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.
Portales, New Mexico, in Roosevelt County, has about 12,000 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 Roosevelt 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: Portales public records, Roosevelt County arrest records, New Mexico arrest records and New Mexico inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Portales
The FBI lists Portales with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Portales Police Department. It reported 402 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 Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,152 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Roosevelt County: Eastern New Mexico University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Portales 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.
- Portales: 402 for 2025, 496 for 2024 and 429 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Portales's 402 arrests in 2025 were down 19 percent from 496 in 2024.
Through September 2026, Portales reported 255 arrests, against 306 in the same months of 2025.
Across Roosevelt County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,554 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Portales Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Portales 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 49 people, down from about 75 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 140 beds, and it ran at 54 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Portales
An arrest in Portales can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the District Court for Roosevelt County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at ninthdistrict.nmcourts.gov/services-programs/records-requests); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at 9thda.com).
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 Portales
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 Portales police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at portalesnm.gov/services/departments_g-z/police_department/divisions... (page title: Portales, NM), phone 575-226-3916, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for Roosevelt County, through the court records page at ninthdistrict.nmcourts.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at ninthdistrict.nmcourts.gov (page title: Records Requests | Ninth Judicial District).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
The Roosevelt County guide covers every agency in the county: Roosevelt County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Portales each year?
Portales reported 402 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Portales booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Portales?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Roosevelt 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 Portales?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Portales police for its own arrests, the Roosevelt 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 ninthdistrict.nmcourts.gov.
Is this the official Portales 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.