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). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Pierce County is held at the county jail, run by the Pierce 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: Pierce County public records, Pierce County arrest records, Pierce County warrants, Pierce County criminal records, Pierce County court records, Washington arrest records and Washington inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Pierce County
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Pierce County is held at the county jail, run by the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
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 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.
The Pierce County Jail by the Numbers
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.
Pierce County has about 941,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 8 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Pierce County Jail
The Pierce County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, University Place, Bonney Lake, Edgewood and 12 more cities make the arrests that end in a booking in Pierce County.
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.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Tacoma's 5,092 for 2025, the Pierce County Sheriff's Office's 2,953 for 2025 and Puyallup's 2,387 for 2025.
Together, the 18 agencies in Pierce County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 15,004 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 Pierce County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Pierce County 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate 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.
How many people are in the Pierce County jail?
About 770 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 1,716 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Pierce County go?
To a facility of the Washington State Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at doc.wa.gov.
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.