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.
Scott County, Indiana, has about 25,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Scott County Sheriff's Office and two 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 Scott 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: Scott County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Scott County
The Scott County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Scott County. It reported 132 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year.
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:
- Scottsburg, 7,413 residents: 20 arrests reported for 2025.
- Austin, 4,156 residents: 82 arrests reported for 2025.
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 Scott 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.
- Austin: 82 for 2025, 113 for 2024 and 153 for 2023.
- Scottsburg: 20 for 2025.
- Scott County Sheriff's Office: 132 for 2023.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 102 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 82 in 2025 against 113 in 2024, down 27 percent.
Scott County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (5 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Scott County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Scott 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 140 people, down from about 200 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 195 beds, and it ran at 100 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Scott County
Whether someone was arrested in Scott County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Scott 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/scott-county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at scottcounty.in.gov/206/Prosecutors-Office, phone 812-752-8466).
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 Scott 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 Scott County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Scottsburg or Austin: 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, 812-752-8466, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Scott Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/scott-county.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Scott County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Scott County: Scottsburg and Austin.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Scott Circuit and Superior Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Scott County each year?
Austin reported 82 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 102 between them.
Where are people arrested in Scott County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Scott County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Scott 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 Scott County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Scott 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.
Is this the official Scott 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.