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 between September 23, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Santa Clara County, California, has about 1.9 million residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, 15 city agencies and 11 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 Santa Clara. 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: Santa Clara County public records, California arrest records, California inmate search and California criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Santa Clara County
The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Santa Clara County. It reported 1,752 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year.
Arrests inside 15 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, the largest twelve first; the rest are named in the cities section below:
- San Jose, 997,368 residents: 15,093 arrests reported for 2025.
- Sunnyvale, 156,792 residents: 1,950 arrests reported for 2025.
- Santa Clara, 133,132 residents: 2,383 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mountain View, 87,316 residents: 1,468 arrests reported for 2025.
- Milpitas, 79,746 residents: 1,530 arrests reported for 2025.
- Palo Alto, 67,658 residents: 1,369 arrests reported for 2025.
- Gilroy, 60,390 residents: 1,596 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cupertino, 58,710 residents: 198 arrests reported for 2022.
- Morgan Hill, 45,952 residents: 655 arrests reported for 2025.
- Campbell, 42,895 residents: 1,098 arrests reported for 2025.
- Los Gatos, 32,952 residents: 446 arrests reported for 2025.
- Los Altos, 30,864 residents: 153 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 Santa Clara County: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection at Santa Clara (state agency); the Santa Clara Transit District, Union Pacific Railroad in Santa Clara County and San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit in Santa Clara County (other); the Highway Patrol's Hollister-Gilroy and San Jose Area Offices and the Highway Patrol at Gilroy Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facility (state police); California State University at San Jose, Foothill-De Anza College, San Jose/Evergreen Community College and West Valley-Mission Community College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Santa Clara 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.
- San Jose: 15,093 for 2025, 14,527 for 2024, 13,694 for 2023, 18,042 for 2022, 22,410 for 2020 and 19,744 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Santa Clara: 2,383 for 2025, 2,610 for 2024, 2,785 for 2023, 2,423 for 2022, 2,898 for 2020 and 4,293 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Sunnyvale: 1,950 for 2025, 2,243 for 2024, 2,278 for 2023, 2,045 for 2022, 2,752 for 2020 and 3,254 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Gilroy: 1,596 for 2025, 1,541 for 2024, 1,493 for 2023, 1,299 for 2022, 2,101 for 2020 and 3,070 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Milpitas: 1,530 for 2025, 1,853 for 2024, 1,548 for 2023, 2,130 for 2022, 2,199 for 2020 and 2,294 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Mountain View: 1,468 for 2025, 1,237 for 2024, 976 for 2023, 962 for 2022, 1,529 for 2020 and 2,071 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Palo Alto: 1,369 for 2025, 1,099 for 2024, 1,097 for 2023, 910 for 2022, 1,381 for 2020 and 2,159 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Campbell: 1,098 for 2025, 1,014 for 2024, 1,004 for 2023, 2,860 for 2022, 1,830 for 2020 and 2,386 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Morgan Hill: 655 for 2025, 588 for 2024, 658 for 2022, 380 for 2021, 1,380 for 2020 and 1,551 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Los Gatos: 446 for 2025, 426 for 2024, 394 for 2023, 376 for 2022, 442 for 2020 and 878 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Los Altos: 153 for 2025, 136 for 2024, 99 for 2023, 87 for 2022, 156 for 2020 and 251 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Monte Sereno: 8 for 2025, 8 for 2024, 9 for 2023, 18 for 2022, 9 for 2020 and 18 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the 14 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 27,749 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 27,749 in 2025 against 27,282 in 2024, up 1.7 percent.
Through August 2026, the 13 agencies with every month so far on file reported 15,939 arrests, against 17,220 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Santa Clara County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Santa Clara 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 2,740 people, down from about 3,280 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 3,932 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 jail page of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.santaclaracounty.gov/home (page title: Office of the Sheriff | County of Santa Clara), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 Santa Clara County
For Santa Clara County the place to look is the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at santaclara.courts.ca.gov/online-services/case-information-online).
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 Santa Clara 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 Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Mountain View, Milpitas, Palo Alto 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 California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection at Santa Clara, the Santa Clara Transit District or the Highway Patrol's Hollister-Gilroy and San Jose Area Offices: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, through the court records page at santaclara.courts.ca.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at santaclara.nextrequest.com (page title: Public RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
Cities in Santa Clara County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the 15 cities in Santa Clara County: the twelve named above and Saratoga, Los Altos Hills and Monte Sereno.
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 Santa Clara.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Santa Clara 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 Santa Clara County each year?
San Jose reported 15,093 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 14 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 27,749 between them.
Where are people arrested in Santa Clara County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Santa Clara County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara 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 Santa Clara County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Santa Clara 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 santaclara.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Santa Clara 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.