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.
Shelby County, Indiana, has about 46,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office and one city 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 Shelby 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: Shelby County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Shelby County
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Shelby County. It reported 534 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Shelby County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Shelbyville, 20,845 residents: 513 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.
The Edinburgh Police Department is listed by the FBI across three counties including Shelby County, so its arrests are not broken out for Shelby County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Shelby 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.
- Shelby County Sheriff's Office: 534 for 2025, 544 for 2023, 517 for 2022, 670 for 2021 and 748 for 2019; 2020 and 2024 are missing months.
- Shelbyville: 513 for 2025, 514 for 2024, 616 for 2023, 498 for 2022, 563 for 2021 and 496 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,047 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 513 in 2025 against 514 in 2024, down 0.2 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 689 arrests, against 593 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Shelby County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Shelby 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 100 people, down from about 200 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 203 beds, and it ran at 100 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 Shelby County Sheriff's Office at in.gov/counties/shelby/sheriff (page title: Shelby County: Sheriff), phone 317-392-6345, 107 W. Taylor St. Shelbyville, IN 46176, Monday - Friday 8AM - 4PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 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 Shelby County
For Shelby County the place to look is the case index of the Shelby 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/shelby-county).
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 Shelby 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 Shelby County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 317-392-6345.
- An arrest in Shelbyville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Shelby Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/shelby-county.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Shelby County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets and divorce records.
Cities in Shelby County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Shelby County: Shelbyville. Morristown and Fairland have 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 Shelby Circuit and Superior Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Shelby County each year?
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office reported 534 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,047 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Shelby County?
Ask the Shelby County Sheriff's Office at 317-392-6345; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at in.gov/counties/shelby/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Shelby County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Shelby 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 Shelby County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Shelby 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 Shelby 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.