Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 26, 2026.
Preston, Idaho, in Franklin County, has about 6,200 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Franklin County District Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Preston public records, Franklin County arrest records, Idaho arrest records and Idaho inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Preston
The FBI lists Preston with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Preston Police Department. It reported 18 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 55 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Preston Reports
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.
- Preston: 18 for 2025, 61 for 2024, 58 for 2023, 52 for 2022, 69 for 2021 and 79 for 2020.
Preston's 18 arrests in 2025 were down 70 percent from 61 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Preston reported 24 arrests, against 9 in the same months of 2025.
Across Franklin County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 73 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Preston Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Preston 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.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Idaho Department of Correction lists its inmates at idoc.idaho.gov/content/prisons/resident-client-search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Preston
An arrest in Preston can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Franklin County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at fcmcclerk.com/case/search); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at franklincountyidaho.org/county_justice/prosecuting_attorney_s_offic..., phone 208-852-1090).
Statewide, iCourt Portal is the Idaho courts' free statewide case search.
Idaho is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: name-based conviction checks are open to the public, through the Idaho State Police Bureau of Criminal Identification. 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 Preston
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 Idaho Public Records Act the agency must answer within 3 working days, or 10 when more time is needed, and it may charge copying after the first 100 pages and labor after the first two hours.
- An arrest by the Preston police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at prestonidaho.net/departments/police_department/index.php (page title: Preston City Police Department), phone (208) 852-2433, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 208-852-1090, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Franklin County District Court, through the court records page at fcmcclerk.com/case/search.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Bureau of Criminal Identification.
The Franklin County guide covers every agency in the county: Franklin County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Preston each year?
Preston reported 18 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Preston booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Preston?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Idaho State Police Bureau of Criminal Identification: name-based conviction checks are open to the public. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Idaho Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Preston?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Preston police for its own arrests, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Idaho Public Records Act the answer is due within 3 working days, or 10 when more time is needed.
Is this the official Preston website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.