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.
Perry County, Indiana, has about 19,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Perry County Sheriff's Office and three city agencies. 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 Perry 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: Perry County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Perry County
The Perry County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Perry County. It reported 123 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Tell City, 7,515 residents: 120 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cannelton, 1,498 residents: 36 arrests reported for 2025.
- Troy, 367 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Perry 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.
- Tell City: 120 for 2025, 104 for 2024, 85 for 2023 and 185 for 2022.
- Cannelton: 36 for 2025, 54 for 2023, 24 for 2022 and 19 for 2021; 2024 is missing months.
- Perry County Sheriff's Office: 123 for 2023.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 156 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 120 in 2025 against 104 in 2024, up 15 percent.
Perry County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (1 month) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Perry County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Perry 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 84 people, up from about 80 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 132 beds, and it ran at 61 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 Perry County Sheriff's Office at isoms.perrycountysheriff.net/portal/Jail (page title: Inmates | ISOMS Portal), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Perry County
Whether someone was arrested in Perry County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Perry 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/perry-county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at perrycounty.in.gov/department/prosecutor).
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 Perry 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 Perry County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Tell City, Cannelton or Troy: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Perry Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/perry-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at perrycounty.in.gov (page title: Public Records Request | Perry County).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Perry County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Perry County: Tell City, Cannelton and Troy.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Perry Circuit and Superior Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Perry County each year?
Tell City reported 120 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 156 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Perry County?
Ask the Perry County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at isoms.perrycountysheriff.net/portal/Jail.
Where are people arrested in Perry County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Perry County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Perry 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 Perry County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Perry 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 perrycounty.in.gov.
Is this the official Perry 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.