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 October 9, 2026.
Polk County, Florida, has about 853,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Polk County Sheriff's Office, nine 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 Polk 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: Polk County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Polk County
The Polk County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Polk County.
The FBI lists nine cities in Polk County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Lakeland, 124,990 residents: 2,858 arrests reported for 2025.
- Winter Haven, 59,975 residents.
- Haines City, 42,073 residents.
- Bartow, 22,084 residents.
- Auburndale, 20,659 residents.
- Lake Wales, 17,798 residents.
- Davenport, 16,764 residents.
- Lake Alfred, 8,632 residents.
- Lake Hamilton, 2,126 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 Polk County: the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Polk County, the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Polk County, the Polk County Florida Game Commission, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Polk and one more (state agency); Florida Polytechnic University (campus police); the Highway Patrol in Polk County (state police).
How Many Arrests Lakeland Reports
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.
- Lakeland: 2,858 for 2025, 2,865 for 2024 and 2,801 for 2023.
Lakeland's 2,858 arrests in 2025 were down 0.2 percent from 2,865 in 2024.
Through April 2026, Lakeland reported 1,014 arrests, against 914 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Polk County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Polk 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 2,600 people on an average day, up from about 2,550 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2016, the last year with a capacity figure, was 2,579 beds, and it ran at 98 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Polk County Sheriff's Office at polksheriff.org/detention/jail-inquiry (page title: Jail Inquiry | Polk County Sheriff's Office), phone 863-292-3400, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Polk County
Whether someone was arrested in Polk County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Polk County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at polkclerkfl.gov/297/Court-Records); the State Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at sao10.com/contact-us, phone 863-534-4800).
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 Polk 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 Polk County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 863-292-3400.
- An arrest in Lakeland, Winter Haven, Haines City, Bartow, Auburndale, Lake Wales or another of the cities listed above: 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 Polk County, Florida Polytechnic University or the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Polk County: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State Attorney, 863-534-4800, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Polk County Circuit Court, through the court records page at polkclerkfl.gov/297/Court-Records.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at polkfl.gov/about/public-records-request (page title: Public Records Request | Polk County, Florida).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Polk County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Polk County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for nine of the 17 cities in Polk County: Lakeland, Winter Haven, Haines City, Bartow, Auburndale, Lake Wales, Davenport, Lake Alfred and Lake Hamilton. Dundee, Eagle Lake, Fort Meade, Mulberry, Frostproof, Polk City, Highland Park and Hillcrest Heights 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 Polk County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Polk County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Lakeland (124,990)
- Winter Haven (59,975)
- Haines City (42,073)
- Bartow (22,084)
- Auburndale (20,659)
- Lake Wales (17,798)
- Davenport (16,764)
- Eagle Lake (5,576)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Polk County each year?
Lakeland reported 2,858 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Polk County?
Ask the Polk County Sheriff's Office at 863-292-3400; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at polksheriff.org/detention/jail-inquiry.
Where are people arrested in Polk County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Polk County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Polk 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 Polk County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Polk 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 polkfl.gov/about/public-records-request.
Is this the official Polk 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.