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.
Pottawatomie County, Kansas, has about 27,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office and five 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 Pottawatomie 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: Pottawatomie County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Pottawatomie County
The Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Pottawatomie County. It reported 202 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside five 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:
- Wamego, 4,888 residents: 26 arrests reported for 2024.
- St. Marys, 2,784 residents: 7 arrests reported for 2021.
- St. George, 1,150 residents: 12 arrests reported for 2020.
- Onaga, 681 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2020.
- Havensville, 130 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2020.
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 Pottawatomie 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.
- Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office: 202 for 2025, 282 for 2023, 290 for 2022, 339 for 2021, 375 for 2020 and 419 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- Wamego: 26 for 2024, 55 for 2023, 62 for 2021 and 84 for 2019; 2020 and 2022 are missing months.
- St. Marys: 7 for 2021, 16 for 2020 and 6 for 2019.
- St. George: 12 for 2020 and 15 for 2019.
- Onaga: 1 for 2020.
- Havensville: 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2021 on file reported 408 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2021 and 2020 complete reported 346 in 2021 against 391 in 2020, down 12 percent.
St. George reported only part of 2021 (9 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Pottawatomie County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Pottawatomie 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 27 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 68 beds, and it ran at 40 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 Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office at ptsheriff.com/jail (page title: Jail | Pottawatomie County Sheriff Office), phone (785) 457-3707, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 Pottawatomie County
An arrest in Pottawatomie 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 pottcounty.org/149/County-Attorneys-Office, phone 785-457-3511).
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 Pottawatomie 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 Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (785) 457-3707.
- An arrest in Wamego, St. Marys, St. George, Onaga or Havensville: 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, 785-457-3511, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Pottawatomie County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the 11 cities in Pottawatomie County: Wamego, St. Marys, St. George, Onaga and Havensville. Westmoreland, Olsburg, Belvue, Emmett, Louisville and Wheaton 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 Pottawatomie County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Pottawatomie County each year?
The Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office reported 202 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2021, the latest year most of the agencies in Pottawatomie County sent in full, the three with every month on file reported 408 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Pottawatomie County?
Ask the Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office at (785) 457-3707; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at ptsheriff.com/jail.
Where are people arrested in Pottawatomie County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Pottawatomie 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 Pottawatomie County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Pottawatomie 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 Pottawatomie 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.