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 October 9, 2026.
Richmond, Kentucky, in Madison County, has about 40,000 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 Madison 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: Richmond public records, Madison County arrest records, Kentucky arrest records and Kentucky inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Richmond
The FBI lists Richmond with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Richmond Police Department. It reported 2,252 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 Madison County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,248 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Madison County: Eastern Kentucky University (campus police); Madison County Public Schools (other).
How Many Arrests Richmond 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.
- Richmond: 2,252 for 2025, 2,027 for 2024, 2,363 for 2023, 2,192 for 2022, 2,312 for 2021 and 2,645 for 2020.
Richmond's 2,252 arrests in 2025 were up 11 percent from 2,027 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Richmond reported 1,492 arrests, against 1,549 in the same months of 2025.
Across Madison County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,103 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Richmond Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Richmond 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 260 people on an average day, down from about 380 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 184 beds, and it is running at 141 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Madison County Sheriff's Office at sheriffrandytucker.com/madison-county-detention-center (page title: Madison County Detention Center | Madison County Sheriff's Department), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
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 Richmond
Whether someone was arrested in Richmond, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Madison 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/Madison.aspx, phone 859-624-4713); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at madisoncountyky.gov/attorney/attorney-staff).
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 Richmond
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Richmond police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at richmondky.gov/departments/police_department/police_services/obtain... (page title: Richmond, KY), phone 859-623-1162, 1721 Lexington Road Richmond, KY 40475, Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Madison County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Commonwealth's Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Madison Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 859-624-4713.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at madisoncountyky.gov/open-records-request (page title: Open Records Request | Welcome to MadisonCountyKy.gov | Madison County, Kentucky).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Madison County guide covers every agency in the county: Madison County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Richmond each year?
Richmond reported 2,252 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Richmond?
Ask the Madison County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriffrandytucker.com.
Where are people arrested in Richmond booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Madison County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Richmond?
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 Richmond?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Richmond police for its own arrests, the Madison 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 madisoncountyky.gov/open-records-request.
Is this the official Richmond 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.