Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and October 9, 2026.
Bartow, Florida, in Polk County, has about 22,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the State Attorney files charges, a case in the Polk County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it.
This guide covers who makes arrests, arrest counts, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Bartow public records, Polk County arrest records, Florida arrest records and Florida inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Bartow
The FBI lists Bartow with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Bartow Police Department. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Polk County Sheriff's Office is the county agency.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Polk County: the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Polk County, the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Polk County, the Polk County Florida Game Commission, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Polk and one more (state agency); Florida Polytechnic University (campus police); the Highway Patrol in Polk County (state police).
Arrest Counts on File for Bartow
The FBI publishes monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. For Bartow the counts on file are partial: Bartow has sent some months but no full year since 2019, so no annual total is given here.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bartow Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Bartow and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 2,600 people on an average day, up from about 2,550 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2016, the last year with a capacity figure, was 2,579 beds, and it ran at 98 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Polk County Sheriff's Office at polksheriff.org/detention/jail-inquiry (page title: Jail Inquiry | Polk County Sheriff's Office), phone 863-292-3400, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Florida Department of Corrections lists its inmates at fdc.myflorida.com.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Bartow
Whether someone was arrested in Bartow, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Polk County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at polkclerkfl.gov/297/Court-Records); the State Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at sao10.com/contact-us, phone 863-534-4800).
Florida is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: anyone can run a name-based criminal history search online for $24, for $24 a search, through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Bartow
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119) the agency must answer promptly and in good faith; the statute sets no number of days, and it may charge the copy fees set by statute, plus a special service charge for large requests.
- An arrest by the Bartow police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at cityofbartow.net/239/Police (page title: Police | Bartow, FL), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Polk County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 863-292-3400.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State Attorney, 863-534-4800, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Polk County Circuit Court, through the court records page at polkclerkfl.gov/297/Court-Records.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at polkfl.gov/about/public-records-request (page title: Public Records Request | Polk County, Florida).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Polk County guide covers every agency in the county: Polk County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Bartow?
Ask the Polk County Sheriff's Office at 863-292-3400; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at polksheriff.org/detention/jail-inquiry.
Where are people arrested in Bartow booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Polk County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Bartow?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement: anyone can run a name-based criminal history search online for $24, for $24. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119).
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Bartow?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Bartow police for its own arrests, the Polk County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119) the answer is due promptly and in good faith; the statute sets no number of days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at polkfl.gov/about/public-records-request.
Is this the official Bartow website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.