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 September 26, 2026.
Dodge City, Kansas, in Ford County, has about 28,000 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 Ford 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: Dodge City public records, Ford County arrest records, Kansas arrest records and Kansas inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Dodge City
The FBI lists Dodge City with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Dodge City Police Department. It reported 1,189 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 Ford County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 433 arrests for 2024.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Ford County: the Boothill Casino Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission (state agency).
How Many Arrests Dodge City 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.
- Dodge City: 1,189 for 2025, 1,172 for 2024, 1,135 for 2023, 1,092 for 2022, 1,086 for 2021 and 1,196 for 2020.
Dodge City's 1,189 arrests in 2025 were up 1.5 percent from 1,172 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Dodge City reported 749 arrests, against 909 in the same months of 2025.
Across Ford County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,606 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dodge City Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dodge City 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 2019 the jail held about 160 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 170 beds, and it ran at 91 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 Ford County Sheriff's Office at fordcounty.net/277/Jail (page title: Jail | Ford County, KS), phone 620-227-4501, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
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 Dodge City
An arrest in Dodge City can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Ford County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at fordcounty.net/quicklinks.aspx?CID=24); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at fordcounty.net/193/Ford-County-Attorneys-Office, phone 620-227-4510).
Statewide, Kansas District Court Public Access Portal is the Kansas courts' statewide case search.
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 Dodge City
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 Kansas Open Records Act the agency must answer within 3 business days, and it may charge staff time and copying.
- An arrest by the Dodge City police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at dodgecity.org/m/directory/department?did=3 (page title: Staff Directory, Police Department), phone 620-225-8126, 110 W. Spruce St. Dodge City, KS 67801, Monday through Sunday: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Ford County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 620-227-4501.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 620-227-4510, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Ford County District Court, through the court records page at fordcounty.net/quicklinks.aspx?CID=24.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at fordcounty.net/593/Data-Requests (page title: Data Requests | Ford County, KS).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Ford County guide covers every agency in the county: Ford County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dodge City each year?
Dodge City reported 1,189 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dodge City?
Ask the Ford County Sheriff's Office at 620-227-4501; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at fordcounty.net/277/Jail.
Where are people arrested in Dodge City booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ford County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Dodge City?
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 Dodge City?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Dodge City police for its own arrests, the Ford County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Kansas Open Records Act the answer is due within 3 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at fordcounty.net/593/Data-Requests.
Is this the official Dodge City 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.