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 September 25, 2026.
Valparaiso, Indiana, in Porter County, has about 35,000 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 Porter 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: Valparaiso public records, Porter County arrest records, Indiana arrest records and Indiana inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Valparaiso
The FBI lists Valparaiso with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Valparaiso Police Department. It reported 1,138 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 Porter County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 765 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Valparaiso 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.
- Valparaiso: 1,138 for 2025, 1,558 for 2024, 1,395 for 2023, 1,062 for 2022 and 1,198 for 2021.
Valparaiso's 1,138 arrests in 2025 were down 27 percent from 1,558 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Valparaiso reported 584 arrests, against 739 in the same months of 2025.
Across Porter County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,853 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Valparaiso Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Valparaiso 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 370 people, up from about 330 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 449 beds, and it ran at 82 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 Porter County Sheriff's Office at portercountysheriff.com/whosinjail (page title: Who's In Jail | Porter County Sheriff’s Office IN), 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 sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Indiana Department of Correction lists its inmates at offenderlocator.idoc.in.gov/idoc-ofs-1.0.2/ofs.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Valparaiso
An arrest in Valparaiso can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Porter County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Porter Circuit and Superior Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at portercountyin.gov/1019/Free-Access-To-Adult-Court-Case-Records); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at portercountyin.gov/200/Prosecutor, phone 219-465-3415).
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 Valparaiso
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 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 Valparaiso police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at ci.valparaiso.in.us/353/Records (page title: Records | Valparaiso, IN), phone 219.462.2135, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Porter County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 219-465-3415, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Porter Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at portercountyin.gov.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Porter County guide covers every agency in the county: Porter County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Valparaiso each year?
Valparaiso reported 1,138 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Valparaiso?
Look on the custody page of the Porter County Sheriff's Office at portercountysheriff.com/whosinjail. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Valparaiso booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Porter County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Valparaiso?
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 Valparaiso?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Valparaiso police for its own arrests, the Porter 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.
Is this the official Valparaiso 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.