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.
Meade County, Kansas, has about 3,900 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Meade County Sheriff's Office and one city 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 Meade 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: Meade County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Meade County
The Meade County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Meade County. It reported 27 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
One city in Meade County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Meade, 1,436 residents: 16 arrests reported for 2019.
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 The Meade County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Meade County Sheriff's Office: 27 for 2024 and 74 for 2022; 2023 is missing months.
- Meade: 16 for 2019.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Meade County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Meade 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 2018 the jail held about 23 people. Its rated capacity in 2016, the last year with a capacity figure, was 32 beds, and it ran at 20 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 Meade County Sheriff's Office at meadeco.org/190/Inmate-Search (page title: Inmate Search | Meade County, KS), phone (866) 574-8463, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Meade County
An arrest in Meade County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Meade County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Meade County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at meadeco.org/196/Court, phone 620-873-8750); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at meadeco.org/211/County-Attorney, phone 620-873-8755).
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 Meade 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 Meade County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (866) 574-8463.
- An arrest in Meade: 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, 620-873-8755, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Meade County District Court, through the court records page at meadeco.org/196/Court, phone 620-873-8750.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Meade County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Meade County: Meade. Plains and Fowler 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 Meade County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Meade County each year?
The Meade County Sheriff's Office reported 27 arrests to the FBI for 2024, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Meade County?
Look on the custody page of the Meade County Sheriff's Office at meadeco.org/190/Inmate-Search, or call (866) 574-8463. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Meade County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Meade County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Meade 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 Meade County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Meade 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 Meade 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.