Find San Mateo County Booking Records
San Mateo County 72 hour booking records are handled by the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office. The county's main detention facility is the Maguire Correctional Facility in Redwood City, which serves as the central booking point for all arrests in the county. The sheriff's website at smcsheriff.com provides information about jail operations and how to find people in custody. San Mateo County sits on the peninsula between San Francisco to the north and Santa Clara County to the south. With over 760,000 residents, it processes a steady volume of bookings. The county has multiple cities with their own police departments, but all jail bookings go through the sheriff's facility.
San Mateo County Booking Quick Facts
San Mateo County Booking Law
All booking records in California are public. Government Code 7923.610 lays out exactly what must be shared. When someone is booked into jail, the public has a right to the person's full name, date of birth, physical description, charges, bail amount, arrest and booking dates, arrest location, and where the person is held. This applies to every booking at the Maguire Correctional Facility in San Mateo County.
The San Mateo County Sheriff provides access to booking information through its website and by request. The San Mateo County Sheriff's website serves as a starting point for jail-related inquiries. You can find contact information for the jail, visiting hours, and details about how to locate someone in custody. For specific booking record requests, the sheriff's records unit handles those directly.
Penal Code 851.5 protects arrested people during the booking process. Everyone booked into the San Mateo County jail gets three free phone calls within three hours of booking. Calls can go to a lawyer, bail agent, or family member. The jail must allow these calls.
San Mateo Sheriff Jail Search
The San Mateo County Sheriff's website at smcsheriff.com is the main resource for finding booking information in San Mateo County. The site provides details about jail operations at the Maguire Correctional Facility. To look up a specific person in custody, you can contact the jail directly by phone or visit in person. The sheriff's office can confirm whether someone is currently held and share basic booking details.
The San Mateo County Sheriff's main website at smcsheriff.com provides jail information, contact details, and resources for finding people in custody at the Maguire Correctional Facility.
For a quick check on someone's custody status, calling the jail is often the fastest route. The main number for the Maguire Correctional Facility is (650) 599-1111. Staff can tell you if a person is in custody, what the charges are, and what bail has been set. This information is public and must be shared under California law. Phone inquiries are handled around the clock since the jail never closes.
San Mateo County also participates in the VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday) system. VINE lets you register to receive alerts when an inmate's custody status changes. This is useful if you want to know when someone is released or transferred. You can sign up through the VINELink website using the inmate's name or booking number. The service is free.
Note: San Mateo County booking inquiries by phone are available 24 hours a day at the Maguire Correctional Facility.
Maguire Correctional Facility
The Maguire Correctional Facility is at 300 Bradford Street in Redwood City. This is the main jail for San Mateo County. It opened in 2016 and replaced the old county jail. The facility has a capacity of about 768 beds and is run by the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office. All bookings in the county come through this location. Whether someone is arrested in Daly City, South San Francisco, San Mateo, Redwood City, or any other city in the county, the booking happens at Maguire.
The jail handles intake processing, which includes collecting personal details, taking fingerprints and photos, recording charges, and setting bail. The process can take several hours, especially during busy periods. Once booking is complete, the data becomes part of the public record and can be shared with anyone who asks.
The Women's Correctional Center is also located in Redwood City and is part of the county's detention system. Female inmates may be housed here after booking. Both facilities feed into the same records system.
San Mateo Booking by Mail
You can request San Mateo County booking records by mail. Send a written request to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, Records Division, at 400 County Center, Redwood City, CA 94063. Include the person's full name, date of birth, and an approximate booking date. The records office may charge a fee for copies. Under the California Public Records Act, they must respond within 10 business days.
Walk-in requests are accepted at the sheriff's office during business hours. Bring whatever details you have about the person and the booking. Having a name and date makes the search much faster. For certified copies or records needed for legal proceedings, a written request is the best route.
San Mateo Arrest Records
Booking records are not the same as arrest records. A booking record is made at the jail during intake. An arrest record includes the police report from the arresting officer. San Mateo County has many city police departments. Daly City PD, South San Francisco PD, San Mateo PD, Redwood City PD, and others all make arrests in their areas. The arrest report stays with that department. The booking record goes to the sheriff's jail.
If you need an arrest report, contact the police department that made the arrest. If the sheriff made the arrest, then the sheriff's records unit handles both the arrest report and the booking record. For 72 hour booking data, the jail is always the source. The information must be public under state law.
The San Mateo County Superior Court handles criminal cases after charges are filed. Court records can be looked up through the court's website or at the courthouse in Redwood City at 400 County Center. If you want case details beyond what the booking record shows, the court is the next place to check.
Note: San Mateo County is home to many tech companies, and the county processes a wide range of cases from minor offenses to serious felonies.
Cities in San Mateo County
San Mateo County has over 20 cities, most of them on the peninsula south of San Francisco. Several have their own police departments. But all jail bookings still go through the sheriff's Maguire Correctional Facility in Redwood City. It does not matter which city police made the arrest. The booking record ends up in the same county system.
Other cities in the county include South San Francisco, Redwood City, San Carlos, Burlingame, Foster City, Pacifica, Menlo Park, and Half Moon Bay. Bookings from all of these cities route through the same county jail. The sheriff's booking data covers the entire county.
Nearby County Booking Records
Searching for booking records in a county near San Mateo? These neighbors have their own jail search systems.