Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 26, 2026.
Albuquerque, New Mexico, in Bernalillo County, has about 560,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city 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 District Court for Bernalillo County. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Albuquerque public records, Bernalillo County arrest records, New Mexico arrest records and New Mexico inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Albuquerque
The FBI lists Albuquerque with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Albuquerque Police Department. It reported 18,629 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 3,374 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Bernalillo County: the University of New Mexico's Main Campus (campus police); Albuquerque Fire and Rescue (other).
How Many Arrests Albuquerque Reports
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.
- Albuquerque: 18,629 for 2025, 16,172 for 2024, 16,013 for 2023, 13,059 for 2022, 14,978 for 2021 and 19,966 for 2020.
Albuquerque's 18,629 arrests in 2025 were up 15 percent from 16,172 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Albuquerque reported 13,817 arrests, against 12,329 in the same months of 2025.
Across Bernalillo County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 22,003 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Albuquerque Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Albuquerque 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 1,480 people, up from about 1,390 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 2,200 beds, and it ran at 70 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 Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office at bernco.gov/metropolitan-detention-center/arrest-list (page title: Arrest List | Metropolitan Detention Center), phone (505) 839-8700, 100 Deputy Dean Miera Dr. SW Albuquerque, NM 87151, Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the New Mexico Corrections Department, whose inmate locator is at cd.nm.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Albuquerque
For Albuquerque the place to look is the case index of the District Court for Bernalillo County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at metro.nmcourts.gov/public-records, phone (505) 841-8151).
Statewide, New Mexico Courts Case Lookup is the New Mexico Judiciary's free statewide case search.
New Mexico does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Albuquerque
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Inspection of Public Records Act the agency must answer within 15 calendar days, after acknowledging the request within 3 business days, and it may charge copying at no more than $1 a page.
- An arrest by the Albuquerque police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cabq.gov/police/public-reports/albuquerque-police-department-record... (page title: Albuquerque Police Department Records Division | City of Albuquerque), phone 505-768-2020, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (505) 839-8700.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for Bernalillo County, through the court records page at metro.nmcourts.gov/public-records, phone (505) 841-8151.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at metro.nmcourts.gov (page title: Public Records Request | Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
The Bernalillo County guide covers every agency in the county: Bernalillo County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Albuquerque each year?
Albuquerque reported 18,629 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Albuquerque?
Ask the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office at (505) 839-8700; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at bernco.gov.
Where are people arrested in Albuquerque booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Albuquerque?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Bernalillo County are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Inspection of Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Albuquerque?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Albuquerque police for its own arrests, the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Inspection of Public Records Act the answer is due within 15 calendar days, after acknowledging the request within 3 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at metro.nmcourts.gov.
Is this the official Albuquerque website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.