Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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.
Bernalillo County, New Mexico, has about 672,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and two campus, state or other agencies. An arrest 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 Bernalillo County. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Bernalillo County public records, New Mexico arrest records, New Mexico inmate search and New Mexico criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Bernalillo County
The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Bernalillo County. It reported 3,374 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Bernalillo County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Albuquerque, 560,326 residents: 18,629 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The Rio Rancho Police Department and the Edgewood Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Bernalillo County, so their arrests are not broken out for Bernalillo County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Bernalillo County: the University of New Mexico's Main Campus (campus police); Albuquerque Fire and Rescue (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Bernalillo County
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.
- Albuquerque: 18,629 for 2025, 16,172 for 2024, 16,013 for 2023, 13,059 for 2022, 14,978 for 2021 and 19,966 for 2020.
- Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office: 3,374 for 2025, 3,204 for 2024, 2,598 for 2023, 3,061 for 2022 and 2,438 for 2021.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 22,003 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 22,003 in 2025 against 19,376 in 2024, up 14 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 15,551 arrests, against 14,620 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bernalillo County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Bernalillo County 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 2024 the jail held about 1,480 people, up from about 1,390 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 2,200 beds, and it ran at 70 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 Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office at bernco.gov/metropolitan-detention-center/arrest-list (page title: Arrest List | Metropolitan Detention Center), phone (505) 839-8700, 100 Deputy Dean Miera Dr. SW Albuquerque, NM 87151, Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 5 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 Bernalillo County
For Bernalillo County the place to look is the case index of the District Court for Bernalillo County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at metro.nmcourts.gov/public-records, phone (505) 841-8151).
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 Bernalillo County
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 Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (505) 839-8700.
- An arrest in Albuquerque: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the University of New Mexico's Main Campus or Albuquerque Fire and Rescue: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for Bernalillo County, through the court records page at metro.nmcourts.gov/public-records, phone (505) 841-8151.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at metro.nmcourts.gov (page title: Public Records Request | Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Bernalillo County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Bernalillo County: Albuquerque. Los Ranchos de Albuquerque and Tijeras have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the District Court for Bernalillo County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Bernalillo County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Albuquerque (560,326)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Bernalillo County each year?
Albuquerque reported 18,629 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 22,003 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Bernalillo County?
Ask the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office at (505) 839-8700; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at bernco.gov.
Where are people arrested in Bernalillo County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Bernalillo County?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Bernalillo 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 Bernalillo County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 metro.nmcourts.gov.
Is this the official Bernalillo County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.