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.
San Benito County, California, has about 69,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the San Benito County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and one other 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 San Benito. 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: San Benito County public records, California arrest records, California inmate search and California criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in San Benito County
The San Benito County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for San Benito County. It reported 586 arrests for 2025.
One city in San Benito County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Hollister, 45,033 residents: 678 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 San Benito County: Union Pacific Railroad in San Benito County (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in San Benito 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.
- Hollister: 678 for 2025, 927 for 2024, 927 for 2023, 656 for 2022, 1,111 for 2020 and 1,316 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- San Benito County Sheriff's Office: 586 for 2025, 587 for 2024, 476 for 2023, 519 for 2022, 464 for 2020 and 726 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,264 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,264 in 2025 against 1,514 in 2024, down 17 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 695 arrests, against 859 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in San Benito County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in San Benito 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 110 people, down from about 120 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 142 beds, and it ran at 85 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 San Benito County Sheriff's Office at sanbenitocountyca.gov/departments/sheriff-s-office (page title: Office of the Sheriff | San Benito County, CA), phone 831-801-9225, 2301 Technology Parkway Hollister, CA 95023, 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 San Benito County
An arrest in San Benito County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of San Benito, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at sanbenito.courts.ca.gov/home-public-portal); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at sanbenitocountyca.gov/departments/district-attorney/about-district-...).
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 San Benito 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 San Benito County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 831-801-9225.
- An arrest in Hollister: 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 San Benito County: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of San Benito, through the court records page at sanbenito.courts.ca.gov/home-public-portal.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at sanbenitocountyca.gov (page title: Public Records Request | San Benito County, CA).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
Cities in San Benito County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in San Benito County: Hollister. San Juan Bautista has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
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 San Benito.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in San Benito County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Hollister (45,033)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in San Benito County each year?
Hollister reported 678 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,264 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in San Benito County?
Ask the San Benito County Sheriff's Office at 831-801-9225; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sanbenitocountyca.gov.
Where are people arrested in San Benito County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the San Benito County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in San Benito County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of San Benito 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 San Benito County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the San Benito 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 sanbenitocountyca.gov.
Is this the official San Benito 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.