SearchSystems Editorial

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.

About this guide

Jefferson County, Kentucky, has about 794,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, 18 city agencies and seven 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 Jefferson 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: Jefferson County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Jefferson County

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Jefferson County. It reported 1,070 arrests for 2025.

The FBI lists 17 cities in Jefferson County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported, the largest twelve first; the rest are named in the cities section below:

  • Jeffersontown, 29,388 residents: 333 arrests reported for 2025.
  • St. Matthews, 17,806 residents: 506 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Shively, 15,850 residents: 442 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Lyndon, 11,221 residents: 267 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Middletown, 9,908 residents: 247 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Prospect, 4,696 residents: 23 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Indian Hills, 2,934 residents: 24 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Anchorage, 2,538 residents: 9 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Hurstbourne Acres, 2,005 residents: 6 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Audubon Park, 1,449 residents: 3 arrests reported for 2025.
  • West Buechel, 1,393 residents: 68 arrests reported for 2023.
  • Heritage Creek, 1,241 residents: 22 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 Jefferson County: the Jefferson County School District, Norfolk Southern Railway, the Louisville Regional Airport Authority and the Louisville Parks Police (other); the University of Louisville (campus police); Kentucky Fairgrounds Security and Alcohol Beverage Control's Investigative Division (state agency).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Jefferson 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.

  • Louisville Metro: 15,439 for 2025, 18,194 for 2024, 14,754 for 2023, 20,916 for 2021, 20,246 for 2020 and 33,442 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
  • Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: 1,070 for 2025, 797 for 2024, 892 for 2023, 1,413 for 2022, 1,295 for 2021 and 1,360 for 2020.
  • St. Matthews: 506 for 2025, 590 for 2024, 599 for 2023, 570 for 2022, 580 for 2021 and 489 for 2020.
  • Shively: 442 for 2025, 492 for 2024, 452 for 2023, 424 for 2022, 490 for 2021 and 393 for 2020.
  • Jeffersontown: 333 for 2025, 406 for 2024, 460 for 2023, 512 for 2022, 473 for 2021 and 411 for 2020.
  • Lyndon: 267 for 2025, 235 for 2024, 183 for 2023 and 126 for 2022.
  • Middletown: 247 for 2025, 290 for 2024, 255 for 2023, 195 for 2022, 145 for 2021 and 133 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
  • Indian Hills: 24 for 2025, 27 for 2024, 30 for 2023, 25 for 2022, 18 for 2021 and 21 for 2020.
  • Prospect: 23 for 2025, 9 for 2024, 16 for 2023, 17 for 2022, 14 for 2021 and 7 for 2020.
  • Heritage Creek: 22 for 2025, 55 for 2024, 18 for 2023, 10 for 2022, 48 for 2021 and 28 for 2020.
  • Bancroft: 12 for 2025, 21 for 2024, 20 for 2023, 3 for 2022, 8 for 2021 and 0 for 2020.
  • Anchorage: 9 for 2025, 6 for 2024, 9 for 2023, 10 for 2022, 12 for 2021 and 26 for 2020.

Together, the 18 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 18,404 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 18,404 in 2025 against 21,164 in 2024, down 13 percent.

Through July 2026, the 18 agencies with every month so far on file reported 10,837 arrests, against 10,556 in the same months of 2025.

West Buechel reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Jefferson County Are Held

A person kept in custody after an arrest in Jefferson 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 1,560 people on an average day, down from about 2,260 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 1,351 beds, and it is running at 115 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.

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 Jefferson County

An arrest in Jefferson County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Jefferson 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/Jefferson.aspx); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at louisvilleprosecutor.com, phone (502) 595-2300).

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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
  • An arrest in Jeffersontown, St. Matthews, Shively, Lyndon, Middletown, Prospect or another of the cities listed above: 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 the Jefferson County School District, the University of Louisville or Kentucky Fairgrounds Security: the records office of the agency involved.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Commonwealth's Attorney, (502) 595-2300, handles discovery for pending cases.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Jefferson 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 jeffersonpva.ky.gov/open-records-requests (page title: OPEN RECORDS REQUESTS | Jefferson County PVA).
  • Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.

Cities in Jefferson County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 17 of the 83 cities in Jefferson County: the twelve named above and Northfield, Woodlawn Park, Meadow Vale, Strathmoor Village and Bancroft. Douglass Hills, Hurstbourne, Graymoor-Devondale, Windy Hills, Worthington Hills, St. Regis Park, Coldstream, Beechwood Village, Barbourmeade, Watterson Park, Lynnview, Rolling Hills and 54 more have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Louisville Metro Police Department as a city agency in Jefferson County; Louisville Metro is not among the cities above.

Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Jefferson Circuit Court.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Jefferson County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:

Frequently Asked Questions

How many arrests are made in Jefferson County each year?

Louisville Metro reported 15,439 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 18 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 18,404 between them.

Where are people arrested in Jefferson County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Jefferson 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 jeffersonpva.ky.gov/open-records-requests.

Is this the official Jefferson 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.