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.
Monroe County, Indiana, has about 141,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Monroe 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 Monroe 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: Monroe County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Monroe County
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Monroe County. It reported 568 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two 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:
- Bloomington, 79,986 residents: 1,713 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ellettsville, 6,829 residents: 158 arrests reported for 2019.
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 Monroe County: Indiana University at Bloomington (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Monroe 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.
- Bloomington: 1,713 for 2025, 1,719 for 2024, 1,645 for 2023, 1,539 for 2022, 1,366 for 2021 and 1,462 for 2020.
- Monroe County Sheriff's Office: 568 for 2025, 491 for 2024, 489 for 2023, 484 for 2022, 458 for 2021 and 555 for 2020.
- Ellettsville: 158 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,281 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,281 in 2025 against 2,210 in 2024, up 3.2 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Monroe County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Monroe 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 220 people, down from about 300 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 294 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 Monroe County Sheriff's Office at monroecosheriffga.us/offender-search (page title: Offender Search | mcso-html), 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 Monroe County
Whether someone was arrested in Monroe County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Monroe 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/counties/monroe/Departments/clerk-of-court/records); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at in.gov/counties/monroe/justice/prosecutors-office, phone (812) 349-2670).
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 Monroe 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 Monroe County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Bloomington or Ellettsville: 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 Bloomington: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (812) 349-2670, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Monroe Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at in.gov (page title: Monroe County: Records Requests).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Monroe County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Monroe County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Monroe County: Bloomington and Ellettsville. Stinesville 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 Monroe Circuit and Superior Courts.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Monroe County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Bloomington (79,986)
- Ellettsville (6,829)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Monroe County each year?
Bloomington reported 1,713 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,281 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Monroe County?
Ask the Monroe County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at monroecosheriffga.us/offender-search.
Where are people arrested in Monroe County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Monroe 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 Monroe County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Monroe 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 in.gov.
Is this the official Monroe 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.