Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. 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 October 4, 2026.
Union County, Florida, has about 16,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Union County Sheriff's Office 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 Union County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it.
This guide covers who makes arrests, arrest counts, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Union County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Union County
The Union County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Union County.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Union County: the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Union County, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Union County, the Union County Florida Game Commission, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Union and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in Union County (state police).
Arrest Counts on File for Union County
The FBI publishes monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. For Union County the counts on file are partial: Union County Sheriff's Office has sent some months but no full year since 2019, so no annual total is given here.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Union County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Union 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 23 people on an average day, down from about 32 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 32 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 Union County Sheriff's Office at unionsheriff.us (page title: Union County Sheriff Office Lake Butler Florida), phone (386) 496-2501, 55 W Main Street, Room 102 Lake Butler, FL 32054, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Union 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 Union 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 Union County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (386) 496-2501.
- An arrest by the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Union County, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Union County or the Union County Florida Game Commission: the records office of the agency involved.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Union County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Union County with an arrest reporting agency of its own.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Union County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Union County?
Ask the Union County Sheriff's Office at (386) 496-2501; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at unionsheriff.us.
Where are people arrested in Union County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Union County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Union 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 Union County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Union 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 Union 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.