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.
Barton County, Kansas, has about 25,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Barton County Sheriff's Office and four 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 Barton 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: Barton County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Barton County
The Barton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Barton County. It reported 450 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside four 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:
- Great Bend, 14,306 residents: 264 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hoisington, 2,607 residents: 58 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ellinwood, 1,969 residents: 57 arrests reported for 2025.
- Claflin, 543 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2024.
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 Barton 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.
- Barton County Sheriff's Office: 450 for 2025, 402 for 2024, 329 for 2023, 371 for 2022, 364 for 2021 and 346 for 2020.
- Great Bend: 264 for 2025, 383 for 2023, 519 for 2022, 618 for 2021, 512 for 2020 and 524 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- Hoisington: 58 for 2025, 58 for 2024, 66 for 2023, 42 for 2022, 45 for 2021 and 60 for 2020.
- Ellinwood: 57 for 2025, 47 for 2023, 24 for 2022, 49 for 2020 and 29 for 2019; 2021 and 2024 are missing months.
- Claflin: 1 for 2024 and 4 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 829 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 508 in 2025 against 460 in 2024, up 10 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 338 arrests, against 439 in the same months of 2025.
Claflin reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Barton County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Barton County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 95 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 119 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 jail page of the Barton County Sheriff's Office at bartoncounty.org/vnews/display.v/ART/51782a98905f1 (page title: Barton County | Detention Facility), 1408 Kansas Ave Great Bend, KS 67530, Wednesday's at 7:00 PM. Check-In from 6:15 PM to 6:45 PM., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 Barton County
Whether someone was arrested in Barton 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 bartoncounty.org/vnews/display.v/SEC/County%20Attorney, phone (785) 296-2215).
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 Barton County
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 Barton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Great Bend, Hoisington, Ellinwood or Claflin: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (785) 296-2215, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at bartoncountyks.nextrequest.com (page title: Open Public RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Barton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the nine cities in Barton County: Great Bend, Hoisington, Ellinwood and Claflin. Pawnee Rock, Albert, Olmitz, Galatia and Susank 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 Barton County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Barton County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Great Bend (14,306)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Barton County each year?
The Barton County Sheriff's Office reported 450 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 829 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Barton County?
Ask the Barton County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at bartoncounty.org.
Where are people arrested in Barton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Barton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Barton 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 Barton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Barton 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at bartoncountyks.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Barton 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.