Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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.
Anderson County, Kansas, has about 7,900 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Anderson County Sheriff's Office and two city agencies. An arrest 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 Anderson County District Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Anderson County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Anderson County
The Anderson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Anderson County. It reported 78 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Garnett, 3,211 residents: 117 arrests reported for 2025.
- Colony, 383 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Anderson County
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.
- Garnett: 117 for 2025, 96 for 2024, 115 for 2023, 121 for 2022, 142 for 2021 and 165 for 2020.
- Anderson County Sheriff's Office: 78 for 2025, 62 for 2024, 83 for 2023, 169 for 2022, 182 for 2021 and 153 for 2020.
- Colony: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2020 and 1 for 2019; 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 195 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 195 in 2025 against 158 in 2024, up 23 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Anderson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Anderson County 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 42 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 51 beds, and it ran at 82 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 Anderson County Sheriff's Office at andersoncountyks.org/sheriff.html (page title: Anderson County Kansas | Sheriff), phone 785-448-5678, 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 Anderson County
Whether someone was arrested in Anderson County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: 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 andersoncountyks.org/attorney.html, phone (785) 448-5703).
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 Anderson County
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 Anderson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 785-448-5678.
- An arrest in Garnett or Colony: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (785) 448-5703, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Anderson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the six cities in Anderson County: Garnett and Colony. Greeley, Westphalia, Kincaid and Lone Elm have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Anderson County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Anderson County each year?
Garnett reported 117 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 195 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Anderson County?
Ask the Anderson County Sheriff's Office at 785-448-5678; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at andersoncountyks.org/sheriff.html.
Where are people arrested in Anderson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Anderson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Anderson County?
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 Anderson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Anderson County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Kansas Open Records Act the answer is due within 3 business days.
Is this the official Anderson County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.