Search Santa Ana Booking Records
Booking records from the Santa Ana Police Department are public information under California law. Santa Ana runs its own city jail through its Jail Bureau, which handles bookings for arrests made by Santa Ana officers. The city is also the county seat of Orange County, so the main county jail facilities are located here too. That can cause some confusion when searching for someone booked in Santa Ana, since both the city jail and the county jail exist in the same city. For city arrests, check with the Santa Ana PD Jail Bureau first. For county-level bookings, use the Orange County Sheriff's inmate search.
Santa Ana Booking Quick Facts
Santa Ana in Orange County
Santa Ana is the county seat of Orange County. That makes it the hub for county government, including the main courthouse and the county jail system. The Orange County Superior Court sits in Santa Ana, and so does the Intake Release Center, where most county-level bookings are processed. If someone is arrested by a sheriff's deputy or transferred from a city jail anywhere in the county, they typically end up at the Intake Release Center on North Flower Street in Santa Ana.
The Santa Ana Police Department is separate from the county sheriff. SAPD handles its own arrests and runs its own jail. People booked by Santa Ana police go to the city jail first. They may stay there for a short time or be moved to the county facility depending on the charges. This dual system means you sometimes need to search two different databases to find one person.
Santa Ana Jail Bureau
The Santa Ana Police Department operates a Jail Bureau that manages the city's booking process. You can find details about the Jail Bureau at santa-ana.org/jail-bureau. The page covers visiting hours, how to check on someone in custody, and the general booking process for the city jail.
The Santa Ana PD Jail Bureau page at santa-ana.org provides booking details, visiting information, and contact numbers for the city jail.
The city jail is a Type I facility. It holds people for short periods, usually under 96 hours. After that window, inmates are either released or sent to the Orange County jail. For recent bookings, calling the Jail Bureau is often the fastest way to confirm if someone is being held. The number for the Santa Ana Police Department is (714) 245-8665.
Santa Ana PD staff can share basic booking data over the phone. They will tell you if a person is in custody, what the charges are, and the bail amount. For a formal record, you would need to make a written request. The department follows the same public records rules as every other California law enforcement agency.
Santa Ana Booking Law
Government Code 7923.610 is the California statute that makes booking records public. It lists the specific data points that must be released. These include the person's name, date of birth, charges, bail amount, booking date and time, arrest location, and holding facility. Santa Ana PD must release all of this when asked. There are no exceptions for city jails.
People booked at the Santa Ana jail also have the right to make phone calls. Under Penal Code 851.5, anyone booked into a California jail gets at least three free calls within three hours of booking. The calls can go to an attorney, a bail agent, or a relative. The Santa Ana jail must allow these calls. It cannot charge for them or put limits on who gets called.
If you are denied access to a booking record, you can appeal under the California Public Records Act. The law gives the agency 10 days to respond to a records request. If they say no, they must explain why. Most booking data requests from Santa Ana are straightforward and get fulfilled without problems.
Note: Juvenile booking records are not public in California. The rules here apply only to adults booked at the Santa Ana city jail.
Orange County Sheriff Search
After someone is moved from the Santa Ana city jail to the county system, they show up in the Orange County Sheriff's database. The sheriff runs the inmate search tool at apps.ocsheriff.gov. You can look up anyone in county custody by name. The results include the booking number, charges, bail, and current location within the jail system.
The county system covers all of Orange County. It does not matter which city made the arrest. Once the person is in county custody, the sheriff's database is where you find them. Santa Ana is a common origin point for county bookings because the Intake Release Center is right in the city. Many people arrested elsewhere in the county end up being processed through Santa Ana.
The Orange County Sheriff also takes records requests. You can reach the Records and Warrants Division at (714) 647-7000. For older records or certified copies, a written request is the way to go. The sheriff's office charges a small copy fee.
Request Santa Ana Records
To get a copy of a Santa Ana booking record, file a public records request with the police department. Write to the Santa Ana PD Records Division. Include the person's full name, date of birth if you have it, and the approximate arrest date. The department is at 60 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701. You can also try submitting through the city's website.
Santa Ana PD must respond within 10 days. The response may include the record, a notice that more time is needed, or an explanation of why the record is exempt. Most booking records are not exempt. Expect to pay a small fee for paper copies. Digital copies may be free depending on the format.
Nearby City Booking Records
Other cities in the Orange County area also process bookings through their own police departments. All feed into the county system eventually. Here are nearby cities with booking information available.
Outside Orange County, Long Beach and Los Angeles are nearby. They use the Los Angeles County jail system, which is completely separate from Orange County.