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.
Ellis County, Kansas, has about 29,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Ellis County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies and one campus 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 Ellis 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: Ellis County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Ellis County
The Ellis County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Ellis County. It reported 211 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Hays, 21,213 residents: 877 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ellis, 1,918 residents: 18 arrests reported for 2021.
- Victoria, 1,129 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.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Ellis County: Fort Hays State University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Ellis 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.
- Hays: 877 for 2025, 675 for 2023, 593 for 2022, 976 for 2021, 833 for 2020 and 956 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- Ellis County Sheriff's Office: 211 for 2025, 163 for 2024, 155 for 2023, 88 for 2022, 164 for 2021 and 152 for 2020.
- Ellis: 18 for 2021, 12 for 2020 and 19 for 2019.
- Victoria: 1 for 2024 and 3 for 2020; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,088 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 211 in 2025 against 163 in 2024, up 29 percent.
Through May 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 428 arrests, against 424 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ellis County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Ellis 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 55 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 68 beds, and it ran at 81 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 Ellis County Sheriff's Office at ellisco.net/102/Sheriff (page title: Ellis County Sheriff's Office | Ellis County, KS), 105 W. 12th St. Hays, KS 67601, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
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 Ellis County
For Ellis County the place to look is 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 Ellis 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 Ellis County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Hays, Ellis or Victoria: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Fort Hays State University: the records office of the agency involved.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at ellisco.net/637/Kansas-Open-Records-Act (page title: Kansas Open Records Act | Ellis County, KS).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Ellis County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the four cities in Ellis County: Hays, Ellis and Victoria. Schoenchen has 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 Ellis County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Ellis County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Hays (21,213)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ellis County each year?
Hays reported 877 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,088 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ellis County?
Ask the Ellis County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at ellisco.net/102/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Ellis County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ellis County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ellis 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 Ellis County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ellis 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 ellisco.net/637/Kansas-Open-Records-Act.
Is this the official Ellis 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.