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 23, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Bellingham, Washington, in Whatcom County, has about 96,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Bellingham is held at the county jail, run by the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Bellingham public records, Whatcom County inmate search, Bellingham arrest records, Bellingham warrants, Bellingham criminal records, Bellingham court records, Washington arrest records and Washington inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Bellingham
The county jail, run by the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Bellingham, from every agency.
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.
Someone booked recently shows on that page; someone cited and released at the scene, or held a few hours at a city station, does not.
The Whatcom County Jail by the Numbers
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.
Whatcom County has about 235,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 14 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Whatcom County Jail
The Whatcom County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Bellingham (filed by the FBI as Bellingham Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Bellingham.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Whatcom County: Western Washington University (campus police).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Bellingham's 3,203 for 2025, the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office's 714 for 2025 and Lynden's 228 for 2025.
Together, the six agencies in Whatcom County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,498 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Bellingham arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the Washington State Department of Corrections lists its inmates at doc.wa.gov/records/incarcerated-data-search/incarcerated-search.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate 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.
How many people are in the Whatcom County jail?
About 340 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 267 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Whatcom County go?
To a facility of the Washington State Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at doc.wa.gov.
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.