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.
Rio Grande County, Colorado, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Rio Grande County Sheriff's Office and three 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 Rio Grande 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: Rio Grande County public records, Colorado arrest records, Colorado inmate search and Colorado criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Rio Grande County
The Rio Grande County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Rio Grande County. It reported 95 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Rio Grande County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Monte Vista, 4,030 residents: 290 arrests reported for 2025.
- Del Norte, 1,410 residents: 50 arrests reported for 2025.
- South Fork, 504 residents: 15 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 Center Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Rio Grande County, so its arrests are not broken out for Rio Grande County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Rio Grande 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.
- Monte Vista: 290 for 2025, 370 for 2024, 369 for 2023, 347 for 2022, 420 for 2021 and 346 for 2020.
- Rio Grande County Sheriff's Office: 95 for 2025, 136 for 2024, 152 for 2023, 168 for 2022, 171 for 2021 and 136 for 2020.
- Del Norte: 50 for 2025, 61 for 2024, 63 for 2022, 58 for 2021 and 53 for 2020; 2023 is missing months.
- South Fork: 15 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 6 for 2021, 18 for 2020 and 22 for 2019; 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 450 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 450 in 2025 against 567 in 2024, down 21 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 326 arrests, against 277 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Rio Grande County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Rio Grande 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 34 people, up from about 31 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 23 beds, and it ran at 150 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 Rio Grande County Sheriff's Office at riograndecounty.colorado.gov/rio-grande-county-sheriff (page title: Rio Grande County Sheriff | Rio Grande County), phone 719-657-4000, 640 Cherry Street Del Norte, CO 81132, Monday - Friday - 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., 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 Rio Grande County
For Rio Grande County the place to look is the case index of the Rio Grande 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/rio-grande-county, phone 719-589-7626).
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 Rio Grande 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 Rio Grande County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 719-657-4000.
- An arrest in Monte Vista, Del Norte or South Fork: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Rio Grande County District Court, through the court records page at coloradojudicial.gov, phone 719-589-7626.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at coloradojudicial.gov/node/9205 (page title: Record/Document Request Form | Rio Grande County | Colorado Judicial Branch).
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Rio Grande County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Rio Grande County: Monte Vista, Del Norte and South Fork.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Rio Grande County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Rio Grande County each year?
Monte Vista reported 290 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 450 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Rio Grande County?
Ask the Rio Grande County Sheriff's Office at 719-657-4000; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at riograndecounty.colorado.gov.
Where are people arrested in Rio Grande County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Rio Grande County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Rio Grande 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 Rio Grande County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Rio Grande 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at coloradojudicial.gov/node/9205.
Is this the official Rio Grande 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.