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 on September 24, 2026.
Shawnee County, Kansas, has about 178,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office, four city agencies and 13 campus, state or other 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 Shawnee 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: Shawnee County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Shawnee County
The Shawnee County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Shawnee County. It reported 447 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Shawnee County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Topeka, 125,467 residents: 2,969 arrests reported for 2025.
- Silver Lake, 1,312 residents.
- Auburn, 1,272 residents.
- Rossville, 1,090 residents.
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.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Shawnee County: the Auburn-Washburn Unified School District, the Shawnee Heights Unified School District, Topeka Fire Department Arson Investigation, the Seaman Unified School District and one more (other); Kansas Racing Commission Security Division, Securities Office Investigation Section, Kansas Lottery Security Division, Kansas Bureau of Investigation and three more (state agency); Washburn University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Shawnee 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.
- Topeka: 2,969 for 2025, 2,862 for 2024, 2,989 for 2023, 2,855 for 2022 and 2,491 for 2021.
- Shawnee County Sheriff's Office: 447 for 2025, 479 for 2024, 477 for 2023, 454 for 2022, 434 for 2021 and 447 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2023 on file reported 3,466 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2023 and 2022 complete reported 3,466 in 2023 against 3,309 in 2022, up 4.7 percent.
Silver Lake reported only part of 2023 (1 month) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Shawnee County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Shawnee 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 2023 the jail held about 560 people, down from about 580 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 757 beds, and it ran at 73 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 Shawnee County Sheriff's Office at snco.gov/sh/directory_criminal_investigations.php (page title: Criminal Investigation Division, Directory, Sheriff’s Office (Shawnee County, Kansas)), 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 Shawnee County
An arrest in Shawnee County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Shawnee County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at shawneecourt.org/252/Records, phone (785) 251-6712); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at snco.gov/da, phone 785.251.4330).
Statewide, Kansas District Court Public Access Portal is the Kansas courts' statewide case search.
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 Shawnee 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 Shawnee County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Topeka, Silver Lake, Auburn or Rossville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the Auburn-Washburn Unified School District, Kansas Racing Commission Security Division or Washburn University: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 785.251.4330, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Shawnee County District Court, through the court records page at shawneecourt.org/252/Records, phone (785) 251-6712.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at snco.gov/clerk/kora.php (page title: Open Records Requests, Clerk (Shawnee County, Kansas)).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Shawnee County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the five cities in Shawnee County: Topeka, Silver Lake, Auburn and Rossville. Willard 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 Shawnee County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Shawnee County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Topeka (125,467)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Shawnee County each year?
Topeka reported 2,969 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2023, the latest year most of the agencies in Shawnee County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 3,466 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Shawnee County?
Ask the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at snco.gov.
Where are people arrested in Shawnee County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Shawnee 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 Shawnee County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Shawnee 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 snco.gov/clerk/kora.php.
Is this the official Shawnee 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.