Alameda County Inmate Population
The public Alameda County inmate population is not one single list. The main jail count is the Santa Rita Jail population reported by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office transparency materials and the sheriff's posted jail statistics. The wider custody map also includes city police holding rooms, court holding spaces, and federal or state systems that may touch an Alameda County case without being part of the county jail roster.
Santa Rita Jail is the county's Type II local detention facility. It receives arrestees from the sheriff, Oakland, Berkeley, Fremont, Hayward, San Leandro, BART, CHP, and other agencies. It holds people before trial, local sentenced prisoners, people awaiting transfer, and some federal incarcerated persons when the sheriff reports them in the jail snapshot. A person can move through several records systems during the same case, so the custody search has to match the stage: booking, court filing, sentence, federal custody, or immigration detention.
Alameda County Inmate Population Statistics
The strongest current population source is the ACSO Santa Rita Jail Statistics PDF queried December 30, 2025 and posted December 31, 2025. That snapshot reported 1,252 people at Santa Rita Jail. A separate Alameda County Jail Analysis and Population Projections board packet reported a 2024 average daily population of 1,577, with 25,937 bookings and 26,113 releases in its main figure. Capacity depends on the source, so each number should be read with the source date.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Facility population | 1,252 | ACSO Santa Rita Jail Statistics, queried 12/30/2025 |
| 2024 average daily population | 1,577 | Alameda County Jail Analysis and Population Projections |
| 2024 bookings | 25,937 | Alameda County Jail Analysis and Population Projections |
| Rated capacity | 3,812 | RAJ/BSCC facility-status table, July 2024 |
| Designed capacity | 3,601 | Santa Rita Jail PREA audit |
Alameda County Inmate Trends
The Alameda County inmate population has fallen over the long term, but the people who remain in custody tend to have more serious case profiles and longer stays. The AB 109 report described average daily population declining from about 3,300 in October 2011 to about 2,000 in June 2019. The later jail analysis showed a 24.1 percent ADP drop from 2017 through 2024, while the sitting population became more concentrated in violent felony cases.
| Year | Total ADP | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2,078 | Start of the 2017 to 2024 trend table. |
| 2019 | 2,372 | Pre-COVID peak in the county jail analysis table. |
| 2021 | 2,145 | Court-processing delays affected length of stay. |
| 2023 | 1,749 | Major decline from the prior year. |
| 2024 | 1,577 | Lowest year in the county table. |
The 2023 Reimagine Adult Justice analysis reported 24,579 Santa Rita release events in 2021 involving 18,122 people. It also found that 19 percent of those people were released more than once, and that state-prison-term releases were just over 1 percent of releases but produced a much larger share of ADP because those stays were long.
Alameda County Jail Demographics
The December 30, 2025 ACSO snapshot reported 1,143 males and 109 females at Santa Rita Jail. It also reported 1,149 unsentenced people and 103 sentenced people, which means the Alameda County inmate population was mostly pretrial or otherwise unresolved on that date. The same snapshot counted 10 pending state prison commitments, 11 pending state hospital commitments, and 25 federal incarcerated persons.
- Legal status: 1,149 unsentenced and 103 sentenced people were reported in the ACSO snapshot.
- Gender: ACSO reported 1,143 males and 109 females on December 30, 2025.
- Behavioral health: The snapshot counted 761 AFBH clients, 75 severely mentally ill people, and 169 ADA persons.
- Age: The largest age band was 30 to 49, with 698 people.
- Race and ethnicity: The jail snapshot differed sharply from countywide Census demographics, especially for Black and Hispanic counts.
These numbers come from jail administration data, not a court finding. They describe who was held at that moment and how ACSO classified the population for operations, housing, health, and reporting.
Alameda County Jail Capacity Laws
California law and jail standards shape how Alameda County custody data is collected and released. Government Code section 7923.610 requires release of core arrest information, including name, arrest and booking time, charges, bail, and current holding location, unless a safety or investigation limit applies. The broader California Public Records Act governs requests for records that are not already posted online.
Key Statutes:
Penal Code section 6030 directs BSCC to set minimum local detention standards.
Government Code section 12525 covers death-in-custody reporting to California justice authorities.
BSCC in-custody death review rules add review and reporting duties for local detention agencies.
California Code of Regulations, Title 15 also matters because local detention facilities keep population and demographic data for BSCC jail profile reporting. That reporting is separate from the public ACSO inmate locator, but it explains why capacity, daily counts, and population profiles appear in official county and state materials.
Search Alameda County Inmates
The ACSO Inmate Locator is the official public jail roster for current Alameda County custody. It warns that the information is the most recent known to the Sheriff's Office and can change as a person moves through the court process. It also says some names may be withheld under public-record exemptions, and that a user should contact the local jurisdiction if a name does not appear.
The official Alameda County Sheriff's Office Inmate Locator form is shown in the captured source image below.
The image matches the research: PFN, full name, sex, date of birth, phonetic search, recent bookings, and human verification are part of the public search workflow.
- Open the ACSO Inmate Locator.
- Search by PFN, by both first and last name, or by bookings within the last 24 hours.
- Add middle name, sex, date of birth, or phonetic search when spelling is uncertain.
- Complete the human verification and select Find Inmate.
- Read the result as current sheriff custody data, not a certified court record.
Alameda County Roster Fields
The Alameda County roster is useful because it supports a PFN search and a recent-bookings filter. PFN means Personal File Number, the county jail identifier used by the sheriff system. The phonetic checkbox is important for names that may have alternate spellings, missing accents, shortened first names, or intake spelling differences.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Name | Text | Required with last name | Name search requires both first and last name. |
| Middle Name | Text | No | Useful for common names. |
| Last Name | Text | Required with first name | Use legal or booking spelling when known. |
| PFN | Text | No | Can be used as a standalone search key. |
| Sex | Radio | No | All, Female, or Male. |
| DOB | Date/Text | No | Displayed as MM/DD/YYYY. |
| Bookings within last 24 hours | Checkbox | No | Limits the search to recent bookings. |
Alameda County Custody Channels
A current Alameda County inmate search should not stop at one database when the person may have moved. Santa Rita Jail covers the county jail phase. Filed criminal charges move to the Alameda Superior Court criminal Odyssey portal. Sentenced prison custody moves to CDCR CIRIS. Federal prison uses BOP, and immigration detention uses ICE ODLS. VINELink can help with notification where coverage is available.
| Custody Type | Search Channel | Use It For |
|---|---|---|
| County jail | ACSO Inmate Locator | Santa Rita Jail and current county custody. |
| State prison | CDCR CIRIS | Sentenced California prison custody after transfer. |
| Federal prison | BOP Inmate Locator | BOP custody, including records after transfer from former FCI Dublin. |
| Immigration detention | ICE ODLS | ICE custody by A-number or biographical search. |
| Victim notification | VINELink | Custody status notices where the person is covered. |
Past Alameda County Inmate Records
Released or older jail records are less direct than current custody. The ACSO locator text explains current information and pending release status, but the research did not confirm a public archive of all past profiles. For older booking material, jail records, or a booking photo that is not displayed, use the ACSO NextRequest public records portal or the sheriff customer portal. Include the full name, date of birth, PFN if known, booking date, arresting agency, and the exact record sought.
Formal charges after release are court records, not jail roster records. Alameda Superior Court says criminal case documents may be available through its criminal Odyssey portal, Criminal Record Request Portal, mail, or public access terminals. For custody and booking details, use the Alameda County jail inmate records workflow. For booking photos, use the Alameda County jail mugshots page.
Alameda County Detention Facilities
The Alameda County inmate population map includes one main county jail, several short-term city or police holding locations, court holding rooms, and the former FCI Dublin federal campus. City and court holding locations are not substitutes for the Santa Rita jail roster. They explain where a person may be processed before transfer, release, or a court appearance.
- Santa Rita Jail - main county jail for Alameda County arrestees, pretrial detainees, local sentenced prisoners, transfer holds, and some federal incarcerated persons.
- Berkeley Public Safety Center / Berkeley City Jail - Type I city jail for short-term detention between arrest and arraignment.
- Fremont Police Department Holding Facility - temporary holding pending release, transfer, or court processing.
- Hayward Police Department Jail - short-term Hayward-area booking and holding.
- San Leandro City Jail - municipal holding before release, transfer, or court processing.
- Union City Police Department Holding Facility - processing and holding location with zero rated capacity in the RAJ table.
- East County Hall of Justice Court Holding - court appearance holding only.
- Fremont Hall of Justice Court Holding - court holding, not general jail custody.
- Hayward Hall of Justice Court Holding - court holding for appearances.
- Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse Court Holding - Oakland courthouse holding only.
- FCI Dublin - former BOP facility, vacated by December 2024.
Alameda County Inmate FAQ
How large is the Alameda County inmate population? ACSO reported 1,252 people at Santa Rita Jail in the December 30, 2025 snapshot. The county jail analysis reported a 2024 average daily population of 1,577, so point-in-time and annual measures will differ.
Why is Santa Rita Jail the main search point? Santa Rita is Alameda County's main jail and receives arrestees from many city, county, transit, and state agencies. Municipal holding sites may process an arrest first, but most longer county custody routes through Santa Rita.
What does pending release mean? The ACSO locator says pending release means the administrative release process has started. It can still take several hours, and another hold can stop release.
Where are sentenced state prisoners searched? Sentenced California prison custody is searched in CDCR CIRIS, not the Alameda County jail roster.