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.
Adams County, Colorado, has about 543,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Adams County Sheriff's Office, six city agencies and one campus 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 Adams County District Court. 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: Adams County public records, Colorado arrest records, Colorado inmate search and Colorado criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Adams County
The Adams County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Adams County. It reported 6,472 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside six 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:
- Thornton, 146,689 residents: 5,705 arrests reported for 2025.
- Westminster, 115,302 residents: 3,289 arrests reported for 2025.
- Commerce City, 70,245 residents: 2,039 arrests reported for 2025.
- Brighton, 43,473 residents: 1,995 arrests reported for 2025.
- Northglenn, 38,287 residents: 921 arrests reported for 2025.
- Federal Heights, 13,971 residents: 697 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 Arvada Police Department and the Aurora Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Adams County, so their arrests are not broken out for Adams County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Adams County: the University of Colorado at Denver (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Adams 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.
- Adams County Sheriff's Office: 6,472 for 2025, 7,189 for 2024, 7,714 for 2023, 8,892 for 2022, 6,462 for 2021 and 6,526 for 2020.
- Thornton: 5,705 for 2025, 5,188 for 2024, 5,136 for 2023, 5,109 for 2022, 3,966 for 2021 and 3,577 for 2020.
- Westminster: 3,289 for 2025, 3,468 for 2024, 3,358 for 2023, 2,884 for 2022, 2,446 for 2021 and 2,974 for 2020.
- Commerce City: 2,039 for 2025, 1,994 for 2024, 1,972 for 2023, 1,744 for 2022, 1,769 for 2021 and 1,983 for 2020.
- Brighton: 1,995 for 2025, 1,961 for 2024, 1,916 for 2023, 1,549 for 2022, 1,475 for 2021 and 1,516 for 2020.
- Northglenn: 921 for 2025, 541 for 2024, 1,582 for 2022, 1,445 for 2021, 1,584 for 2020 and 1,924 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Federal Heights: 697 for 2025, 464 for 2022, 369 for 2021 and 296 for 2020; 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
Together, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 21,118 arrests that year. The five of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 19,500 in 2025 against 19,800 in 2024, down 1.5 percent.
Through July 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 11,485 arrests, against 10,636 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Adams County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Adams 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 780 people, down from about 990 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 1,197 beds, and it ran at 65 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 Adams County Sheriff's Office at adamssheriffco.gov/community/public-records/inmate-search (page title: Inmate Search | Adams County Sheriff Office), phone (303) 288-1535, Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm., 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 Colorado Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at cdoc.colorado.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Adams County
An arrest in Adams County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Adams County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Adams County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at coloradojudicial.gov/courts/trial-courts/adams-county, phone 303-659-1161).
Colorado is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the state runs an online name-based criminal history check open to the public, through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Adams 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 Colorado Open Records Act the agency must answer within 3 working days, extendable to 7 when there are extenuating circumstances, and it may charge research and retrieval time after the first hour, plus copying.
- An arrest by the Adams County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (303) 288-1535.
- An arrest in Thornton, Westminster, Commerce City, Brighton, Northglenn or Federal Heights: 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 the University of Colorado at Denver: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Adams County District Court, through the court records page at coloradojudicial.gov, phone 303-659-1161.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Adams County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the seven cities in Adams County: Thornton, Westminster, Commerce City, Brighton, Northglenn and Federal Heights. Bennett has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Adams County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Adams County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Thornton (146,689)
- Westminster (115,302)
- Commerce City (70,245)
- Brighton (43,473)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Adams County each year?
The Adams County Sheriff's Office reported 6,472 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the seven agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 21,118 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Adams County?
Look on the custody page of the Adams County Sheriff's Office at adamssheriffco.gov, or call (303) 288-1535. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Adams County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Adams County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Adams County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation: the state runs an online name-based criminal history check open to the public. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Colorado Open Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Adams County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Adams County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Colorado Open Records Act the answer is due within 3 working days, extendable to 7 when there are extenuating circumstances.
Is this the official Adams 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.