 12 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 6,680 in 2025 against 6,399 in 2024, up 4.4 percent.

Through August 2026, the 13 agencies with every month so far on file reported 4,900 arrests, against 4,305 in the same months of 2025.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Monterey County Are Held

The county jail is where a person arrested in Monterey 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 820 people, down from about 860 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,224 beds, and it ran at 74 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 Monterey County Sheriff's Office at countyofmonterey.gov/Home/Components/ServiceDirectory/ServiceDirect... (page title: County Jail Booking Information | County Services | County of Monterey, CA), phone (831) 755-3782, 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 Monterey County

An arrest in Monterey County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Monterey County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Monterey, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at monterey.courts.ca.gov/online-services/case-search, phone (415) 553-7400); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at countyofmonterey.gov/government/departments-a-h/district-attorney, phone (831) 755-5070).

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 Monterey 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 Monterey County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (831) 755-3782.
  • An arrest in Salinas, Seaside, Monterey, Soledad, Marina, Greenfield 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 Union Pacific Railroad in Monterey County, California State Parks at Monterey or California State University at Monterey Bay: the records office of the agency involved.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (831) 755-5070, handles discovery for pending cases.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of Monterey, through the court records page at monterey.courts.ca.gov, phone (415) 553-7400.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at countyofmonterey.gov (page title: Public Records Act Request | County of Monterey, CA).
  • Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.

Cities in Monterey County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the 12 cities in Monterey County: Salinas, Seaside, Monterey, Soledad, Marina, Greenfield, Pacific Grove, King City, Gonzales, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Del Rey Oaks and Sand City.

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 Monterey.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Monterey 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 Monterey County each year?

Salinas reported 2,171 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 13 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 6,756 between them.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Monterey County?

Look on the custody page of the Monterey County Sheriff's Office at countyofmonterey.gov, or call (831) 755-3782. It covers people booked into the county jail.

Where are people arrested in Monterey County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Monterey County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Monterey County?

The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Monterey 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 Monterey County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Monterey 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 countyofmonterey.gov.

Is this the official Monterey 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.