Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. 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 4, 2026.
Newton County, Indiana, has about 14,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Newton County Sheriff's Office. 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 Newton Circuit and Superior Courts. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it.
This guide covers who makes arrests, arrest counts, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Newton County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Newton County
The Newton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Newton County.
Arrest Counts on File for Newton County
The FBI publishes monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. For Newton County the counts on file are partial: Newton County Sheriff's Office has sent some months but no full year since 2019, so no annual total is given here.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Newton County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Newton 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 53 people, up from about 42 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 77 beds, and it ran at 55 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 Newton County Sheriff's Office at newtoncounty.in.gov/department/?structureid=30 (page title: Sheriff's Department | Newton County, Indiana), phone (219) 474-3331, Monday - Friday 8am to 4pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison 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.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Newton County
Whether someone was arrested in Newton County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Newton 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/newton-county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at newtoncounty.in.gov/department/index.php?structureid=13, phone (219) 474-5777).
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 Newton 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 Newton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (219) 474-3331.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (219) 474-5777, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Newton Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/newton-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at newtoncounty.in.gov (page title: Public Records Request | Newton County, Indiana).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Newton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Newton County with an arrest reporting agency of its own.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Newton Circuit and Superior Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Newton County?
Ask the Newton County Sheriff's Office at (219) 474-3331; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at newtoncounty.in.gov.
Where are people arrested in Newton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Newton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Newton 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 Newton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Newton 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 newtoncounty.in.gov.
Is this the official Newton 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.