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 October 9, 2026.
Caldwell County, Kentucky, has about 13,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Caldwell 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 Caldwell 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: Caldwell County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Caldwell County
The Caldwell County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Caldwell County. It reported 118 arrests for 2025.
One city in Caldwell County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Princeton, 6,223 residents: 545 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 Caldwell 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.
- Princeton: 545 for 2025, 519 for 2024, 485 for 2023, 414 for 2022, 511 for 2021 and 531 for 2020.
- Caldwell County Sheriff's Office: 118 for 2025, 131 for 2024, 123 for 2023, 126 for 2022, 180 for 2021 and 109 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 663 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 663 in 2025 against 650 in 2024, up 2 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 353 arrests, against 433 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Caldwell County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Caldwell 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 2021 the jail held about 15 people, down from about 37 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 23 beds, and it ran at 162 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office at caldwellcounty.ky.gov/elected-officials/Pages/sheriff.aspx (page title: Sheriff | Caldwell County), phone (270) 365-2088, 100 East Market Street 2nd Floor Princeton, KY 42445, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Kentucky Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at kool.corrections.ky.gov/.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Caldwell County
Whether someone was arrested in Caldwell County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Caldwell 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/Caldwell.aspx, phone 270-365-6884); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at caldwellcounty.ky.gov/departments/Pages/commonwealth-attorney.aspx, phone (270) 388-9494).
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 Caldwell 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 Caldwell County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (270) 365-2088.
- An arrest in Princeton: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Commonwealth's Attorney, (270) 388-9494, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Caldwell Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 270-365-6884.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Caldwell County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, criminal records, court records, police reports, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Caldwell County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Caldwell County: Princeton. Fredonia has 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 Caldwell Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Caldwell County each year?
Princeton reported 545 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 663 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Caldwell County?
Ask the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office at (270) 365-2088; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at caldwellcounty.ky.gov.
Where are people arrested in Caldwell County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Caldwell 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 Caldwell County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Caldwell 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 Caldwell 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.