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.
Starke County, Indiana, has about 23,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Starke 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 Starke 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: Starke County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Starke County
The Starke County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Starke County. It reported 472 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Starke County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Knox, 3,630 residents: 168 arrests reported for 2024.
- North Judson, 1,814 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 Starke 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.
- Starke County Sheriff's Office: 472 for 2025, 294 for 2023, 169 for 2022, 235 for 2021, 157 for 2020 and 302 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- Knox: 168 for 2024, 46 for 2022, 137 for 2021 and 98 for 2020; 2023 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2022 on file reported 215 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2022 and 2021 complete reported 215 in 2022 against 372 in 2021, down 42 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Starke County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Starke 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 70 people, down from about 130 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 148 beds, and it ran at 86 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 Starke County Sheriff's Office at starkecountysheriff.com/index.php/areas-2/jail (page title: Jail | Starke County Sheriff’s Office), 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 Starke County
An arrest in Starke County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Starke 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/starke-county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at starke.in.gov/homepage/departments/circuit-court/prosecutor, phone (574) 772-6267).
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 Starke 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 Starke County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Knox or North Judson: 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, (574) 772-6267, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Starke Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/starke-county.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Starke County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Starke County: Knox and North Judson. Hamlet has 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 Starke Circuit and Superior Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Starke County each year?
The Starke County Sheriff's Office reported 472 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2022, the latest year most of the agencies in Starke County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 215 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Starke County?
Ask the Starke County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at starkecountysheriff.com.
Where are people arrested in Starke County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Starke County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Starke 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 Starke County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Starke 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 Starke 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.