Santa Barbara County Booking Search

Santa Barbara County 72 hour booking records are available through the sheriff's "Who's In Custody" tool. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office manages three jail facilities and publishes current inmate data online for free. The county covers the southern Central Coast of California and includes the cities of Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Lompoc, and several smaller communities. This page explains how to access Santa Barbara County booking data, what the online tools show, and what California statutes protect your right to this information.

Santa Barbara Who's In Custody

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff runs a "Who's In Custody" tool on the sheriff's website. This is the primary online resource for finding booking records in Santa Barbara County. The tool shows everyone currently held in the county's jail system. You can search by name to find a specific person or browse the full list. Each entry includes the person's name, booking date, charges, and bail amount.

The "Who's In Custody" tool covers all three of Santa Barbara County's jail facilities. The main jail is in Santa Barbara. There are also facilities in Santa Maria and Lompoc. Regardless of which facility holds an inmate, the record appears in the same online search. That makes it easy to check one place for all Santa Barbara County booking data. You do not need to search each facility separately.

This tool shows current inmates. If someone has been released, they will no longer appear. For booking records of people who are no longer in custody, you need to contact the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's records division. A written public records request is the formal way to get historical booking data.

Santa Barbara Booking Screenshot

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's "Who's In Custody" page is the go-to tool for checking inmate booking status in the county.

The screenshot shows the search interface. You type a name and get results from across all Santa Barbara County jail facilities. The design is clean and the results load fast. It is one of the more user-friendly jail search tools on the California Central Coast.

Santa Barbara Booking Law

California Government Code 7923.610 requires all law enforcement agencies to make booking data public. Santa Barbara County complies with this through its online tool. The law specifies that agencies must release the person's full name, date of birth, physical description, arrest time and date, booking time and date, arrest location, all charges, bail amount, and the facility where they are held. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff cannot withhold any of this information.

The California Public Records Act provides additional protection. Booking records are treated differently from investigative files. While police can keep their investigation notes private, booking data is always public. This distinction matters in Santa Barbara County, where the sheriff handles a high volume of arrests across a large geographic area. The public has a right to know who is in jail and what they are charged with.

People booked into Santa Barbara County jails have rights under Penal Code 851.5. Every arrested person gets three free phone calls within three hours of booking. These calls can go to an attorney, bail bond agent, or family member. The jail cannot charge for them. This applies at all three Santa Barbara County facilities.

Note: Santa Barbara County operates three separate jail facilities, but all booking data is searchable through one online tool.

Santa Barbara County Jail Facilities

Santa Barbara County runs three detention facilities. The main jail is at 4436 Calle Real in Santa Barbara. The Northern Branch Jail serves the Santa Maria and Lompoc areas. There is also a medium security facility. Together, these jails handle all bookings for the county. The sheriff's office coordinates between facilities, and inmates may be housed at whichever location has space or is appropriate for their security level.

You can contact the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office at (805) 681-4100. For jail information specifically, the main jail has its own line. Walk-in records requests are accepted at the sheriff's headquarters in Santa Barbara. For written requests, send a letter to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff, Records Division, 4434 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, CA 93110. Include the person's full name and approximate booking date. The sheriff must respond within 10 days.

Santa Barbara County sees a mix of arrest types. The urban areas around Santa Barbara and Santa Maria generate the most bookings. College-town activity in Isla Vista near UCSB contributes as well. The county also covers rural areas in the Santa Ynez Valley and along the northern coast. All of these arrests feed into the same county jail system and appear on the "Who's In Custody" tool once the person is booked.

Booking Record Contents

Every Santa Barbara County booking record contains the core data that California law requires. Here is what you can expect to find in each record:

• Full legal name and date of birth
• Physical description with height, weight, and identifying marks
• Date, time, and location of arrest
• Date and time of booking at the facility
• All charges filed
• Bail amount or hold status
• Which facility the person is housed at

Booking photos may be available through the "Who's In Custody" tool for some entries. Not all records include photos in the public-facing tool. If you need a booking photo specifically, you can request it through the sheriff's records division. California law requires the release of booking data but does not mandate that photos be posted online.

Cities in Santa Barbara County

Santa Barbara County includes several cities. The city of Santa Maria is the most populated. Santa Maria does not currently have a separate city page on this site. All Santa Maria booking records go through the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's jail system. The city of Santa Barbara, Lompoc, Goleta, and Carpinteria also have their arrests processed at the county level. Check the "Who's In Custody" tool for bookings from any city in the county.

Nearby County Booking Records

Santa Barbara County borders three other California counties along the coast and inland. Check these neighbors if you are unsure where an arrest took place.