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 September 30, 2026.
Adair County, Kentucky, has about 19,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Adair 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 Commonwealth's Attorney files charges, a case in the Adair Circuit 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: Adair County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Adair County
The Adair County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Adair County. It reported 237 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
One city in Adair County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Columbia, 4,685 residents: 196 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 Adair 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.
- Adair County Sheriff's Office: 237 for 2024, 319 for 2023, 423 for 2022, 380 for 2021, 373 for 2020 and 499 for 2019.
- Columbia: 196 for 2025, 233 for 2024, 179 for 2023, 210 for 2022, 250 for 2021 and 200 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 470 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 470 in 2024 against 498 in 2023, down 5.6 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Adair County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Adair 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 90 people on an average day, down from about 100 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 82 beds, and it is running at 110 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 Adair County Sheriff's Office at adaircounty.ky.gov/elected-officials/Pages/Sheriffs-Office.aspx (page title: Sheriff's Office | Adair County), phone (270) 384-2776, 424 Public Square, Suite 20 Columbia, KY 42728, Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Adair County
For Adair County the place to look is the case index of the Adair 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/Adair.aspx, phone 270-384-2626).
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 Adair 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 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 Adair County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (270) 384-2776.
- An arrest in Columbia: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Adair Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 270-384-2626.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Adair County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Columbia, the one city in Adair County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Adair Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Adair County each year?
The Adair County Sheriff's Office reported 237 arrests to the FBI for 2024, and the two agencies with every month of 2024 on file reported 470 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Adair County?
Ask the Adair County Sheriff's Office at (270) 384-2776; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at adaircounty.ky.gov.
Where are people arrested in Adair County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Adair County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Adair County?
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 Adair County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Adair County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Kentucky Open Records Act the answer is due within 5 business days.
Is this the official Adair 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.