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 2023. 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.
Bernalillo, New Mexico, in Sandoval County, has about 9,200 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 Sandoval 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: Bernalillo public records, Sandoval County arrest records, New Mexico arrest records and New Mexico inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Bernalillo
The FBI lists Bernalillo with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Bernalillo Police Department. It reported 337 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year. 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 Sandoval County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 652 arrests for 2019.
How Many Arrests Bernalillo Reports
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.
- Bernalillo: 337 for 2023 and 497 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Across Sandoval County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,056 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bernalillo Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Bernalillo and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 120 people, down from about 390 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 511 beds, and it ran at 76 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 Sandoval County Sheriff's Office at sandovalcountynm.gov/departments/detention-center/inmatesearch (page title: Inmate Search & Video Visitation | Sandoval County), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 New Mexico Corrections Department lists its inmates at cd.nm.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Bernalillo
An arrest in Bernalillo can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Sandoval County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; New Mexico Courts Case Lookup, the New Mexico Judiciary's free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed.
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 Bernalillo
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 Bernalillo police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at tobnm.gov/departments/police_department/index.php (page title: Bernalillo), phone (505) 771-5872, Monday - Friday 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Sandoval County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at sandovalcountynm.gov/public-records-request (page title: Records Request | Sandoval County).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
The Sandoval County guide covers every agency in the county: Sandoval County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Bernalillo each year?
Bernalillo reported 337 arrests to the FBI for 2023, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Bernalillo?
Look on the custody page of the Sandoval County Sheriff's Office at sandovalcountynm.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Bernalillo booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sandoval County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Bernalillo?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Sandoval 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 Bernalillo?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Bernalillo police for its own arrests, the Sandoval 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 sandovalcountynm.gov/public-records-request.
Is this the official Bernalillo 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.