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.
DeKalb County, Indiana, has about 44,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office and four 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 DeKalb 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: DeKalb County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in DeKalb County
The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for DeKalb County. It reported 305 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside four of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Auburn, 13,989 residents: 284 arrests reported for 2025.
- Garrett, 6,663 residents.
- Butler, 2,669 residents: 20 arrests reported for 2025.
- Waterloo, 2,157 residents: 15 arrests reported for 2021.
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 DeKalb 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.
- DeKalb County Sheriff's Office: 305 for 2025, 369 for 2024 and 236 for 2023.
- Auburn: 284 for 2025, 144 for 2024, 180 for 2023, 255 for 2022, 275 for 2021 and 136 for 2020.
- Butler: 20 for 2025, 28 for 2024, 41 for 2023, 56 for 2022 and 29 for 2021.
- Waterloo: 15 for 2021.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 609 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 609 in 2025 against 541 in 2024, up 13 percent.
Garrett and Waterloo reported only part of 2025 (3 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in DeKalb County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in DeKalb 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 87 people, up from about 86 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 105 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 DeKalb County Sheriff's Office at dekalbsheriff.in.gov/inmate-search (page title: Inmate Search | DeKalb County Sheriff's Office | DeKalb County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 DeKalb County
An arrest in DeKalb County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the DeKalb Circuit and Superior Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.dekalb.in.us/department/division.php?structureid=100, phone (260) 925-1863); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.dekalb.in.us/department/index.php?structureid=28, phone (260) 925-1646).
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 DeKalb 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 DeKalb County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Auburn, Garrett, Butler or Waterloo: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (260) 925-1646, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the DeKalb Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at co.dekalb.in.us, phone (260) 925-1863.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at dekalbsheriff.in.gov/records-requests (page title: Records Requests | DeKalb County Sheriff's Office | DeKalb County Sheriff's Office).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in DeKalb County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the eight cities in DeKalb County: Auburn, Garrett, Butler and Waterloo. Ashley, St. Joe, Corunna and Altona 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 DeKalb Circuit and Superior Courts.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in DeKalb County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Garrett (6,663)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in DeKalb County each year?
The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office reported 305 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 609 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in DeKalb County?
Look on the custody page of the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office at dekalbsheriff.in.gov/inmate-search. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in DeKalb County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in DeKalb 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 DeKalb County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the DeKalb 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at dekalbsheriff.in.gov/records-requests.
Is this the official DeKalb 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.