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 28, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Cherokee County, Kansas, has about 19,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office and three 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 Cherokee 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: Cherokee County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Cherokee County
The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Cherokee County. It reported 129 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Cherokee County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Baxter Springs, 3,844 residents: 61 arrests reported for 2025.
- Columbus, 2,878 residents: 57 arrests reported for 2025.
- Galena, 2,767 residents: 71 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 Cherokee 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.
- Cherokee County Sheriff's Office: 129 for 2025, 169 for 2024, 143 for 2023, 157 for 2022, 155 for 2021 and 141 for 2020.
- Galena: 71 for 2025, 53 for 2024, 84 for 2023, 46 for 2022, 146 for 2021 and 96 for 2020.
- Baxter Springs: 61 for 2025, 157 for 2024, 198 for 2023, 134 for 2022, 166 for 2021 and 149 for 2020.
- Columbus: 57 for 2025, 37 for 2024, 44 for 2023, 30 for 2022, 25 for 2021 and 53 for 2020.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 318 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 318 in 2025 against 416 in 2024, down 24 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 117 arrests, against 153 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Cherokee County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Cherokee 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 2021 the jail held about 65 people, down from about 77 in 2019. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office at cherokeecountykssheriff.com/inmate-roster/filters/current/booking_t... (page title: Inmate Roster | Cherokee County Sheriff Kansas | Sort Booking Time | Descending | Page 1), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 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 Cherokee County
Whether someone was arrested in Cherokee County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the custody page of the Cherokee 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 Cherokee 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 Cherokee County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Baxter Springs, Columbus or Galena: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Cherokee County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the seven cities in Cherokee County: Baxter Springs, Columbus and Galena. Weir, Scammon, West Mineral and Roseland 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 Cherokee County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Cherokee County each year?
The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office reported 129 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 318 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Cherokee County?
Look on the custody page of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office at cherokeecountykssheriff.com. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Cherokee County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Cherokee 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 Cherokee County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Cherokee 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 Cherokee 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.