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 on September 23, 2026.
Sumter County, Florida, has about 155,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Sumter 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 Sumter 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: Sumter County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Sumter County
The Sumter County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Sumter County. It reported 3,257 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:
- Wildwood, 19,031 residents: 220 arrests reported for 2024.
- Center Hill, 1,055 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 Sumter County: the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Sumter County, the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Sumter County, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Sumter County, the Sumter County Florida Game Commission and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in Sumter County (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Sumter 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.
- Sumter County Sheriff's Office: 3,257 for 2025 and 2,766 for 2023; 2024 is missing months.
- Wildwood: 220 for 2024 and 266 for 2023.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2023 on file reported 3,032 arrests that year.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Sumter County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Sumter 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 390 people on an average day, down from about 460 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 728 beds, and it ran at 68 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 Sumter County Sheriff's Office at sumtercountysheriff.org/divisions/detention_center/intake___release... (page title: Sumter County,FL), 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 Sumter County
Whether someone was arrested in Sumter County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Sumter County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at flcourts.gov/Courts-System/Court-Structure/Court-Locations/Fifth-Di...); the State Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at sao5.org/location/sumter-county-office).
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 Sumter 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 Sumter County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Wildwood or Center Hill: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Sumter County, the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Sumter County or the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Sumter County: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Sumter County Circuit Court, through the court records page at flcourts.gov.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Sumter County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the five cities in Sumter County: Wildwood and Center Hill. Bushnell, Webster and Coleman 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 Sumter County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Sumter County each year?
The Sumter County Sheriff's Office reported 3,257 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2023, the latest year most of the agencies in Sumter County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 3,032 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Sumter County?
Ask the Sumter County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sumtercountysheriff.org.
Where are people arrested in Sumter County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sumter County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Sumter 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 Sumter County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Sumter 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 Sumter 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.