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 September 30, 2026.
Columbus, Indiana, in Bartholomew County, has about 52,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Columbus is held at the county jail, run by the Bartholomew County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Columbus public records, Bartholomew County inmate search, Columbus arrest records, Columbus warrants, Columbus criminal records, Columbus court records, Indiana arrest records and Indiana inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Columbus
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Columbus is held at the county jail, run by the Bartholomew County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Bartholomew County Sheriff's Office at bartholomew.in.gov/sheriff.html (page title: Sheriff), phone 812-379-1750, Monday - Friday between the hours of 8 AM - 5 PM., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster, so a search for a particular person goes through the office at 812-379-1750.
The Bartholomew County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 260 people, up from about 240 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 362 beds, and it ran at 67 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Bartholomew County has about 85,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 30 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Bartholomew County Jail
The Bartholomew County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Columbus (filed by the FBI as Columbus Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Columbus.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Bartholomew County: Indiana University at Columbus (campus police).
The Edinburgh Police Department is listed by the FBI across three counties including Bartholomew County, so its arrests are not broken out for Bartholomew County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Columbus's 1,452 for 2025 and the Bartholomew County Sheriff's Office's 997 for 2025.
Together, the two agencies in Bartholomew County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,449 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Columbus arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Bartholomew County serves the sentence in a facility of the Indiana Department of Correction, whose inmate locator is at offenderlocator.idoc.in.gov/idoc-ofs-1.0.2/ofs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Columbus?
Ask the Bartholomew County Sheriff's Office at 812-379-1750; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at bartholomew.in.gov/sheriff.html.
How many people are in the Bartholomew County jail?
About 260 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 362 beds.
What is the phone number for the Bartholomew County jail?
812-379-1750, the number on the page of the Bartholomew County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Bartholomew County go?
To a facility of the Indiana Department of Correction; its inmate locator is at offenderlocator.idoc.in.gov.
Is this the official Columbus 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.