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.
Owen County, Indiana, has about 22,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Owen 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 Owen 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: Owen County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Owen County
The Owen County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Owen County. It reported 1,152 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests The Owen County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Owen County Sheriff's Office: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
Through September 2026, Owen County Sheriff's Office reported 666 arrests, against 864 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Owen County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Owen 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 49 people, down from about 83 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 70 beds, and it ran at 71 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 Owen County Sheriff's Office at owencounty.in.gov/public-safety-emergency-services/sheriffs-office (page title: Owen County Sheriff’s Office | Law Enforcement), phone (812) 829-5757, 291 Vandalia Avenue, Spencer, IN 47460, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Owen County
Whether someone was arrested in Owen County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Owen 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/owen-county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at owencounty.in.gov/departments/prosecutor, phone (812) 829-5005).
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 Owen County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Owen County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (812) 829-5757.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (812) 829-5005, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Owen Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/owen-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at owencounty.in.gov (page title: Owen County Public Records Request | Access Information).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Owen County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Owen County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Owen Circuit and Superior Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Owen County each year?
The Owen County Sheriff's Office reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Owen County?
Ask the Owen County Sheriff's Office at (812) 829-5757; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at owencounty.in.gov.
Where are people arrested in Owen County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Owen County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Owen 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 Owen County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Owen 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 owencounty.in.gov.
Is this the official Owen 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.