Costa Mesa Inmate Lookup

Costa Mesa inmate population records flow through two systems. The city runs its own jail with 24 beds for short holds, and the Orange County Sheriff handles all longer custody. Costa Mesa sits in the heart of Orange County with about 113,000 residents. People arrested here may start at the city lockup before moving to county facilities. The Costa Mesa Police Department books people into the city jail first. After that, most inmates transfer to the Theo Lacy Facility or the Intake Release Center in Santa Ana. This page covers both local and county search options for Costa Mesa inmate records.

Costa Mesa City Jail

Costa Mesa is one of the cities in California that still runs its own jail. The facility has 24 beds and sits at the police station at 99 Fair Drive. It holds people for short stays after arrest. Most inmates stay less than 72 hours before transfer to Orange County custody. The city jail handles DUI bookings, misdemeanor holds, and people waiting for arraignment. If someone was just picked up in Costa Mesa, they are likely at this lockup for the first day or two.

Call (714) 754-5113 to check who is at the Costa Mesa city jail. There is no separate online search for the city facility. Staff at the jail can confirm whether a specific person is still in the local lockup or has moved to county. Weekend arrests tend to stay longer at the city jail because court does not run on those days. If someone was arrested on a Friday night in Costa Mesa, they might not transfer until Monday or Tuesday. The city jail is small. It fills up on busy nights, which can speed up transfers to county facilities.

The Costa Mesa Police Department handles all local law enforcement. Officers patrol the city, make arrests, and run the booking process at the city jail. For arrest reports and incident records, contact the police records division at (714) 754-5280. Reports cost a small fee to copy. The records office is at the same Fair Drive address as the jail.

Orange County Sheriff Search

After transfer from the Costa Mesa city jail, inmates go into the Orange County Sheriff system. The OC Sheriff runs several large detention facilities. The Theo Lacy Facility in Orange holds about 3,100 inmates. The Intake Release Center in Santa Ana handles initial county bookings. The James Musick Facility in Irvine is a lower-security site. Most Costa Mesa arrests end up at one of these three places within a couple of days.

Search the OC Sheriff portal at apps.ocsheriff.gov to find Costa Mesa inmates in county custody. The tool lets you search by name or booking number. Results show charges, bail amount, booking date, and the facility holding the inmate. Orange County holds roughly 5,800 inmates on a typical day across all sites. That number includes people from Costa Mesa and every other city in the county. The portal updates several times per day, so a recent Costa Mesa transfer should appear within hours.

The OC Sheriff phone for jail questions is (714) 647-4666. If the online portal is down or you cannot find someone, call that number. They can search the system for you and give a current custody status. Partial name searches work on the portal, but you get better results if you add a first name or date of birth.

Finding Costa Mesa Inmates

Start with the city jail if the arrest just happened. Call (714) 754-5113. If the person is not there, move to the OC Sheriff portal. That covers all county facilities. Between the city jail phone line and the online portal, you can track an arrest from the moment it happens in Costa Mesa through the county booking process. It usually takes less than 48 hours for someone to move from city to county.

VINELink gives you a third option. It covers every county in California. Search by name and you see if the person is in custody anywhere in the Orange County system. VINE also sends alerts when an inmate's status changes. Call 1-877-411-5588 to use VINE by phone. For people serving state prison time who were sentenced through Orange County courts, use the CIRIS inmate locator from CDCR. This tool covers all 34 California state prisons and shows current location, admission date, and parole hearing dates.

Note: CIRIS only covers state prison inmates. It does not show people in the Costa Mesa city jail or Orange County facilities.

Costa Mesa Records and the Law

Booking data from Costa Mesa arrests is public under California law. Government Code 6254(f) says law enforcement must share arrest records when asked. Names, charges, bail, and booking details are all part of this. The OC Sheriff posts this data on the portal because the law says they have to. The Costa Mesa Police records division also provides arrest data under the same rules.

Full criminal history is a different thing. Penal Code 11105 restricts who can view complete criminal backgrounds in California. The DOJ controls those files. You cannot get a full background check from Costa Mesa police or the sheriff. Only the person, certain employers, and law enforcement agencies can access them. If you want to check your own record, go to a Live Scan site in Costa Mesa and pay $25 to the DOJ for processing.

• Costa Mesa city jail phone: (714) 754-5113
• OC Sheriff portal search is free at apps.ocsheriff.gov
• VINE alerts are free across all of Orange County
• CIRIS state prison search costs nothing
• Personal criminal history requests cost $25 through the DOJ

Nearby City Inmate Records

These cities are near Costa Mesa in the Orange County area. Most share the same county jail system for inmate custody.

Orange County Inmate Records

Costa Mesa is in Orange County. See the full county page for details on all jail facilities and the OC Sheriff's search system.