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.
La Plata County, Colorado, has about 57,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the La Plata County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies and two 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 La Plata 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: La Plata County public records, Colorado arrest records, Colorado inmate search and Colorado criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in La Plata County
The La Plata County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for La Plata County. It reported 163 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Durango, 19,811 residents: 1,720 arrests reported for 2024.
- Bayfield, 2,923 residents: 44 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ignacio, 847 residents: 38 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 La Plata County: Fort Lewis College (campus police); Southwest Drug Task Force (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in La Plata 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.
- Durango: 1,720 for 2024, 2,057 for 2023, 1,468 for 2022, 1,292 for 2021, 1,261 for 2020 and 1,256 for 2019.
- La Plata County Sheriff's Office: 163 for 2024, 268 for 2023 and 299 for 2021; 2022 is missing months.
- Bayfield: 44 for 2025, 29 for 2024, 27 for 2023, 45 for 2022, 40 for 2021 and 26 for 2020.
- Ignacio: 38 for 2023, 36 for 2022, 25 for 2020 and 58 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,912 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 1,912 in 2024 against 2,352 in 2023, down 19 percent.
Ignacio reported only part of 2024 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in La Plata County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in La Plata 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 160 people, down from about 190 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 230 beds, and it ran at 69 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 La Plata County Sheriff's Office at lpcgov.org/sheriff.php (page title: La Plata County Sheriff), phone 970-247-1157, 283 Girard Street Durango, CO 81303, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Colorado Department of Corrections lists its inmates at cdoc.colorado.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in La Plata County
An arrest in La Plata County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the La Plata 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/la-plata-county, phone 970-247-2304); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at lpcgov.org/departments/district_attorney_s_office/index.php, phone (970) 247-8850).
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 La Plata 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 La Plata County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 970-247-1157.
- An arrest in Durango, Bayfield or Ignacio: 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 Fort Lewis College or Southwest Drug Task Force: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (970) 247-8850, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the La Plata County District Court, through the court records page at coloradojudicial.gov, phone 970-247-2304.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in La Plata County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in La Plata County: Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the La Plata County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in La Plata County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Durango (19,811)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in La Plata County each year?
Durango reported 1,720 arrests to the FBI for 2024, and the three agencies with every month of 2024 on file reported 1,912 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in La Plata County?
Ask the La Plata County Sheriff's Office at 970-247-1157; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at lpcgov.org/sheriff.php.
Where are people arrested in La Plata County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the La Plata County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in La Plata 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 La Plata County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the La Plata 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 La Plata 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.