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.
Wells County, Indiana, has about 29,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Wells County is held at the county jail, run by the Wells County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Wells County public records, Wells County arrest records, Wells County warrants, Wells County criminal records, Wells County court records, Indiana arrest records and Indiana inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Wells County
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Wells County is held at the county jail, run by the Wells County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Wells County Sheriff's Office at wellscounty.org/sheriffs-office (page title: Sheriff's Office | Wells County Indiana), phone (260) 824-3426, 1615 W. Western Ave. Bluffton, IN 46714, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster, so a search for a particular person goes through the office at (260) 824-3426.
The Wells County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 77 people, down from about 110 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 94 beds, and it ran at 113 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Wells County has about 29,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 27 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Wells County Jail
The Wells County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Bluffton and Ossian make the arrests that end in a booking in Wells County.
The Markle Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Wells County, so its arrests are not broken out for Wells County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Bluffton's 415 for 2025 and the Wells County Sheriff's Office's 173 for 2025.
Together, the two agencies in Wells County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 588 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Wells County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Wells County 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Wells County?
Ask the Wells County Sheriff's Office at (260) 824-3426; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at wellscounty.org/sheriffs-office.
How many people are in the Wells County jail?
About 77 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 94 beds.
What is the phone number for the Wells County jail?
(260) 824-3426, the number on the page of the Wells County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Wells County go?
To a facility of the Indiana Department of Correction; its inmate locator is at offenderlocator.idoc.in.gov.
Is this the official Wells 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.