Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 26, 2026.
Portland, Oregon, in Multnomah County, has about 636,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city 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 Multnomah County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Portland public records, Multnomah County arrest records, Oregon arrest records and Oregon inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Portland
The FBI lists Portland with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Portland Police Department. It reported 13,412 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 3,093 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Multnomah County: the Multnomah County State Police (state police); the Port of Portland and Union Pacific Railroad at Portland (other); the Multnomah County Liquor Commission (state agency); Portland State University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Portland 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.
- Portland: 13,412 for 2025, 12,178 for 2024, 11,428 for 2023, 10,611 for 2022, 10,148 for 2021 and 13,100 for 2020.
Portland's 13,412 arrests in 2025 were up 10 percent from 12,178 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Portland reported 9,657 arrests, against 9,145 in the same months of 2025.
Across Multnomah County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 18,407 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Portland Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Portland 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 930 people, down from about 1,070 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,117 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 Multnomah County Sheriff's Office at mcso.us (page title: Multnomah County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Oregon Department of Corrections lists its inmates at oregon.gov/doc/victim-services/pages/offender-search.aspx.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Portland
An arrest in Portland can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Multnomah County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.oregon.gov/courts/multnomah/records/pages/default.aspx, phone 971-274-0570); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at multco.us/departments/district-attorneys-office).
Statewide, Oregon eCourt Case Information is the Oregon Judicial Department's online case search, free for basic case information.
Oregon is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: an Open Record Request returns anyone's Oregon conviction record by name, and the subject is told who asked, for $10 a search, through the Oregon State Police. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Portland
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Oregon Public Records Law the agency must answer within 15 business days where practicable, after acknowledging the request within 5, and it may charge the actual cost of making the record available.
- An arrest by the Portland police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at portland.gov/police/divisions/records (page title: Records Division), phone 503-823-0756, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Multnomah County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.oregon.gov, phone 971-274-0570.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at mcso.us/how-do-i/public-records-requests (page title: Public Records Requests | Multnomah County Sheriff's Office).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Multnomah County guide covers every agency in the county: Multnomah County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Portland each year?
Portland reported 13,412 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Portland?
Ask the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at mcso.us.
Where are people arrested in Portland booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Portland?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Oregon State Police: an Open Record Request returns anyone's Oregon conviction record by name, and the subject is told who asked, for $10. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Oregon Public Records Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Portland?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Portland police for its own arrests, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Oregon Public Records Law the answer is due within 15 business days where practicable, after acknowledging the request within 5; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at mcso.us/how-do-i/public-records-requests.
Is this the official Portland website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.