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 4, 2026.
Fayette County, Kentucky, has about 329,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Fayette County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and five campus, state or other agencies. 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 Fayette 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 and common questions.
Related guides: Fayette County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Fayette County
The Fayette County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Fayette County. It reported 1,573 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Fayette County: Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky (campus police); Fayette County Schools and Lexington Bluegrass Airport (other); Kentucky Horse Park (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Fayette 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.
- Lexington: 11,536 for 2025, 11,738 for 2024, 12,232 for 2023, 12,574 for 2022, 12,831 for 2021 and 14,434 for 2020.
- Fayette County Sheriff's Office: 1,573 for 2025, 1,827 for 2024, 1,841 for 2023, 1,804 for 2022, 1,701 for 2021 and 2,536 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 13,109 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 13,109 in 2025 against 13,565 in 2024, down 3.4 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 8,144 arrests, against 8,839 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Fayette County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Fayette 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 850 people on an average day, down from about 1,700 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 1,266 beds, and it is running at 67 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Fayette County
For Fayette County the place to look is the case index of the Fayette 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/Fayette/Pages/Fayette.aspx).
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 Fayette 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 Fayette County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest by Transylvania University, the University of Kentucky or Fayette County Schools: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Fayette Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lexingtonprosecutor.com/open-records-request (page title: Open Records Request | Commonwealth's Attorney Office).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Fayette County each year?
Lexington reported 11,536 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 13,109 between them.
Where are people arrested in Fayette County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Fayette County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Fayette 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 Fayette County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Fayette 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 lexingtonprosecutor.com/open-records-request.
Is this the official Fayette 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.