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 1, 2026.
Hardin County, Kentucky, has about 113,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hardin County Sheriff's Office, four 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 Hardin 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: Hardin County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hardin County
The Hardin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hardin County. It reported 1,272 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Hardin County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Elizabethtown, 34,565 residents: 1,229 arrests reported for 2025.
- Radcliff, 22,706 residents: 972 arrests reported for 2025.
- Vine Grove, 6,933 residents: 130 arrests reported for 2025.
- West Point, 909 residents: 0 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 Hardin County: Greater Hardin County Narcotics Task Force (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Hardin 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.
- Hardin County Sheriff's Office: 1,272 for 2025, 1,315 for 2024, 1,068 for 2023, 1,161 for 2022, 983 for 2021 and 1,195 for 2020.
- Elizabethtown: 1,229 for 2025, 1,268 for 2024, 1,704 for 2023, 1,635 for 2022, 1,631 for 2021 and 1,268 for 2020.
- Radcliff: 972 for 2025, 1,171 for 2024, 1,299 for 2023, 1,084 for 2022, 1,140 for 2021 and 1,268 for 2020.
- Vine Grove: 130 for 2025, 258 for 2024, 157 for 2023, 82 for 2022, 152 for 2021 and 162 for 2020.
- West Point: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 5 for 2022, 42 for 2021 and 86 for 2020.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,603 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,603 in 2025 against 4,012 in 2024, down 10 percent.
Through July 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,866 arrests, against 2,250 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hardin County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Hardin 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 560 people on an average day, down from about 730 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 646 beds, and it is running at 86 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Hardin County Sheriff's Office at hardinsheriff.com/inmateRoster (page title: Hardin County Sheriff's Office (OH)), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 1, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Hardin County
An arrest in Hardin County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Hardin County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Hardin 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/Hardin.aspx, phone 270-766-5000).
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 Hardin 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 Hardin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Elizabethtown, Radcliff, Vine Grove or West Point: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Greater Hardin County Narcotics Task Force: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Hardin Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 270-766-5000.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at hccoky.org/openrecords.asp (page title: Hardin County Clerk's Office in Elizabethtown Kentucky).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Hardin County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the six cities in Hardin County: Elizabethtown, Radcliff, Vine Grove and West Point. Upton and Sonora have 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 Hardin Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hardin County each year?
The Hardin County Sheriff's Office reported 1,272 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,603 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hardin County?
Look on the custody page of the Hardin County Sheriff's Office at hardinsheriff.com/inmateRoster. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Hardin County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hardin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hardin 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 Hardin County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hardin 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 hccoky.org/openrecords.asp.
Is this the official Hardin 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.