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.
Selah, Washington, in Yakima County, has about 8,700 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 Yakima 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: Selah public records, Yakima County arrest records, Washington arrest records and Washington inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Selah
The FBI lists Selah with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Selah Police Department. It reported 399 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 Yakima County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 567 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Selah 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.
- Selah: 399 for 2025, 424 for 2024, 477 for 2023, 383 for 2022, 204 for 2021 and 281 for 2020.
Selah's 399 arrests in 2025 were down 5.9 percent from 424 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Selah reported 223 arrests, against 237 in the same months of 2025.
Across Yakima County, the ten agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 9,323 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Selah Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Selah 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 2024 the jail held about 580 people, down from about 1,080 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,069 beds, and it ran at 60 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 Yakima County Sheriff's Office at yakimacounty.us/1891/Jail-Records (page title: Jail Records | Yakima County, WA), 128 North 2nd Street, Yakima, WA 98901, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Selah
For Selah the place to look is the case index of the Yakima County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at yakimacounty.us/439/Find-My-Court-Date, phone 509-574-1804).
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 Selah
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 Selah police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at selahwa.gov/279/Police-Department-Public-Records-Request (page title: Police Department Public Records Request | Selah, WA), phone 509-698-7347, 115 West Naches Avenue Selah, WA 98942, Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Yakima County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Yakima County Superior Court, through the court records page at yakimacounty.us/439/Find-My-Court-Date, phone 509-574-1804.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Yakima County guide covers every agency in the county: Yakima County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Selah each year?
Selah reported 399 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Selah?
Ask the Yakima County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at yakimacounty.us/1891/Jail-Records.
Where are people arrested in Selah booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Yakima County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Selah?
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 Selah?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Selah police for its own arrests, the Yakima County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Public Records Act (RCW 42.56) the answer is due within 5 business days.
Is this the official Selah 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.