Checking Criminal History in San Bernardino
Start with the source closest to the event. San Bernardino Police holds its own incident and arrest reports. The city also publishes adult arrest logs. Once a person enters county custody, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's inmate locator becomes the booking source. If prosecutors file charges, the Superior Court's Court Access Portal, or CAP, becomes the case source. California DOJ record review is a separate fingerprint channel for a person checking their own statewide rap sheet.
- Check the San Bernardino Police Records Bureau or city arrest log for the local event.
- Request the police report in the lobby with the required form and photo identification.
- Use the Sheriff inmate locator when the question concerns county booking or present custody.
- Search CAP for filed charges, hearings, disposition, and court location.
- Use California DOJ Live Scan only for a personal statewide record review.
No one portal merges all five steps. A city report can exist without an arrest. An arrest can appear before prosecutors file a case. A dismissal can end the court case while an older booking entry remains in its own system. Match names with dates, report numbers, booking numbers, and case numbers whenever those facts are available.
San Bernardino Records Counter Process
The San Bernardino Police Records Bureau directs requesters to complete a Report Request Form in the lobby and show valid photo identification. The department is at 710 North D Street, San Bernardino, CA 92401. The records phone is 909.384.5742, and the lobby hours listed in the research are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For non-emergency police service at any hour, the city lists 909.383.5311.
Criminal reports have no charge for the first five pages, then cost $0.25 per page. Traffic collision reports cost $0.25 per page. The department accepts cash, money orders, and MasterCard or Visa credit and debit cards. Some requests take three to four weeks. That wait reflects review and release work, not merely printing. Protected names, personal data, medical facts, juvenile material, or active investigative details may be withheld or redacted under California law.
The official Records Bureau page captured below keeps the request steps and fee details in one city source.
Review the San Bernardino Police report request instructions.
The city page confirms why a police narrative request requires a form and identification rather than a broad public name search.
San Bernardino Police Department Records
The San Bernardino Police Department creates the first official layer for incidents its officers handle. That layer can include an incident report, an arrest report, a traffic collision report, and related records. It is distinct from a jail booking and from the Superior Court docket. The report is the officer and agency record of the event and investigation. A booking is a custody intake record. A docket begins when a criminal case reaches court.
Request the specific item instead of asking for a person's entire city criminal history. A report number, incident date, location, and the requester's relationship to the event can help the Records Bureau identify the file and apply the right access rules. Valid identification is expressly required for processing. California's Public Records Act allows access to public agency records, but other statutes and exemptions protect material such as victim or witness information and some investigative files.
San Bernardino Police Records Bureau
710 North D Street
San Bernardino, CA 92401
909.384.5742
Lobby: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
San Bernardino Arrest Logs by Time
San Bernardino is unusual among the county's large cities because the Police Department publishes an official adult arrest logs page. The city says the logs contain only information deemed public under California Government Code and present entries in date and time order, in the same manner as information supplied to the state. This is a fast local channel for recent police activity, but it is not a conviction list.
The order helps place a known event in time. It does not answer whether the District Attorney filed charges, whether bail changed, whether a court dismissed a count, or whether a person remained in custody. Use the Sheriff inmate locator for custody and the Superior Court CAP system for the filed court case. Do not treat an arrest as proof of guilt.
Note: A San Bernardino arrest log records a police event, while the court docket records the later case and its outcome.
San Bernardino Arrests and Bookings
After a San Bernardino Police arrest, county custody data may appear through the San Bernardino County Sheriff's inmate locator. The public booking record can include a booking number, identity details, arrest date, arresting agency, arrest location, bail, housing facility, projected release, and release information. That system is the better source when the question is whether someone is currently held or was recently released.
The city arrest log and county locator overlap only at the arrest stage. They serve different offices and purposes. A person may be cited without a county jail stay, and a person booked by another agency may never appear in the city log. If a booking match is found, keep the booking number. If charges are filed, use that identity and date context to locate the court case. For deeper county booking instructions, the site's San Bernardino County arrest lookup explains the Sheriff's channels.
San Bernardino Crime Map Limits
The Police Department's Crime Mapping Online page offers location-based context, not a criminal-record file. The city warns that the information is preliminary, comes from material supplied to police, and may change after investigation. It also describes the map data in relation to preliminary monthly reporting to California DOJ and the FBI. A map marker should never be read as a final charge, conviction, or full account of an incident.
Crime mapping is useful for seeing reported patterns near a place. Move to the Records Bureau for a releasable report, to the city arrest log for public adult arrest information, and to CAP for a filed case. Those source changes are essential because an initial incident classification can change as officers investigate and prosecutors review evidence.
The image below shows the city's own explanation of its crime map and its limits.
View San Bernardino Police Crime Mapping Online.
The preliminary-data warning shows why the map is context for local reports, not a substitute for a police or court record.
Municipal Court Records in San Bernardino
San Bernardino has no separate city municipal court for criminal cases. City cases route into the Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, often through the Criminal Division of the San Bernardino District at the San Bernardino Justice Center, 247 West Third Street. CAP is the official county case-information channel. Traffic and infraction matters also use Superior Court traffic and payment channels, with 909.481.4228 or 760.241.9529 listed for eligible phone payments.
| Court Name | Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino |
|---|---|
| Local Criminal Location | Criminal Division, San Bernardino District, 247 West Third Street |
| Cases | Filed felony and misdemeanor matters; Superior Court traffic channels handle eligible traffic and infraction matters |
| Lookup | San Bernardino Court Access Portal, also called CAP or Odyssey |
| File Contents | Charges, hearings, pleas, filings, disposition, and sentence information as publicly available |
| Copies and Access | Public access depends on court rules; some records or documents are restricted or courthouse-only |
The court record should be used to confirm whether a city arrest led to filed charges and how each count ended. The police report does not replace the docket, and the docket may summarize rather than reproduce the full police narrative.
CAP or San Bernardino Police
Use San Bernardino Police when the needed record is the agency's incident narrative, arrest report, or traffic collision report. Use CAP when the needed record is a filed criminal case, hearing history, plea, disposition, sentence, or court location. The two offices may use different identifiers. The police report number belongs to the agency file, while the case number belongs to the court.
| Question | Best San Bernardino source | Record type |
|---|---|---|
| What did officers document? | Police Records Bureau | Incident or arrest report |
| Was there a recent public adult arrest entry? | Police arrest logs | Public arrest summary |
| Is the person in county custody? | Sheriff inmate locator | Booking and custody record |
| Were charges filed? | Superior Court CAP | Criminal case file |
| What was the court result? | Superior Court CAP or clerk | Disposition and sentence |
When a result looks incomplete, do not force one system to answer another office's question. Trace the event forward. Begin with the incident date, then move from police to booking to case filing as the facts require.
Where San Bernardino Records Go
A San Bernardino Police event can create several linked but separate records. The city keeps the report. If there is a county booking, the Sheriff creates the custody entry. The District Attorney decides whether to file charges, and the Superior Court creates the case docket. Fingerprints and later dispositions are meant to connect the arrest cycle to California DOJ's state summary criminal history.
Record flow: San Bernardino Police Department › San Bernardino County Sheriff booking › Superior Court of California › California Department of Justice
Timing explains many apparent gaps. A booking can be visible before a complaint is filed. A case may be dismissed while the police and booking records still exist. A court disposition can take time to reach the state repository. For an older or complete city matter, search the city report and county docket as separate source records. Use DOJ Live Scan record review only when checking one's own statewide summary and, if needed, challenging an error.
San Bernardino County Seat Advantage
San Bernardino is both a city and the county seat. Police, the county criminal court, Sheriff functions, the District Attorney, Public Defender, and central probation services are concentrated nearby. That geography can make an in-person record trail easier to follow, but it does not merge the offices. Each agency remains the custodian of its own records and applies its own access rules.
The practical benefit is routing. A requester who learns from CAP that a case was filed in the San Bernardino District can contact that criminal clerk rather than guessing among county court locations. A person who finds only a city arrest can check county custody next. Someone seeking the police narrative can return to North D Street with the required form and identification. Keep every number received because report, booking, and court identifiers are not interchangeable.
San Bernardino Collision Report Timing
For a traffic collision report, the Police Department instructs requesters to wait 10 days from the collision date before asking for the report. The report costs $0.25 per page, and the same lobby form and valid photo identification requirements apply. Some requests may still take three to four weeks. A recent collision record may therefore be unavailable even when the event is known.
Bring the event date and report information available to you. Waiting the stated period does not guarantee unrestricted release because access can depend on the requester's role and protected content. Traffic citations and court proceedings are separate. If a citation becomes a court matter, use the Superior Court's traffic channels for payment or case questions rather than expecting the Police Records Bureau to state the court result.
Public Access Rules in San Bernardino
The California Public Records Act applies to city-held public records, but it works with other confidentiality and dissemination laws. It does not make every police report, local criminal-history summary, juvenile record, victim name, or investigative detail open. The Records Bureau reviews the requested file and may redact or withhold protected material. Court access follows separate California electronic court-record rules.
Key statutes:
California Public Records Act provides access to public agency records unless another rule permits or requires withholding.
Penal Code section 13300 limits access to local summary criminal history.
Penal Code section 11105 controls California DOJ state summary criminal-history dissemination.
Ask for a defined record tied to an incident, report, or case rather than a broad compilation about a person. If the issue is a public court outcome, CAP is usually the direct route. If it is a personal statewide rap sheet, California DOJ requires the subject's fingerprints through Live Scan. Those channels preserve the line between open city records and restricted criminal-history data.