Access Madera County Booking Reports

Madera County booking reports are public documents created when someone is arrested and processed at the county jail. The Madera County Sheriff's Office operates the jail at 195 Tozer Street in Madera and manages all booking records. An online Inmate Public View tool lets you check who is in custody right now without any cost. Madera County booking reports include the person's name, charges, bail amount, and booking date. You can also call the jail or submit a written records request for copies of booking reports. This page explains how each method works and what California law says about your access rights.

Search Madera County Booking Records Online

The Madera County Sheriff's Office runs an Inmate Public View portal. This web tool shows all people currently booked into the Madera County jail. Search by name to find someone and view their charges, booking date, and bail information. The site is free and open to everyone. It does not require any account or login. Just type a name and hit search. This is the quickest way to look up Madera County booking reports for current inmates.

Below is the Madera County Sheriff's Inmate Public View system for checking current bookings.

This online search tool provides current custody and booking information for the Madera County jail.

The online system only shows people who are still in jail. If someone has been released, they drop off the list. To get booking data on someone no longer in custody, call the Madera County jail at (559) 675-7951. Staff can pull up past records and tell you how to get a copy. The office at 195 Tozer Street in Madera also takes walk-in requests during business hours.

How Bookings Work in Madera County

All arrests in Madera County lead to the county jail for booking. The Madera Police Department, Chowchilla police, and sheriff's deputies all bring arrested people to the same facility. During booking, staff take fingerprints and photos. They record the person's name, date of birth, height, weight, and other details. Charges get logged, and bail is set based on the county schedule. All of this creates the Madera County booking report for that arrest.

Under Penal Code Section 851.5, a person booked into jail in California has the right to make at least three phone calls within three hours of being arrested. This applies to everyone booked in Madera County. The booking report itself becomes a permanent record at the sheriff's office. Even after the person is released, the report stays on file and can be requested through the public records process.

Madera County Booking Report Access Laws

The California Public Records Act requires Madera County to make booking reports available to the public. Government Code Section 7923.600 lists the specific booking data that law enforcement must release. This includes names, physical descriptions, charges, bail, arrest and booking times, and where the person is being held. Madera County meets part of this requirement through its online Inmate Public View system. For more detailed records, you can file a written request with the sheriff's office.

Full criminal histories are different from booking reports. Penal Code Section 13300 restricts access to complete criminal history records. Those are only available to authorized agencies or to the person whose record it is. But individual Madera County booking reports are public. Anyone can request them. You do not need to give a reason.

Note: Madera County must respond to Public Records Act requests within 10 days under state law.

Sealing Madera County Arrest Records

If an arrest in Madera County did not lead to a conviction, the person can ask a court to seal the booking record. Penal Code Section 851.91 covers this process. You file a petition with the Madera County Superior Court. If the court agrees, the booking report and related arrest records get sealed. After that, they will not come up in public searches. This helps people who were arrested but never charged or who had their cases dismissed move forward without that booking record following them around.

Cases of factual innocence fall under Penal Code Section 851.8. This is a stronger standard but leads to records being sealed and eventually destroyed. Talk to a lawyer if you think either option applies to a Madera County booking report in your name.

Track Madera County Custody Status

The California VINE service covers Madera County inmates. Register for free to receive alerts when someone is released, transferred, or escapes from the Madera County jail. Pick your preferred contact method: phone, email, or text message. VINE is run by the California State Sheriffs' Association and works as a companion tool to the sheriff's own inmate search.

For people who have moved from Madera County jail to state prison, the CIRIS database from the California Department of Corrections shows their current location and status. CIRIS does not cover county jail bookings, so use it only for inmates who have been sentenced and transferred to a state facility.

Cities in Madera County

Madera is the county seat and largest city. Chowchilla is the other incorporated city in the county. Neither has a population over 100,000. All booking activity in Madera County runs through the sheriff's jail. The Madera Police Department and Chowchilla Police Department make arrests, but the booking records are held by the county sheriff. If you are looking for a booking report from an arrest in either city, the sheriff's online tool and records office are where to look.

Nearby County Booking Reports

Madera County borders several other Central Valley and mountain counties. If the arrest happened near a county line, check these neighbors for booking data.