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 October 2, 2026.
Cowley County, Kansas, has about 34,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Cowley 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 Cowley 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: Cowley County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Cowley County
The Cowley County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Cowley County. It reported 94 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:
- Arkansas City, 11,761 residents: 385 arrests reported for 2025.
- Winfield, 11,678 residents: 205 arrests reported for 2025.
- Udall, 641 residents.
- Burden, 506 residents.
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 Cowley 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.
- Arkansas City: 385 for 2025, 392 for 2024, 492 for 2023, 341 for 2022, 364 for 2021 and 497 for 2020.
- Winfield: 205 for 2025, 196 for 2024, 225 for 2023, 219 for 2022, 299 for 2021 and 276 for 2020.
- Cowley County Sheriff's Office: 94 for 2025, 110 for 2024, 167 for 2023, 166 for 2022, 207 for 2021 and 176 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 684 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 684 in 2025 against 698 in 2024, down 2 percent.
Through May 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 209 arrests, against 297 in the same months of 2025.
Burden and Udall reported only part of 2025 (5 months and 10 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Cowley County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Cowley 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 97 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 218 beds, and it ran at 44 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 Cowley County Sheriff's Office at cowleycountyks.gov/Archive.aspx?AMID=41 (page title: Archive Center, Sheriff | Inmate Rosters), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 2, 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 Cowley County
An arrest in Cowley County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Cowley 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; the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at cowleycountyks.gov/192/Attorney, phone 620-221-5823).
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 Cowley 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 Cowley County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Arkansas City, Winfield, Udall or Burden: 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, 620-221-5823, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at cowleycountyks.gov/204/Open-Records (page title: Open Records | Cowley County, KS).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Cowley County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the eight cities in Cowley County: Arkansas City, Winfield, Udall and Burden. Parkerfield, Dexter, Atlanta and Cambridge 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 Cowley County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Cowley County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Winfield (11,678)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Cowley County each year?
Arkansas City reported 385 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 684 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Cowley County?
Look on the custody page of the Cowley County Sheriff's Office at cowleycountyks.gov/Archive.aspx?AMID=41. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Cowley County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cowley County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Cowley 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 Cowley County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Cowley 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 cowleycountyks.gov/204/Open-Records.
Is this the official Cowley 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.