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 between September 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Santa Fe County, New Mexico, has about 158,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Santa Fe 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 Santa Fe 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: Santa Fe County public records, New Mexico arrest records, New Mexico inmate search and New Mexico criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Santa Fe County
The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Santa Fe County. It reported 560 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Santa Fe, 90,551 residents: 1,668 arrests reported for 2024.
- Edgewood, 6,170 residents: 235 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 Espanola Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Santa Fe County, so its arrests are not broken out for Santa Fe County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Santa Fe 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.
- Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office: 560 for 2025, 440 for 2024, 501 for 2022, 678 for 2021 and 4,174 for 2019; 2020 and 2023 are missing months.
- Edgewood: 235 for 2025, 136 for 2024, 95 for 2023, 205 for 2022 and 158 for 2021.
- Santa Fe: 1,668 for 2024, 1,493 for 2023, 1,193 for 2022 and 1,028 for 2021.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 795 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 795 in 2025 against 576 in 2024, up 38 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 412 arrests, against 440 in the same months of 2025.
Santa Fe reported only part of 2025 (9 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Santa Fe County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Santa Fe 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 260 people, down from about 500 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 612 beds, and it ran at 42 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the New Mexico Corrections Department, whose inmate locator is at cd.nm.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Santa Fe County
Whether someone was arrested in Santa Fe County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the District Court for Santa Fe County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at santafecountynm.gov/clerk/divisions/public-records-access, phone (505) 986-6280); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at nmdas.com/judicial-districts/first-judicial-district, phone (505) 827-5000).
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 Santa Fe County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Santa Fe or Edgewood: 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, (505) 827-5000, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for Santa Fe County, through the court records page at santafecountynm.gov, phone (505) 986-6280.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Santa Fe County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Santa Fe County: Santa Fe and Edgewood.
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 Santa Fe County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Santa Fe County each year?
The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office reported 560 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 795 between them.
Where are people arrested in Santa Fe County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Santa Fe County?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Santa Fe 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 Santa Fe County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Santa Fe 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 Santa Fe 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.