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 on September 24, 2026.
Bourbon County, Kansas, has about 14,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Bourbon County Sheriff's Office and one city agency. 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 Bourbon 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: Bourbon County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Bourbon County
The Bourbon County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Bourbon County. It reported 209 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Bourbon County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Fort Scott, 7,563 residents: 179 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 Bourbon County
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.
- Bourbon County Sheriff's Office: 209 for 2025, 251 for 2024, 305 for 2023, 355 for 2022, 331 for 2021 and 265 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Fort Scott: 179 for 2025, 163 for 2024, 288 for 2023, 153 for 2022, 149 for 2021 and 148 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 388 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 388 in 2025 against 414 in 2024, down 6.3 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 236 arrests, against 249 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bourbon County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Bourbon 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 78 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 76 beds, and it ran at 103 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 Bourbon County Sheriff's Office at bourboncountysheriffks.org/inmate-roster/filters/current/booking_ti... (page title: Inmate Roster | Bourbon County Sheriff's Office Kansas | Sort Booking Time | Descending | Page 1), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 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 Bourbon County
An arrest in Bourbon County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Bourbon County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Bourbon County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at bourboncountyks.org/district-court-search, phone 620-223-0780); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at bourboncountyks.org/county-attorney).
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 Bourbon 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 Bourbon County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Fort Scott: 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 handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Bourbon County District Court, through the court records page at bourboncountyks.org/district-court-search, phone 620-223-0780.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at bourboncountyks.org/open-records (page title: Open Records | Bourbon County Kansas).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Bourbon County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the six cities in Bourbon County: Fort Scott. Bronson, Uniontown, Fulton, Mapleton and Redfield 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 Bourbon County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Bourbon County each year?
The Bourbon County Sheriff's Office reported 209 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 388 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Bourbon County?
Look on the custody page of the Bourbon County Sheriff's Office at bourboncountysheriffks.org. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Bourbon County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Bourbon County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Bourbon 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 Bourbon County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Bourbon 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 bourboncountyks.org/open-records.
Is this the official Bourbon 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.