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.
Seward County, Kansas, has about 21,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Seward 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 Seward 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: Seward County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Seward County
The Seward County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Seward County. It reported 62 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year.
One city in Seward County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Liberal, 19,184 residents: 644 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 Seward 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.
- Liberal: 644 for 2025, 523 for 2024, 523 for 2023, 421 for 2022 and 658 for 2021.
- Seward County Sheriff's Office: 62 for 2023, 161 for 2022, 74 for 2021 and 96 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2023 on file reported 585 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2023 and 2022 complete reported 585 in 2023 against 582 in 2022, up 0.5 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Seward County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Seward 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 97 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 125 beds, and it ran at 78 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 Seward County Sheriff's Office at sewardcountyks.org/182/Jail-Visitation (page title: Jail Visitation | Seward County, KS), phone (620) 309-2000, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 12 noon and 1 pm to 5 pm., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Seward County
An arrest in Seward 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 sewardcountyks.org/m/directory/department?did=6, phone (620) 626-3225).
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 Seward 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 Seward County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (620) 309-2000.
- An arrest in Liberal: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (620) 626-3225, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at sewardcountyks.org (page title: Freedom of Information | Open Records | Seward County, KS).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Seward County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Seward County: Liberal. Kismet has 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 Seward County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Seward County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Liberal (19,184)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Seward County each year?
Liberal reported 644 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2023, the latest year most of the agencies in Seward County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 585 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Seward County?
Ask the Seward County Sheriff's Office at (620) 309-2000; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sewardcountyks.org/182/Jail-Visitation.
Where are people arrested in Seward County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Seward County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Seward 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 Seward County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Seward 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at sewardcountyks.org.
Is this the official Seward 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.