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.
Hernando County, Florida, has about 218,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hernando 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 Hernando 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: Hernando County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hernando County
The Hernando County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hernando County. It reported 4,535 arrests for 2025.
One city in Hernando County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Brooksville, 9,985 residents: 736 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 Hernando County: the Highway Patrol in Hernando County (state police); the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Hernando County, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Hernando, the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Hernando County, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Hernando County and one more (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Hernando 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.
- Hernando County Sheriff's Office: 4,535 for 2025, 3,945 for 2024, 4,294 for 2023, 4,499 for 2022 and 4,153 for 2021.
- Brooksville: 736 for 2025, 551 for 2024, 710 for 2023, 656 for 2022 and 559 for 2021.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,271 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 5,271 in 2025 against 4,496 in 2024, up 17 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 3,002 arrests, against 3,460 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hernando County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Hernando 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 1,130 people on an average day, up from about 650 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 812 beds, and it ran at 75 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 Hernando County Sheriff's Office at hernandosheriff.org/jail/applications/jailsearch (page title: Hernando County Detention), phone (352) 754-6830, 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 person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Florida Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at fdc.myflorida.com.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Hernando County
An arrest in Hernando County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Hernando County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Hernando 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/Fifth-Di...).
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 Hernando 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 Hernando County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (352) 754-6830.
- An arrest in Brooksville: 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 Highway Patrol in Hernando County, the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Hernando County or the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Hernando: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Hernando 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 hernandoclerk.com (page title: Public Records Requests | Hernando County Clerk of Circuit Court & Comptroller).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Hernando County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Brooksville, the one city in Hernando County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Hernando County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Hernando County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Brooksville (9,985)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hernando County each year?
The Hernando County Sheriff's Office reported 4,535 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 5,271 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hernando County?
Look on the custody page of the Hernando County Sheriff's Office at hernandosheriff.org, or call (352) 754-6830. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Hernando County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hernando County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hernando 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 Hernando County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hernando 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 hernandoclerk.com.
Is this the official Hernando 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.