Fontana Booking Records Lookup
Fontana 72 hour booking records are public and show who has been arrested and booked into the San Bernardino County jail system. Fontana is a city of about 215,000 in the Inland Empire. The Fontana Police Department handles law enforcement in the city. When Fontana PD makes an arrest, the person is booked at a San Bernardino County jail facility run by the sheriff's department. You can search for inmates through the county's online booking search tool. California Government Code 7923.610 requires that booking data be available to the public within 72 hours of an arrest.
Fontana Booking Quick Facts
Fontana Booking in San Bernardino County
Fontana is in San Bernardino County, the largest county in the United States by land area. The county sheriff's department runs the jail system. The main booking facility for the western part of the county is the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. There is also the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino and the Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center in Devore. People arrested by Fontana PD are typically booked at the West Valley facility since it is the closest.
The Fontana Police Department is a mid-sized agency that handles a moderate volume of arrests each year. Officers patrol the city and respond to calls. When an arrest is made, the person is transported to the county jail for processing. The Fontana PD does not operate its own jail. All bookings go through the San Bernardino County Sheriff's system.
San Bernardino County processes a high number of bookings across its facilities. The county is home to over 2 million people and has several large cities. Fontana is one of the biggest. The booking data from all cities and agencies in the county goes into the same database.
San Bernardino County Booking Search
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department runs an online booking search tool. You can access it at jimsnetil.shr.sbcounty.gov to look up people who have been booked at any of the county's jail facilities. The search lets you look up inmates by name and shows booking date, charges, bail, and facility. It is free and available around the clock.
For people who have been sentenced and transferred to state prison, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) runs a separate inmate locator. The CDCR database is for state prison inmates, not county jail detainees. Most people arrested in Fontana will be in the county system, not the state system. The county booking search is where you should start for recent Fontana arrests.
The county booking search tool covers all San Bernardino County detention facilities. Whether someone was booked at West Valley, Central, or Glen Helen, the search finds them. If you do not find someone on the search, they may have been released or they may have been processed at a different county's facility. People arrested on highways near county borders sometimes end up in a neighboring county's system.
Note: The West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga is the most common booking facility for Fontana arrests due to its close proximity.
Fontana Booking Process
When Fontana PD arrests someone, the person is driven to the West Valley Detention Center or another county facility. The trip from Fontana to the Rancho Cucamonga facility is short. At the jail, staff handle the booking. They take fingerprints, a booking photo, and record the person's information. Charges from the arresting officer are entered. Bail is set using the San Bernardino County bail schedule.
Misdemeanor arrests in Fontana often lead to a quick release after bail is posted. Cite and release is used for some lower-level offenses, which means the person gets a court date and never goes to jail. For felony charges, the hold is usually longer. Some serious felonies come with no bail, and the person stays until a judge makes a decision. The booking record is created at intake and stays in the system.
Fontana is a growing city. The population has increased a lot over the past two decades. With growth comes more arrests and more bookings. The county jail system handles the volume, but busy times can slow down the processing. Even so, most booking data appears on the online search within a few hours of intake.
Fontana Booking Law
Government Code 7923.610 makes booking records public in Fontana. The law requires the release of the person's full name, booking date and time, charges, bail amount, and arresting agency. The San Bernardino County Sheriff must follow this law for every booking at its detention centers.
Penal Code 851.5 gives people booked at county facilities the right to phone calls. Within three hours of booking, each person can make at least three free calls to a lawyer, bail bond agent, or family member. The county jail must provide phone access and cannot charge for these calls. This applies at West Valley, Central, Glen Helen, and every other county facility.
The California Public Records Act backs up these rules. If the San Bernardino County Sheriff or Fontana PD denies a records request, the requestor can challenge it. Agencies have 10 days to respond. For recent bookings, the online search tool usually has what you need.
Request Fontana Booking Records
For records beyond what the online search shows, file a public records request with the San Bernardino County Sheriff. Include the person's full name, approximate arrest date, and any other details you have. The sheriff has 10 days to respond. There may be copy fees.
Fontana PD handles police report requests through its own records section. Contact the department at headquarters for arrest reports and incident reports. For booking sheets and jail records, the sheriff's records division is the correct contact. You may need records from both agencies to get the full picture of a Fontana arrest.
For statewide criminal history, the California Department of Justice handles that separately. The DOJ process requires fingerprints and takes longer. It is mainly for background checks and licensing, not for looking up a single booking.
Nearby City Booking Records
Several cities near Fontana are also in San Bernardino County or in neighboring Riverside County. Here are links to nearby city booking pages.
Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, San Bernardino, and Rialto are all in San Bernardino County and use the same jail system. Rancho Cucamonga is home to the West Valley Detention Center where most Fontana bookings are processed. For cities in Riverside County like Riverside, the booking system is separate and run by the Riverside County Sheriff.