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 4, 2026.
Franklin County, Kansas, has about 26,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and one other 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 Franklin 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: Franklin County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Franklin County
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Franklin County. It reported 441 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Franklin County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Ottawa, 12,733 residents: 348 arrests reported for 2025.
- Wellsville, 1,933 residents: 23 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 Franklin County: Franklin County Drug Enforcement (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Franklin 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.
- Franklin County Sheriff's Office: 441 for 2025, 379 for 2024, 368 for 2023, 374 for 2022, 382 for 2021 and 425 for 2020.
- Ottawa: 348 for 2025, 295 for 2024, 469 for 2023, 406 for 2022, 316 for 2021 and 366 for 2020.
- Wellsville: 23 for 2024, 27 for 2023, 22 for 2022, 23 for 2021, 18 for 2020 and 29 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 789 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 789 in 2025 against 674 in 2024, up 17 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 492 arrests, against 540 in the same months of 2025.
Wellsville reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Franklin County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Franklin 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 65 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 68 beds, and it ran at 96 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 Franklin County Sheriff's Office at franklincoks.org/199/Detention-Center (page title: Detention Center | Franklin County, KS), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Franklin County
Whether someone was arrested in Franklin County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: 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 franklincoks.org/566/County-Attorney, phone (785)229-8970).
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 Franklin 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 Franklin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Ottawa or Wellsville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Franklin County Drug Enforcement: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (785)229-8970, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Franklin County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the eight cities in Franklin County: Ottawa and Wellsville. Pomona, Richmond, Williamsburg, Princeton, Lane and Rantoul 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 Franklin County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Franklin County each year?
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office reported 441 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 789 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Franklin County?
Ask the Franklin County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at franklincoks.org/199/Detention-Center.
Where are people arrested in Franklin County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Franklin 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 Franklin County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Franklin 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 Franklin 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.