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.
Washoe County, Nevada, has about 507,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Washoe County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and seven campus, state or other 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 Washoe 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: Washoe County public records, Nevada arrest records, Nevada inmate search and Nevada criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Washoe County
The Washoe County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Washoe County. It reported 3,130 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists two cities in Washoe County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Reno, 281,714 residents: 12,119 arrests reported for 2025.
- Sparks, 111,520 residents: 3,727 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 these agencies in Washoe County: Union Pacific Railroad, the Reno Municipal Court Marshal, the Washoe County School District and the Reno Tahoe Airport Authority (other); the Department of Wildlife, Law Enforcement Division and Nevada Gaming Control Board in Washoe County (state agency); the University of Nevada at Reno (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Washoe 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.
- Reno: 12,119 for 2025, 10,315 for 2024, 9,256 for 2023, 9,288 for 2022, 8,361 for 2021 and 7,424 for 2020.
- Sparks: 3,727 for 2025, 4,003 for 2024, 3,727 for 2023, 3,632 for 2022, 3,788 for 2021 and 3,129 for 2020.
- Washoe County Sheriff's Office: 3,130 for 2024, 2,840 for 2023, 3,014 for 2022, 2,734 for 2021, 2,316 for 2020 and 3,679 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 15,846 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 15,846 in 2025 against 14,318 in 2024, up 11 percent.
Through May 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 5,973 arrests, against 6,211 in the same months of 2025.
Washoe County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (10 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Washoe County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Washoe 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 2024 the jail held about 1,110 people, up from about 1,110 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,407 beds, and it ran at 85 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Washoe County Sheriff's Office at washoecounty.gov/defender/faq/gen12.php (page title: How do I find someone who is in the Washoe County jail? | Washoe County), phone 775-328-3062, 1001 E 9th St, Reno, NV 89512, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Nevada Department of Corrections lists its inmates at doc.nv.gov/offender-info.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Washoe County
An arrest in Washoe County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Washoe County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the District Court for Washoe County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at washoecounty.gov/sjc/CaseSearch.php); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at washoecounty.gov/da, phone 775.789.7100).
Nevada does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Nevada Department of Public Safety Records, Communications and Compliance Division 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 Washoe 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 Nevada Public Records Act the agency must answer within 5 business days, and it may charge the actual cost of copying; staff time only for extraordinary requests.
- An arrest by the Washoe County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 775-328-3062.
- An arrest in Reno or Sparks: 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 Union Pacific Railroad, the Reno Municipal Court Marshal or the Department of Wildlife, Law Enforcement Division: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 775.789.7100, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for Washoe County, through the court records page at washoecounty.gov/sjc/CaseSearch.php.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at washoecounty.gov (page title: Public Records Request | Washoe County).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Records Bureau.
Cities in Washoe County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Washoe County: Reno and Sparks.
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 Washoe County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Washoe County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Reno (281,714)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Washoe County each year?
Reno reported 12,119 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 15,846 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Washoe County?
Look on the custody page of the Washoe County Sheriff's Office at washoecounty.gov/defender/faq/gen12.php, or call 775-328-3062. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Washoe County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Washoe County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Washoe County?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Washoe County are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Nevada Department of Public Safety Records, Communications and Compliance Division is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Nevada Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Washoe County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Washoe County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Nevada Public Records Act the answer is due within 5 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at washoecounty.gov.
Is this the official Washoe 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.