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.
Wabaunsee County, Kansas, has about 7,100 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Wabaunsee County Sheriff's Office and two 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 Wabaunsee 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: Wabaunsee County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Wabaunsee County
The Wabaunsee County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Wabaunsee County. It reported 154 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Wabaunsee County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Alma, 839 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2019.
- Alta Vista, 412 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 Wabaunsee 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.
- Wabaunsee County Sheriff's Office: 154 for 2025, 145 for 2024, 189 for 2023, 156 for 2022, 123 for 2021 and 105 for 2020.
- Alta Vista: 0 for 2020 and 1 for 2019.
- Alma: 0 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2020 on file reported 105 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2020 and 2019 complete reported 105 in 2020 against 109 in 2019, down 3.7 percent.
Alma reported only part of 2020 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Wabaunsee County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Wabaunsee 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 2022 the jail held about 12 people, up from about 1 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 22 beds, and it ran at 5 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Wabaunsee County Sheriff's Office at wbcso.org/agency-data/jail-roster (page title: Jail Roster | Wabaunsee County Sheriff), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Wabaunsee County
An arrest in Wabaunsee County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Wabaunsee County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; 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 wbcounty.org/1208/County-Attorney, phone 785-765-2401).
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 Wabaunsee 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 Wabaunsee County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Alma or Alta Vista: 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, 785-765-2401, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at wbcounty.org/1213/Open-Records-Act (page title: Open Records Act | Wabaunsee County, KS).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Wabaunsee County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the seven cities in Wabaunsee County: Alma and Alta Vista. Maple Hill, Eskridge, McFarland, Paxico and Harveyville 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 Wabaunsee County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Wabaunsee County each year?
The Wabaunsee County Sheriff's Office reported 154 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2020, the latest year most of the agencies in Wabaunsee County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 105 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Wabaunsee County?
Look on the custody page of the Wabaunsee County Sheriff's Office at wbcso.org/agency-data/jail-roster. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Wabaunsee County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Wabaunsee County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Wabaunsee 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 Wabaunsee County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Wabaunsee 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 wbcounty.org/1213/Open-Records-Act.
Is this the official Wabaunsee 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.