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.
Riley County, Kansas, has about 73,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Riley County Police Department and one campus 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 Riley 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: Riley County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Riley County
The Riley County Police Department is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Riley County. It reported 1,694 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Riley County: Kansas State University (campus police).
How Many Arrests The Riley County Police Department 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.
- Riley County Police Department: 1,694 for 2025, 1,867 for 2024, 1,878 for 2023, 1,600 for 2022, 1,647 for 2021 and 1,583 for 2020.
The Riley County Police Department's 1,694 arrests in 2025 were down 9.3 percent from 1,867 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Riley County Police Department reported 877 arrests, against 1,155 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Riley County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Riley County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 66 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 147 beds, and it ran at 45 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 Riley County Police Department at rileycountypolice.org/342/Riley-County-Jail (page title: Riley County Jail | Riley County Police Department, KS), phone 785-537-2112, 1001 S Seth Child Road Manhattan, KS 66502, 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 Riley County
An arrest in Riley 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 rileycountyks.gov/61/County-Attorney, phone 785-537-6390).
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 Riley 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 Riley County Police Department: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 785-537-2112.
- An arrest by Kansas State University: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 785-537-6390, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Riley County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Riley County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Riley County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Riley County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Manhattan (54,700)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Riley County each year?
The Riley County Police Department reported 1,694 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Riley County?
Ask the Riley County Police Department at 785-537-2112; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at rileycountypolice.org/342/Riley-County-Jail.
Where are people arrested in Riley County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Riley County Police Department; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Riley 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 Riley County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Riley County Police Department 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 Riley 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.