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 October 4, 2026.
Union County, New Mexico, has about 3,900 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Union County Sheriff's Office and one city 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 Union 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: Union County public records, New Mexico arrest records, New Mexico inmate search and New Mexico criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Union County
The Union County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Union County. It reported 27 arrests for 2022, its latest complete year.
One city in Union County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Clayton, 2,559 residents: 57 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.
How Many Arrests Clayton Reports
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.
- Clayton: 57 for 2025, 54 for 2024, 69 for 2023, 63 for 2022, 58 for 2021 and 105 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Union County Sheriff's Office: 27 for 2022 and 71 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
Clayton's 57 arrests in 2025 were up 5.6 percent from 54 in 2024.
Through September 2026, Clayton reported 26 arrests, against 48 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Union County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Union County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 3 people. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Union County Sheriff's Office at unionnm.us/179/Sheriffs-Office (page title: Sheriffs Office | Union County, NM), phone 575-374-2583, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Union County
An arrest in Union County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: 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 Union 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 Union County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 575-374-2583.
- An arrest in Clayton: 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 Union County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the four cities in Union County: Clayton. Des Moines, Folsom and Grenville 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 Union County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Union County each year?
Clayton reported 57 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Union County?
Ask the Union County Sheriff's Office at 575-374-2583; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at unionnm.us/179/Sheriffs-Office.
Where are people arrested in Union County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Union County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Union County?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Union 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 Union County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Union 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 Union 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.