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.
Monroe County, Florida, has about 81,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Monroe 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 Monroe 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: Monroe County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Monroe County
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Monroe County. It reported 3,367 arrests for 2025.
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:
- Key West, 25,240 residents: 933 arrests reported for 2025.
- Key Colony Beach, 749 residents.
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 Monroe County: the Highway Patrol in Monroe County (state police); the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Monroe, the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Monroe County, the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Monroe County, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Monroe County and one more (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Monroe 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.
- Monroe County Sheriff's Office: 3,367 for 2025, 3,828 for 2024, 4,133 for 2023 and 3,838 for 2022.
- Key West: 933 for 2025, 1,399 for 2024 and 1,402 for 2023.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,300 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 4,300 in 2025 against 5,227 in 2024, down 18 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,109 arrests, against 2,681 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Monroe County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Monroe 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 210 people on an average day, down from about 590 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 707 beds, and it ran at 63 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Monroe County
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 Monroe 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 Monroe County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Key West or Key Colony Beach: 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 Monroe County, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Monroe or the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Monroe County: the records office of the agency involved.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Monroe County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the five cities in Monroe County: Key West and Key Colony Beach. Marathon, Islamorada, Village of Islands and Layton 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 Monroe County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Monroe County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Monroe County each year?
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office reported 3,367 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 4,300 between them.
Where are people arrested in Monroe County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Monroe 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 Monroe County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Monroe 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 Monroe 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.