Santa Clara County Booking Records

Santa Clara County booking reports are available to the public through the county sheriff's inmate locator. This is the most populous county in the Bay Area and home to San Jose, the largest city in the region. When you need to find a booking report from Santa Clara County, the sheriff's online search tool is the place to start. It covers people booked into the Main Jail in San Jose and the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas. Search by name, booking number, or person file number to pull up current booking records and custody details.

Search Santa Clara County Bookings Online

The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office runs an Inmate Locator that shows current booking information. To use it, you need either the booking number (called a CEN), the person file number (PFN), or the person's name along with a date of birth or booking date. The system pulls up results for anyone currently in Santa Clara County custody. It shows charges, bail, booking date, and facility location.

There is a maintenance window to know about. Every Monday between 12:30 AM and 2:00 AM, the Santa Clara County inmate search goes offline. Outside of that brief window, the tool runs around the clock. It is free to use. No registration required. If you have trouble with the online system, you can call the Main Jail at (408) 299-2305 for help finding Santa Clara County booking information.

Santa Clara County also provides booking data through statewide tools like the VINE system.

State-level databases supplement the county's own inmate locator for broader searches.

Santa Clara County Jail Facilities

Santa Clara County operates two main jail facilities where bookings occur. The Main Jail is at 150 West Hedding Street, San Jose, CA 95110. Call (408) 299-2305 for information. The Elmwood Correctional Facility is at 701 South Abel Street, Milpitas, CA 95035. Its phone number is (408) 957-5900. Both facilities process bookings for people arrested anywhere in Santa Clara County.

San Jose PD, Sunnyvale DPS, Santa Clara PD, and other local agencies all bring arrested people to these county facilities. The booking report created at intake belongs to the sheriff's records system. Even if five different police departments make arrests on the same day in Santa Clara County, all those booking reports end up in the same database. That makes searching straightforward. One search covers everything.

Note: The Elmwood facility in Milpitas handles overflow and longer-term custody for Santa Clara County.

Santa Clara Booking Report Access Laws

California law makes Santa Clara County booking reports public records. The California Public Records Act under Government Code Section 7920.000 gives everyone the right to inspect and copy government records. Government Code Section 7923.600 specifically requires law enforcement to release booking information. This includes the person's full name, physical description, date of birth, arrest and booking times, charges, bail amount, and where they are being held. Santa Clara County follows these rules like every other county in the state.

Penal Code Section 13300 separates booking reports from full criminal histories. A booking report covers a single arrest event in Santa Clara County. A criminal history is the complete record of every arrest and case outcome for one person. Booking reports are public. Criminal histories are restricted. To get your own criminal history, submit fingerprints and $25 to the California DOJ. Third parties cannot request someone else's criminal history.

Sealing Santa Clara County Records

Not every arrest results in a conviction. When it does not, Penal Code Section 851.91 allows the arrested person to petition the Santa Clara County Superior Court to seal the arrest records. If the petition succeeds, the booking report, arrest report, and all related documents become sealed. They will no longer appear in public searches of Santa Clara County records. The sheriff's office removes them from the online inmate locator and from responses to formal records requests.

Penal Code Section 851.8 provides even stronger protections for people who prove they were factually innocent. In Santa Clara County, a finding of factual innocence means the sheriff and the California DOJ seal and eventually destroy all evidence of the arrest. Booking photos, reports, and fingerprints all get handled this way. This is a more complete removal than the standard sealing process.

Santa Clara County VINE Alerts

The California VINE program covers Santa Clara County. Crime victims and concerned members of the public can register for custody change alerts. VINE sends notifications when someone is released from jail, transferred to another facility, or escapes from custody. Registration is free. You choose how to receive alerts. This works for anyone booked into the Santa Clara County jail system. Use VINE as a complement to the inmate locator when you need ongoing updates instead of a one-time search.

Cities in Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County is home to Silicon Valley and several large cities. Local police departments handle arrests, but the county sheriff processes bookings. The cities below have populations over 100,000 and their own booking report pages.

Nearby County Booking Reports

Santa Clara County borders several counties in the Bay Area and beyond. If the arrest did not occur within Santa Clara County, try one of these neighbors.