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.
White County, Indiana, has about 25,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the White 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 White 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: White County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in White County
The White County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for White County. It reported 516 arrests for 2019, its latest complete year.
Arrests inside two 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:
- Monticello, 5,519 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Monon, 1,929 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 Monticello Reports
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.
- Monticello: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- White County Sheriff's Office: 516 for 2019.
Through September 2026, Monticello reported 666 arrests, against 864 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in White County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in White 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 51 people, down from about 95 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 164 beds, and it ran at 58 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the White County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.whitecounty.in.gov/inmateSearch (page title: Inmate Search | White County Sheriff's Office (IN)), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 White County
Whether someone was arrested in White County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the White County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the White 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/white-county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at in.gov/counties/white/departments/prosecutors-office, phone 574-583-5120).
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 White 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 White County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Monticello or Monon: 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, 574-583-5120, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the White Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/white-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at indy.gov/activity/request-a-public-record (page title: ).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in White County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the seven cities in White County: Monticello and Monon. Brookston, Wolcott, Reynolds, Chalmers and Burnettsville 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 White Circuit and Superior Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in White County each year?
Monticello reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in White County?
Look on the custody page of the White County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.whitecounty.in.gov/inmateSearch. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in White County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the White County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in White 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 White County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the White 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at indy.gov/activity/request-a-public-record.
Is this the official White 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.