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 October 2, 2026.
Pierce County, Washington, has about 941,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Pierce County Sheriff's Office and 18 city 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 Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Pierce County Superior Court. 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: Pierce County public records, Washington arrest records, Washington inmate search and Washington criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Pierce County
The Pierce County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Pierce County. It reported 2,953 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside 18 of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported, the largest twelve first; the rest are named in the cities section below:
- Tacoma, 228,202 residents: 5,092 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lakewood, 62,709 residents: 1,396 arrests reported for 2025.
- Puyallup, 42,552 residents: 2,387 arrests reported for 2025.
- University Place, 35,160 residents: 226 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bonney Lake, 22,145 residents: 461 arrests reported for 2025.
- Edgewood, 13,496 residents: 73 arrests reported for 2025.
- Gig Harbor, 12,643 residents: 264 arrests reported for 2025.
- Fife, 11,077 residents: 534 arrests reported for 2025.
- Sumner, 10,885 residents: 264 arrests reported for 2025.
- DuPont, 9,823 residents: 70 arrests reported for 2025.
- Orting, 8,911 residents: 163 arrests reported for 2025.
- Milton, 8,833 residents: 211 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 Auburn Police Department and the Pacific Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Pierce County, so their arrests are not broken out for Pierce County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Pierce 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.
- Tacoma: 5,092 for 2025, 4,086 for 2024, 3,178 for 2023, 3,217 for 2022, 2,846 for 2021 and 3,543 for 2020.
- Pierce County Sheriff's Office: 2,953 for 2025, 2,994 for 2024, 2,560 for 2023, 2,139 for 2022, 2,372 for 2021 and 3,261 for 2020.
- Puyallup: 2,387 for 2025, 1,784 for 2022, 1,792 for 2021, 2,230 for 2020 and 2,490 for 2019; 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Lakewood: 1,396 for 2025, 1,419 for 2024, 1,293 for 2023, 1,060 for 2022, 1,048 for 2021 and 1,115 for 2020.
- Fife: 534 for 2025, 549 for 2024, 423 for 2023, 340 for 2022, 341 for 2021 and 427 for 2020.
- Fircrest: 468 for 2025, 370 for 2024, 166 for 2023, 184 for 2022, 315 for 2021 and 297 for 2020.
- Bonney Lake: 461 for 2025, 418 for 2024, 481 for 2023, 580 for 2022, 608 for 2021 and 667 for 2020.
- Gig Harbor: 264 for 2025, 267 for 2024, 264 for 2023, 259 for 2022, 272 for 2021 and 323 for 2020.
- Sumner: 264 for 2025, 283 for 2024, 180 for 2023, 139 for 2022, 185 for 2021 and 272 for 2020.
- Buckley: 241 for 2025, 207 for 2024, 169 for 2023, 184 for 2022, 216 for 2021 and 292 for 2020.
- University Place: 226 for 2025, 235 for 2024, 234 for 2023, 169 for 2022, 153 for 2021 and 276 for 2020.
- Milton: 211 for 2025, 204 for 2024, 177 for 2023, 155 for 2022, 108 for 2021 and 184 for 2020.
Together, the 18 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 15,004 arrests that year. The 17 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 12,617 in 2025 against 11,419 in 2024, up 10 percent.
Through July 2026, the 18 agencies with every month so far on file reported 8,831 arrests, against 8,713 in the same months of 2025.
Roy reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Pierce County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Pierce 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 2023 the jail held about 770 people, down from about 1,110 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 1,716 beds, and it ran at 45 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 Pierce County Sheriff's Office at linxonline.co.pierce.wa.us/linxweb/Booking/GetJailRoster.cfm (page title: Jail Roster | LINX), 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 person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Washington State Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.wa.gov/records/incarcerated-data-search/incarcerated-search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Pierce County
An arrest in Pierce County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Pierce County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; Washington Courts Search Case Records, the Administrative Office of the Courts' free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed.
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 Pierce 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 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 Pierce County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, University Place, Bonney Lake, Edgewood or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Pierce County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 18 of the 21 cities in Pierce County: the twelve named above and Fircrest, Steilacoom, Buckley, Eatonville, Ruston and Roy. Carbonado, Wilkeson and South Prairie have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Pierce County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Pierce County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Pierce County each year?
Tacoma reported 5,092 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 18 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 15,004 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Pierce County?
Look on the custody page of the Pierce County Sheriff's Office at linxonline.co.pierce.wa.us. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Pierce County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Pierce County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Pierce County?
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 Pierce County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Pierce County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Public Records Act (RCW 42.56) the answer is due within 5 business days.
Is this the official Pierce 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.