Oakland 72 Hour Booking Records
Oakland 72 hour booking records cover all arrests made in the city and processed through the Alameda County jail system. Oakland is the largest city in Alameda County with about 430,000 residents. The Oakland Police Department handles arrests within city limits. People arrested by OPD are booked at the Alameda County jail, which is run by the sheriff's office. You can search current inmates through the county's online tool. Booking records are public under California Government Code 7923.610, which requires release of booking data within 72 hours.
Oakland Booking Quick Facts
Oakland Booking in Alameda County
Oakland is the county seat of Alameda County. The county runs its jail system through the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. The main jail is Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, which is the largest county jail in the Bay Area. There is also the Glenn Dyer Jail in downtown Oakland. People arrested by OPD may be booked at either facility depending on the circumstances and available space.
The Oakland Police Department is a large agency that deals with a high volume of arrests each year. OPD has faced federal oversight for years, which has led to changes in how the department handles bookings and record-keeping. Despite the oversight, the booking process follows the same state law as every other California city. Jail staff record the person's name, charges, bail amount, and take a booking photo. This data goes into the county's inmate database.
Glenn Dyer Jail in downtown Oakland is closer to OPD headquarters and is often used for initial bookings of people arrested in the city. Santa Rita Jail in Dublin handles longer-term holds and higher-security inmates. Both facilities are part of the same system and share the same inmate search database.
Alameda County Inmate Search
The Alameda County Sheriff's Office runs an online inmate locator. You can access it at acgov.org/sheriff_app to search for people currently in custody at any Alameda County jail facility. The search lets you look up inmates by name. Results show the booking date, charges, bail, and facility location. There is no cost to use it.
The Oakland Police Department has a separate records portal where you can request police reports. The OPD records portal runs on the NextRequest platform.
Through the OPD records portal, you can submit public records requests online. This covers police reports, incident reports, and other Oakland PD documents. For booking data specifically, the county sheriff's inmate search is the more direct route. The OPD portal is best for getting the police report that goes with an arrest, which gives more detail about what happened.
If you search the county inmate database and do not find someone, they may have been released already. The search only shows current inmates. For records of past bookings, file a public records request with the Alameda County Sheriff. You can also check with the OPD records division if you need the arrest report rather than the booking data.
Oakland Booking Process
After an OPD officer makes an arrest, the person is transported to a county jail facility. The booking process starts with identification. Staff take fingerprints, a photo, and collect personal information. Charges from the arresting officer are entered into the system. Bail is set using the Alameda County bail schedule.
Misdemeanor arrests in Oakland often result in cite and release, where the person gets a court date and is let go without going to jail. When someone is booked into jail on a misdemeanor, they can usually bail out fairly quickly. Felony cases take longer. Some felonies have no bail, meaning the person stays locked up until a judge decides at a hearing. The booking record is created at intake regardless of what happens next.
Note: Oakland has a high arrest volume. During busy times, there can be delays in processing, which means it may take a few hours before a new booking shows up on the online search.
Oakland Booking Law
California Government Code 7923.610 requires that booking data be made public. The law covers the person's full name, booking date and time, charges, bail amount, and arresting agency. For Oakland arrests, the arresting agency is usually OPD, and the booking agency is the Alameda County Sheriff.
Penal Code 851.5 gives booked individuals the right to make phone calls. Within three hours of booking, each person can make at least three free calls to a lawyer, bail agent, or family member. This applies at both Glenn Dyer Jail and Santa Rita Jail. The jail cannot charge for these calls or prevent them.
The California Public Records Act backs up these rights. If the Alameda County Sheriff or OPD refuses to release booking data, the requestor can challenge the denial. Agencies have 10 days to respond to public records requests. In most cases, the online inmate search provides enough data for recent bookings without needing a formal request.
Request Oakland Booking Records
For older records not on the inmate search, file a public records request with the Alameda County Sheriff. Include the person's full name, approximate date of arrest, and any other details you have. The sheriff's office has 10 days to respond. There may be copy fees.
OPD records requests go through the NextRequest portal. You can submit, track, and receive records online. This is the best option for police reports tied to Oakland arrests. For booking sheets and jail records, go through the sheriff's office. The two agencies maintain different parts of the record.
Statewide criminal history checks go through the California Department of Justice. That is a separate process that requires fingerprints and is mainly used for background checks rather than looking up individual bookings.
Nearby City Booking Records
Several cities near Oakland share the Alameda County jail system or are in neighboring counties. Here are links to nearby city booking pages.
Fremont, Hayward, and Berkeley are also in Alameda County and use the same jail system. Richmond is in Contra Costa County. San Francisco has its own city-county jail system. San Jose is in Santa Clara County to the south. Each city has its own police department, but the booking process follows the same state law across all of them.