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.
Boyd County, Kentucky, has about 48,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Boyd County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and one other 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 Boyd 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: Boyd County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Boyd County
The Boyd County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Boyd County. It reported 741 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Ashland, 21,066 residents: 1,109 arrests reported for 2025.
- Catlettsburg, 1,725 residents: 74 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.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Boyd County: Northeast Kentucky Drug Task Force (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Boyd 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.
- Ashland: 1,109 for 2025, 1,159 for 2024, 1,319 for 2023, 1,315 for 2022, 1,377 for 2021 and 1,194 for 2020.
- Boyd County Sheriff's Office: 741 for 2025, 953 for 2024, 1,261 for 2023, 1,214 for 2022, 975 for 2021 and 970 for 2020.
- Catlettsburg: 74 for 2025, 124 for 2024, 86 for 2023, 66 for 2022, 145 for 2021 and 150 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,924 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,924 in 2025 against 2,236 in 2024, down 14 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,061 arrests, against 1,101 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Boyd County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Boyd County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 280 people on an average day, down from about 310 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 206 beds, and it is running at 135 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 Boyd County Sheriff's Office at boydcountyky.gov/212/Boyd-County-Sheriffs-Office (page title: Boyd County Sheriff's Office | Boyd County, KY), phone 606-739-5135, 2900 Louisa Street Suite 1 Catlettsburg, KY 41129, Monday through Friday 8:30 am to 4 pm, 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 Boyd County
For Boyd County the place to look is the case index of the Boyd 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/Boyd.aspx, phone 606-739-4131).
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 Boyd County
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 Boyd County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 606-739-5135.
- An arrest in Ashland or Catlettsburg: 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 Northeast Kentucky Drug Task Force: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Boyd Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 606-739-4131.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at boydcountyky.gov/185/Open-Records-Requests (page title: Open Records Requests | Boyd County, KY).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Boyd County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Boyd County: Ashland and Catlettsburg.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Boyd Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Boyd County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Ashland (21,066)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Boyd County each year?
Ashland reported 1,109 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,924 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Boyd County?
Ask the Boyd County Sheriff's Office at 606-739-5135; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at boydcountyky.gov.
Where are people arrested in Boyd County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Boyd County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Boyd 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 Boyd County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Boyd 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at boydcountyky.gov/185/Open-Records-Requests.
Is this the official Boyd 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.