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.
McPherson County, Kansas, has about 30,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the McPherson County Sheriff's Office and seven 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 McPherson 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: McPherson County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in McPherson County
The McPherson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for McPherson County. It reported 110 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside seven 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:
- McPherson, 14,068 residents: 268 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lindsborg, 3,835 residents: 17 arrests reported for 2025.
- Moundridge, 1,965 residents.
- Inman, 1,328 residents: 3 arrests reported for 2024.
- Galva, 826 residents.
- Canton, 664 residents.
- Marquette, 596 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 McPherson 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.
- McPherson: 268 for 2025, 230 for 2024, 263 for 2023, 273 for 2022, 290 for 2021 and 131 for 2020.
- McPherson County Sheriff's Office: 110 for 2025, 149 for 2021, 90 for 2020 and 114 for 2019; 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Lindsborg: 17 for 2025, 48 for 2024, 37 for 2023, 49 for 2020 and 77 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Inman: 3 for 2024, 13 for 2020 and 4 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2020 on file reported 283 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2020 and 2019 complete reported 283 in 2020 against 385 in 2019, down 26 percent.
Moundridge and Canton reported only part of 2020 (1 month and 4 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in McPherson County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in McPherson 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 2022 the jail held about 50 people, up from about 32 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 54 beds, and it ran at 59 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 McPherson County Sheriff's Office at mcphersoncountyks.us/853/Jail-Inmate-Roster (page title: JAIL INMATE ROSTER | McPherson County Official Website), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 McPherson County
An arrest in McPherson County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the McPherson 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 mcphersoncountyks.us/7/County-Attorney, phone 620-241-1027).
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 McPherson 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 McPherson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in McPherson, Lindsborg, Moundridge, Inman, Galva, Canton or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 620-241-1027, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at mcphersoncountyks.us/35/Request-a-Record-Fees (page title: Request a Record & Fees | McPherson County Official Website).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in McPherson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for seven of the eight cities in McPherson County: McPherson, Lindsborg, Moundridge, Inman, Galva, Canton and Marquette. Windom 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 McPherson County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in McPherson County each year?
McPherson reported 268 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2020, the latest year most of the agencies in McPherson County sent in full, the four with every month on file reported 283 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in McPherson County?
Look on the custody page of the McPherson County Sheriff's Office at mcphersoncountyks.us/853/Jail-Inmate-Roster. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in McPherson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the McPherson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in McPherson 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 McPherson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the McPherson 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 mcphersoncountyks.us/35/Request-a-Record-Fees.
Is this the official McPherson 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.