Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 24, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Colby, Kansas, in Thomas County, has about 5,500 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the County Attorney files charges, a case in the Thomas County District Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Colby public records, Thomas County arrest records, Kansas arrest records and Kansas inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Colby
The FBI lists Colby with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Colby Police Department. It reported 59 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Thomas County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 160 arrests for 2024.
How Many Arrests Colby Reports
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.
- Colby: 59 for 2025, 161 for 2022, 159 for 2021, 128 for 2020 and 163 for 2019; 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
Through August 2026, Colby reported 39 arrests, against 39 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Colby Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Colby 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 2022 the jail held about 19 people, down from about 23 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 15 beds, and it ran at 153 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 Thomas County Sheriff's Office at thomascountysheriffsoffice.com/jail/jail-roster (page title: Inmates | Thomas County Sheriffs Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Kansas Department of Corrections lists its inmates at doc.ks.gov/@@search?SearchableText=inmate+search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Colby
An arrest in Colby can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Thomas County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; Kansas District Court Public Access Portal, the Kansas courts' statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed; the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at thomascountyks.gov/1196/County-Attorney, phone (785) 460-4500).
Kansas is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: anyone can order a name-based criminal history record check online, through the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. 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 Colby
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Kansas Open Records Act the agency must answer within 3 business days, and it may charge staff time and copying.
- An arrest by the Colby police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityofcolbyks.gov/m/directory/department?did=15 (page title: Staff Directory, Records), phone (785) 460-4465, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Thomas County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (785) 460-4500, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Thomas County guide covers every agency in the county: Thomas County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Colby each year?
Colby reported 59 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Colby?
Look on the custody page of the Thomas County Sheriff's Office at thomascountysheriffsoffice.com. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Colby booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Thomas County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Colby?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation: anyone can order a name-based criminal history record check online. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Kansas Open Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Colby?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Colby police for its own arrests, the Thomas County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Kansas Open Records Act the answer is due within 3 business days.
Is this the official Colby website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.