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.
Sullivan County, Indiana, has about 21,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Sullivan 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 Sullivan 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: Sullivan County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Sullivan County
The Sullivan County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Sullivan County. It reported 128 arrests for 2024, 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:
- Sullivan, 4,240 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Shelburn, 1,111 residents: 72 arrests reported for 2019.
- Dugger, 795 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 Sullivan 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.
- Sullivan: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Sullivan County Sheriff's Office: 128 for 2024, 105 for 2023 and 112 for 2022.
- Shelburn: 72 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,280 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 1,280 in 2024 against 1,251 in 2023, up 2.3 percent.
Dugger reported only part of 2024 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Sullivan County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Sullivan 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 53 people, down from about 66 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 54 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 Sullivan County Sheriff's Office at sullivancounty.in.gov/department/division.php?structureid=73 (page title: Jail | Sullivan County, IN), phone (812) 268-4308, 77 E. Justice Dr. Sullivan, IN 47882, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
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 Sullivan County
An arrest in Sullivan County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Sullivan 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/sullivan-county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at sullivancounty.in.gov/department/index.php?structureid=93, phone (812) 268-6008).
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 Sullivan County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Sullivan County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (812) 268-4308.
- An arrest in Sullivan, Shelburn or Dugger: 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) 268-6008, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Sullivan Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/sullivan-county.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Sullivan County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the seven cities in Sullivan County: Sullivan, Shelburn and Dugger. Farmersburg, Hymera, Carlisle and Merom 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 Sullivan Circuit and Superior Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Sullivan County each year?
Sullivan reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Sullivan County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 1,280 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Sullivan County?
Ask the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office at (812) 268-4308; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sullivancounty.in.gov.
Where are people arrested in Sullivan County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Sullivan 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 Sullivan County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Sullivan 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 Sullivan 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.