Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 September 30, 2026.
Covington, Kentucky, in Kenton County, has about 42,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the Commonwealth's Attorney files charges, a case in the Kenton Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Covington public records, Kenton County arrest records, Kentucky arrest records and Kentucky inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Covington
The FBI lists Covington with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Covington Police Department. It reported 3,147 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Kenton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 829 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Kenton County: Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force (other).
How Many Arrests Covington Reports
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.
- Covington: 3,147 for 2025, 3,616 for 2024, 4,129 for 2023, 3,923 for 2022, 4,373 for 2021 and 4,580 for 2020.
Covington's 3,147 arrests in 2025 were down 13 percent from 3,616 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Covington reported 1,813 arrests, against 2,294 in the same months of 2025.
Across Kenton County, the 14 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,285 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Covington Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Covington 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 670 people on an average day, down from about 790 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 602 beds, and it is running at 111 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Kenton County Sheriff's Office at kentoncountysheriff.org/201/Current-Inmates-at-the-Kenton-County-Det (page title: Current Inmates at the Kenton County Detention Center | Kenton County Sheriff, KY), phone 859-363-2400, 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 Kentucky Department of Corrections lists its inmates at kool.corrections.ky.gov/.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Covington
Whether someone was arrested in Covington, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Kenton County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Kenton Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at kycourts.gov/Courts/County-Information/Pages/Kenton.aspx, phone 859-292-6521); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at kentoncountyky.gov/387/Commonwealths-Attorney, phone 859-292-6580).
Kentucky is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Administrative Office of the Courts, not the state police, sells name-based criminal record reports to the public, for $25 a search, through the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts. 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 Covington
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 Kentucky Open Records Act the agency must answer within 5 business days, and it may charge the actual cost of copying, 10 cents a page for standard copies.
- An arrest by the Covington police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at covingtonky.gov/Portals/covingtonky/Government/Departments/Police/C... (page title: Covington Police Department), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Kenton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 859-363-2400.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Commonwealth's Attorney, 859-292-6580, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Kenton Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 859-292-6521.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at kentoncountyky.gov/618/Open-Records-Request (page title: Open Records Request | Kenton County, KY).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Kenton County guide covers every agency in the county: Kenton County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Covington each year?
Covington reported 3,147 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Covington?
Look on the custody page of the Kenton County Sheriff's Office at kentoncountysheriff.org, or call 859-363-2400. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Covington booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Kenton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Covington?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts: the Administrative Office of the Courts, not the state police, sells name-based criminal record reports to the public, for $25. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Kentucky Open Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Covington?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Covington police for its own arrests, the Kenton County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Kentucky Open Records Act the answer is due within 5 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at kentoncountyky.gov/618/Open-Records-Request.
Is this the official Covington website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.