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 2024. 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 on September 24, 2026.
Gallup, New Mexico, in McKinley County, has about 20,000 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 McKinley 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: Gallup public records, McKinley County arrest records, New Mexico arrest records and New Mexico inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Gallup
The FBI lists Gallup with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Gallup Police Department. It reported 1,470 arrests for 2024, 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 McKinley County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 225 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Gallup 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.
- Gallup: 1,470 for 2024, 1,521 for 2023, 1,385 for 2022, 1,051 for 2021, 1,297 for 2020 and 2,421 for 2019.
Gallup's 1,470 arrests in 2024 were down 3.4 percent from 1,521 in 2023.
Across McKinley County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,776 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Gallup Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Gallup 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 130 people, down from about 160 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 328 beds, and it ran at 41 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 McKinley County Sheriff's Office at co.mckinley.nm.us/165/Sheriffs-Office (page title: McKinley County Sheriff's Office | McKinley County, NM), phone 505-863-1410, 1000 East Aztec Ave Gallup, NM 87301, Monday-Friday 8:00 am- 5:00 pm., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
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 Gallup
Whether someone was arrested in Gallup, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the District Court for McKinley County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.mckinley.nm.us/190/County-Clerk, phone 505-863-6866); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at gallupnm.gov/146/City-Attorney, phone (505) 863-1400).
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 Gallup
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 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 agency that reports for Gallup: its own records unit.
- An arrest by the McKinley County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 505-863-1410.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (505) 863-1400, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for McKinley County, through the court records page at co.mckinley.nm.us/190/County-Clerk, phone 505-863-6866.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
The McKinley County guide covers every agency in the county: McKinley County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Gallup each year?
Gallup reported 1,470 arrests to the FBI for 2024, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Gallup?
Ask the McKinley County Sheriff's Office at 505-863-1410; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.mckinley.nm.us/165/Sheriffs-Office.
Where are people arrested in Gallup booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the McKinley County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Gallup?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for McKinley 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 Gallup?
From the agency that made the arrest: the agency that reports for Gallup for its own arrests, the McKinley 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.
Is this the official Gallup 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.