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.
Stanislaus County, California, has about 557,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office, nine city agencies and four 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 Stanislaus. 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: Stanislaus County public records, California arrest records, California inmate search and California criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Stanislaus County
The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Stanislaus County. It reported 2,205 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists nine cities in Stanislaus County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Modesto, 220,592 residents: 10,361 arrests reported for 2025.
- Turlock, 72,888 residents: 2,587 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ceres, 49,253 residents: 1,129 arrests reported for 2025.
- Riverbank, 25,625 residents: 441 arrests reported for 2023.
- Patterson, 25,495 residents: 490 arrests reported for 2023.
- Oakdale, 23,209 residents: 732 arrests reported for 2025.
- Newman, 12,292 residents: 173 arrests reported for 2025.
- Waterford, 9,271 residents: 142 arrests reported for 2023.
- Hughson, 7,903 residents: 96 arrests reported for 2023.
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 Stanislaus County: California State University at Stanislaus (campus police); the Highway Patrol at Stanislaus County Auto Theft Task Force and the Highway Patrol's Modesto Area Office (state police); Union Pacific Railroad in Stanislaus County (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Stanislaus 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.
- Modesto: 10,361 for 2025, 8,934 for 2024, 7,353 for 2023, 5,672 for 2022, 14,364 for 2020 and 11,497 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Turlock: 2,587 for 2025, 2,434 for 2024, 2,219 for 2023, 2,379 for 2022, 2,124 for 2020 and 2,959 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Ceres: 1,129 for 2025, 852 for 2024, 851 for 2023, 1,095 for 2022, 1,427 for 2020 and 1,845 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Oakdale: 732 for 2025, 644 for 2024, 787 for 2023, 1,256 for 2022, 2,448 for 2020 and 2,301 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Newman: 173 for 2025, 249 for 2024, 281 for 2023, 297 for 2022, 363 for 2020 and 316 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office: 2,205 for 2023, 2,711 for 2022, 3,084 for 2020 and 2,947 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Patterson: 490 for 2023, 531 for 2022, 637 for 2020 and 803 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Riverbank: 441 for 2023, 551 for 2022, 533 for 2020 and 631 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Waterford: 142 for 2023, 174 for 2022 and 274 for 2020; 2021 is missing months.
- Hughson: 96 for 2023, 168 for 2022 and 169 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 14,982 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 14,982 in 2025 against 13,113 in 2024, up 14 percent.
Through July 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 7,770 arrests, against 8,664 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Stanislaus County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Stanislaus 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 1,400 people, up from about 1,200 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,447 beds, and it ran at 96 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 Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office at scsdonline.com/online-services/inmates-list (page title: Who’s in Jail | Sheriff's Office), 250 E. Hackett Rd., Modesto, CA 95358, 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 Stanislaus County
An arrest in Stanislaus County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of Stanislaus, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at stanislaus.courts.ca.gov/online-services/search-case); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at stancounty.com/news-room/bios/da.shtm).
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 Stanislaus 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 Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Modesto, Turlock, Ceres, Riverbank, Patterson, Oakdale 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 State University at Stanislaus, the Highway Patrol at Stanislaus County Auto Theft Task Force or the Highway Patrol's Modesto Area Office: 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 Stanislaus, through the court records page at stanislaus.courts.ca.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at stanislaus.courts.ca.gov (page title: Judicial Administrative Records Request Form | Superior Court of California | County of Stanislaus).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
Cities in Stanislaus County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the nine cities in Stanislaus County: Modesto, Turlock, Ceres, Riverbank, Patterson, Oakdale, Newman, Waterford and Hughson.
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 Stanislaus.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Stanislaus 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 Stanislaus County each year?
Modesto reported 10,361 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 14,982 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Stanislaus County?
Ask the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at scsdonline.com/online-services/inmates-list.
Where are people arrested in Stanislaus County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Stanislaus County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of Stanislaus 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 Stanislaus County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Stanislaus 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 stanislaus.courts.ca.gov.
Is this the official Stanislaus 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.