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.
Howard County, Indiana, has about 84,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Howard County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and one campus 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 Howard 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: Howard County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Howard County
The Howard County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Howard County. It reported 1,965 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists two cities in Howard County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Kokomo, 60,093 residents: 1,800 arrests reported for 2025.
- Russiaville, 1,314 residents.
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 FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Howard County: Indiana University at Kokomo (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Howard County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Howard County Sheriff's Office: 1,965 for 2024, 2,247 for 2022, 2,226 for 2021, 1,676 for 2020 and 2,483 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Kokomo: 1,800 for 2025, 1,575 for 2024, 2,017 for 2023, 2,394 for 2022, 2,218 for 2021 and 2,213 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 3,540 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 1,575 in 2024 against 2,017 in 2023, down 22 percent.
Russiaville reported only part of 2024 (9 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Howard County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Howard 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 350 people, down from about 440 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 364 beds, and it ran at 120 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 Howard County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.howardcountyin.gov/inmateSearch (page title: Current Inmates | Howard County Sheriff’s Office), 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 Howard County
Whether someone was arrested in Howard County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Howard County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Howard 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/howard-county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at howardcountyprosecutor.com, phone 765-614-3155).
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 Howard 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 Howard County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Kokomo or Russiaville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Indiana University at Kokomo: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 765-614-3155, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Howard Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/howard-county.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Howard County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Howard County: Kokomo and Russiaville. Greentown has 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 Howard Circuit and Superior Courts.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Howard County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Kokomo (60,093)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Howard County each year?
The Howard County Sheriff's Office reported 1,965 arrests to the FBI for 2024, and the two agencies with every month of 2024 on file reported 3,540 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Howard County?
Look on the custody page of the Howard County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.howardcountyin.gov/inmateSearch. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Howard County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Howard County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Howard 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 Howard County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Howard 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 Howard 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.