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.
Ford County, Kansas, has about 34,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Ford County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies and one state 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 Ford 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: Ford County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Ford County
The Ford County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Ford County. It reported 433 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists three cities in Ford County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Dodge City, 27,663 residents: 1,189 arrests reported for 2025.
- Spearville, 780 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2024.
- Bucklin, 696 residents: 0 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 Ford County: the Boothill Casino Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Ford 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.
- Dodge City: 1,189 for 2025, 1,172 for 2024, 1,135 for 2023, 1,092 for 2022, 1,086 for 2021 and 1,196 for 2020.
- Ford County Sheriff's Office: 433 for 2024, 472 for 2023, 454 for 2022, 462 for 2020 and 522 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Spearville: 1 for 2024 and 0 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Bucklin: 0 for 2024 and 0 for 2020; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,606 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 1,605 in 2024 against 1,607 in 2023, down 0.1 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ford County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Ford 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 160 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 170 beds, and it ran at 91 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 Ford County Sheriff's Office at fordcounty.net/277/Jail (page title: Jail | Ford County, KS), phone 620-227-4501, 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 Ford County
An arrest in Ford County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Ford County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at fordcounty.net/quicklinks.aspx?CID=24); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at fordcounty.net/193/Ford-County-Attorneys-Office, phone 620-227-4510).
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 Ford 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 Ford County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 620-227-4501.
- An arrest in Dodge City, Spearville or Bucklin: 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 the Boothill Casino Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 620-227-4510, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Ford County District Court, through the court records page at fordcounty.net/quicklinks.aspx?CID=24.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at fordcounty.net/593/Data-Requests (page title: Data Requests | Ford County, KS).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Ford County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the four cities in Ford County: Dodge City, Spearville and Bucklin. Ford 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 Ford County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Ford County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Dodge City (27,663)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ford County each year?
Dodge City reported 1,189 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Ford County sent in full, the four with every month on file reported 1,606 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ford County?
Ask the Ford County Sheriff's Office at 620-227-4501; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at fordcounty.net/277/Jail.
Where are people arrested in Ford County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ford County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ford 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 Ford County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ford 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 fordcounty.net/593/Data-Requests.
Is this the official Ford 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.