Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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 on September 23, 2026.
Clay County, Florida, has about 237,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Clay County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and seven campus, state or other agencies. An arrest 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 Clay County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Clay County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Clay County
The Clay County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Clay County. It reported 2,830 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Clay County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Green Cove Springs, 10,087 residents: 146 arrests reported for 2025.
- Orange Park, 8,993 residents: 60 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Clay County: the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Clay County, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Clay County, the Clay County Florida Game Commission, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Clay and one more (state agency); Clay County School Board (other); the Highway Patrol in Clay County (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Clay County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Clay County Sheriff's Office: 2,830 for 2025, 2,948 for 2024, 3,148 for 2023, 2,988 for 2022 and 3,195 for 2021.
- Green Cove Springs: 146 for 2025, 107 for 2024, 127 for 2023, 159 for 2022 and 146 for 2021.
- Orange Park: 60 for 2025, 95 for 2024, 95 for 2023, 115 for 2022 and 114 for 2021.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,036 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,036 in 2025 against 3,150 in 2024, down 3.6 percent.
Through March 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 808 arrests, against 652 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Clay County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Clay County 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 420 people on an average day, up from about 390 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 492 beds, and it ran at 90 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Clay County Sheriff's Office at claysheriff.com/search/inmate+search (page title: inmate search | Clay County Sheriff’s Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Clay County
An arrest in Clay County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Clay County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Clay County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at clayclerk.com/search-records).
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 Clay County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Clay County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Green Cove Springs or Orange Park: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Clay County, Clay County School Board or the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Clay County: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Clay County Circuit Court, through the court records page at clayclerk.com/search-records.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Clay County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the four cities in Clay County: Green Cove Springs and Orange Park. Keystone Heights and Penney Farms have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Clay County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Clay County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Green Cove Springs (10,087)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Clay County each year?
The Clay County Sheriff's Office reported 2,830 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,036 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Clay County?
Look on the custody page of the Clay County Sheriff's Office at claysheriff.com/search/inmate+search. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Clay County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Clay County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Clay County?
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 Clay County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Clay County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119) the answer is due promptly and in good faith; the statute sets no number of days.
Is this the official Clay County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.