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.
Las Vegas, New Mexico, in San Miguel County, has about 13,000 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 San Miguel 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: Las Vegas public records, San Miguel County arrest records, New Mexico arrest records and New Mexico inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Las Vegas
The FBI lists Las Vegas with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Las Vegas Police Department. It reported 618 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 San Miguel County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 41 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in San Miguel County: New Mexico Highlands University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Las Vegas 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.
- Las Vegas: 618 for 2025, 538 for 2024, 749 for 2023, 794 for 2022, 312 for 2021 and 400 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Las Vegas's 618 arrests in 2025 were up 15 percent from 538 in 2024.
Through May 2026, Las Vegas reported 189 arrests, against 272 in the same months of 2025.
Across San Miguel County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 659 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Las Vegas Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Las Vegas 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 89 people, up from about 79 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 135 beds, and it ran at 58 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 San Miguel County Sheriff's Office at co.sanmiguel.nm.us/departments/sheriffs_office/index.php (page title: San Miguel County NM), phone (505) 425-7589, 1224 Railroad Ave. Las Vegas, NM 87701, Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., 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 Las Vegas
For Las Vegas the place to look is the case index of the District Court for San Miguel County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at fourthdistrict.nmcourts.gov/about-this-district/court-dockets/san-m...).
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 Las Vegas
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 Las Vegas police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at lasvegasnm.gov/about-9-3 (page title: Police Department | City of Las Vegas), phone (505) 425-7504, 318 Moreno Street Las Vegas, NM 87701, Monday-Friday: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (505) 425-7589.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for San Miguel County, through the court records page at fourthdistrict.nmcourts.gov.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
The San Miguel County guide covers every agency in the county: San Miguel County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Las Vegas each year?
Las Vegas reported 618 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Las Vegas?
Ask the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office at (505) 425-7589; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.sanmiguel.nm.us.
Where are people arrested in Las Vegas booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Las Vegas?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for San Miguel 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 Las Vegas?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Las Vegas police for its own arrests, the San Miguel 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 Las Vegas 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.