Santa Cruz County Inmate Population
Santa Cruz County's jail population is held in a four-facility county correctional system operated by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office Corrections Bureau. The Main Jail is the central booking and higher-security facility. Blaine Street houses women in minimum and medium custody. Rountree Medium Security Facility holds medium-security county inmates in Watsonville, and the Rehabilitation and Reentry Facility houses lower-security inmates in a program-focused setting. Together, those sites make up the local Santa Cruz County inmate population counted in the Sheriff's monthly statistics.
The county jail count changes for practical reasons. New arrests come through booking, some people post bail or receive release orders, some are transferred between facilities after classification, and some sentenced prisoners leave county jail for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The county roster is strongest for current and recent jail booking information, while CDCR CIRIS covers sentenced state-prison custody.
Santa Cruz County Inmate Statistics
The Sheriff's February 2026 monthly statistics give the clearest public snapshot of the Santa Cruz County inmate population. The report lists 511 rated beds across the four detention facilities and an all-facility average daily population of 321 for February 2026. It also lists 453 Main Jail bookings and 219 Main Jail housing admissions for that month, which shows the difference between people booked and people who remain long enough to become housing admissions.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Date |
|---|---|---|
| All-facility average daily population | 321 | SCSO Monthly Stats, February 2026 |
| All-facility rated capacity | 511 | SCSO Monthly Stats, February 2026 |
| Main Jail bookings | 453 | SCSO Monthly Stats, February 2026 |
| Main Jail housing admissions | 219 | SCSO Monthly Stats, February 2026 |
| Work Release average daily count | 40 | SCSO Monthly Stats, February 2026 |
| Custody Alternative Program average daily count | 7 | SCSO Monthly Stats, February 2026 |
Santa Cruz County Jail Population Trends
The displayed monthly period runs from March 2025 through February 2026. During that span, the Santa Cruz County inmate population stayed below rated capacity each month. September 2025 was the high month, with 367 average daily population across the four detention facilities. December 2025 was the low month, with 308. The source does not explain the cause of each month-to-month change, so the figures should be read as official counts, not a policy diagnosis.
| Month | All Facilities ADP | Main Jail | Rountree | Blaine | R&R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2025 | 327 | 252 | 32 | 9 | 34 |
| Apr 2025 | 337 | 228 | 64 | 13 | 32 |
| May 2025 | 340 | 232 | 63 | 11 | 34 |
| Jun 2025 | 327 | 224 | 57 | 12 | 34 |
| Jul 2025 | 331 | 222 | 61 | 14 | 34 |
| Aug 2025 | 332 | 227 | 63 | 10 | 32 |
| Sep 2025 | 367 | 257 | 67 | 9 | 34 |
| Oct 2025 | 351 | 244 | 61 | 12 | 29 |
| Nov 2025 | 324 | 225 | 59 | 10 | 30 |
| Dec 2025 | 308 | 219 | 50 | 12 | 27 |
| Jan 2026 | 312 | 212 | 56 | 12 | 32 |
| Feb 2026 | 321 | 225 | 52 | 13 | 31 |
Santa Cruz County Jail Capacity
Capacity is not just a single bed count. The Sheriff's statistics list rated capacity by facility, but actual jail placement depends on gender, classification, medical needs, security level, court transport, staffing, and unit availability. In February 2026, the Main Jail held most of the Santa Cruz County inmate population, with an average daily population of 225 against 319 rated beds. Rountree averaged 52 against 96 rated beds, Blaine Street averaged 13 against 32, and the Rehabilitation and Reentry Facility averaged 31 against 64.
The all-facility February 2026 count was about 63 percent of rated capacity. That does not mean every remaining bed was usable for every person. A lower-security reentry bed cannot automatically house a higher-security booking, and the women's facility has a specific population role. The better reading is that the official countywide count was below rated capacity while the Main Jail still carried most booking, reception, and higher-security demand.
Santa Cruz County Inmate Laws
California law shapes what the public can see about jail custody. Penal Code 4000 places county jails under the sheriff and describes the kinds of people who may be held, including people detained for trial, sentenced to county jail, held on civil process, or held for other lawful reasons. Government Code 7923.610 requires law enforcement to release key arrest information unless an investigation or safety concern supports withholding. Public access still has limits, especially for juveniles, victims, confidential sources, criminal offender record information, and active investigations.
Key Statutes:
Government Code 7922.525 requires prompt access to nonexempt public records.
Government Code 7923.610 makes specified arrest and booking information public unless release would create a safety or investigative risk.
Penal Code 4000 defines county jail custody as a sheriff function for detained, charged, sentenced, and other lawful custody groups.
Penal Code 6030 requires statewide minimum standards for local correctional facilities.
Search Santa Cruz County Inmates
The official county lookup is the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office Web Jail Viewer. It starts with a warning screen, then opens a Booking Search Query form. The tool is free and did not show a login, fee, export button, or registration requirement during research. It searches Sheriff's Office jail bookings, not CDCR state prison custody, BOP federal custody, or ICE detention.
The roster accepts a last name, first name, booking-from date, booking-to date, or any combination. It also allows the percent sign as a wildcard. That matters when a last name is misspelled, compound, or only partly known. Search results include sortable columns, release fields, scheduled-release fields, and View links to individual booking profiles.
- Open the Web Jail Viewer and continue through the Sheriff's warning screen.
- Enter one field or a useful combination, such as last name plus booking date range.
- Use the percent wildcard when exact spelling is uncertain.
- Check the result grid for date of birth, booking date, race, sex, release date, and scheduled release date.
- Open the View link for custody status, booking number, charges, arrest agency, court date, and bail fields.
The Booking Search Query page shows the local name and booking-date fields used for Santa Cruz County custody searches.
The form is simple, but it is broader than a last-name-only roster because the booking-date fields can help locate a recent arrest.
Santa Cruz County Roster Fields
The roster search-field design is useful for both current and past booking checks. A blank release date in the result grid usually means the person is still in custody or that the field is not populated, while a scheduled release date can appear separately. When a common surname returns multiple candidates, use date of birth, middle name, booking date, race, sex, and booking number to avoid opening the wrong record.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Name | Text | No | Maximum length 20; percent wildcard allowed anywhere in the name. |
| First Name | Text | No | Maximum length 20; can be combined with last name or dates. |
| Booking From Date | Text date field | No | Datepicker uses mm/dd/yy format; manual typing may work on browsers without the picker. |
| Booking To Date | Text date field | No | Useful for recent-arrest windows when spelling is uncertain. |
Note: Watsonville Police routes booking and jail inquiries to (831) 454-2420 and tells callers to wait three hours after an arrest.
Santa Cruz County Inmate Records
A Santa Cruz County inmate record in the Web Jail Viewer combines custody, identity, arrest, charge, court, and bail information. The inspected sample profile showed an in-custody badge, booking number, inmate ID, booking date, release fields, physical description, violation, level, arrest agency, case number, court case number, next court date, and required bond or cash fields. The warning says profiles may include mugshot images, but the inspected sample had a blank photo area.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Booking Number | Public booking identifier for the admission, observed in B-###### format. |
| Inmate ID | Person identifier, observed in S-###### format. |
| Custody badge | Current public custody status and status date. |
| Personal description | Date of birth, age, sex, race, hair, eyes, height, and weight. |
| Violation and level | Code, charge text, and offense level such as felony abbreviation. |
| Court and bail | Court type, court case number, next court date, no-bail or bond/cash fields. |
Santa Cruz Jail vs Prison
The Santa Cruz County jail roster is a county booking and custody tool. It is the right starting point for recent arrests, pretrial custody, county jail sentences, warrants, local holds, and people waiting for court. It is not the right tool for a person already committed to a California prison sentence, a person in a federal prison, or a person in ICE custody after local release.
| Custody Type | Where to Look | What It Covers |
|---|---|---|
| County jail | Santa Cruz Web Jail Viewer | Bookings, current custody, charges, bail fields, and release fields. |
| State prison | CDCR CIRIS | Sentenced state prisoners after transfer to CDCR custody. |
| Federal prison | BOP Inmate Locator | Federal inmates from 1982 to present. |
| Immigration detention | ICE ODLS | People held in ICE custody, searched by A-number or biographical data. |
Santa Cruz County Detention Facilities
Local geography matters in Santa Cruz County. Booking may start at the Main Jail in Santa Cruz, but a person can later be housed at Blaine Street or the Rountree complex after classification. That is why a roster result should be checked against the facility or housing information, then confirmed by phone before a visit, money deposit, or legal-mail decision.
- Santa Cruz County Main Jail - primary booking, reception, and higher-security county jail facility.
- Blaine Street Facility - women's minimum and medium county jail facility in Santa Cruz.
- Rountree Medium Security Facility - medium-security county jail facility in Watsonville.
- Rehabilitation and Reentry Facility - lower-security, program-focused county custody facility at the Rountree complex.
Santa Cruz County Inmate FAQ
How big is the Santa Cruz County inmate population?
The Sheriff's February 2026 statistics listed 321 average daily population across the four detention facilities, with 511 rated beds. The Main Jail held the largest share, with 225 average daily population that month.
Can released inmates appear in a search?
Yes. The inspected Web Jail Viewer result set could return older bookings when the search criteria matched. It should not be treated as a certified criminal-history report, and formal history checks go through the California DOJ record review process for the subject of record.
What if the person is not on the jail roster?
Use the fallback chain. Call the jail for urgent custody checks, search the court portal for formal case records, use the Sheriff's NextRequest portal for public records, and check CDCR, BOP, or ICE if the person has moved out of county custody.