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.
Spencer County, Indiana, has about 20,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Spencer County Sheriff's Office and four 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 Spencer 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: Spencer County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Spencer County
The Spencer County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Spencer County.
Arrests inside four 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:
- Santa Claus, 2,657 residents.
- Rockport, 1,989 residents: 86 arrests reported for 2020.
- Dale, 1,532 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Chrisney, 474 residents: 0 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 Spencer County
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.
- Dale: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Chrisney: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024 and 0 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Rockport: 86 for 2020 and 48 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,152 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,152 in 2025 against 1,152 in 2024.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 597 arrests, against 672 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Spencer County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Spencer 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 59 people, down from about 72 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 74 beds, and it ran at 97 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 Spencer County Sheriff's Office at in.gov/counties/spencer/departments/sheriff-and-jail-information (page title: Spencer County: Sheriff & Jail Information), phone (812) 362-8668, 120 N 2nd Street Rockport, IN 47635, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Spencer County
For Spencer County the place to look is the case index of the Spencer 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/spencer-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 Spencer 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 Spencer County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (812) 362-8668.
- An arrest in Santa Claus, Rockport, Dale or Chrisney: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Spencer Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/spencer-county.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Spencer County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the seven cities in Spencer County: Santa Claus, Rockport, Dale and Chrisney. Grandview, Richland and Gentryville 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 Spencer Circuit and Superior Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Spencer County each year?
Dale reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,152 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Spencer County?
Ask the Spencer County Sheriff's Office at (812) 362-8668; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at in.gov.
Where are people arrested in Spencer County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Spencer County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Spencer 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 Spencer County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Spencer 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 Spencer 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.