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.
Hancock County, Indiana, has about 89,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hancock County Sheriff's Office and six 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 Hancock 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: Hancock County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hancock County
The Hancock County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hancock County. It reported 461 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists six cities in Hancock County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Greenfield, 26,268 residents: 348 arrests reported for 2022.
- McCordsville, 11,744 residents: 450 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cumberland, 7,211 residents: 77 arrests reported for 2025.
- Fortville, 4,927 residents: 151 arrests reported for 2023.
- New Palestine, 3,621 residents: 87 arrests reported for 2024.
- Shirley, 840 residents: 24 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 Hancock 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.
- Hancock County Sheriff's Office: 461 for 2024, 587 for 2023 and 382 for 2021; 2022 is missing months.
- McCordsville: 450 for 2025, 343 for 2024, 342 for 2023, 298 for 2022, 338 for 2021 and 278 for 2020.
- Cumberland: 77 for 2025, 115 for 2024, 149 for 2023, 151 for 2022, 156 for 2021 and 212 for 2020.
- New Palestine: 87 for 2024, 101 for 2023 and 67 for 2022.
- Greenfield: 348 for 2022 and 402 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Fortville: 151 for 2023, 134 for 2022 and 107 for 2021.
- Shirley: 24 for 2023 and 9 for 2021; 2022 is missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,006 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 1,006 in 2024 against 1,179 in 2023, down 15 percent.
Greenfield and Shirley reported only part of 2024 (7 months and 8 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hancock County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Hancock 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 250 people, up from about 230 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 157 beds, and it ran at 147 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Hancock County
An arrest in Hancock County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Hancock 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/hancock-county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at hancockin.gov/267/Prosecutor, phone 317-477-1139).
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 Hancock 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 Hancock County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Greenfield, McCordsville, Cumberland, Fortville, New Palestine or Shirley: 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, 317-477-1139, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Hancock Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/hancock-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at hancockin.gov/187/Public-Records-Request (page title: Public Records Request | Hancock County, IN).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Hancock County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the eight cities in Hancock County: Greenfield, McCordsville, Cumberland, Fortville, New Palestine and Shirley. Wilkinson and Spring Lake 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 Hancock Circuit and Superior Courts.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Hancock County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- McCordsville (11,744)
- Cumberland (7,211)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hancock County each year?
The Hancock County Sheriff's Office reported 461 arrests to the FBI for 2024, and the four agencies with every month of 2024 on file reported 1,006 between them.
Where are people arrested in Hancock County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hancock County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hancock 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 Hancock County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hancock 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 hancockin.gov/187/Public-Records-Request.
Is this the official Hancock 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.