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.
Cibola County, New Mexico, has about 27,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Cibola County Sheriff's Office and two city 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 Cibola 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: Cibola County public records, New Mexico arrest records, New Mexico inmate search and New Mexico criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Cibola County
The Cibola County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Cibola County. It reported 61 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Cibola County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Grants, 8,880 residents: 400 arrests reported for 2025.
- Milan, 2,472 residents: 168 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Cibola County
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.
- Grants: 400 for 2025, 308 for 2024, 424 for 2022 and 399 for 2021; 2023 is missing months.
- Milan: 168 for 2025, 134 for 2024, 96 for 2023, 85 for 2022, 53 for 2021 and 155 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Cibola County Sheriff's Office: 61 for 2025, 78 for 2024, 110 for 2022, 198 for 2021 and 612 for 2019; 2020 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 629 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 629 in 2025 against 520 in 2024, up 21 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 279 arrests, against 387 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Cibola County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Cibola County 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 2017 the jail held about 200 people. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Cibola County Sheriff's Office at cibolacountynm.com/departments/detention_center/inmate_services.php (page title: Cibola County), 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 Cibola County
An arrest in Cibola County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the District Court for Cibola County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at nmcourts.gov/search-for-your-court, phone 505-827-4860); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at cibolacountynm.com/departments/county_attorney.php).
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 Cibola 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 Cibola County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Grants or Milan: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- 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 Cibola County, through the court records page at nmcourts.gov/search-for-your-court, phone 505-827-4860.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Cibola County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Cibola County: Grants and Milan.
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 Cibola County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Cibola County each year?
Grants reported 400 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 629 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Cibola County?
Ask the Cibola County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at cibolacountynm.com.
Where are people arrested in Cibola County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cibola County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Cibola County?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Cibola 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 Cibola County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Cibola 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.
Is this the official Cibola 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.