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.
Roosevelt County, New Mexico, has about 19,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and one campus agency. 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 Roosevelt 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: Roosevelt County public records, New Mexico arrest records, New Mexico inmate search and New Mexico criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Roosevelt County
The Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Roosevelt County. It reported 1,152 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Roosevelt County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Portales, 11,789 residents: 402 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 FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Roosevelt County: Eastern New Mexico University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Roosevelt 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.
- Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Portales: 402 for 2025, 496 for 2024 and 429 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,554 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,554 in 2025 against 1,648 in 2024, down 5.7 percent.
Through September 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 921 arrests, against 1,170 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Roosevelt County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Roosevelt 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 49 people, down from about 75 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 140 beds, and it ran at 54 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Roosevelt County
An arrest in Roosevelt County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the District Court for Roosevelt County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at ninthdistrict.nmcourts.gov/services-programs/records-requests); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at 9thda.com).
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 Roosevelt 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 Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Portales: 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 Eastern New Mexico University: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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 Roosevelt County, through the court records page at ninthdistrict.nmcourts.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at ninthdistrict.nmcourts.gov (page title: Records Requests | Ninth Judicial District).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Roosevelt County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the five cities in Roosevelt County: Portales. Elida, Dora, Floyd and Causey 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 Roosevelt County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Roosevelt County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Portales (11,789)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Roosevelt County each year?
The Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,554 between them.
Where are people arrested in Roosevelt County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Roosevelt County?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Roosevelt 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 Roosevelt County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Roosevelt 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 ninthdistrict.nmcourts.gov.
Is this the official Roosevelt 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.