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 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Ada County, Idaho, has about 536,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Ada 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 Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Ada 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: Ada County public records, Idaho arrest records, Idaho inmate search and Idaho criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Ada County
The Ada County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Ada County. It reported 2,384 arrests for 2025.
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:
- Boise City, 237,963 residents: 4,582 arrests reported for 2025.
- Meridian, 139,740 residents: 1,839 arrests reported for 2025.
- Garden City, 12,936 residents: 586 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 Ada 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.
- Boise City: 4,582 for 2025, 4,280 for 2024, 4,738 for 2023, 4,834 for 2022, 5,066 for 2021 and 4,936 for 2020.
- Ada County Sheriff's Office: 2,384 for 2025, 2,192 for 2024, 2,578 for 2023, 2,355 for 2022, 2,472 for 2021 and 2,615 for 2020.
- Meridian: 1,839 for 2025, 2,151 for 2024, 2,305 for 2023, 2,506 for 2022, 2,310 for 2021 and 2,260 for 2020.
- Garden City: 586 for 2025, 550 for 2024, 407 for 2023, 455 for 2022, 435 for 2021 and 404 for 2020.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 9,391 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 9,391 in 2025 against 9,173 in 2024, up 2.4 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 3,018 arrests, against 3,304 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ada County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Ada 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 2024 the jail held about 950 people, down from about 1,000 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,200 beds, and it ran at 82 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 Ada County Sheriff's Office at apps.adacounty.id.gov/sheriff/reports/inmates.aspx (page title: Inmate Roster), phone (208) 577-3000, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Idaho Department of Correction lists its inmates at idoc.idaho.gov/content/prisons/resident-client-search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Ada County
An arrest in Ada County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Ada County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Ada County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at adacounty.id.gov/clerk/courts, phone 208-287-6900); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at adacounty.id.gov/prosecutor/about-us/meet-the-prosecutor, phone 208-287-7700).
Statewide, iCourt Portal is the Idaho courts' free statewide case search.
Idaho is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: name-based conviction checks are open to the public, through the Idaho State Police Bureau of Criminal Identification. 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 Ada 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 Idaho Public Records Act the agency must answer within 3 working days, or 10 when more time is needed, and it may charge copying after the first 100 pages and labor after the first two hours.
- An arrest by the Ada County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (208) 577-3000.
- An arrest in Boise City, Meridian or Garden City: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 208-287-7700, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Ada County District Court, through the court records page at adacounty.id.gov/clerk/courts, phone 208-287-6900.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at adacounty.id.gov (page title: Public Records Request | Ada County).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Bureau of Criminal Identification.
Cities in Ada County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the six cities in Ada County: Boise City, Meridian and Garden City. Eagle, Kuna and Star 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 Ada County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Ada County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Boise City (237,963)
- Eagle (33,451)
- Kuna (29,127)
- Star (18,208)
- Garden City (12,936)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ada County each year?
Boise City reported 4,582 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 9,391 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ada County?
Look on the custody page of the Ada County Sheriff's Office at apps.adacounty.id.gov, or call (208) 577-3000. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Ada County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ada County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ada County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Idaho State Police Bureau of Criminal Identification: name-based conviction checks are open to the public. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Idaho Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Ada County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ada County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Idaho Public Records Act the answer is due within 3 working days, or 10 when more time is needed; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at adacounty.id.gov.
Is this the official Ada 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.