Access San Francisco Booking Records

San Francisco 24 hour booking records come from a system that is a bit different from most California cities. San Francisco is both a city and a county at the same time, which means the police department and the sheriff's office both play a role in arrests and bookings. SFPD makes the arrests in most cases, and the San Francisco Sheriff runs the jail. Finding booking records here means knowing which agency to contact. The sheriff handles jail records, while the police department manages arrest reports and public records requests through its own portal.

San Francisco County Booking System

Because San Francisco is a combined city-county, the San Francisco County Sheriff's Office runs all jail operations within city limits. The main booking facility is the Intake and Release Center at County Jail #1. Everyone arrested in San Francisco by any agency is processed here. The sheriff's office website is at sfsheriff.com, and the Intake and Release Center phone number is (415) 553-1430.

Unlike many California counties, San Francisco does not currently offer a public online inmate search portal that you can browse freely. To find out if someone has been booked into the San Francisco jail, calling the Intake and Release Center is the most direct method. Staff can tell you if a person is in custody, what the charges are, and what the bail amount is. This phone line operates around the clock, so you can call at any time to check on a San Francisco booking.

The lack of a public web-based jail roster makes San Francisco a bit harder to search than counties like Los Angeles or San Diego. But the phone line is reliable. You can also go in person to the jail during visiting hours and ask at the front desk for booking details on a specific person held in San Francisco.

San Francisco Police Records Requests

The San Francisco Police Department handles arrest reports and other police records through a GovQA public records portal at sanfranciscopolice.org/get-service/public-records-request. This is where you go to request copies of arrest reports, incident reports, and other booking-related documents. You fill out a form online and the department processes it. The system sends you updates as your request moves through review.

The SFPD records request portal shown above is where you submit requests for San Francisco booking and arrest records online.

The SFPD general line is (415) 837-7000. For most booking and arrest record requests, the online portal is the recommended route. It keeps a record of your request and gives you a tracking number. San Francisco's records request system follows the California Public Records Act. The agency has 10 days to respond, and a 14-day extension is possible in certain situations. You can learn more about your rights from the California DOJ public records page.

San Francisco Booking Records and the Law

Booking records in San Francisco are public under Government Code Section 7923.610. This law requires law enforcement to release the name, physical description, date and time of arrest, charges, bail amount, and other basic facts about every booking. Both SFPD and the San Francisco Sheriff must follow this rule. It is the legal basis for anyone to request San Francisco booking data.

Under Government Code Section 7923.615, information about complaints tied to arrests is also subject to disclosure. This includes the date and location of the incident, the type of call, and descriptions of any injuries or property involved. These laws mean that San Francisco booking records contain quite a bit of detail when you do get them.

There are limits though. Under Government Code Section 7923.600, investigative records can be withheld if releasing them would interfere with an ongoing case. And Penal Code Section 851.91 allows people who were arrested but not convicted to petition a court to seal their arrest record. Sealed records will not show up in any San Francisco booking inquiry.

San Francisco Arrest Record Details

A San Francisco booking record will include the person's full name, date of birth, and physical description. It also shows the date and time of arrest and booking, the location of the arrest, all charges, the bail amount, and the current holding location. If there are warrants from other places or parole holds, those show up as well.

San Francisco booking entries typically contain:

• Name and date of birth
• Physical description including height, weight, and hair color
• Arrest date, time, and location
• Charges and bail for each count
• Custody status and jail location
• Arresting agency

Because San Francisco processes arrests from SFPD, BART police, and other agencies that operate in the city, the arresting agency field helps you tell apart where each booking came from. All of these arrests flow through the same San Francisco County jail system.

San Francisco Booking Contact

The key phone numbers for San Francisco booking questions are the Intake and Release Center at (415) 553-1430 and the SFPD main line at (415) 837-7000. The Intake and Release Center handles jail status calls at all hours. The police department line is best for arrest report requests and general records questions.

For state-level records, the California DOJ Record Review Unit is at (916) 227-3849 with a mailing address of PO Box 160207, Sacramento, CA 95816-0207. You can also submit a DOJ request online at oag.ca.gov/contact/publicrecords_form. This is an option if you need criminal history information that goes beyond what San Francisco's local systems offer.

Note: San Francisco does not have a public web-based inmate search tool; call the jail directly for current custody status.

Nearby Cities

These cities are near San Francisco across the Bay Area and each has its own booking record access methods.