Santa Cruz County 24 Hour Booking

Santa Cruz County 24 hour booking records show who has been recently arrested and processed at the county jail on the central California coast. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office runs a Web Jail Viewer that lets anyone search for current inmates and recent bookings. This tool is free to use. You can access it from your phone or computer without creating an account. Booking records in Santa Cruz County include names, charges, booking dates, bail amounts, and custody status for people held at the county's main jail on Water Street in Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz County Booking Search Tool

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office provides a Web Jail Viewer at jailviewer.co.santa-cruz.ca.us. This is the main tool for looking up 24 hour booking records in Santa Cruz County. The viewer shows everyone currently held at the Santa Cruz County jail. It also includes people who were booked and released within the past day or so. You can search by name to find a specific person. Results show the charges, bail amount, booking date, and housing assignment inside the jail.

The Santa Cruz County jail is at 259 Water Street in the city of Santa Cruz. It is the only county-run jail facility in the area. Every arrest made by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff, the Santa Cruz Police Department, the Watsonville Police, Scotts Valley Police, or Capitola Police ends up at this same facility for booking. That means one search of the Web Jail Viewer covers all arrests across the county. The booking record gets added to the system once intake is done, typically within a few hours of the arrest.

Below is a look at the Santa Cruz County Web Jail Viewer from the Sheriff's Office website.

The screenshot above shows the Santa Cruz County jail viewer portal where you can search for current inmates and recent booking entries.

Santa Cruz County Arrest Record Details

California law requires booking information to be public. Government Code Section 7923.610 spells out what law enforcement must release about each arrest. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff follows this law and posts booking data on the Web Jail Viewer. Each entry in the Santa Cruz County 24 hour booking system includes the person's full name and date of birth, a physical description, the time and date of both the arrest and booking, all charges filed, the bail amount, and the person's current status in jail or if they were released.

Some Santa Cruz County booking records also list the arresting agency. This is helpful when you want to know if the arrest was handled by the Sheriff's patrol or by a city police department within the county. The charges listed at booking are the initial charges. They can change later if the district attorney adds, drops, or modifies charges after reviewing the case. The booking record reflects what was in place at the time of jail intake.

Getting Booking Records in Santa Cruz

The Web Jail Viewer is the quickest way to check recent Santa Cruz County bookings. It runs all day and night. But it only shows current and very recent data. Older records that have cycled out of the viewer are not gone forever. You can request them from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office. The California Public Records Act gives you the right to ask for these records. The agency has 10 days to respond to a written request. You can learn more about the process on the California DOJ public records page.

Calling the jail directly is another option. Reach the Santa Cruz County jail at (831) 454-7800. The address is 259 Water Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. Staff can check booking records by name or number over the phone. For in-person requests, the jail lobby is open during set hours. You can ask for a printout of a specific booking record. There is usually a small fee per page for copies.

Note: The Web Jail Viewer shows active custody records and does not include the full booking history of the county.

Santa Cruz Booking Record Privacy

Arrest records in Santa Cruz County can be sealed under certain conditions. Penal Code Section 851.91 allows a person who was arrested but never convicted to petition the court to seal the arrest record. Once the court grants the petition, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff removes the record from public databases including the Web Jail Viewer. You will not find sealed records through any public search tool. This process is part of California's CARE Act, which aims to give people a path to clear arrests that did not lead to a conviction.

The broader legal framework for booking records in Santa Cruz County comes from the California Public Records Act, now codified under Government Code Sections 7920.000 through 7931.000. This act covers all public records in the state, including jail booking data. It sets out when records must be released, when exemptions apply, and how to enforce your right to access public information. Santa Cruz County, like all California counties, operates under these rules when handling requests for booking records.

Santa Cruz County Jail Contact

For booking questions in Santa Cruz County, call the jail at (831) 454-7800. This is the main line for the Santa Cruz County jail at 259 Water Street in Santa Cruz. Staff handle calls about custody status, bail, and booking lookups.

If you need arrest statistics rather than individual booking records, the California Open Justice data portal tracks data by county including Santa Cruz. This state-run tool gives you aggregate numbers on arrests broken down by year, demographics, and offense type. It is a good supplement to the individual booking records you find through the Santa Cruz County Web Jail Viewer.

Cities in Santa Cruz County

Santa Cruz County does not have any cities with a population over 100,000. Arrests from cities like Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Scotts Valley, and Capitola all flow into the county jail booking system. Use the county Web Jail Viewer to search for bookings from any city in Santa Cruz County.

Nearby California Counties

These counties border Santa Cruz County. Each has its own booking and inmate search system.