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.
Franklin County, Kentucky, has about 52,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and nine 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 Franklin 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: Franklin County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Franklin County
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Franklin County. It reported 5,904 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year.
One city in Franklin County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Frankfort, 28,610 residents: 1,570 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 these agencies in Franklin County: Attorney General, Motor Vehicle Enforcement, Kentucky State Park Rangers Division, the Department of Insurance Fraud Unit and four more (state agency); Kentucky State University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Franklin 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.
- Franklin County Sheriff's Office: 5,904 for 2023, 4,575 for 2022, 3,108 for 2021, 2,832 for 2020 and 6,351 for 2019.
- Frankfort: 1,570 for 2025, 1,657 for 2024, 1,797 for 2023, 2,037 for 2022, 2,037 for 2021 and 1,783 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2023 on file reported 7,701 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2023 and 2022 complete reported 7,701 in 2023 against 6,612 in 2022, up 16 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Franklin County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Franklin 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 410 people on an average day, up from about 310 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 301 beds, and it is running at 136 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 Franklin County Sheriff's Office at franklincounty.ky.gov/jailer (page title: Jailer | Franklin County), phone (502) 875-8713, Monday-Friday 8 AM - 4:00 PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Franklin County
An arrest in Franklin County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Franklin 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/Franklin.aspx, phone 502-564-7013); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at franklincounty.ky.gov/attorney, phone (502) 875-8745).
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 Franklin 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 Franklin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (502) 875-8713.
- An arrest in Frankfort: 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 Attorney General, Motor Vehicle Enforcement or Kentucky State Park Rangers Division: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Commonwealth's Attorney, (502) 875-8745, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Franklin Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 502-564-7013.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at franklincounty.ky.gov/open-records (page title: Open Records | Franklin County).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Franklin County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Frankfort, the one city in Franklin County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Franklin Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Franklin County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Frankfort (28,610)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Franklin County each year?
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office reported 5,904 arrests to the FBI for 2023, and the two agencies with every month of 2023 on file reported 7,701 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Franklin County?
Ask the Franklin County Sheriff's Office at (502) 875-8713; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at franklincounty.ky.gov/jailer.
Where are people arrested in Franklin County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Franklin 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 Franklin County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Franklin 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 franklincounty.ky.gov/open-records.
Is this the official Franklin 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.