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 23, 2026 and September 26, 2026.
Bellingham, Washington, in Whatcom County, has about 96,000 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 Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Whatcom County Superior 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: Bellingham public records, Whatcom County arrest records, Washington arrest records and Washington inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Bellingham
The FBI lists Bellingham with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Bellingham Police Department. It reported 3,203 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 Whatcom County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 714 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Whatcom County: Western Washington University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Bellingham Reports
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.
- Bellingham: 3,203 for 2025, 3,041 for 2024, 4,196 for 2023, 2,705 for 2022, 2,124 for 2021 and 2,347 for 2020.
Bellingham's 3,203 arrests in 2025 were up 5.3 percent from 3,041 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Bellingham reported 1,589 arrests, against 1,809 in the same months of 2025.
Across Whatcom County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,498 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bellingham Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Bellingham 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 2023 the jail held about 340 people, up from about 300 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 267 beds, and it ran at 125 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 Whatcom County Sheriff's Office at apps1.whatcomcounty.us/jaildata/roster.html (page title: Whatcom County Sheriff's Office | Jail Roster), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Washington State Department of Corrections lists its inmates at doc.wa.gov/records/incarcerated-data-search/incarcerated-search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Bellingham
An arrest in Bellingham can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Whatcom County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at dw.courts.wa.gov); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at whatcomcounty.us/304/Prosecuting-Attorney, phone 360-410-6365).
Statewide, Washington Courts Search Case Records is the Administrative Office of the Courts' free statewide case search.
Washington is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: WATCH lets anyone search conviction records by name online, for $12 a search, through the Washington State Patrol. 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 Bellingham
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 Public Records Act (RCW 42.56) the agency must answer within 5 business days, and it may charge for copies at 15 cents a page, and set fees for electronic records.
- An arrest by the Bellingham police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cob.org/gov/dept/police/about-police/records-bureau (page title: Records Bureau | City of Bellingham), phone (360) 778-8000, 210 Lottie Street Bellingham, WA 98225, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 360-410-6365, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Whatcom County Superior Court, through the court records page at dw.courts.wa.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at whatcomcounty.us (page title: Records Request | Sheriff's Office | Whatcom County, WA).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Whatcom County guide covers every agency in the county: Whatcom County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Bellingham each year?
Bellingham reported 3,203 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Bellingham?
Look on the custody page of the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office at apps1.whatcomcounty.us/jaildata/roster.html. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Bellingham booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Bellingham?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Washington State Patrol: WATCH lets anyone search conviction records by name online, for $12. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Public Records Act (RCW 42.56).
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Bellingham?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Bellingham police for its own arrests, the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Public Records Act (RCW 42.56) the answer is due within 5 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at whatcomcounty.us.
Is this the official Bellingham 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.