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 between September 23, 2026 and September 27, 2026.
Okaloosa County, Florida, has about 220,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, five 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 Okaloosa 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: Okaloosa County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Okaloosa County
The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Okaloosa County.
Arrests inside five 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:
- Crestview, 30,727 residents: 787 arrests reported for 2024.
- Fort Walton Beach, 21,188 residents: 408 arrests reported for 2025.
- Niceville, 17,919 residents: 93 arrests reported for 2025.
- Valparaiso, 4,852 residents: 2 arrests reported for 2025.
- Shalimar, 757 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 Okaloosa County: the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Okaloosa County, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Okaloosa County, the Okaloosa County Florida Game Commission, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Okaloosa and one more (state agency); Northwest Florida State College (campus police); the Highway Patrol in Okaloosa County (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Okaloosa 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.
- Fort Walton Beach: 408 for 2025, 543 for 2024, 603 for 2023 and 546 for 2022.
- Niceville: 93 for 2025 and 68 for 2024.
- Valparaiso: 2 for 2025, 40 for 2020 and 61 for 2019; 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Crestview: 787 for 2024.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 503 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 501 in 2025 against 611 in 2024, down 18 percent.
Through June 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 301 arrests, against 273 in the same months of 2025.
Crestview reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Okaloosa County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Okaloosa 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 24 people on an average day, down from about 750 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 594 beds, and it ran at 4 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 Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office at townofgreenwood.org/pt1_type/okaloosa-county-jail (page title: Okaloosa County Jail Inmate Search, Visitation, Mugshots | Records Search), phone (850) 689-5690, 1200 East James Lee Boulevard Crestview, FL 32539, Tuesday - Friday, 10:00 a.m. - 4:40 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 27, 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 Okaloosa County
An arrest in Okaloosa County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Okaloosa County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at okaloosaclerk.com/court-services/search-records, phone (850) 689-5000).
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 Okaloosa 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 Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (850) 689-5690.
- An arrest in Crestview, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Valparaiso or Shalimar: 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 Okaloosa County, Northwest Florida State College or the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Okaloosa County: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Okaloosa County Circuit Court, through the court records page at okaloosaclerk.com, phone (850) 689-5000.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff-okaloosa.org (page title: Public Records Requests | Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Okaloosa County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the nine cities in Okaloosa County: Crestview, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Valparaiso and Shalimar. Destin, Mary Esther, Laurel Hill and Cinco Bayou 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 Okaloosa County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Okaloosa 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 Okaloosa County each year?
Fort Walton Beach reported 408 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 503 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Okaloosa County?
Look on the custody page of the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office at townofgreenwood.org, or call (850) 689-5690. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Okaloosa County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Okaloosa 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 Okaloosa County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Okaloosa 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 sheriff-okaloosa.org.
Is this the official Okaloosa 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.