Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. 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 October 4, 2026.
Silver City, New Mexico, in Grant County, has about 9,400 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 Grant County. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it.
This guide covers who makes arrests, arrest counts, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Silver City public records, Grant County arrest records, New Mexico arrest records and New Mexico inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Silver City
The FBI lists Silver City with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Silver City Police Department. 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 Grant County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 491 arrests for 2019.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Grant County: Western New Mexico University (campus police).
Arrest Counts on File for Silver City
The FBI publishes monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. For Silver City the counts on file are partial: Silver City has sent some months but no full year since 2019, so no annual total is given here.
Across Grant County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 136 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Silver City Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Silver City 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 80 people, down from about 84 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 95 beds, and it ran at 88 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 Grant County Sheriff's Office at grantcountynm.gov/166/Corrections (page title: Corrections | Grant County, NM), 320 South Ridge Road Silver City, NM 88061, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Silver City
Whether someone was arrested in Silver City, and what came of it, shows up in two places: New Mexico Courts Case Lookup, the New Mexico Judiciary's free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed; the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at 6thda.com/meet-the-d-a-s-office, phone (575) 388-1941).
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 Silver City
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 Silver City police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at townofsilvercity.org/159/Public-Records (page title: Public Records | Silver City, NM), phone 575-538-5123, 101 W Broadway Avenue Silver City, NM 88061, Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Grant County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (575) 388-1941, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at grantcountynm.nextrequest.com (page title: Inspection of Public RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
The Grant County guide covers every agency in the county: Grant County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Silver City?
Ask the Grant County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at grantcountynm.gov/166/Corrections.
Where are people arrested in Silver City booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Grant County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Silver City?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Grant 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 Silver City?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Silver City police for its own arrests, the Grant 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 grantcountynm.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Silver City 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.