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.
Valencia County, New Mexico, has about 81,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Valencia County Sheriff's Office, five city agencies 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 Valencia 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: Valencia County public records, New Mexico arrest records, New Mexico inmate search and New Mexico criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Valencia County
The Valencia County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Valencia County. It reported 832 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists five cities in Valencia County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Los Lunas, 19,907 residents: 467 arrests reported for 2025.
- Belen, 7,556 residents: 583 arrests reported for 2025.
- Rio Communities, 4,927 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bosque Farms, 4,138 residents: 26 arrests reported for 2025.
- Peralta, 3,470 residents: 34 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 Valencia County: the University of New Mexico at Valencia (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Valencia 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.
- Rio Communities: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Valencia County Sheriff's Office: 832 for 2025, 844 for 2024, 693 for 2023, 730 for 2022, 649 for 2021 and 599 for 2020.
- Belen: 583 for 2025, 653 for 2024, 474 for 2023, 565 for 2022, 533 for 2021 and 472 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Los Lunas: 467 for 2025, 449 for 2024, 519 for 2023, 412 for 2022, 250 for 2021 and 266 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Peralta: 34 for 2025, 17 for 2024, 19 for 2023, 75 for 2022, 65 for 2021 and 110 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Bosque Farms: 26 for 2025, 34 for 2024, 24 for 2023, 64 for 2022, 50 for 2021 and 103 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,094 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,094 in 2025 against 3,149 in 2024, down 1.7 percent.
Through June 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,296 arrests, against 1,616 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Valencia County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Valencia 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 2023 the jail held about 130 people, down from about 150 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 172 beds, and it ran at 88 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 Valencia County Sheriff's Office at valencianm.gov/our-county/sheriff (page title: Valencia County Sheriff's Office | Law Enforcement Services in New Mexico | Valencia County), phone (505) 827-9151, 123 Don Pasqual Rd NW Los Lunas, NM 87031, Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 Valencia County
For Valencia County the place to look is New Mexico Courts Case Lookup, the New Mexico Judiciary's free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed.
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 Valencia 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 Valencia County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (505) 827-9151.
- An arrest in Los Lunas, Belen, Rio Communities, Bosque Farms or Peralta: 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 the University of New Mexico at Valencia: the records office of the agency involved.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Valencia County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the five cities in Valencia County: Los Lunas, Belen, Rio Communities, Bosque Farms and Peralta.
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 Valencia County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Valencia County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Los Lunas (19,907)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Valencia County each year?
Rio Communities reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,094 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Valencia County?
Ask the Valencia County Sheriff's Office at (505) 827-9151; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at valencianm.gov/our-county/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Valencia County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Valencia County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Valencia County?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Valencia 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 Valencia County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Valencia 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 Valencia 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.