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). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Howard County is held at the county jail, run by the Howard County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Howard County public records, Howard County arrest records, Howard County warrants, Howard County criminal records, Howard County court records, Indiana arrest records and Indiana inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Howard County
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Howard County is held at the county jail, run by the Howard County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
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.
Someone booked recently shows on that page; someone cited and released at the scene, or held a few hours at a city station, does not.
The Howard County Jail by the Numbers
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.
Howard County has about 84,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 42 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Howard County Jail
The Howard County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Kokomo and Russiaville make the arrests that end in a booking in Howard County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Howard County: Indiana University at Kokomo (campus police).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were the Howard County Sheriff's Office's 1,965 for 2024 and Kokomo's 1,800 for 2025.
Together, the two agencies in Howard County with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 3,540 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Howard County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Howard County serves the sentence in a facility of the Indiana Department of Correction, whose inmate locator is at offenderlocator.idoc.in.gov/idoc-ofs-1.0.2/ofs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate 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.
How many people are in the Howard County jail?
About 350 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 364 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Howard County go?
To a facility of the Indiana Department of Correction; its inmate locator is at offenderlocator.idoc.in.gov.
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.