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.
Torrance County, New Mexico, has about 16,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Torrance County Sheriff's Office and three 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 Torrance 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: Torrance County public records, New Mexico arrest records, New Mexico inmate search and New Mexico criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Torrance County
The Torrance County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Torrance County. It reported 166 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Torrance County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Moriarty, 2,059 residents: 66 arrests reported for 2025.
- Estancia, 1,314 residents: 2 arrests reported for 2019.
- Mountainair, 927 residents.
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 Torrance 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.
- Torrance County Sheriff's Office: 166 for 2025, 194 for 2024, 159 for 2023 and 124 for 2022.
- Moriarty: 66 for 2025, 6 for 2022, 9 for 2021 and 3 for 2019; 2020, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Estancia: 2 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 232 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 166 in 2025 against 194 in 2024, down 14 percent.
Through September 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 213 arrests, against 179 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Torrance County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Torrance 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 2021 the jail held about 17 people, down from about 700 in 2017. Its rated capacity in 2017, the last year with a capacity figure, was 910 beds, and it ran at 77 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 Torrance County Sheriff's Office at torrancecountynm.org/departments/county-sheriff (page title: Torrance County, New Mexico | County Sheriff), phone 505-510-9003, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
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 Torrance County
An arrest in Torrance County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the District Court for Torrance County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at seventhdistrict.nmcourts.gov/public-records); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at nmdas.com/judicial-districts/seventh-judicial-district, phone (575) 835-0052).
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 Torrance 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 Torrance County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 505-510-9003.
- An arrest in Moriarty, Estancia or Mountainair: 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, (575) 835-0052, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for Torrance County, through the court records page at seventhdistrict.nmcourts.gov/public-records.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Torrance County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the five cities in Torrance County: Moriarty, Estancia and Mountainair. Willard and Encino 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 Torrance County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Torrance County each year?
The Torrance County Sheriff's Office reported 166 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 232 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Torrance County?
Ask the Torrance County Sheriff's Office at 505-510-9003; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at torrancecountynm.org.
Where are people arrested in Torrance County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Torrance County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Torrance County?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Torrance 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 Torrance County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Torrance 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 Torrance 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.