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.
Lea County, New Mexico, has about 75,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lea County is held at the county jail, run by the Lea County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Lea County public records, Lea County arrest records, Lea County warrants, Lea County criminal records, Lea County court records, New Mexico arrest records and New Mexico inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Lea County
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lea County is held at the county jail, run by the Lea County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Lea County Sheriff's Office at leacounty.gov/206/LCDC-Detainee-Roster (page title: LCDC Detainee Roster | Lea County, NM), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone booked recently. A person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
The Lea County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 240 people, down from about 290 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 480 beds, and it ran at 60 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Lea County has about 75,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 31 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Lea County Jail
The Lea County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Hobbs, Lovington, Eunice, Jal and Tatum make the arrests that end in a booking in Lea County.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Hobbs's 1,026 for 2025, the Lea County Sheriff's Office's 227 for 2025 and Lovington's 97 for 2025.
Together, the four agencies in Lea County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,382 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Lea County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the New Mexico Corrections Department lists its inmates at cd.nm.gov.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Lea County?
Look on the custody page of the Lea County Sheriff's Office at leacounty.gov/206/LCDC-Detainee-Roster. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Lea County jail?
About 240 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 480 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Lea County go?
To a facility of the New Mexico Corrections Department; its inmate locator is at cd.nm.gov.
Is this the official Lea 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.