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.
Otero County, Colorado, has about 18,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Otero County Sheriff's Office and four city 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 Otero 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: Otero County public records, Colorado arrest records, Colorado inmate search and Colorado criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Otero County
The Otero County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Otero County. It reported 100 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside four 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:
- La Junta, 6,986 residents: 490 arrests reported for 2024.
- Rocky Ford, 3,781 residents: 205 arrests reported for 2025.
- Fowler, 1,203 residents: 40 arrests reported for 2020.
- Manzanola, 326 residents: 1,185 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Otero 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.
- Manzanola: 1,185 for 2025, 1,186 for 2024, 1,183 for 2023, 1,186 for 2022, 1,187 for 2021 and 1,187 for 2020.
- Rocky Ford: 205 for 2025, 203 for 2024, 105 for 2023, 97 for 2022 and 122 for 2021.
- Otero County Sheriff's Office: 100 for 2025, 68 for 2024, 83 for 2023, 78 for 2022, 97 for 2021 and 82 for 2020.
- La Junta: 490 for 2024, 378 for 2023, 327 for 2022, 363 for 2021, 340 for 2020 and 695 for 2019.
- Fowler: 40 for 2020 and 41 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,490 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,490 in 2025 against 1,457 in 2024, up 2.3 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 987 arrests, against 980 in the same months of 2025.
La Junta and Fowler reported only part of 2025 (11 months and 8 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Otero County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Otero 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 2023 the jail held about 43 people, up from about 35 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 36 beds, and it ran at 119 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 Otero County Sheriff's Office at oterocounty.colorado.gov/otero-county-jail (page title: Otero County Detention Center | Otero County), phone 888-984-1903, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
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 Otero County
For Otero County the place to look is the case index of the Otero 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/otero-county, phone (719) 383-7152).
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 Otero 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 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 Otero County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 888-984-1903.
- An arrest in La Junta, Rocky Ford, Fowler or Manzanola: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Otero County District Court, through the court records page at coloradojudicial.gov, phone (719) 383-7152.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Otero County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the six cities in Otero County: La Junta, Rocky Ford, Fowler and Manzanola. Swink and Cheraw have 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 Otero County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Otero County each year?
Manzanola reported 1,185 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,490 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Otero County?
Ask the Otero County Sheriff's Office at 888-984-1903; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at oterocounty.colorado.gov/otero-county-jail.
Where are people arrested in Otero County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Otero County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Otero 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 Otero County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Otero 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 Otero 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.