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 September 30, 2026.
Hopkins County, Kentucky, has about 45,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hopkins 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 Hopkins 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: Hopkins County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hopkins County
The Hopkins County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hopkins County. It reported 476 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:
- Madisonville, 19,502 residents: 1,443 arrests reported for 2025.
- Dawson Springs, 2,254 residents: 58 arrests reported for 2023.
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 Hopkins 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.
- Madisonville: 1,443 for 2025, 1,643 for 2024, 1,649 for 2023, 1,932 for 2022, 1,638 for 2021 and 1,259 for 2020.
- Hopkins County Sheriff's Office: 476 for 2025, 480 for 2024, 496 for 2023, 552 for 2022, 663 for 2021 and 526 for 2020.
- Dawson Springs: 58 for 2023, 99 for 2022, 119 for 2021, 91 for 2020 and 112 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,919 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,919 in 2025 against 2,123 in 2024, down 9.6 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,230 arrests, against 1,149 in the same months of 2025.
Dawson Springs reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hopkins County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Hopkins 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 420 people on an average day, up from about 410 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 416 beds, and it is running at 101 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 Hopkins County Sheriff's Office at hopkinscounty.ky.gov/index.php/elected-officials/county-sheriff (page title: County Sheriff), phone (270) 821-8294, 261 Responders Lane, Madisonville, KY 42431, 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 Hopkins County
For Hopkins County the place to look is the case index of the Hopkins Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at hopkinscounty.ky.gov/index.php/elected-officials/judicial-information, phone (270) 821-8294).
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 Hopkins 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 Hopkins County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (270) 821-8294.
- An arrest in Madisonville or Dawson Springs: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Hopkins Circuit Court, through the court records page at hopkinscounty.ky.gov, phone (270) 821-8294.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at hopkinscountysheriff.com (page title: OPEN RECORDS REQUEST).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Hopkins County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the nine cities in Hopkins County: Madisonville and Dawson Springs. Earlington, Nortonville, White Plains, Mortons Gap, Hanson, St. Charles and Nebo 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 Hopkins Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hopkins County each year?
Madisonville reported 1,443 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,919 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hopkins County?
Ask the Hopkins County Sheriff's Office at (270) 821-8294; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hopkinscounty.ky.gov.
Where are people arrested in Hopkins County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hopkins County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hopkins 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 Hopkins County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hopkins 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 hopkinscountysheriff.com.
Is this the official Hopkins 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.