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

San Luis Obispo County, California, has about 282,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office, seven city agencies and ten 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 San Luis Obispo. 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 Luis Obispo County public records, California arrest records, California inmate search and California criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in San Luis Obispo County

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for San Luis Obispo County. It reported 1,204 arrests for 2025.

The FBI lists six cities in San Luis Obispo County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:

  • San Luis Obispo, 49,729 residents: 1,691 arrests reported for 2023.
  • Atascadero, 29,743 residents: 463 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Arroyo Grande, 18,249 residents: 167 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Grover Beach, 12,534 residents: 315 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Morro Bay, 10,591 residents: 288 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Pismo Beach, 7,984 residents: 685 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 San Luis Obispo County: California State Parks at San Luis Obispo, California State Parks at Oceano Dunes, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection at San Luis Obispo and Atascadero State Hospital (state agency); Union Pacific Railroad in San Luis Obispo County (other); Cuesta College and California State Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo (campus police); the Highway Patrol's Coastal Division and the Highway Patrol's Templeton and San Luis Obispo Area Offices (state police).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in San Luis Obispo 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.

  • Paso Robles: 2,047 for 2025, 1,779 for 2024, 1,687 for 2023, 2,141 for 2022, 1,854 for 2020 and 2,318 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office: 1,204 for 2025, 1,093 for 2024, 1,176 for 2023, 1,522 for 2022, 2,454 for 2020 and 2,796 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Pismo Beach: 685 for 2025, 798 for 2024, 793 for 2023, 1,725 for 2022, 1,675 for 2020 and 1,243 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Atascadero: 463 for 2025, 351 for 2024, 307 for 2023, 408 for 2022, 434 for 2021 and 1,444 for 2020.
  • Grover Beach: 315 for 2025, 330 for 2024, 264 for 2023, 276 for 2022, 352 for 2021 and 543 for 2020.
  • Morro Bay: 288 for 2025, 309 for 2024, 284 for 2023, 790 for 2022, 938 for 2020 and 936 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Arroyo Grande: 167 for 2025, 244 for 2024, 227 for 2023, 219 for 2022, 177 for 2021 and 625 for 2020.
  • San Luis Obispo: 1,691 for 2023, 1,881 for 2022, 2,018 for 2020 and 2,623 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.

Together, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,169 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 5,169 in 2025 against 4,904 in 2024, up 5.4 percent.

Through August 2026, the seven agencies with every month so far on file reported 3,058 arrests, against 3,547 in the same months of 2025.

Booking: Where People Arrested in San Luis Obispo County Are Held

A person kept in custody after an arrest in San Luis Obispo 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 480 people, down from about 540 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 797 beds, and it ran at 54 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 Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office at slosheriff.org/WebLogs/BookingLog (page title: BookingLog), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.

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 San Luis Obispo County

Whether someone was arrested in San Luis Obispo County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of San Luis Obispo, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at slo.courts.ca.gov/online-services/online-case-lookup); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at slocounty.ca.gov/departments/district-attorney/what-does-the-distri...).

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 Luis Obispo 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 San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
  • An arrest in San Luis Obispo, Atascadero, Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Morro Bay or Pismo Beach: 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 California State Parks at San Luis Obispo, California State Parks at Oceano Dunes or Union Pacific Railroad in San Luis Obispo 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 Luis Obispo, through the court records page at slo.courts.ca.gov.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at slocounty.ca.gov (page title: Public Records Request | County of San Luis Obispo).
  • Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.

Cities in San Luis Obispo County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the seven cities in San Luis Obispo County: San Luis Obispo, Atascadero, Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Morro Bay and Pismo Beach. El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Paso Robles Police Department as a city agency in San Luis Obispo County; Paso Robles is not among the cities above.

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 Luis Obispo.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in San Luis Obispo 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 San Luis Obispo County each year?

Paso Robles reported 2,047 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the seven agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 5,169 between them.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in San Luis Obispo County?

Ask the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at slosheriff.org/WebLogs/BookingLog.

Where are people arrested in San Luis Obispo County booked?

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

Are arrest records public in San Luis Obispo County?

The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of San Luis Obispo 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 Luis Obispo County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the San Luis Obispo 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 slocounty.ca.gov.

Is this the official San Luis Obispo 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.