How to Find Mugshots in California
A California mugshot is a booking photo taken by the agency that arrested someone, usually a county sheriff or a city police department. There is no single statewide website that shows every booking photo. This guide explains where those photos are kept and how to search the official inmate pages that publish them.
Where California Mugshots Are Kept
The photo is part of the jail booking record. The sheriff or police department that booked the person decides whether the photo is posted online. Some counties show a current in-custody photo. Others list the name and booking number and keep the image at the jail.
State prison is a different system. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation lists people in state prison through its population search. That is not the same as a county booking photo from last night’s arrest. Start with the county of arrest, then check CDCR if the person was sentenced to state prison.
How to Search
- Name the county. Booking photos are filed where the arrest happened. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, and other counties each run their own jail lookup.
- Use the legal name. A middle name or date of birth separates two people. The Los Angeles County form includes both.
- Open the sheriff’s inmate page, not a reprint site. The official page is the one that can add or remove a photo when custody changes.
- Check state prison only after a sentence. CDCR’s population search covers state facilities. It will not list every county jail booking.
- Read the custody status. VINE can tell you whether someone is still in custody in a participating jail. It is a notification service, not a photo archive.
What You May Not Find
A recent booking can take hours to appear. Some jails never post photos. Juvenile records and sealed cases are not public. An arrest photo is not a conviction. If the person was released or the case was dismissed, the photo may stay online or be taken down, depending on that agency’s policy.
Do not use a booking photo to harass someone, or to make a hiring, housing, or credit decision. Those decisions require a screening service that complies with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Sites You Can Try
The pages below opened when this guide was updated. Sheriff and CDCR links are official custody searches. Screenshots show the public landing page only.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Inmate Information Center
The county jail lookup for Los Angeles. Search by last name and first name. A middle name and date of birth are optional and help when the name is common. Records from the last two hours may not be listed yet.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
The state corrections site. Use Search Population for someone sentenced to state prison. County jail booking photos are still held by the sheriff, not by this homepage.
San Francisco Sheriff’s Office
The sheriff’s site includes a “Find a person in jail” link for San Francisco custody. Start here for a San Francisco booking rather than a statewide list.
VINELink
A custody-status and victim-notification service used by many jails. Select California to see whether a person is listed as in custody. It does not replace the sheriff’s booking photo.
Background Check Lookup
A name-and-state search for public-record style previews. Use California as the state, then confirm any custody or booking detail on the sheriff or CDCR page.
https://www.backgroundchecklookup.com/
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there one website for every California mugshot?
No. Each county jail decides what to publish. Search the sheriff in the county of arrest.
Does CDCR show county jail photos?
No. CDCR’s population search is for state prison. A new county booking stays with that sheriff.
Does an online mugshot mean the person was convicted?
No. A booking photo is taken at arrest. Only the court record shows whether there was a conviction.
Can I use a mugshot to decide on a job or a rental?
No. Those decisions require an FCRA-compliant screening service.