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.
Santa Cruz County, California, has about 262,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, four city agencies and six 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 Cruz. 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 Cruz County public records, California arrest records, California inmate search and California criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Santa Cruz County
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Santa Cruz County. It reported 2,256 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Santa Cruz County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Santa Cruz, 62,581 residents: 2,991 arrests reported for 2025.
- Watsonville, 51,320 residents: 1,203 arrests reported for 2025.
- Scotts Valley, 11,828 residents: 310 arrests reported for 2025.
- Capitola, 9,503 residents: 516 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 Cruz County: Union Pacific Railroad in Santa Cruz County (other); California State Parks at Santa Cruz and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection at San Mateo-Santa Cruz (state agency); the University of California at Santa Cruz (campus police); the Highway Patrol at Coastal Investigative Services Unit, Monterey and the Highway Patrol's Santa Cruz Area Office (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Santa Cruz 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.
- Santa Cruz: 2,991 for 2025, 2,754 for 2024, 3,138 for 2023, 3,947 for 2022, 5,277 for 2020 and 5,719 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office: 2,256 for 2025, 2,517 for 2024, 2,749 for 2023, 2,337 for 2022, 4,230 for 2020 and 4,064 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Watsonville: 1,203 for 2025, 987 for 2024, 1,269 for 2023, 2,114 for 2022, 1,941 for 2020 and 2,323 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Capitola: 516 for 2025, 367 for 2024, 288 for 2023, 368 for 2022, 446 for 2020 and 615 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Scotts Valley: 310 for 2025, 339 for 2024, 333 for 2023, 336 for 2022, 467 for 2020 and 540 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7,276 arrests that year. The four of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 6,760 in 2025 against 6,597 in 2024, up 2.5 percent.
Through July 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,905 arrests, against 2,882 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Santa Cruz County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Santa Cruz 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 290 people, down from about 410 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 488 beds, and it ran at 84 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 Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office at jailviewer.co.santa-cruz.ca.us (page title: Web Jail Viewer), 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 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 Cruz County
An arrest in Santa Cruz County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Cruz, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at santacruz.courts.ca.gov/divisions/records-information); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at dasubinfo.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/ContactUs.aspx, phone (831) 454-2400).
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 Cruz 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 Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Scotts Valley or Capitola: 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 Santa Cruz County, California State Parks at Santa Cruz or California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection at San Mateo-Santa Cruz: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (831) 454-2400, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Cruz, through the court records page at santacruz.courts.ca.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at santacruzcounty-ca.nextrequest.com (page title: Request 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 Cruz County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the four cities in Santa Cruz County: Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Scotts Valley and Capitola.
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 Cruz.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Santa Cruz County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Watsonville (51,320)
- Scotts Valley (11,828)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Santa Cruz County each year?
Santa Cruz reported 2,991 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 7,276 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Santa Cruz County?
Look on the custody page of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office at jailviewer.co.santa-cruz.ca.us. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Santa Cruz County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Santa Cruz County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Cruz 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 Cruz County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Santa Cruz 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 santacruzcounty-ca.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Santa Cruz 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.