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.
DeSoto County, Florida, has about 37,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Desoto County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and six 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 DeSoto 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: DeSoto County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in DeSoto County
The Desoto County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for DeSoto County. It reported 941 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in DeSoto County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Arcadia, 7,974 residents: 336 arrests reported for 2024.
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 DeSoto County: the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in DeSoto County, the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in DeSoto County, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at DeSoto, the DeSoto County Florida Game Commission and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in DeSoto County (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in DeSoto County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Desoto County Sheriff's Office: 941 for 2025, 1,109 for 2024, 1,198 for 2023 and 1,093 for 2022.
- Arcadia: 336 for 2024.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,445 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 1,109 in 2024 against 1,198 in 2023, down 7.4 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in DeSoto County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in DeSoto County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 160 people, up from about 130 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 142 beds, and it ran at 113 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 Desoto County Sheriff's Office at desotosheriff.com/bureaus/detention_bureau_jail/jail_roster.php (page title: Welcome to Desoto County Sheriff, FL), phone 863-993-4710, 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 DeSoto County
Whether someone was arrested in DeSoto County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Desoto County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the DeSoto County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at flcourts.gov/Courts-System/Court-Structure/Court-Locations/Second-D...); the State Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at sao12.org/resources/other-agencies).
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 DeSoto County
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 Desoto County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 863-993-4710.
- An arrest in Arcadia: 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 Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in DeSoto County, the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in DeSoto County or the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at DeSoto: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the DeSoto County Circuit Court, through the court records page at flcourts.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at desotoclerk.com (page title: Public Records Request).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in DeSoto County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Arcadia, the one city in DeSoto County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the DeSoto County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in DeSoto County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Arcadia (7,974)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in DeSoto County each year?
The Desoto County Sheriff's Office reported 941 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in DeSoto County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 1,445 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in DeSoto County?
Look on the custody page of the Desoto County Sheriff's Office at desotosheriff.com, or call 863-993-4710. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in DeSoto County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Desoto County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in DeSoto 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 DeSoto County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Desoto 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at desotoclerk.com.
Is this the official DeSoto 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.