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.
Montgomery County, Kansas, has about 30,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and four 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 Montgomery 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: Montgomery County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Montgomery County
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Montgomery County. It reported 415 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists four cities in Montgomery County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Coffeyville, 8,545 residents: 408 arrests reported for 2025.
- Independence, 8,287 residents: 330 arrests reported for 2024.
- Cherryvale, 2,114 residents: 45 arrests reported for 2025.
- Caney, 1,726 residents: 30 arrests reported for 2025.
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 Montgomery 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.
- Coffeyville: 408 for 2025, 289 for 2024, 426 for 2023, 426 for 2022, 402 for 2021 and 383 for 2020.
- Cherryvale: 45 for 2025, 78 for 2024, 63 for 2023, 62 for 2022, 45 for 2021 and 24 for 2020.
- Caney: 30 for 2025, 30 for 2024, 51 for 2023, 30 for 2022, 39 for 2021 and 48 for 2020.
- Montgomery County Sheriff's Office: 415 for 2024, 691 for 2022, 665 for 2021, 457 for 2020 and 562 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Independence: 330 for 2024, 322 for 2023, 373 for 2022, 397 for 2021, 427 for 2020 and 435 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 483 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 483 in 2025 against 397 in 2024, up 22 percent.
Independence and Montgomery County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (10 months and 10 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Montgomery County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Montgomery 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 130 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 165 beds, and it ran at 80 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Montgomery County
For Montgomery 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 Montgomery 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 Montgomery County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Coffeyville, Independence, Cherryvale or Caney: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Montgomery County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the nine cities in Montgomery County: Coffeyville, Independence, Cherryvale and Caney. Dearing, Elk City, Tyro, Liberty and Havana 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 Montgomery County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Montgomery County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Coffeyville (8,545)
- Independence (8,287)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Montgomery County each year?
Coffeyville reported 408 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 483 between them.
Where are people arrested in Montgomery County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Montgomery 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 Montgomery County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Montgomery 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 Montgomery 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.