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.
Morton County, Kansas, has about 2,500 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Morton 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 Morton 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: Morton County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Morton County
The Morton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Morton County. It reported 28 arrests for 2021, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists one city in Morton County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Elkhart, 1,726 residents: 28 arrests reported for 2022.
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 Morton 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.
- Elkhart: 28 for 2022, 35 for 2021, 37 for 2020 and 32 for 2019.
- Morton County Sheriff's Office: 28 for 2021, 14 for 2020 and 35 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2021 on file reported 63 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2021 and 2020 complete reported 63 in 2021 against 51 in 2020, up 24 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Morton County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Morton 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 13 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 12 beds, and it ran at 108 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 Morton County Sheriff's Office at mtcoks.com/233/Sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Morton County, KS), phone 620-697-2832, 1025 Richards Street Elkhart, KS 67950, 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 Morton County
An arrest in Morton County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: 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 mtcoks.com/167/County-Attorney, phone 620-697-4006).
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 Morton 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 Morton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 620-697-2832.
- An arrest in Elkhart: 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, 620-697-4006, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Morton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Morton County: Elkhart. Rolla and Richfield 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 Morton County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Morton County each year?
Elkhart reported 28 arrests to the FBI for 2022. For 2021, the latest year most of the agencies in Morton County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 63 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Morton County?
Ask the Morton County Sheriff's Office at 620-697-2832; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at mtcoks.com/233/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Morton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Morton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Morton 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 Morton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Morton 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 Morton 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.