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 on September 23, 2026.
Highlands County, Florida, has about 110,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Highlands County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies 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 Highlands 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, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Highlands County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Highlands County
The Highlands County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Highlands County.
Arrests inside two of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Sebring, 11,795 residents.
- Lake Placid, 2,561 residents: 19 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 Highlands County: the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Highlands, the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Highlands County, the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Highlands County, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Highlands County and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in Highlands County (state police).
Arrest Counts on File for Highlands County
The FBI publishes monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. For Highlands County the counts on file are partial: Highlands County Sheriff's Office, Lake Placid and Sebring have sent some months but no full year since 2019, so no annual total is given here.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Highlands County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Highlands 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 470 people on an average day, up from about 440 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 486 beds, and it ran at 104 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 Highlands County Sheriff's Office at highlandssheriff.gov/inmateSearch (page title: Inmate Search | Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, FL), phone (863) 402-7200, 400 S Eucalyptus St, Sebring, FL 33870, 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 Highlands County
An arrest in Highlands County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Highlands County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at highlandsclerkfl.gov/popular_services/court_records_search/index.php, phone 863-402-6785); the State Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at highlandsfl.gov/departments/county_attorney/index.php, phone (863) 402-6501).
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 Highlands 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 Highlands County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (863) 402-7200.
- An arrest in Sebring or Lake Placid: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Highlands, the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Highlands County or the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Highlands County: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State Attorney, (863) 402-6501, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Highlands County Circuit Court, through the court records page at highlandsclerkfl.gov, phone 863-402-6785.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at highlandsfl.gov (page title: Highlands County, FL).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Highlands County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Highlands County: Sebring and Lake Placid. Avon Park has 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 Highlands County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Highlands County?
Look on the custody page of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office at highlandssheriff.gov/inmateSearch, or call (863) 402-7200. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Highlands County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Highlands County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Highlands 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 Highlands County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Highlands 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 highlandsfl.gov.
Is this the official Highlands 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.