Santa Barbara County Booking Records

Santa Barbara County 24 hour booking records give you a way to search for recent arrests and jail intake data along the Central Coast of California. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff runs a public online tool called "Who Is in Custody" that shows current inmates and new bookings at the county jail. You can use this search from any device. It is free. No login or sign-up is needed. Booking records here list names, charges, bail, and dates for people held or recently processed at the Santa Barbara County Main Jail in Santa Barbara. This tool helps family, legal staff, and the public find booking data fast.

Santa Barbara County Booking Search

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office runs an inmate search tool at sbsheriff.org/home/who-is-in-custody. This is the main way to look up 24 hour booking records in Santa Barbara County. The system shows who is in jail right now. It also shows recent bookings for people who may have been released on bail or on their own recognizance. You type in a name and the tool pulls up all matching records from the Santa Barbara County jail system. Results come back fast. Each entry shows the charges, booking time, and bail set by the court.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff operates two jail facilities. The Main Jail sits in Santa Barbara, and the Northern Branch Jail is in Santa Maria. Bookings from both show up in the same online search tool. That means one search covers the whole county. If someone was arrested in Lompoc, Goleta, or Carpinteria, they still get booked through the Santa Barbara County system. The booking record will appear in the "Who Is in Custody" portal once the intake process is done, which can take a few hours depending on how busy things are at the jail.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff posts this data to comply with Government Code Section 7923.610, which requires law enforcement to release booking details to the public. This covers the full name, date of birth, physical description, time and date of booking, charges, bail, and where the person is being held.

You can see the Santa Barbara County inmate search tool in the screenshot below from the Sheriff's Office website.

This screenshot shows the Santa Barbara County "Who Is in Custody" portal where you can look up current jail bookings.

Santa Barbara County Arrest Details

Each 24 hour booking entry in Santa Barbara County contains several pieces of information that are public by law. When someone is booked at the Main Jail or Northern Branch Jail, the record gets created and added to the online search tool. You can see the person's full name and date of birth. Physical details like height, weight, and eye color are part of the record too. The booking date and time are listed, along with each charge and the bail amount attached to it. If a hold from another agency exists, that shows up as well. Santa Barbara County booking records also note the arresting agency, so you can tell if the arrest was made by the Sheriff's Office, Santa Barbara Police, Santa Maria Police, or another local department.

Under Government Code Section 7923.615, additional details like the location of the incident and a general description of what happened may also be available. Not all of this shows up in the online tool. Some of it requires a formal records request to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff.

Note: Online booking data shows current and recent records only, not a complete history of all Santa Barbara County arrests.

Getting Santa Barbara Booking Records

The fastest way to find Santa Barbara County booking records is the online search tool. It works day and night. But if you need older records or more detail than what appears on screen, you have other options. You can call the Santa Barbara County Main Jail at (805) 681-4260 and ask staff to look up a booking by name or booking number. The Sheriff's Office main line is (805) 683-2724. Phone lookups work during business hours for most requests.

For formal written requests, the California Public Records Act applies. You can submit a request to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office asking for specific booking records. The agency has 10 days to respond. A 14-day extension is allowed in certain cases. The California DOJ public records page explains how this process works statewide. Copy fees are typically around 10 cents per page, though the Santa Barbara County Sheriff may charge more for extensive searches.

You can also visit the jail lobby in person during posted hours. Staff can print booking records on the spot for a small fee. This option works well for people who want a paper copy of a Santa Barbara County 24 hour booking record or who need help searching the system.

Sealed Records in Santa Barbara County

Not every arrest stays on the public record. Under Penal Code Section 851.91, a person who was arrested in Santa Barbara County but never convicted may ask the court to seal that arrest record. Once sealed, the record will not show up in any public search. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff removes sealed records from the online booking tool and from responses to public records requests. The sealing process involves filing a petition with the court and meeting certain conditions set out in the statute.

Local summary criminal history information in Santa Barbara County falls under Penal Code Section 13300. This statute defines what counts as local criminal history and who can access it. The booking number, arrest dates, charges, and outcomes are all part of this local history. The full criminal history file is not public in the same way the 24 hour booking log is. Only certain agencies and authorized parties can pull a complete criminal history from the Santa Barbara County system.

Santa Barbara County Jail Contact

Reaching the Santa Barbara County jail for booking questions is straightforward. Call the Main Jail at (805) 681-4260. This line handles calls about custody status, bail, and booking information for people held at the facility. The Sheriff's Office general line at (805) 683-2724 can route you to the right division if you have questions about records or the public access portal.

The Main Jail is at 4436 Calle Real in Santa Barbara. The Northern Branch Jail near Santa Maria also processes bookings and holds inmates from the northern part of Santa Barbara County. Both facilities feed into the same booking search system online. The California Open Justice data portal also tracks arrest statistics by county, including Santa Barbara, if you want broader data beyond individual booking records.

Cities in Santa Barbara County

Santa Barbara County includes several cities and towns. People arrested by city police in these areas get booked through the Santa Barbara County jail system. The online booking search covers arrests from all jurisdictions in the county.

Nearby California Counties

These counties border Santa Barbara County. Each has its own jail booking search.