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. 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 1, 2026.
Evansville, Indiana, in Vanderburgh County, has about 115,000 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 Vanderburgh Circuit and Superior Courts. 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: Evansville public records, Vanderburgh County arrest records, Indiana arrest records and Indiana inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Evansville
The FBI lists Evansville with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Evansville Police Department. It reported 4,512 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 Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 830 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Vanderburgh County: Indiana University at Evansville (campus police).
How Many Arrests Evansville 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.
- Evansville: 4,512 for 2025, 4,456 for 2024, 5,197 for 2023, 4,609 for 2022 and 3,922 for 2021.
Evansville's 4,512 arrests in 2025 were up 1.3 percent from 4,456 in 2024.
Through June 2026, Evansville reported 2,247 arrests, against 1,980 in the same months of 2025.
Across Vanderburgh County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,342 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Evansville Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Evansville 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.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 570 people, down from about 820 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 512 beds, and it ran at 137 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office at vanderburghsheriff.org/jail/inmate-lookup (page title: Inmate Lookup | Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office), phone 812-421-6200, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A person sentenced to prison 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.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Evansville
Whether someone was arrested in Evansville, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Vanderburgh Circuit and Superior Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at in.gov/courts/local/vanderburgh-county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at vanderburghprosecutor.org, phone 812-435-5150).
Statewide, mycase.IN.gov is the Indiana courts' free statewide case search.
Indiana is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Limited Criminal History search is open to anyone online, through the Indiana State Police. 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 Evansville
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act the agency must answer within 24 hours for a request made in person and 7 days for one sent by mail or email, and it may charge a copy fee set by the agency, within statutory limits.
- An arrest by the Evansville police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at evansvillepolice.com/record-inquiries (page title: Record Inquiries | Evansville Police Department), phone (812) 436-7956, Monday - Friday 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 1, 2026.
- An arrest by the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 812-421-6200.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 812-435-5150, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Vanderburgh Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/vanderburgh-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at evansvillegov.org (page title: Request Public Records | Vanderburgh County).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Vanderburgh County guide covers every agency in the county: Vanderburgh County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Evansville each year?
Evansville reported 4,512 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Evansville?
Look on the custody page of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office at vanderburghsheriff.org/jail/inmate-lookup, or call 812-421-6200. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Evansville booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Evansville?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Indiana State Police: the Limited Criminal History search is open to anyone online. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Evansville?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Evansville police for its own arrests, the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act the answer is due within 24 hours for a request made in person and 7 days for one sent by mail or email; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at evansvillegov.org.
Is this the official Evansville 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.