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.
Hart County, Kentucky, has about 20,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hart County Sheriff's Office and two city 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 Hart 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: Hart County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hart County
The Hart County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hart County. It reported 301 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:
- Horse Cave, 2,270 residents: 32 arrests reported for 2025.
- Munfordville, 1,721 residents: 91 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 Hart 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.
- Hart County Sheriff's Office: 301 for 2025, 357 for 2024, 311 for 2023, 280 for 2022, 303 for 2021 and 241 for 2020.
- Munfordville: 91 for 2025, 84 for 2024, 83 for 2023, 67 for 2021, 41 for 2020 and 48 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Horse Cave: 32 for 2025, 61 for 2024, 86 for 2023, 76 for 2022, 63 for 2021 and 71 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 424 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 424 in 2025 against 502 in 2024, down 16 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 233 arrests, against 235 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hart County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Hart 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 110 people on an average day, down from about 200 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 180 beds, and it is running at 63 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 Hart County Sheriff's Office at hartcounty.ky.gov/Elected/Pages/Sheriff.aspx (page title: Sheriff | Hart County), phone (270) 524-2341, 100 Main Street P.O. Box 206 Munfordville, KY 42765, 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 Hart County
An arrest in Hart County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Hart 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/Hart.aspx, phone 270-524-5181); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at hartcountyattorney.com, phone 270-524-2547).
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 Hart 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 Hart County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (270) 524-2341.
- An arrest in Horse Cave or Munfordville: 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, 270-524-2547, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Hart Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 270-524-5181.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Hart County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, criminal records, court records, police reports, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Hart County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Hart County: Horse Cave and Munfordville. Bonnieville 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 Hart Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hart County each year?
The Hart County Sheriff's Office reported 301 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 424 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hart County?
Ask the Hart County Sheriff's Office at (270) 524-2341; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hartcounty.ky.gov/Elected/Pages/Sheriff.aspx.
Where are people arrested in Hart County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hart County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hart 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 Hart County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hart 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 Hart 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.