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 October 9, 2026.
Clay County, Indiana, has about 26,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Clay County Sheriff's Office and two city agencies. 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 Clay 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: Clay County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Clay County
The Clay County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Clay County. It reported 181 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Clay County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Brazil, 8,239 residents: 44 arrests reported for 2025.
- Knightsville, 694 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2023.
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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Clay County
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.
- Clay County Sheriff's Office: 181 for 2025, 149 for 2024 and 194 for 2023.
- Brazil: 44 for 2025, 47 for 2024, 51 for 2023, 69 for 2022 and 55 for 2021.
- Knightsville: 0 for 2023, 0 for 2021 and 0 for 2020; 2022 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 225 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 225 in 2025 against 196 in 2024, up 15 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Clay County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Clay County 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.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 150 people, down from about 180 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 180 beds, and it ran at 102 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 Clay County Sheriff's Office at claycountysheriff.org/cur_inmates.html (page title: Redirecting…), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 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 Clay County
An arrest in Clay County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Clay 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/clay-county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at in.gov/counties/clay/county-offices/county-prosecutor, phone 812-448-9028).
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 Clay County
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 Clay County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Brazil or Knightsville: 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, 812-448-9028, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Clay Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/clay-county.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Clay County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Clay County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the seven cities in Clay County: Brazil and Knightsville. Clay City, Harmony, Staunton, Carbon and Center Point 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 Clay Circuit and Superior Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Clay County each year?
The Clay County Sheriff's Office reported 181 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 225 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Clay County?
Ask the Clay County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at claycountysheriff.org/cur_inmates.html.
Where are people arrested in Clay County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Clay County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Clay 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 Clay County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Clay 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 Clay 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.