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.
Hobbs, New Mexico, in Lea County, has about 41,000 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 Lea 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: Hobbs public records, Lea County arrest records, New Mexico arrest records and New Mexico inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Hobbs
The FBI lists Hobbs with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Hobbs Police Department. It reported 1,026 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 Lea County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 227 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Hobbs 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.
- Hobbs: 1,026 for 2025, 2,073 for 2024, 2,018 for 2023 and 2,124 for 2022.
Hobbs's 1,026 arrests in 2025 were down 51 percent from 2,073 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Hobbs reported 591 arrests, against 670 in the same months of 2025.
Across Lea County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,382 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hobbs Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Hobbs 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 2023 the jail held about 240 people, down from about 290 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 480 beds, and it ran at 60 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 Lea County Sheriff's Office at leacounty.gov/206/LCDC-Detainee-Roster (page title: LCDC Detainee Roster | Lea County, NM), 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 Hobbs
Whether someone was arrested in Hobbs, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the custody page of the Lea County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the District Court for Lea County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at caselookup.nmcourts.gov/caselookup).
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 Hobbs
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 Hobbs police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at hobbsnm.gov/city_clerk.html (page title: City of Hobbs), phone (575) 397-9200, Monday - Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Lea County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for Lea County, through the court records page at caselookup.nmcourts.gov/caselookup.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
The Lea County guide covers every agency in the county: Lea County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hobbs each year?
Hobbs reported 1,026 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hobbs?
Look on the custody page of the Lea County Sheriff's Office at leacounty.gov/206/LCDC-Detainee-Roster. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Hobbs booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lea County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hobbs?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Lea 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 Hobbs?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hobbs police for its own arrests, the Lea 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 Hobbs 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.