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 2, 2026.
St. Johns County, Florida, has about 335,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, two 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 St. Johns 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: St. Johns County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in St. Johns County
The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for St. Johns County. It reported 3,699 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in St. Johns County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- St. Augustine, 16,033 residents: 965 arrests reported for 2023.
- St. Augustine Beach, 6,808 residents: 113 arrests reported for 2023.
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 St. Johns County: the St. Johns County Florida Game Commission, the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in St. Johns County, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in St. Johns County, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at St. Johns and one more (state agency); Florida School for the Deaf and Blind (other); the Highway Patrol in St. Johns County (state police).
How Many Arrests The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office 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.
- St. Johns County Sheriff's Office: 3,699 for 2025, 2,942 for 2024, 1,342 for 2023 and 1,796 for 2022.
- St. Augustine: 965 for 2023 and 910 for 2022.
- St. Augustine Beach: 113 for 2023 and 127 for 2022.
The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office's 3,699 arrests in 2025 were up 26 percent from 2,942 in 2024.
Through August 2026, St. Johns County Sheriff's Office reported 1,532 arrests, against 2,649 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in St. Johns County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in St. Johns 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 370 people on an average day, down from about 420 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 760 beds, and it ran at 59 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 St. Johns County Sheriff's Office at sjso.org/detention-center (page title: Corrections Division | St. Johns County Sheriff's Office), phone 904.209.1443, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 St. Johns County
For St. Johns County the place to look is the case index of the St. Johns County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at stjohnsclerk.com/online-research).
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 St. Johns 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 St. Johns County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 904.209.1443.
- An arrest in St. Augustine or St. Augustine Beach: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the St. Johns County Florida Game Commission, Florida School for the Deaf and Blind or the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in St. Johns County: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the St. Johns County Circuit Court, through the court records page at stjohnsclerk.com/online-research.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in St. Johns County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in St. Johns County: St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the St. Johns County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in St. Johns County each year?
The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office reported 3,699 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in St. Johns County?
Ask the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office at 904.209.1443; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sjso.org/detention-center.
Where are people arrested in St. Johns County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in St. Johns 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 St. Johns County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the St. Johns 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 St. Johns 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.