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 27, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Hays, Kansas, in Ellis County, has about 21,000 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 Ellis 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: Hays public records, Ellis County arrest records, Kansas arrest records and Kansas inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Hays
The FBI lists Hays with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Hays Police Department. It reported 877 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 Ellis County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 211 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Ellis County: Fort Hays State University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Hays 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.
- Hays: 877 for 2025, 675 for 2023, 593 for 2022, 976 for 2021, 833 for 2020 and 956 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
Through May 2026, Hays reported 304 arrests, against 349 in the same months of 2025.
Across Ellis County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,088 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hays Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Hays 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 55 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 68 beds, and it ran at 81 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 Ellis County Sheriff's Office at ellisco.net/102/Sheriff (page title: Ellis County Sheriff's Office | Ellis County, KS), 105 W. 12th St. Hays, KS 67601, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Kansas Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.ks.gov/@@search?SearchableText=inmate+search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Hays
For Hays the place to look is Kansas District Court Public Access Portal, the Kansas courts' statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed.
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 Hays
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 Hays police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at haysusa.com/FormCenter/Police-8/Request-for-Records-63 (page title: Form Center, Request for Records), phone 785-625-1024, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 27, 2026.
- An arrest by the Ellis County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at ellisco.net/637/Kansas-Open-Records-Act (page title: Kansas Open Records Act | Ellis County, KS).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Ellis County guide covers every agency in the county: Ellis County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hays each year?
Hays reported 877 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hays?
Ask the Ellis County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at ellisco.net/102/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Hays booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ellis County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hays?
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 Hays?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hays police for its own arrests, the Ellis 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 ellisco.net/637/Kansas-Open-Records-Act.
Is this the official Hays 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.