Locate Riverside County Mugshots for Free

Begin your Riverside County mugshot search today to gain free access booking photos and arrest information.

Local and state law enforcement agencies take photos of arrested offenders for identification. These photos are called mugshots and become part of a person’s criminal record. Residents throughout the state have access to such criminal information, thanks to the California Public Records Act (CPRA) and the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

This article helps you find inmate records and view mugshots in Riverside County, California, via official local and state agencies.

Where Can I Find Mugshots Without Fees in Riverside County?

Criminal information—like mugshots and arrest details—can be accessed in the state because of the California Public Records Act (CPRA).¹ It allows you to get copies of reports, except for those related to an ongoing investigation or juvenile cases.

However, you might notice less mugshots online in California for the past year. This is because of the fairly recently passed mugshot law in the state.² With this law, most offender photos are not allowed to be posted in a social media platform for public viewing.

Now, ‘social media’ doesn’t include online databases provided by law enforcement agencies under Section 13665 of the Penal Code, but there are counties who still don’t display mugshots on their official websites.³

Even so, you may still find mugshots through the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, and ask for copies of records. You can also contact local city police departments or visit the California Department of Justice Megan’s Law website to find offender photos.

How To View Riverside County Mugshots for Free

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is the custodian to turn to when you want to see mugshots of individuals within the county. You can browse their press release for offender photos, which are often found in articles about arrests.

You can use the find feature (Ctrl+F) for smoother navigation. This function can be also helpful if you know the date range of the incident to lower down the number of articles you’d need to browse.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department gives you an option to get copies of incident reports as well, by making an online public records request. Just fill out the form with these details: record type, details about the incident, name(s) of people involved, record description, how you want to receive the records, and file attachments, if needed.

You may create an account or submit the request anonymously. If you’re submitting anonymously, you should keep the confirmation number to be able to track your request. If you lose this, you’d need to submit another request.

However, police reports aren’t covered via this option. To access police reports, here’s what you can do instead:

1. Contact your local sheriff’s patrol station.
2. Ask about the availability of the report you’re looking for.
3. Drop by the station and request it in person.

You can also make a request by mail or by calling the Information Services Bureau at (951.955.2400).⁵

Information Services Bureau
4095 Lemon St., 5th Floor
Riverside, California 92501

Furthermore, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has an online jail roster where you can view inmate information. Mugshots aren’t provided but it’s a helpful supplementary resource. Just enter at least a last name to see results, which include the inmate’s booking number, name, birthdate, sex, and custody status.

On the other hand, third-party services like VINELink are helpful in finding offender data, too. This tool offers access to criminal records of individuals from county jail or state prisons. You must enter at least the offender’s partial name or ID number to begin searching.

Support Programs for Incarcerated Individuals

Support programs are offered by correctional facilities – not only to help families and friends stay in touch with their incarcerated loved ones, but also to help inmates rehabilitate. These services are provided by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department with the goal of reducing reoffending tendencies and help with societal reintegration.⁷

• Fund Accounts: You can send money to an inmate’s account in person using kiosks at county jails, by mail, by phone or online via Access Corrections.
• Jail Visit: You have the opportunity visit jail inmates depending on the schedule of the detention facility they’re staying at. You’ll have to set an appointment a day before paying a visit by calling their respective visiting numbers.
• Inmate Supplies: You can order food, personal care items, and other supplies through Access Securepak.
• Inmate Mail: An unlimited number of regular and legal letters to and from the inmates is allowed daily, while only three books at a time are allowed to be sent via the United States Postal Service (USPS) to an inmate. All mail should be sent directly to the jail facility where the inmate resides.
• Bail Information: The amount of bail is set based on Riverside County Superior Court’s fee and bail schedule, which you can pay in three ways: in cash, bail bonds, or property bonds. For more details, check out the tutorial on arrest record lookups in Riverside County, which explains how to process bail.

How To Look Up Mugshots via City Police Departments Within Riverside County

Local arrests are mostly made by city police departments. This means recent arrest records that don’t appear at the county level may be found through their department.

For example, outlined below are the processes on how you can get mugshots from three cities within Riverside County.

City of Riverside: Some press releases of the City of Riverside Police Department (RPD) contain police photographs. You can usually find them in articles about arrests, except for juvenile cases.

If you have questions, you can give the RPD a ring via their non-emergency number at (951.354.2007) with any questions, or visit any of the RPD stations in person.

City of Corona: The Corona Police Department also has a press release section with arrest articles, but not all of the said releases feature mugshots.⁹

You can also choose to request crime reports from the Corona Police Department Records Section for a fee of 25 cents per page. It’s a good idea to call them first at 951.736.2330 (option 1) before going in person.

Corona Police Department
730 Public Safety Way,
Corona, California 92880

Hours: Monday through Thursday; 8AM – 6PM

City of Murrieta: The Murrieta Police Department hosts an online form for public records requests which you can submit by creating an account or anonymously. You would need to provide the following:

• Type of Record (required)
• Name of Involved Party(s)
• Case number
• Date of Incident (required)
• Location of Incident (required)
• Additional details about the record
• File Attachment

You may also reach their Records Bureau at [email protected] or visit in person.¹⁰

Murrieta Police Department
2 Town Sq.,
Murrieta, California 92562

Phone: (951.304.2677)
Hours: 7AM – 5PM; Monday through Saturday

Note: If you’re interested with reports from other cities within Riverside County, you may use search engines to look up “[name of city] California police department” or the like.

The next section provides the resources where you can find mugshots at the state and federal level.

How To See State & Federal Prison Mugshots in California

Mugshots are taken as identifications and recorded at prisons when inmates are taken into custody. County-level resources may not show these results even for offenders that lived locally, but they can often be viewed online, varying by state.

In California, you can view offender details through the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR). This database doesn’t show mugshots, but does provide relevant offender information including their admission date and commitment county. You can, however, see mugshots of sexual offenders on the California Department of Justice’s Megan’s Law website.

You can review the steps for accessing criminal records in California for more elaborate information about the two aforementioned databases.

Going a step higher, you can look up federal inmate details via the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). You can start looking up by entering the offender’s name or BOP. However, like with the CDCR’s search tool, it doesn’t display mugshots.

The California Public Records Act (CPRA) and federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) allow people of the state access to public information.¹ Guided by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), you are expected to use the data you gathered fairly and responsibly.

Remember these laws and guidelines when you conduct a Riverside County mugshot search and use the aforementioned resources.