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.
Lawrence, Kansas, in Douglas County, has about 97,000 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 Douglas 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: Lawrence public records, Douglas County arrest records, Kansas arrest records and Kansas inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Lawrence
The FBI lists Lawrence with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Lawrence Police Department. It reported 2,482 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 Douglas County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 486 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Douglas County: the University of Kansas's Main Campus (campus police).
How Many Arrests Lawrence 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.
- Lawrence: 2,482 for 2025, 2,140 for 2024, 1,227 for 2022 and 1,418 for 2021; 2023 is missing months.
Lawrence's 2,482 arrests in 2025 were up 16 percent from 2,140 in 2024.
Through June 2026, Lawrence reported 1,260 arrests, against 1,241 in the same months of 2025.
Across Douglas County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,096 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lawrence Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lawrence 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 2020 the jail held about 130 people, down from about 140 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 186 beds, and it ran at 77 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 Douglas County Sheriff's Office at dgso.org/index.php/dgso-inmate-reports (page title: DGSO Inmate Reports), 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 Lawrence
An arrest in Lawrence can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Douglas County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at dgcoks.gov/district-court/clerk-of-the-district-court/court-records, phone 785-832-5256); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at dgcoks.gov/district-attorney, phone 785-841-0211).
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 Lawrence
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 Lawrence police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at lawrenceks.gov/police/police-reports (page title: Police Reports | City of Lawrence, Kansas), phone (785) 832-7509, a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
- An arrest by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 785-841-0211, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Douglas County District Court, through the court records page at dgcoks.gov, phone 785-832-5256.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at dgcoks.gov (page title: Public Records | Douglas County KS).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Douglas County guide covers every agency in the county: Douglas County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lawrence each year?
Lawrence reported 2,482 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Lawrence?
Ask the Douglas County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at dgso.org/index.php/dgso-inmate-reports.
Where are people arrested in Lawrence booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lawrence?
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 Lawrence?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lawrence police for its own arrests, the Douglas 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 dgcoks.gov.
Is this the official Lawrence 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.