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 September 30, 2026.
Sierra County, California, has about 3,100 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Sierra County Sheriff's Office 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 Sierra. 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: Sierra County public records, California arrest records, California inmate search and California criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Sierra County
The Sierra County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Sierra County. It reported 33 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Sierra County: Union Pacific Railroad in Sierra County (other).
How Many Arrests The Sierra County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Sierra County Sheriff's Office: 33 for 2025, 61 for 2024, 70 for 2023, 57 for 2022, 138 for 2020 and 102 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
The Sierra County Sheriff's Office's 33 arrests in 2025 were down 46 percent from 61 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Sierra County Sheriff's Office reported 18 arrests, against 21 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Sierra County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Sierra 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 2015 the jail held about 2 people. Its rated capacity in 2015 was 14 beds, and it ran at 14 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 Sierra County Sheriff's Office at sierracounty.ca.gov/m/directory/department?did=27 (page title: Staff Directory, Sheriff | Coroner), phone 530-289-3700, 100 Courthouse Sq., 1st Floor P O Box 66 Downieville, CA 95936, Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Sierra County
For Sierra County the place to look is the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at sierracounty.ca.gov/221/District-Attorney, phone 530-289-3269).
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 Sierra 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 Sierra County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 530-289-3700.
- An arrest by Union Pacific Railroad in Sierra County: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 530-289-3269, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at sierracounty.ca.gov/838/Records-Requests (page title: Records Requests | Sierra County, CA).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
Cities in Sierra County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Sierra County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
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 Sierra.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Sierra County each year?
The Sierra County Sheriff's Office reported 33 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Sierra County?
Ask the Sierra County Sheriff's Office at 530-289-3700; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sierracounty.ca.gov.
Where are people arrested in Sierra County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sierra County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Sierra County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Sierra 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 Sierra County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Sierra 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 sierracounty.ca.gov/838/Records-Requests.
Is this the official Sierra 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.