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 2024. 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 26, 2026 and October 9, 2026.
Independence, Kansas, in Montgomery County, has about 8,300 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 Montgomery 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: Independence public records, Montgomery County arrest records, Kansas arrest records and Kansas inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Independence
The FBI lists Independence with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Independence Police Department. It reported 330 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year. 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 Montgomery County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 415 arrests for 2024.
How Many Arrests Independence 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.
- Independence: 330 for 2024, 322 for 2023, 373 for 2022, 397 for 2021, 427 for 2020 and 435 for 2019.
Independence's 330 arrests in 2024 were up 2.5 percent from 322 in 2023.
Across Montgomery County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 483 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Independence Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Independence 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 130 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 165 beds, and it ran at 80 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 Montgomery County Sheriff's Office at mcsojail.countygovservices.com/Home/CurrentInmates (page title: Current Inmates | Montgomery County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 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 Kansas Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.ks.gov/@@search?SearchableText=inmate+search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Independence
Whether someone was arrested in Independence, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the custody page of the Montgomery 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.
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 Independence
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 Independence police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at independenceks.gov/m/directory/department?did=14 (page title: Staff Directory, Police Department), phone 620-332-1700, 120 N 6th Street Dispatch & Patrol-1st Independence, KS 67301, Tuesday through Friday 3 to 6 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Montgomery County guide covers every agency in the county: Montgomery County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Independence each year?
Independence reported 330 arrests to the FBI for 2024, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Independence?
Look on the custody page of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office at mcsojail.countygovservices.com. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Independence booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Independence?
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 Independence?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Independence police for its own arrests, the Montgomery 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 Independence 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.