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.
Colfax County, New Mexico, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Colfax County Sheriff's Office and four 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 Colfax 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: Colfax County public records, New Mexico arrest records, New Mexico inmate search and New Mexico criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Colfax County
The Colfax County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Colfax County. It reported 118 arrests for 2019, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists four cities in Colfax County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Raton, 6,005 residents.
- Angel Fire, 1,183 residents: 19 arrests reported for 2022.
- Springer, 929 residents: 30 arrests reported for 2022.
- Cimarron, 794 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2022.
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 Colfax 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.
- Springer: 30 for 2022, 26 for 2021 and 69 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Angel Fire: 19 for 2022, 29 for 2020 and 34 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Cimarron: 0 for 2022, 11 for 2021 and 29 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Colfax County Sheriff's Office: 118 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2022 on file reported 49 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2022 and 2021 complete reported 30 in 2022 against 37 in 2021.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Colfax County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Colfax 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 2023 the jail held about 69 people, up from about 45 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 58 beds, and it ran at 78 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 Colfax County Sheriff's Office at co.colfax.nm.us/government/sheriff_s_department.php (page title: Sheriff's Office), phone (575) 445-5561, 1413 South 2nd St. Raton, NM 87740, Monday and Tuesday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, 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 Colfax County
Whether someone was arrested in Colfax County, 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 8thda.com).
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 Colfax 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 Colfax County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (575) 445-5561.
- An arrest in Raton, Angel Fire, Springer or Cimarron: 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.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Colfax County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the six cities in Colfax County: Raton, Angel Fire, Springer and Cimarron. Eagle Nest and Maxwell 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 Colfax County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Colfax County each year?
Springer reported 30 arrests to the FBI for 2022, and the three agencies with every month of 2022 on file reported 49 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Colfax County?
Ask the Colfax County Sheriff's Office at (575) 445-5561; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.colfax.nm.us.
Where are people arrested in Colfax County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Colfax County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Colfax County?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Colfax 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 Colfax County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Colfax 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 Colfax 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.