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.
Blackford County, Indiana, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Blackford County Sheriff's Office and one city agency. 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 Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Blackford Circuit and Superior Courts. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Blackford County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Blackford County
The Blackford County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Blackford County. It reported 92 arrests for 2019, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists one city in Blackford County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Hartford City, 5,927 residents: 87 arrests reported for 2022.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The Dunkirk Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Blackford County, so its arrests are not broken out for Blackford County here.
How Many Arrests Hartford City 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.
- Hartford City: 87 for 2022, 109 for 2021, 206 for 2020 and 247 for 2019.
- Blackford County Sheriff's Office: 92 for 2019.
Hartford City's 109 arrests in 2021 were down 47 percent from 206 in 2020.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Blackford County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Blackford 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.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 67 people, up from about 60 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 88 beds, and it ran at 68 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 Blackford County Sheriff's Office at blackfordcounty.com/207/Sheriffs-Office (page title: Sheriff's Office | Blackford County, IN), phone 765-348-0930, Monday through Friday 8 am to 4 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Blackford County
An arrest in Blackford County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Blackford 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/blackford-county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at blackfordcounty.com/206/Prosecutor, phone 765-348-7316).
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 Blackford County
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 Blackford County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 765-348-0930.
- An arrest in Hartford City: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 765-348-7316, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Blackford Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/blackford-county.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Blackford County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Blackford County: Hartford City. Montpelier and Shamrock Lakes have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Blackford Circuit and Superior Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Blackford County each year?
Hartford City reported 87 arrests to the FBI for 2022.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Blackford County?
Ask the Blackford County Sheriff's Office at 765-348-0930; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at blackfordcounty.com/207/Sheriffs-Office.
Where are people arrested in Blackford County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Blackford County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Blackford County?
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 Blackford County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Blackford County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 Blackford 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.